The AIDS epidemic and gay bathhouses: a constitutional analysis

Some legal scholars propose that the right of privacy articulated by the United States Supreme Court should be extended to protect homosexual activity. In light of the advent of AIDS, should that extension include constitutional protection for homosexual men who frequent gay bathhouses? The author argues that although the government has the power to close the baths in the name of public health, it should not do so without careful and conscious balancing against the privacy rights infringed upon by its actions. Balancing the tension between public health policy and individual rights applies not only to the specific situation of the baths, but also to insurance companies' aim to test all single, young, male life and health policy applicants for exposure to the putative AIDS virus; to potential health department releases of names of those testing antibody-positive for HTLV-III; to the military's rumored plans to discharge all personnel suspected of having AIDS; and to school districts seeking to exclude children with AIDS.     

The effect of sexual priming cues on emotional recognition in nonviolent child sexual abusers: a preliminary study

This article describes a study that used a computer-based task to investigate the emotional recognition skills of child sexual abusers. The experiment consisted of two phases (prime and probe) and measured both response time and error rates to facial expressions. The priming phase of the experiment consisted of the presentation of short phrases via computer of either sexual or neutral content. The probe phase of the experiment consisted of the presentation of adult facial expressions depicting either the emotion fear or surprise. Results showed child sexual abusers to be slightly less accurate overall. Furthermore, contrary to prediction, the effect of sexual priming appeared to make child sexual abusers actually better at recognizing fearful faces (p = .055). This result is discussed in relation to current victim empathy theory and treatment implications for sexual offenders.