Alcohol Outlet Density and Young Women’s Perpetration of Violence Toward Male Intimate Partners

This paper examines the relationships between alcohol outlet density, alcohol use, and perpetration of intimate partner violence (IPV) among young adult women in the US. Data were from Wave III of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health; N?=?4,430 in present analyses). Multinomial logistic regression was used to examine occurrence of past year IPV perpetration toward a male partner based on tract-level on-premise and off-premise alcohol outlet density, controlling for individuals’ demographic, alcohol use, and childhood abuse characteristics and neighborhood socio-demographic factors. Higher off-premise alcohol outlet density was found to be associated with young women’s perpetration of physical only IPV, controlling for individual-level and ecological factors. Alcohol use had an independent association with IPV perpetration but was not a mediator of the outlet density-IPV relationship. Findings suggest that considering alcohol-related environmental factors may help efforts aimed at preventing young women’s use of physical violence toward partners.     

Digital Britain – the final report

The final Digital Britain report was published in June as to set out the Government's final proposals and updating an interim version that has been published in January this year. This article builds upon an earlier article in [2009] 25 CLSR 263, which analysed the interim report in depth. The intention is not to repeat that earlier analysis, but rather update it and draw the reader's attention to those key areas of change.     

Characterization of 26 miniSTR loci for improved analysis of degraded DNA samples

An additional 20 novel mini-short tandem repeat (miniSTR) loci have been developed and characterized beyond the six previously developed by our laboratory for a total of 26 non-CODIS miniSTR markers. These new markers produce short PCR products in the target range of 50-150 base pairs (bp) by moving the primer sequences as close as possible-often directly next to the identified repeat region. These candidate loci were initially screened based on their small amplicon sizes and locations on chromosomes currently unoccupied by the 13 CODIS STR loci or at least 50 Mb away from them on the same chromosome. They were sequenced and evaluated across more than 600 samples, and their population statistics were determined. The heterozygosities of the new loci were compared with those of the 13 CODIS loci and all were found to be comparable. Only five of the new loci had lower values than the CODIS loci; however, all of these were much smaller in size. This data suggests that these 26 miniSTR loci will serve as useful complements to the CODIS loci to aid in the forensic analysis of degraded DNA, as well as missing persons work and parentage testing with limited next-of-kin reference samples.     

Older parents' expectations for filial support

A measure of general filial obligation expectations is presented. With data from a representative sample aged 70 and older, we show that generalized expectations for support from adult children are not patterned systematically by sociodemographic factors or by health needs of the older respondents. A typology is presented which relates expectations for help to judgments of the level received. This typology is meaningfully related to social indicators presumably related to need such as marital status and socioeconomic status. Whether one is dissatisfied, satisfied, or pleasantly surprised by the assistance one receives is associated with evaluative judgments of children. The parent-child bond is affected not only by exchange patterns but by the fit between expectations and exchange patterns.     

‘Schloss Neuwahnstein’? Why the Länder continue to strengthen their representations in Brussels

The establishment of representative offices in Brussels marked the start a qualitative new step in the engagement of the German Länder in European Union (EU) policy. Despite a contested birth, more than 20 years' operation in Brussels have seen these offices become full elements of the sponsoring Länder administrations. This article argues that in both functional and operational terms, the Brussels Länder offices have developed over time to approximate the role played by their federal level counterparts, the Länder representations in Berlin. Enhanced investment by the Länder in their EU presence underscores the increasing relevance of EU issues for the exercise of their domestic policy responsibilities. However, the Länder offices in Brussels remain disputed entities, as federal and Länder government views of their mission and appropriate engagement differ sharply. Thus, while direct engagement in Brussels has become the norm for the Länder administrations, tensions over access to the EU sphere continue to mark Bund-Länder relations in Brussels – more that ten years after a legal solution was established. The article concludes by considering the broader implications of this situation.