Highway Security and Terrorism

This article presents an overview of highway transportation security before and after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, in the context of hazardous materials (hazmat) transportation. It is primarily focused on the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) regulation of motor carrier transportation of hazmat and post-9/11 efforts to prevent acquisition by terrorists of certain classes of hazmat. In the context of homeland security, motor carrier transportation of hazmat is receiving heightened attention. It should be cautioned, the article highlights a limited number of activities at the federal level only to provide the reader with a sense of ongoing government and industry activities to improve transportation security.     

The personality assessment inventory as a selection device for law enforcement personnel

The Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI) is a recent development in psychological assessment which has attracted attention because of the breadth of its coverage and the fact that it includes a four-point scale of item agreement. Matrix, Incorporated, is a psychological assessment center that specializes in the assessment of law enforcement personnel. Matrix has collected performance variables on 800 police officers who had taken the PAI prior to being hired. Correlational analysis was performed and there was a significant effect in the data. Discussion focuses upon the criteria in relation to the PAI variables, particularly with regard to aggression, antisocial characteristics and the validity scales. The data clearly demonstrate that the PAI has good potential for the selection of law enforcement officers. Emily DeCoster-Martin was an undergraduate psychology major at The University of Evansville at the time this paper was written     

Mock Juror Gender Biases and Perceptions of Self-Defense Claims in Intimate Partner Homicide

Findings are reported from an experiment that examined mock jurors’ gender biases regarding intimate homicide case adjudications. Mock jurors were more likely to convict a man than a woman who had killed an abusive partner, which was partially mediated by sympathy toward both the victim and defendant. Analyses revealed an abuser height and abuser gender interaction such that conviction rates for women defendants were higher when her abuser was taller compared to when he was shorter than she; abuser height did not influence conviction rates for men. Findings also suggested that when given information about a child being present, mock jurors perceived the killing of the abusive partner as an act to protect that child. The results are discussed in relation to how extra-legal factors impact juror perceptions of domestic violence cases in the courtroom.     

A Two-Way Street for Alcohol Use and Partner Violence: Who’s Driving It?

Using lifetime data from two waves of the National Epidemiologic Surveys on Alcohol and Related Conditions, this study sought to examine sex- and race-specific risks in the temporal relationship between adult onset severe physical intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization and alcohol misuse (binge drinking) and alcohol use disorders (abuse and dependence) and whether or not childhood trauma moderated these relationships among U.S. non-Hispanic White and Black women and men. IPV predicted most alcohol outcomes among White and Black women and White men. Conversely, binge drinking among White and Black women and alcohol abuse among Black women and men predicted IPV. Childhood trauma moderated the relationship between IPV and alcohol misuse mainly among Black respondents, with an increased risk of either outcome among those without childhood trauma. These findings suggest a reciprocal relationship between IPV victimization and alcohol misuse, with implications for sex- and race-specific prevention and intervention efforts.     

Parting the ivory curtain: understanding how universities support a diverse set of startups

Universities are widely recognized as a critical source of technological innovation and are heralded for the entrepreneurial ventures cultivated within their walls. To date, most research has focused on academic entrepreneurship—new ventures that spin out of academic laboratories. However, universities also give rise to startups that do not directly exploit knowledge generated within academic laboratories. Such firms—and the societal and economic benefits they create—are an important contribution of modern universities. We propose a framework for understanding the full scope of university entrepreneurship and its driving factors, with the goal of providing scholars, university administrators, and policymakers with insights regarding the resources required to foster entrepreneurship from within the ivory tower.     

Improving the Implementation and Effectiveness of Out‐of‐School‐Time Tutoring

School districts are spending millions on tutoring outside regular school day hours for economically and academically disadvantaged students in need of extra academic assistance. Under No Child Left Behind (NCLB), parents of children in persistently low‐performing schools were allowed to choose their child's tutoring provider, and together with school districts, they were also primarily responsible for holding providers in the private market accountable for performance. We present results from a multisite, mixed‐method longitudinal study of the impact of out‐of‐school time (OST) tutoring on student reading and mathematics achievement that link provider attributes and policy and program administration variables to tutoring program effectiveness. We find that many students are not getting enough hours of high‐quality, differentiated instruction to produce significant gains in their learning, in part because of high hourly rates charged by providers for tutoring. We identify strategies and policy levers that school districts can use to improve OST tutoring policy design and launch improved programs as waivers from NCLB are granted.     

Commercial Relationships and Spaces after Disaster

Sociological research on the relationship between social bonds and economic activity typically focuses on how social bonds facilitate economic activity. There is, however, a growing and important literature on the development of commercial relationships into social friendships and the important role that commercial spaces can play in facilitating social connections. To date, however, this research has not focused on the important role that these commercial friendships and spaces can play in facilitating an individual’s recovery efforts after a major disaster like a tornado, hurricane or flood. It has also not focused on the effect that major disasters can have on commercial ties. Moreover, while the sociological literature on post-disaster recovery has emphasized the important role of social capital, it has not emphasized the role that social networks developed within commercial contexts can play in helping individuals to rebound from disaster. This article is an effort to fill these gaps in the literature. Using interview data collected in the Gulf Coast following Hurricane Katrina, we argue and describe how meaningful social bonds that emerge out of and are facilitated by commercial activity as well as the social spaces provided by commercial entities can facilitate community rebound after a major disaster.     

A qualitative investigation into the U.S. Department of Agriculture 18‐item Household Food Security Survey Module: Variations in interpretation,understanding and report by gender

Food insecurity, or limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods or limited or uncertain ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways, affects more than 10% of Americans. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's 18‐item Household Food Security Survey Module (HFSSM) is the most common measure used in the United States to assess food insecurity. This measure is to be completed by one adult who reports on the severity of disruptions in the quality and quantity of the household food supply. Recent work suggests that men and women might respond differently to some of the items in this measure. Therefore, the aim of the current study was to further explore how men and women interpret each of the items and specific concepts in this measure. Pairs (n = 25) of low‐income and food‐insecure mothers and fathers of children aged 2.5–10 years participated in one‐on‐one interviews to answer the HFSSM questions using the think‐aloud method. The data were analyzed using basic inductive qualitative methods, and the findings suggest that gender is related to interpretation of key concepts relevant to food insecurity including “household,” “balanced meal,” and “worry.” These findings have policy implications for the use of this measure as a national benchmark of food insecurity such as the potential need for an additional, complementary instrument to include several male reference questions with different terminology.     

Gender Stereotypes and the Policy Priorities of Women in Congress

Political Behavior - Scholars find that women who run for Congress are just as likely to win as men are, yet women face considerable challenges related to their sex on the campaign trail. Women are...