The juvenile death penalty and the Eighth Amendment

The present study investigated the Eighth Amendment tests of societal consensus and proportionality as applied to juvenile death penalties. A sample of former jurors (N=179) voted on whether to execute the defendant in a hypothetical case. Defendant's age (10, 15, 16, or 19) and level of remorse were varied. A large percentage of participants voted to execute the defendant in each condition, but the defendant's age and the participant's attitude toward juvenile culpability significantly predicted the likelihood of execution. Implications for the constitutionality of the juvenile death penalty and future research directions are discussed.     

Technology transfer to the hardwood industry: Testing new strategies

The National Agricultural Library and the Extension Service, US Department of Agriculture, are collaborating on a technology-transfer strategy with the hardwood industry. The strategy is based on the premises that 1) industry associations can serve as vehicles for identifying industry-wide needs, 2) non-traditional research bases are fertile sources of alternative technologies, 3) technology agents can uncover existing technologies and evaluate the feasibility of commercializing them, and 4) state-of-the-art reports and promotion of new cost-saving technologies provide industry with new products and new processes. He has been a program director for Public Technology, Inc. and the executive director of the Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer. Dr. Maher is the current president of the Technology Transfer Society's Washington, DC, Chapter.     

The lay component in Scottish juvenile justice

A recently completed study of the Scottish juvenile justice system, employing a variety of methodological approaches, is used as a source of information on the behavior and attitudes of the lay volunteers who make up children's panels and are responsible for decisions concerning young people who are alleged to have committed an offense or are believed to be in need of care and protection. The reported data relate to the beliefs of panel members as to the causes of delinquency and the objectives of intervention and alternative disposals; the topics they raise for discussion in children's hearings and the factors which influence the decisions they make; and the manner in which they are perceived by the children and parents who have appeared before them.     

Exciting discoveries on the health effects of family violence: where we are, where we need to go

In the 20 years since the founding of the Journal of Interpersonal Violence, there have been exciting new discoveries on the long-term physical health effects of family violence. As exciting as these discoveries have been, we still know little about why the experience of family violence makes people sick. Some of the most promising areas of study on this topic will be in neuroscience, sleep studies, and cognitive variables such as hostility. Once we understand mechanisms, we can design interventions that can ameliorate these effects.