Exposure to intimate partner violence, peer relations, and risk for internalizing behaviors: a prospective longitudinal study

The present study examines the quality of peer relations as a mediator between exposure to IPV (intimate partner violence) and internalizing behaviors in a sample of 129 preadolescents and adolescents (ages 10-18), who were interviewed via telephone as part of a multigenerational, prospective, longitudinal study. Relational victimization is also examined as a moderator of IPV exposure on internalizing behaviors. Results demonstrate a significant association of exposure to severe IPV and internalizing behaviors. Relational victimization is found to moderate the effects of exposure to severe IPV on internalizing behaviors. The present findings suggest that the effects of exposure to IPV had a particularly important effect on the risk for internalizing problems if the adolescent also experienced relational victimization. Conversely, the receipt of prosocial behaviors buffer against the effects of IPV exposure on internalizing symptoms in teen girls.     

Application of plant DNA markers in forensic botany: genetic comparison of Quercus evidence leaves to crime scene trees using microsatellites

As highly polymorphic DNA markers become increasingly available for a wide range of plant and animal species, there will be increasing opportunities for applications to forensic investigations. To date, however, relatively few studies have reported using DNA profiles of non-human species to place suspects at or near crime scenes. Here we describe an investigation of a double homicide of a female and her near-term fetus. Leaf material taken from a suspect's vehicle was identified to be that of sand live oak, Quercus geminata, the same tree species that occurred near a shallow grave where the victims were found. Quercus-specific DNA microsatellites were used to genotype both dried and fresh material from trees located near the burial site and from the material taken from the suspect's car. Samples from the local population of Q. geminata were also collected and genotyped in order to demonstrate that genetic variation at four microsatellite loci was sufficient to assign leaves to an individual tree with high statistical certainty. The cumulative average probability of identity for these four loci was 2.06x10(-6). DNA was successfully obtained from the dried leaf material although PCR amplification was more difficult than amplification of DNA from fresh leaves. The DNA profiles of the dried leaves from the suspect's car did not match those of the trees near the crime scene. Although this investigation did not provide evidence that could be used against the suspect, it does demonstrate the potential for plant microsatellite markers providing physical evidence that links plant materials to live plants at or near crime scenes.     

Countering the Islamic State: U.S. Counterterrorism Measures

This research note discusses the tactics and strategies of the United States to counter the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) from the onset of Operation Inherent Resolve beginning on 8 August 2014 and continuing into early 2015. Through both kinetic and non-kinetic actions, the United States and its coalition has sought to degrade and defeat ISIL. But how effective have these measures been with regard to the group's ability to maintain control over parts of the Iraqi population and territory? ISIL's fast growing affiliate network poses a unique challenge and this study suggests that the kinetic measures of Operation Inherent Resolve have weakened ISIL's tactical capabilities but U.S. efforts to stem the group's recruitment have not been as successful.     

Adolescents' experience of a life-framing decision

High school students participating in a year-long longitudinal study of the college decision-making process described their experiences in open-ended essays, and rated their reactions to the process on several different Likert scales. Students' certainty in the decision and readiness to make a decision rose over time. As the process continued, students reported increasing satisfaction with the information they had obtained, and more comfort with the process itself. However, overall levels of reported enjoyment of the process were low to moderate, and overall ratings of the stressfulness of the decision remained high. Students gave evidence of seeing this decision as a life-framing one.This project was funded by The Spencer Foundation and by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (HD-28177-R15), both to Kathleen M. Galotti. We gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Stephanie Aubry, Jessica Bresler, Laura Gibson, Julie Greene, Ruby Hou, Perrin Klumpp, Jodi Matthes, Jennifer McGregor, Nancy Michelsen, Terrance Overby, Amy Prullage, Melissa Schneider, Katherine Seiden, Daniel Simons, and Meghan Wilhelm for gathering and coding data. We also thank the principals, guidance counselors, and teachers at the cooperating schools for helping us recruits students and schedule surveys.Received a Ph.D. in psychology and an M.S.E. in computer and information sciences from the University of Pennsylvania. Current research interests include everyday reasoning and decision making, and the development of these skills.Received a Ph.D. in counseling and guidance from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Research interests are in adolescent development and adolescent psychopathology.     

On-line processing in candidate evaluation: The effects of issue order,issue importance,and sophistication

This article reports the results of a study that replicates and extends the impression-driven model of candidate evaluation reported in Lodge, McGraw, and Stroh (1989). This model holds that evaluations are formed and updated on-line as information is encountered, and that as a result, citizens need not rely on specific information available from memory to form their candidate evaluations. In the present work we explore whether the order in which information is encountered, as well as whether information that is personally important, influences the weight accorded to evidence in on-line processing. In addition, differences in information-processing strategies due to political sophistication are examined. The results indicate that important information receives more weight than unimportant information. In addition, the evidence suggests that political sophisticates are more efficient on-line processors than are less sophisticated individuals. The implications of these results for models of candidate evaluation are discussed.     

Immigrant and Refugee Workers in the Midwestern Meatpacking Industry: Industrial Restructuring and the Transformation of Rural Labor Markets

This paper examines the process of incorporation of immigrant and refugee workers into the meatpacking industry of the Midwest during a period of rapid restructuring. Immigrant and refugee workers have provided low-cost labor to meatpacking firms under pressure from both increased competition and a declining market for red meat. The search for new supplies of labor reflects fundamental changes within the industry. The dynamics of labor force recomposition in the meatpacking industry are the result of the interplay of such factors as the nature of industrial restructuring, the locally available labor supply, and programs designed to move immigrants, refugees, and the unemployed into full-time employment. This process has had differential effects on the industry, workers, the unions, and rural communities.     

“Soul Murder”: Investigating Spiritual Trauma at the Royal Commission

ABSTRACT

During its five-year tenure, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse established that faith organisations, with inadequate practices of organisational transparency and accountability, hierarchical structures of power, and patriarchal cultures, have poor track records in child protection and high levels of child abuse. Evidence from the Royal Commission hearings identified spiritual trauma as an outcome of child sexual abuse across several religious organisations including the Catholic Church, the Anglican Church, the Salvation Army, the Yeshiva Jewish School in Melbourne and Sydney and the Satyananda Ashram in NSW. The Catholic Church had the highest levels of institutional child sexual assault and was the site of most of the narratives of spiritual suffering. This article examines existing research on spiritual trauma with regard to child sexual abuse, applies a five-point classification model developed by Kenneth Pargament and colleagues for identifying and analysing spiritual damage, and examines the evidence from both survivors and expert witnesses that was heard during relevant public hearings involving the Catholic Church at the Royal Commission. Institutional responses to spiritual injury will be considered and it will be argued that the Catholic Church is a distinctive institution that has produced a powerful culture of spiritual identity and belonging, where the impact of child sexual abuse has resulted in a loss of faith for many survivors, families and communities.     

Inequalities of Redress: Australia’s National Redress Scheme for Institutional Abuse of Children

ABSTRACT

The national redress scheme proposed by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse is unique and unusual in the world of government redress. It is unique with its inclusion of both care leavers and non-care leavers (it is the only government scheme to do so), and it is unusual in focusing on sexual abuse alone (18% of government schemes do). These unique and unusual qualities come at a price for justice. Care leavers and non-care leavers are different groups with respect to their experiences of abuse and social status as child victims. Unless these group differences are explicitly recognised in guidelines for the monetary payment, care leavers will be disadvantaged. Two corrective measures are proposed: adopting an inclusive understanding of sexual abuse in closed and open settings, and addressing the negative bias that may result from care leavers’ lower social status as children compared to that of non-care leavers. Their lower status is likely to affect (that is, devalue) judgements of the severity and impact of abuse.