SANE/SART Services for Sexual Assault Victims: Policy Implications

A study of 530 sexual assault cases from three jurisdictions tested the efficacy of sexual assault nurse examiner/sexual assault response team (SANE/SART) programs as a tool in the criminal justice system. Policy implications from the findings recommend a SANE training curriculum for the rape examination and biological evidence collection; SANE/SART programs for a multidisciplinary effort in the investigation and prosecution of cases, alternative disposition for cases whereby the victim and offender know each other, and a risk management plan for combating recidivism.     

CHILD-CENTERED, VERTICALLY STRUCTURED, AND INTERDISCIPLINARY

This paper will describe the genesis and philosophy of the Center for Children's Policy. Practice and Research at the University of Pennsylvania (CCPPR), a joint project of the Schools of Law, Medicine and Social Work. The mission of CCPPR was to mobilize the resources of all disciplines engaged in childhood issues across the campus to seek innovative solutions for the crises facing America's children. CCPPR seeks to combine clinical practice, research, and policy in a vertical structure that would maintain linkages at all stages of scholarship, practice, and reform. Five essential structural factors were that the project must be: (a) vertically integrated; (b) interdisciplinary; (c) team-based; (d) child-centered and (e) developmentally informed. This paper can serve as a template for developing similar centers or projects, and will describe our methods, the projects we have undertaken, as well as the pitfalls and challenges of this highly demanding integrative approach.     

Dieulafoy lesion of the esophagus causing massive upper gastrointestinal bleeding and death: a case report

Dieulafoy lesion is a rare cause of upper gastrointestinal bleeding. We present a case report of sudden and unexpected death in a previously healthy male where autopsy revealed a classic Dieulafoy lesion with a submucosal artery protruding through a small mucosal defect in the esophagus, thereby exposing it to stress and consequent rupture. Advances in endoscopic techniques have drastically reduced mortality from Dieulafoy lesion. Nevertheless, it is an important diagnosis to be kept in mind when autopsy reveals an upper gastrointestinal bleeding.     

Lethal esophageal rupture following treatment with Sengstaken-Blakemore Tube in management of variceal bleeding: A 10-year autopsy study

The possible causal link between damage to the heart and acute pancreatitis and other pancreatic diseases has been considered in both adults and children, particularly in cases of sudden, unexpected death. However, the cardiac pathological findings so far reported in the literature are neither specific enough, nor of a kind to prove a direct pancreatic pathogenesis. We describe the occurrence of steatonecrosis developed in areas of lipomatous infiltration of the heart following acute exacerbation of latent chronic pancreatitis. The presence of mature adipocytes in the myocardium is an adequate substrate for the pancreatic lipase to give rise to the steatonecrosis, which is a well-known marker of acute pancreatitis. As far as we are aware, this is the first reported case of heart steatonecrosis in the literature.     

The generalized instructional set of the Criminal Attribution Inventory (CRAI): socially desirable responding and faking

Accurate assessment of criminal attributions can assist in explaining crime and identifying offender treatment targets. The current study examines the relationship between a new method of assessing the cognition of criminal attributes, the Criminal Attribution Inventory (CRAI) and a measure of socially desirable responding. 300 participants including incarcerated offenders, released offenders, sex offenders, and university students participated in the current study. Results indicate minimal relationships between socially desirable responding and the CRAI. In a fake-good testing situation, the faking index had appropriate sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive power in identifying fake-good responses. The CRAI's instructional set of general observation as opposed to self-representation appears to limit socially desirable responding and also allows the CRAI to be administered to nonoffender populations.     

Debt,Incarceration, and Re-entry: a Scoping Review

American Journal of Criminal Justice - People involved with the criminal justice system in the United States are disproportionately low-income and indebted. The experience of incarceration...     

Validation of the Child Sexual Abuse Knowledge Questionnaire

A validation study of the Child Sexual Abuse Knowledge Questionnaire (CSA-KQ) was conducted on a sample of 1712 non-empanelled jurors in the greater Sydney area, Australia. The CSA-KQ contains nine items derived from empirical findings on common misconceptions about typical features of abuse offences, children’s responses to child sexual abuse, and their ability to give reliable evidence. Study 1 tested the factor structure of the questionnaire in a sample of 843 non-empanelled jurors. The best model indicated by exploratory factor analysis had two factors: the Impact of Sexual Abuse on Children and Contextual Influences on the Report. Study 2 cross-validated the findings and tested the predictive validity of the CSA-KQ in a realistic simulated trial in which an 11-year-old complainant alleged abuse by her grandfather. Confirmatory factor analysis replicated the findings of Study 1, showing strong reliability for each of the factors (ρ_y?=?0.70 to ρ_y?=?0.80) and for the CSA-KQ (ρ_y?=?0.76). CSA-KQ scores were significantly correlated with the perceived credibility of the complainant (r?=?0.23). Moreover, the CSA-KQ scores predicted verdict: jurors with greater knowledge about CSA were more likely to convict the defendant than jurors who knew less about CSA.