Why are highly informed citizens sceptical of referenda?

Past work on attitudes toward the use of referenda finds that the most politically informed citizens are more sceptical of its use than their less informed counterparts. An intriguing tension presents itself in that those citizens who may be best equipped for referendum voting, the highly informed and politically sophisticated, are the least likely to support the use of this tool of direct democracy. Using data from Canadian Election Studies, we consider three explanations for relative referenda scepticism among political sophisticates. Our analyses provide evidence to support a confidence in government explanation and a concern for minority rights explanation, but not an incompetent public explanation – a curious finding considering the centrality of citizen competence in the theoretical literature on referenda.     

A Comparative Test of Clinical Judgment Versus Actuarial Prediction of Future Violence

This study tested how graduate level psychology graduate students (n = 20) using the Adapted Violence Risk Appraisal Guide (Adapted VRAG) would do relative to practicing psychologists/psychiatrists (n = 16) using clinical judgment when predicting violence in 10 narratives from the MacArthur Violence Risk Assessment study (Monahan et al., The MacArthur violence risk assessment study. . Retrieved 10 Oct 2005). Results indicated that the practicing psychologists/psychiatrists made significantly more correct predictions than the master’s level students. The professional group demonstrated sensitivity levels of 77.7% and specificity of 96.3%. For the use of the adapted VRAG method by the graduate student group, specificity levels were modest at 54.0%. Sensitivity levels, however, were lower than earlier demonstrated levels at 58.0%. These findings are at variance with earlier reports comparing clinical and actuarial methods. The results may reflect the short amount of time the master’s level students were trained using the Adapted VRAG as well as the small number of participants in this study. Additional research comparing other professions is recommended, as well as examining if experience in the forensics field would affect one’s ability to predict violence.     

Toward a Balanced Approach: Defining Police Roles in Responding to Domestic Violence

Responding to domestic violence poses unique challenges to law enforcement officers. Prior research has focused on issues such as officer safety and arrest policies but overlooked a critical component—the officers’ perception of their role in responding to domestic violence incidents. This study explores how police officers define their roles through the use of focus group interviews with detectives assigned to a domestic violence unit. Findings include the identification of three role perspectives. Recommendations for a more balanced approach of these role perspectives in responding to domestic violence crimes through the use of more effective training, supervision, and evaluation are proposed.     

Wanted and Unwanted Sexual Experiences and Family Dysfunction During Adolescence

The goal of this study was to examine the relationship between family dysfunction and wanted, unwanted, and illegal sexual experiences that occurred during childhood and adolescence. Three hundred fifty-three subjects from a sexual abuse clinic, a family practice clinic, and a family planning clinic anonymously completed a survey on childhood sexual experiences and physical violence, family substance abuse, violence toward others, and family quality. Overall, 50% had had unwanted (USE) and wanted sexual experiences (WSE) before they turned 18. Subjects in the sexual abuse clinic had the highest percentage (90%) of unwanted or illegal sexual experiences, followed by the family planning subjects (40%) and the family practice subjects (30%). Both USE and WSE were related to family dysfunction scores, even when they were controlled for demographic influences. Family dysfunction scores were highest for those who reported USE and legal WSE and were lowest for those who reported no USE or WSE.     

Test of an alternative method for determining sex from the os coxae: applications for modern Americans

A recently proposed method for determining sex from the os coxae reports a 98% success rate using European collections. The purposes of the present study are to (1) evaluate the success rate of this proposed method using modern American os coxae from different population subgroups; (2) compare the success rate of the new method with that obtained using traditional techniques; and (3) determine replicability of the new method and interobserver error. Eight hundred and seventy-six adult left os coxae were independently evaluated by both authors. Summary statistics for sex classifications were calculated for the total sample and for a random sample of 400 individuals. The impact of sex and ancestry on the success of each method was calculated on the random sample using Pearson's chi2 values. Results demonstrate that for modern American os coxae, neither sex nor race have a significant impact on the success rate for either the new or traditional methods (p < 0.01). Additionally, the success rate of the new method is comparable with that obtained using traditional techniques. Finally, interobserver error using the new method for overall sex determination is low.     

Reintegrating seriously violent and personality-disordered offenders from a supermaximum security institution into the general offender population

Offenders who have committed serious violent acts while incarcerated are often segregated and housed in supermaximum security facilities. Given the highly restricted regime under which they are detained, it is often difficult to decide if they are safe enough to be discharged. However, there is a need to reintegrate them into the general offender population in a lower security institution for humane, correctional, and financial reasons. We propose a transitional strategy to facilitate their reintegration by way of a maximum-security step-down treatment-oriented facility within which both their security requirements and treatment needs could be adequately met. The present study reports the results of such an approach. More than 80% of the offenders (n = 31) were reintegrated into a lower-security facility without relapsing and being returned to the supermaximum institutions within a follow-up period of 20 months. They also have lower institutional offense rate postreintegration compared to prereintegration.