Are There Ethnic Differences in Levels of Psychopathy? A Meta-Analysis

Although considerable research on psychopathy has been conducted over the past 30 years, relatively few studies have examined key issues related to potential ethnic differences in this constellation of socially maladaptive personality traits. Given recent sociopolitical and scientific developments, an issue of considerable debate is whether Black individuals possess "more" traits of psychopathy than do Whites. To address this issue, a meta-analysis of differences between these groups' scores on the Psychopathy Checklist--Revised (PCL-R; Hare, 1991) was performed, using 21 studies (N = 8,890) of correctional, substance abuse, and psychiatric samples. Blacks exceeded Whites by an average of less than 1 point on the PCL-R total score. Effect sizes for core interpersonal and affective traits of psychopathy (Factor 1) were sufficiently homogeneous to clearly interpret, although other features manifested statistically significant heterogeneity. Our finding that Blacks and Whites do not meaningfully differ in their levels of core psychopathic traits is consistent with community-based findings for self-report measures of psychopathy and clinical diagnoses of antisocial personality disorder.     

The Effects of a Police/Victim Assistance Crisis Team Approach to Domestic Violence

A police/victim assistance crisis intervention program was evaluated over a 6-month period for its effect on police-related outcomes. Police report data on crisis team cases (N = 96) were compared to a random selection of family violence cases (N = 80) that were not served by the crisis team. The crisis team cases generated more arrests; however, victim cooperation was lower than in noncrisis intervention cases. Implications for work with family violence and victim assistance are discussed, as well as needs for future research.     

Planes, Trains and Automobiles: The Impact of the WTO 'Court' on Canada in its First Ten Years

Observers interested in the nature and scope of judicial policy-makingtraditionally focused on the extent to which domestic courtsshaped national policy arrangements. With the emergence of morerobust international tribunals, however, many are raising questionsabout the degree to which foreign judges are influencing domesticlegal regimes. This project addresses one corner of this debateby analysing the impact of the WTO ‘court’ on Canada.The legal challenges have provoked considerable controversyas the country has lost, either in whole or in part, each casebrought against it. Moreover, there has been widespread publicconcern about these disputes as many have involved significantsocial issues. Yet despite the country’s successive defeatsbefore the WTO ‘court’, the policy impact of thetrade tribunal has been relatively modest. Contrary to suggestions,the WTO dispute settlement mechanism has not superimposed someform of neo-liberal order on the Canadian state via its judicialdecision-making process.     

Conducting Research on Counties in the 21st Century: A New Agenda and Database Considerations

Given local, regional, national, and global events of the last few years and the ever-increasing service roles and expectations of county governments, American counties warrant greater scholarly attention. To guide researchers, the research agenda published in this journal 15 years ago has been refined and expanded. This 11-point agenda includes fiscal capacity and responsibility; the role of structure, politics, and political participation; intergovernmental relations and networking; professionalism; service delivery; environmental issues; population changes; managing conflict and promoting integration; terrorism and security; information technology; and economic development. In addition, five database concerns and needs that pose significant challenges to researchers are identified and presented for consideration.     

Increasing the transparency of stated choice studies for policy analysis: Designing experiments to produce raw response graphs

We believe a lack of transparency undermines both the credibility of, and interest in, stated choice studies among policy makers. Unlike articles reporting the results of contingent valuation studies, papers in the stated choice literature rarely present simple tabulations of raw response data (that is, a table or graph showing the percentage of respondents agreeing to purchase a good or service, or vote for a proposed management plan as a function of price). We describe an approach for adding “policy” tasks to a standard orthogonal‐in‐attribute‐levels research design that allows the researcher to plot raw responses as a function of changes in only one characteristic of the offered good or service. We demonstrate this approach using data from a stated choice study of private demand for cholera and typhoid vaccines in Kolkata, India, carried out in the summer of 2004. © 2006 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.     

Assessing the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency: An Evaluation of a Court‐Based Delinquency Prevention Program

In 2002, the State of Ohio mandated juvenile courts to provide prevention for at‐risk youth. This study examined official court records to evaluate the effectiveness of a prevention program administered by the Greene County Juvenile Court. A sample of 362 youth referred to the program for the years 2002 to 2009 by concerned caretakers, teachers, and police was analyzed. Consistent with intake goals, 81.7% of clients were referred for at‐risk but not actually delinquent behaviors. Completion of the prevention program did not predict future court referrals, but neither did seriousness of referral behavior. Children with two biological parents were significantly more likely to complete the program, whereas referrals to Strengthening Families Program and substance abuse screening significantly predicted program noncompletion. Implications for policy and research are discussed.

Key Points for the Family Court Community:
• This article highlights efforts by county juvenile court to implement a secondary prevention program for at‐risk but not officially court‐referred youth.
• Delinquency prevention research depends on good juvenile court data and adequate comparison groups.
• Evidence‐based predelinquent interventions with external process and outcome evaluations should be the standard.