The relationship between psychosocial maturity and assertiveness in males and females

The relationship between psychosocial maturity (psychological health) and assertiveness was investigated in a sample of United States college males and females. Results revealed a moderately high positive relationship between psychosocial maturity (PSM) and self-reported assertiveness on the Rathus and Galassi scales for both sexes. This relationship was slightly stronger (in terms of variance accounted for) for males than females, significant differences being obtained for Intimacy on the Rathus scale and PSM and Intimacy on the Galassi scale. Multiple regression analyses revealed that the personality components most consistently accounting for major portions of the variance in predicting male assertiveness scores on both the Rathus Assertiveness Schedule and the College Self-Expression Scale were Intimacy and Initiative, while in predicting female assertiveness, only Initiative was involved. The findings were related to previous research, recent work on the androgyny construct (instrumental vs. expressive behaviors), and exhortations for increased cooperation between schools of psychotherapy to establish it as a more unified discipline.Received his Ph.D. from Syracuse University in 1971. He has also been a Post-Doctoral Fellow in Clinical-Community Psychology at the University of South Carolina and a Clinical Psychologist at the Behavioral Medicine Unit of St. Joseph's Hospital- McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Current research interests include personality moderators of social cognition and self-concept theory.Received his Ph.D. in Psychology from Northern Illinois University in 1972. Current research interests include personality moderators of social cognition and behavior change, and psychological assessment.     

The social,behavioral, and health effects of phencyclidine (PCP) use

This study examined the perceived social, behavioral, and health effects of phencyclidine (PCP) use among a sample of 200 users in northern California. The study population, generated through snowball sampling techniques, included heavy chronic, light chronic, and recreational users; the vast majority of subjects were not in treatment facilities. Subjects reported that PCP use—particularly long-term, extensive use—resulted in frequent disruption of education and employment, impairment of relationships with parents and with lovers or spouses, involvement with the criminal justice system, and deterioration of physical and mental health. These findings provide systematic documentation of the extent to which problems previously associated with PCP use occurred among this population of users. In addition, the results illustrate the importance of examining the effects of PCP use in light of the psychosocial developmental processes of adolescence and early adulthood.This research was supported by Research Grant No. DA02293 from the National Institute on Drug Abuse.Received M.S. in psychology from California State University, Hayward.Received Ph.D. from University of Iowa.     

Review essay / the scope and limits of police ethics

John Kleinig, The Ethics of Policing Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996. viii + 335pp.     

A novel histological technique for distinguishing between epithelial cells in forensic casework

There are a number of forensic cases in which the identification of the epithelial cell type from which DNA originated would provide important probative evidence. This study aimed to develop a technique using histological staining of fixed cells to distinguish between skin, buccal and vaginal epithelium. First, 11 different stains were screened on formalin-fixed, wax-embedded cells from five women. Samples were analysed qualitatively by examining staining patterns (colour) and morphology (absence or presence of nuclei). Three of the staining methods – Dane's, Csaba's and Ayoub-Shklar – were successful in distinguishing skin epithelial cells from buccal and vaginal. Second, cells were smeared directly onto slides, fixed with one of five fixatives and stained with one of the three stains mentioned above. Methanol fixation, coupled with the Dane's staining method, specific to keratin, was the only technique that distinguished between all three cell types. Skin cells stained magenta, red and orange and lacked nuclei; buccal cells stained predominantly orange–pink with red nuclei; while vaginal cells stained bright orange with orange nuclei and a blue extracellular hue. This staining pattern in vaginal cells was consistent in samples collected from 50 women aged between 18 and 67. Identification of cell type from unlabelled micrographs by 10 trained observers showed a mean success rate of 95%. The results of this study demonstrate that histological staining may provide forensic scientists with a technique for distinguishing between skin, buccal and vaginal epithelial cells and thus would enable more conclusive analyses when investigating sexual assault cases.     

Managing incidental findings in human subjects research: analysis and recommendations.

No consensus yet exists on how to handle incidental findings (IFs) in human subjects research. Yet empirical studies document IFs in a wide range of research studies, where IFs are findings beyond the aims of the study that are of potential health or reproductive importance to the individual research participant. This paper reports recommendations of a two-year project group funded by NIH to study how to manage IFs in genetic and genomic research, as well as imaging research. We conclude that researchers have an obligation to address the possibility of discovering IFs in their protocol and communications with the IRB, and in their consent forms and communications with research participants. Researchers should establish a pathway for handling IFs and communicate that to the IRB and research participants. We recommend a pathway and categorize IFs into those that must be disclosed to research participants, those that may be disclosed, and those that should not be disclosed.