The influence of perceptions of social disorder and victimization on business owners' decisions to use guardianship strategies

Using social disorganization, broken windows, and routine activities theories as guides, this study considered how perceptions of crime in the neighborhood influenced business owners' decisions on the use of various crime prevention (guardianship) strategies. The analysis revealed that perceptions of a crime problem were influenced by the presence of disorder. Drug offenses and vandalism were particularly tied to disorder with drug offenses more often related to guardianship strategies than other offenses. In addition, several strategies were used as prevention measures counter-intuitively for crimes not affected by these strategies, suggesting the need for increased awareness and training for business owners on effective guardianship strategies.     

Challenges responding to sexual violence: Differences between college campuses and communities

To increase understanding about the response to sexual assault, five focus group interviews were conducted with community-based sexual assault workers as well as officials affiliated with colleges and universities throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia. Attention was given to the differences in collaboration challenges confronted by those serving college students and those serving the general population. Results suggested that while the needs of the two types of workers are similar, the types of collaboration challenges confronted varied according to the cultural and spatial dynamics of each setting. College campus sexual assault workers confronted one set of obstacles, while community-based workers confronted a different set. Ways to address these challenges are considered. Implications focus on the development of protocol, increased funding, and collaborative training.     

Patterns of substance involvement and criminal behavior: a gender-based cluster analysis of Pennsylvania arrestees

Recent drug-crime scholarship has underscored the importance of conducting disaggregated research that focuses on the consistencies and variations between subcategories of drug misuse and criminal activity and, further, how these associations may vary across sociodemographic and cultural boundaries. The research presented in this article used cluster analysis to independently classify male and female arrestees based on their arrest charges and substance-specific indicators of initiation, use, dependence, and treatment need. The data come from Pennsylvania's Substance Abuse and Need for Treatment Among Arrestees study conducted as part of the State Treatment Needs Assessment Program. Five groups were identified in both the male and female cluster analyses. The results reveal both important differences and strong similarities in the drug-crime typologies of male and female arrestees. Given these findings, implications are discussed for developing and targeting responsive treatment services that match the particular risks and needs of drug-involved offenders.     

Women in the Czech Republic: Feminism, Czech Style

Many years after the Velvet Revolution, feminism remains close to a dirty word in the Czech Republic, even among women who share the views of Western feminists. Surprisingly, this may in part hark back to the negative views of bourgeois feminism propounded by the Communists. Equally surprising is the very high proportion of women who are employed, almost all of them full-time, although they continue to do the lion's share of homemaking. This strategy enables Czech women to have a high sense of personal efficacy and independence. This paper emphasizes the historical roots of women's position in Czech society, and the importance of the cultural and social context for the emergence of what we term Feminism, Czech Style.     

A further study to investigate the detection and enhancement of latent fingerprints using visible absorption and luminescence chemical imaging

This study investigated the application of chemical imaging to the detection of latent fingerprints using the Condor macroscopic chemical imaging system (ChemImage Corp., Pittsburgh, USA). Methods were developed and optimised for the visualisation of untreated latent fingerprints and fingerprints processed with DFO, ninhydrin, cyanoacrylate, and cyanoacrylate plus rhodamine 6G stain. The results obtained with chemical imaging were compared to the detection achieved using conventional imaging techniques. The Condor significantly improved the detection of many prints, especially those that might be considered poor quality or borderline prints. Prints on newspaper treated with ninhydrin and DFO, and prints on white and yellow paper treated with ninhydrin, benefited the most from chemical imaging detection. In many cases, fingerprints undetectable using conventional imaging techniques could be visualised with chemical imaging. Ridge detail from untreated prints on yellow paper was also detected using the Condor. When prints of high quality were examined, both detection techniques produced quality results. The results of this project demonstrate that chemical imaging offers advantages over conventional visualisation techniques when examining latent fingerprints, especially those that would be considered difficult, such as weak prints or prints on surfaces that produce highly luminescent backgrounds. Standard testing procedures for the detection and enhancement of fingerprints by chemical imaging are presented and discussed.     

What we know and what we still need to learn

Research has changed the conceptualization of the causes and consequences of violence. Yet some questions remain unanswered. Infants and young children have largely been overlooked, and intraethnic and cultural group variations have not been addressed. There is still a need to address macro-level systematic discrimination in the health care system along with the intrapersonal physiological changes that result from exposure to violence. Fortunately, studies are beginning to show how longitudinal and intervention research can be safely conducted.     

Parental Predictors of Motivational Orientation in Early Adolescence: A Longitudinal Study

Using latent variable path analysis with partial least squares (LVPLS), the study examines the pathways between parenting practices and children's motivational orientation toward school work over the transition to middle school. Greater external control and lack of guidance by parents in the 5th-grade year were related to children's poorer academic achievement that year, which in turn predicted a more extrinsic motivational orientation in 7th grade. In contrast, greater parental autonomy-supporting behavior in the 5th-grade year was related to children's higher academic achievement that year, which in turn predicted a more intrinsic motivational orientation in 7th grade. In all instances, children's perceptions of their academic competence mediated the relation between 5th-grade academic performance and 7th-grade motivational orientation. Associate Professor, Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine. Her current research focuses on anxiety and depression in childhood.