The changing legal environment of the juvenile court

The American juvenile court is in a state of legal flux. From its informal beginning in English chancery law, to its formal inception in the United States in 1899, the court has been exposed to a number of diverse, competing pressures. Since the Supreme Court case of In re Gault in the mid-1960’s, the whole underpinnings of the juvenile court have been so shaken that one must now ask whether or not the last vestiges of parens patriae have been swept away. If this is indeed the case, America should now seek alternatives to the present system of juvenile adjudication —for the sake of the child and for the sake of justice.     

Re-evaluating the “good old days”: A study of dade county homicides, 1917–1982

Most citizens mistakenly believe that violence in the 1980’s is greater than it has ever been and yearn for the “good o1′ days” when society was peaceful and less violent. This study examines historical trends in the level of violent death (homicide, suicide and accident) in Dade County from 1917 to 1982 and compares those trends with other counties in Florida and the U.S. as a whole. The study utilized data from death certificates and from accounts of homicides in the Miami Herald. Results indicate that the two peak periods of violence were 1925–6 and 1980. However, the level of violence was five times higher (for homicides, suicides and accidents combined) in 1925–6 than in 1980. The homicide and accident peaks in 1925–6 were not limited to Dade County, as all counties in South Florida (and other Florida counties to a lessor extent) experienced the same peak in 1925–6. Though the level of homicide was higher in 1925–6, there was no difference in pattern of homicides for the 1925–6 and 1980 periods. It appears that all types of homicides were greater during the 1925–6 period. The explanation for the inordinate level of violent death in 1925–6 includes a focus on the stress created by the land boom, the “bust”, and the hurricane. The 1980 peak in homicides is partially accounted for by the Mariel boatlift, the riot of May, 1980, and the general crisis atmosphere brought on by these events and the rapidly increasing overall crime rate.     

The feasibility of external blind DNA proficiency testing. I. Background and findings

We describe the origins, purposes, and findings of a national study to determine whether a large-scale program of blind proficiency testing in U.S. DNA laboratories is feasible and/or practical. Proficiency testing in clinical laboratories is reviewed, particularly as mandated by the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Acts and its role in the regulation of those laboratories. Proficiency testing in forensic urine drug testing labs is also briefly reviewed. Studies involving comparisons between open and blind proficiency testing are discussed. The clinical laboratory proficiency testing and regulation landscape provides the background for the DNA Act of 1994, and the congressional mandate to investigate blind proficiency testing in forensic DNA laboratories. Four models of blind proficiency testing are defined and discussed, along with the advantages and disadvantages of each and estimates of the costs of a large-scale program. The purposes of proficiency testing in a quality-assurance context are likewise discussed and related to the models and the arguments generally proffered for and against blind vs. open proficiency testing.     

Revictimization and self-harm in females who experienced childhood sexual abuse: results from a prospective study

Lifetime trauma histories were ascertained for females with confirmed histories of childhood sexual abuse and comparison females participating in a longitudinal, prospective study. Abused participants reported twice as many subsequent rapes or sexual assaults (p = .07), 1.6 times as many physical affronts including domestic violence (p = .01), almost four times as many incidences of self-inflicted harm (p = .002), and more than 20% more subsequent, significant lifetime traumas (p = .04) than did comparison participants. Sexual revictimization was positively correlated with posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms (PTSD), peritraumatic dissociation, and sexual preoccupation. Physical revictimization was positively correlated with PTSD symptoms, pathological dissociation, and sexually permissive attitudes. Self-harm was positively correlated with both peritraumatic and pathological dissociation. Competing theoretical explanations for revictimization and self-harm are discussed and evaluated.     

Bioterrorism, Fear, and Public Health Reform: Matching a Policy Solution to the Wrong Window

During the 1990s, terrorist actions using biological weapons and the fear that rogue states possessed such weapons placed bioterrorism on the political agenda, a policy window widened by the September 11 attacks. Advocates for improving the U.S. public health infrastructure attempted to use this window to obtain the resources necessary for modernization. This article examines those efforts and identifies significant problems arising from a mismatch between the goals of public health policy entrepreneurs and the policy window used to address them. By defining bioterrorism as a security rather than a public health issue, policy entrepreneurs squander the opportunity to institute broad-based reforms that would improve not only the ability to manage a terrorist incident, but also meet other public health needs. The bioterrorism program proves a useful case study in how the goals of policy entrepreneurs can be displaced by attaching policy preferences to the wrong policy stream.