A Need for Training: Preparing Juvenile and Family Court Judges on Military‐Related Issues

This brief report presents a study undertaken to better understand the training needs of judicial officers related to military issues. A snowball sample of judicial officers and court‐affiliated stakeholders were asked to identify the most critical training topics regarding military issues in juvenile and family court, as well as rate the importance of 13 potential training topics. The highest rated training topics for judicial officers (N = 129) were the (1) Welfare of spouses and children, (2) Protocols to consider when selecting kinship care for children of deployed parents, (3) Mental and physical health consequences of military service and deployment, (4) Reporting standards regarding Intimate Partner Violence or Family Violence, as well as implications for civil case investigation, and (5) Education support for children of deployed parents. Findings suggest a desire in the field for specific training on a multitude of issues related to serving/veteran men and women, spouses, and dependents. Recommendations for such trainings are discussed.     

The Effect of Competency Restoration Training on Defendants with Mental Retardation Found Not Competent to Proceed

The present investigation focused on the reevaluations of competency to stand trial (CST) of 75 criminal defendants with mental retardation (MR) who were originally found incompetent and who were referred for treatment. The effect of competency restoration training was examined. Site of training was also investigated. Because habilitation facilities are specially designed to help individuals with MR, it was suspected that training at habilitation centers would have a greater effect on restoration of defendants with MR than the training at state hospitals. Results showed that significantly more defendants did not gain competency following training than those who did. Analysis revealed that (a) higher IQ and (b) being African American rather than Caucasian American were predictive of restoration. When discriminating factors were held constant, site of training did not significantly affect competency restoration. Possible explanations for this finding were discussed.     

Cultural Orientation as a Protective Factor Against Tobacco and Marijuana Smoking for African American Young Women

The present study examined cultural orientation as a protective factor against tobacco and marijuana smoking for African American young women (ages 18 to 25). African American college students (N=145) from a predominantly White university were administered subscales from the African American Acculturation Scale-Revised (AAAS-R); the shortened Individualism/Collectivism (INDCOL) Scale; a Tobacco and Drug Use Survey; and a background survey. Multiple logistic regression was conducted using cultural orientation variables as predictors and smoking status (i.e., tobacco and marijuana) as the criterion. It was expected that young women who endorsed traditional African American cultural characteristics (i.e., religious beliefs, health, family values, and socialization) and were collectivistic in their community (i.e., cultural interdependency) and familial (i.e., familial interdependency) interactions would be less likely to smoke. Results show that traditional religious beliefs and practice was protective against tobacco smoking for this sample of young women. Familial interdependency (e.g., supportive exchanges between friends, and consultation and sharing with parents), and traditional religious beliefs and practices surfaced as protective factors against marijuana smoking. Traditional health beliefs and practices was a risk factor for both tobacco and marijuana smoking. The implications signal the need for smoking prevention and cessation programs to focus on interpersonal factors which may strengthen African American young women’s religious and familial bonding. Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA. Dr. Nasim also serves as affiliate research professor in the Center for Cultural Experiences in Prevention (CCEP), Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA. He received his Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from Howard University, Washington, DC. His primary research interests focus on the etiology of substance use behaviors among African Americans Professor of Psychology at Virginia Commonwealth University, and Director of the Center for Cultural Experiences in Prevention (CCEP). She received her Ph.D. from the University of Maryland. Her research and programmatic efforts focus on the role of culture, community, and context in psychological, physical, and social outcomes among African Americans Assistant Professor at Virginia Commonwealth University. She received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of California, Los Angeles. Her major research interests focus on minority youth adjustment, adolescent sexual health, and families affected by HIV/AIDS. Associate Professor at Virginia Commonwealth University in the Department of Psychology. He received his Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from Fordham University. His research interest is in the area of African American culture and mental health. Institute for Innovative Health & Human Services at James Madison University. She received her B.S. in Psychology from James Madison University. Her research focuses on school-based interventions for adolescents.     

Explaining Sibling Similarities: Perceptions of Sibling Influences

This study examined older siblings’ influence on their younger brothers and sisters by assessing the connections between youth's perceptions of sibling influence and sibling similarities in four domains: Risky behavior, peer competence, sports interests, and art interests. Participants included two adolescent-age siblings (firstborn age M=17.34; second-born age M=14.77) from 191 maritally intact families. Analyses revealed that second-borns’ perceptions of influence were positively linked to siblings’ reports of intimacy and temporal involvement, but not to reports of negativity. Further, sibling similarities were most evident when younger siblings reported sibling influence and when their older brothers and sisters reported high engagement, competence, or interest in a particular domain. Discussion focuses on the challenges of documenting sibling influence and the need to refine its measurement. Shawn D. Whiteman is an Assistant Professor of Child Development and Family Studies at Purdue University. He received his Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Studies from The Pennsylvania State University. His major research interests include how siblings directly and indirectly act as sources of social influence and social comparison within families and how their family experiences foster similarities and differences in their relationship qualities, attributes, and adjustment. Susan M. McHale is a Professor of Human Development and Family Studies at The Pennsylvania State University. She received her Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her major research interests focus on children's and adolescents’ family roles, relationships and activities with a particular emphasis on gendered family dynamics and youth's sibling relationship experiences. Ann C. Crouter is a Professor of Human Development and Family Studies at The Pennsylvania State University. She received her Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Studies from Cornell University. Her major research interests focus on the implications of parents’ work situations for parents’ and children's health, psychological development, and family relationships.     

Alternative dispute resolution: An international approach

Book reviews in this article:
Hein Kdtz and Reynald Ottenhof , eds., Les Conciliateurs, La Conciliation .
Jerold Auerbach , Justice Without Law .
Michard L. Abel , ed., The Politics of Informal Justice, Volume 2: Comparative Studies .     

Policy voting in U.S. House primaries

ABSTRACT

This paper uses exit surveys of voters in four House primaries to ask how well voters are able to use primaries for the purpose of giving policy direction to their congressional parties. The surveys found that nearly half of voters could not recall the names of any candidate and that 11% were uncertain or could not recall for whom they had just voted. The surveys also found that nearly 40% of voters could not offer a political evaluation – that is, a like or dislike having political content – about any candidate, and that fewer than a quarter could offer political evaluations of as many as two candidates. The surveys found no evidence of policy-motivated voting in three of the four primaries, but substantial evidence of it in one. Yet even in that one race, voters split their support among three candidates sharing majority voter opinion on the key election issue and thereby opened the way for nomination of a candidate not sharing majority opinion. The paper concludes from this evidence that voters in these House primaries, and probably more widely, made little use of them for the purpose of giving policy direction to their parties.     

The detection of hydromorphone in urine specimens with high morphine concentrations

A previous study suggested that small amounts of morphine are metabolically converted to hydromorphone. In the present study, morphine positive urine specimens obtained from a postmortem laboratory and a random urinalysis program were tested for morphine, codeine, hydromorphone, hydrocodone, oxymorphone, and oxycodone to assess the possibility that small amounts of hydromorphone are produced from the metabolism of morphine. The opioids were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry as their respective trimethylsilyl derivatives following solid phase extraction. The limit of detection for hydromorphone was 5 ng/mL. A total of 73 morphine positive urine specimens were analyzed, with morphine concentrations ranging from 131 to 297,000 ng/mL. Hydromorphone was present at a concentration > or =5 ng/mL in 36 of these specimens at concentrations ranging from 0.02% to 12% of the morphine concentration. Hydrocodone was not detected in these specimens at the assay detection limit of 25 ng/mL. These results support earlier work suggesting that the detection of hydromorphone in urine specimens does not necessarily mean that exogenous hydromorphone or hydrocodone was used.     

The thin blue line in schools: New evidence on school-based policing across the U.S.

U.S. public school students increasingly attend schools with sworn law enforcement officers present. Yet little is known about how these school resource officers (SROs) affect school environments or student outcomes. Our study uses a fuzzy regression discontinuity (RD) design with national school-level data from 2014 to 2018 to estimate the impacts of SRO placement. We construct this discontinuity based on the application scores for federal school-based policing grants of linked police agencies. We find that SROs effectively reduce some forms of violence in schools, but do not prevent gun-related incidents. We also find that SROs intensify the use of suspension, expulsion, police referral, and arrest of students. These increases in disciplinary and police actions are consistently largest for Black students, male students, and students with disabilities.     

Parental Differential Treatment of Siblings and Adolescents’ Health-Related Behaviors: The Moderating Role of Personality

Youth who receive comparatively poorer parental treatment than a sibling are at risk for maladaptive behaviors in a variety of domains, but research has yet to examine links with adolescents’ health-related behaviors nor consider how those links may vary based on adolescents’ personality traits, namely conscientiousness and agreeableness. Two siblings (n?=?590 adolescents; 53% female; M_age?=?15.86, SD?=?1.73) from 295 families reported on their differential conflict and closeness with their fathers and mothers as well as on their personality, sleep habits, exercise habits, and general health habits. Multilevel modeling revealed that, generally, the less conscientious adolescents had better health habits when they had comparatively warmer relationships with their mothers. Less conscientiousness adolescents may be less distressed by inequality in the family, and thus may experience positive effects of relatively better treatment.

     

Using Appreciative Inquiry to Engage the Citizenry: Four Potential Challenges for Public Administrators

In the United States, calls for new citizen engagement strategies have continued to grow at the local government level. One answer is Appreciative Inquiry. As part of a larger study conducted in 2007, the question was posed to public administrators, “What challenges do you see regarding using an Appreciative Inquiry approach to increase citizen participation in local government?” Findings based on a content analysis of the data identified four challenges in particular. Discussion suggests public managers need to be aware of these challenges but depending on local conditions they can be mitigated or overcome.