Exploring Risk: Potential Static,Dynamic, Protective and Treatment Factors in the Clinical Histories of Female Sex Offenders

Despite nearly a century of knowledge indicating a significant number of women engaging in sexual activities with children, the phenomenon has not yet been fully acknowledged. Recently, however, there has been a marked increase in research in this area. However, due to the relatively small numbers of detections or convictions there remains a lack of data regarding: (1) the specific clinical characteristics of female sex offenders; and (2) how these clinical factors link to re-offending and treatment need. The following study examines potential risk, protective, and treatment factors that are highlighted through the process of clinical intervention, using an adapted version of the Beech and Ward (2004) risk framework. We describe how female sex offenders typically display clinical deficits in the same risk domains as their male counterparts, while noting the ways in which these deficits manifest in this population. In addition, we compare these vulnerability factors in four established types of female sex offender.     

Cascading Bias of Initial Exposure to Information at the Crime Scene to the Subsequent Evaluation of Skeletal Remains,

Thirty‐eight participants took part in a study that investigated the potential cascading effects of initial exposure to extraneous context upon subsequent decision‐making. Participants investigated a mock crime scene, which included the excavation of clandestine burials that had a male skeletal cast dressed either in female or gender neutral clothing. This was followed by a forensic anthropological assessment of the skeletal remains, with a control group assessing the same male skeletal cast without any clothing context. The results indicated that the sex assessment was highly dependent upon the context in which participants were exposed to prior to the analysis. This was especially noticeable in the female clothing context where only one participant determined the male skeletal cast to be male. The results demonstrate the importance of understanding the role of context in forensic anthropology at an early stage of an investigation and its potential cascading effect on subsequent assessments.     

Introduction: Growing pains — China debates its international future

Liberal democracies in North America, Europe, and Japan have coalesced into a global power center with shared in-group values and a common foreign policy outlook. Despite its growing materialist capacities, China finds itself hardly closer to the great power center, perceiving itself instead condemned to the periphery and victimized by the assertion of the emerging global center. Confronted with this predicament, Chinese intellectuals and policy elites have debated over how China should relate to the world and the United States. Their answer remains uncertain, as China is still struggling to find the way out of the periphery. However, so long as it believes that the great power club is open to its membership, China will likely continue to try to live up to its self-identification as a responsible power.     

We all want it, but we don't know what it is: toward a standard of affordability for health insurance premiums

The 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (P.L. 111-148), or ACA, requires that U.S. citizens either purchase health insurance or pay a fine. To offset the financial burden for lower-income households, it also provides subsidies to ensure that health insurance premiums are affordable. However, relatively little work has been done on how such affordability standards should be set. The existing literature on affordability is not grounded in social norms and has methodological and theoretical flaws. To address these issues, we developed a series of hypothetical vignettes in which individual and household sociodemographic characteristics were varied. We then convened a panel of eighteen experts with extensive experience in affordability standards to evaluate the extent to which each vignette character could afford to pay for one of two health insurance plans. The panel varied with respect to political ideology and discipline. We find that there was considerable disagreement about how affordability is defined. There was also disagreement about what might be included in an affordability standard, with substantive debate surrounding whether savings, debt, education, or single parenthood is relevant. There was also substantial variation in experts' assessed affordability scores. Nevertheless, median expert affordability assessments were not far from those of ACA.     

Specifying Type and Location of Peer Victimization in a National Sample of Children and Youth

Much of the existing research on the prevalence and consequences of peer victimization focuses on “bullying” at school, often omitting from consideration non-bullying types of peer victimization as well as events that occur outside of school. The purpose of this study was to examine past-year exposure to peer-perpetrated victimization, occurring both within and outside of school contexts, among school-aged children in the United States. The study is based on a representative sample of 2,999 youth ages 6–17 (50% female; 45% non-white) from the 2008 National Survey of Children’s Exposure to Violence (NatSCEV). Findings revealed age, gender, race, and family structure variations in many forms of peer victimization and demonstrated significant independent and cumulative effects of six different types of peer victimization (physical assault, physical intimidation, emotional victimization, sexual victimization, property crime, and internet harassment) on trauma symptoms. Findings also showed that, although victimization at school is substantial, a considerable proportion of peer victimizations occur away from school contexts. The findings highlight the importance of comprehensive measurement of multiple forms of peer victimization that occur both at school and elsewhere, rather than focusing exclusively on traditional measures of school-focused bullying.     

Side effects: a dose of competition and access to care

The Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice 2004 report Improving Health Care: A Dose of Competition argues in favor of increasing competition among health care providers. Several of the proposals within the report, however, may pose risks for access to care. The report urges that the current system of implicit cross-subsidies for indigent care be replaced with insurance expansions that provide coverage to individuals. Such a substitution would certainly enhance access, but would be very costly and likely require considerable government intervention in the health care system. In the absence of a substantial expansion in coverage, reductions in cross-subsidies could limit access to care through the existing safety net. The report argues that insurance mandates limit access to care by driving up cost and reducing choice. In some cases, such as mental health and substance abuse, however, the unregulated market may not cover a benefit at all, leaving people with less coverage and less choice. Finally, the report stresses the importance of linking costs to quality. Such a linkage is likely to lead to a health care system in which poor people obtain poor-quality care at low prices--a result that many would find disturbing.     

The adolescent experience of pregnancy and abortion: A developmental analysis

Discernible trends in the largely inconclusive survey-oriented literature on adolescent pregnancy and abortion suggest that demographic idiosyncracies or neurotic predispositions are the significant correlates of illegitimacy. An in-depth study of a homogeneous population of 13 unwed pregnant adolescents suggests a strong developmental determinant. The experience of pregnancy and abortion is heavily determined by the stage-specific conflicts of early, middle, and late adolescence. From an analysis of interview and projective materials, three clinically and statistically significant patterns of the experience and motivation for pregnancy emerge, one for each of the three adolescent substages. It is suggested that similar developmental paradigms could be applied to a wide range of adolescent issues.This paper is based on a dissertation written in 1972 at the University of Michigan.Received Ph.D. from the University of Michigan. She is presently working at the University of Michigan Health Service as a psychologist. She plants to continue studies of problems connected with feminine adolescent development.     

Face-to-Face Confrontation: Effects of Closed-Circuit Technology on Children's Eyewitness Testimony and Jurors' Decisions

The present study was designed to examine effects of closed-circuit technology on children's testimony and jurors' perceptions of child witnesses. For the study, a series of elaborately staged mock trials was held. First, 5- to 6-year-old and 8- to 9-year-old children individually participated in a play session with an unfamiliar male confederate. Approximately 2 weeks later, children individually testified about the event at a downtown city courtroom. Mock juries composed of community recruits viewed the trials, with the child's testimony presented either live in open court or over closed-circuit television. Mock jurors made ratings concerning the child witness and the defendant, and deliberated to reach a verdict. Results indicated that overall, older children were more accurate witnesses than younger children. However, older, not younger children produced more inaccurate information in free recall. Compared to live testimony in open court, use of closed-circuit technology led to decreased suggestibility for younger children. Testifying in open court was also associated with children experiencing greater pretrial anxiety. Closed-circuit technology did not diminish factfinders' abilities to discriminate accurate from inaccurate child testimony, nor did it directly bias jurors against the defendant. However, closed-circuit testimony biased jurors against child witnesses. Moreover, jurors tended to base their impressions of witness credibility on perceived confidence and consistency. Implications for the use of closed- circuit technology when children testify are discussed.     

吴亚军“重庆女地王”身家700亿

2007年，“中国首富”从黄光裕的零售时代，到张茵的制造业时代，再转移至房地产时代。160亿元身家的世茂集团董事长许荣茂才在地产首富之席坐了半年，就被碧桂园的杨氏家族全面超越，杨慧妍更获《新财富》杂志授以“中国女首富”之冠。然而，这仅仅是新一轮中国地产首富争夺战的开始。