Nobody trusts them! Under- and over-policing Native American Communities

Interviews with 278 Native Americans from seven states, and representing eight American Indian nations have revealed startling patterns of racial violence against this community. In part, this may be accounted for by the enabling climate created by law enforcement in these communities. Of particular concern in this paper are patterns of police activity, which simultaneously represent both the under-enforcement and over-enforcement of the law with respect to Native American communities. Participants have reported activities ranging from willful blindness toward Native American victimization at one extreme, to police brutality at the other.     

The Theory of Democratic Peace and Threat Perception

President Franklin D. Roosevelt's assessment of Hitler as a potential threat to American security in the aftermath of the Munich crisis highlights the role of liberal-democratic norms in shaping the threat perceptions of democratic leaders. A critical factor in Roosevelt's post-Munich expectation of future trouble for the United States was his judgment that Hitler's contempt for democratic processes of accommodation forecasted unlimited aims. Since Roosevelt did not link his perception of threat to regime type, however, this episode also calls into question a central tenet of the theory of democratic peace: the notion that democracies invariably harbor a "presumption of enmity" toward nondemocracies. Nevertheless, the Munich case allows us to see which democratic norms do matter in threat perception and establishes that they are not simply the epiphenomena of state interests. Moreover, Roosevelt's response to the Munich crisis shows that threat can be assessed primarily on the basis of intentions and suggests how democratic predispositions can provide indicators of intent. Finally, in analyzing why some democratic leaders derive diagnostic information about aggressive intentions from such indicators, while others do not, this article explores the connection between different leaders' perceptions and the foreign policy processes of democratic states.     

Enhancing Treatment Outcomes for Male Adolescents with Sexual Behavior Problems: Interactions and Interventions

This exploratory study identifies patterns of multidisciplinary interactions and interventions that aim to improve outcomes for juvenile sex offenders (JSOs). With a response rate of 63.45% at two major statewide conferences in Texas, data from 336 JSO service providers suggest that interactions among service providers should occur before the delivery of interventions. Factor analyses indicated that Protocol (26%), Collaboration (17%), and Role Clarity (15%) explain 58% of the variance in “Multidisciplinary Interactions,” while Counseling (13%), Treatment Placement (11%), and Self-Discipline (10%) explain 34% of the variance in “Interventions.” Treatment staff preferred the implementation of cognitive and person-centered treatment approaches. Additional research is needed to establish objectivity and increase awareness about the importance of service diversity with a common goal within this multidisciplinary community.     

Toward an asymmetric Coase theorem

Various reformulations of the Coase theorem have developed normative corollaries on the choice of optimal remedies in the presence of positive transaction costs. In this article, we consider the extent to which these propositions are affected by the presence of asymmetric transaction costs, and we offer a reformulation of the Coase theorem which takes into account asymmetrical transaction costs. Our analysis combines several insights from the existing literature on property-type vesus liability-type remedies, identifying the conditions for the superiority of each type of remedy. Further, we consider the possible use of mixed remedies and identify the optimal scope of such solution.     

Identification of Crystals Forming on Porcine Articular Cartilage: A New Method for the Estimation of the Postmortem Interval

Articular cartilage was examined to determine its decomposition sequence and its potential for assessing the postmortem interval. Scanning electron microscopy of articular cartilage from buried porcine trotters showed the presence of microcrystals on the synovial surface. These orthorhombic pyramidal or “coffin”‐shaped crystals, appeared at 3 weeks (22 days) after interment and disappeared after 6 weeks. The disappearance of these crystals was linked to decompositional changes to the integrity of the synovial joint. The formation and disappearance of these crystals was associated with a pH change at the cartilage surface. Scanning electron microscopy–energy‐dispersive X‐ray (SEM‐EDX) analysis showed that the five main elements contained within these crystals were carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, magnesium, and phosphorous. Such elemental analysis suggested the crystals may be struvite (MgNH₄PO₄6(H₂O)). Bacteria cultured from the cartilage synovial surface produced struvite crystals when grown in suitable media and were identified by DNA analysis to be Comamonas sp.     

Neighborhood factors related to the likelihood of successful informal social control efforts

Purpose

To expand conceptualizations of informal social control in social disorganization and collective efficacy theories to include responses to informal social control, and to examine neighborhood level predictors of responses to informal social control.

Methods

The study uses surveys of approximately 2300 residents across 66 neighborhoods, supplemented with census data at the block group level.

Results

Neighborhood mobility decreased the odds of positive responses to informal social control, measured as both “giving in” and “talking it out” when you have a disagreement with your neighbor. Disadvantage was found to decrease only the odds of “giving in.” Neighborhood level measures of social cohesion and faith in the police were also found to increase the odds of responding positively to informal social control efforts. In contrast, social ties were not found to significantly affect the likelihood of positive responses to informal social control.

Conclusions

The findings from this study broaden support of collective efficacy theory and concepts related to efficacious neighborhoods. While previous studies have raised questions about the measurement of informal social control, the findings in this paper offer support to earlier studies by providing a different approach to the conceptualization and measurement of informal social control.     

Relationship and Individual Characteristics as Predictors of Unwanted Pursuit

To further our understanding of perpetrators of unwanted pursuit following the breakup on an intimate relationship, individual characteristics, jealousy, neuroticism, and attachment style, and relationship variables, satisfaction, investment, quality of alternatives, and commitment, were examined as correlates of unwanted pursuit, which was operationalized as pursuit and aggression. Anxious attachment, behavioral jealousy, neuroticism, and investment distinguished between pursuers and non-pursuers. Pursuit and aggression were positively correlated with behavioral jealousy, anxious attachment, neuroticism, and investment. Pursuit was also correlated with commitment and lack of alternatives. In multiple regressions, behavioral jealousy was a unique predictor of pursuit and aggression. Pursuit was also predicted by anxious attachment and aggression was predicted by investment. The roles of attachment, jealousy, and relationship variables in unwanted pursuit are discussed.