Risks entailed in teenage intoxication as perceived by junior and senior high school students

In a survey of 1269 junior and senior high school students in a Massachusetts community, a large majority of the respondents indicated they recognized many immediate and long-term risks involved in getting drunk at their age. A considerable minority of the sample, however, did not believe that there were significant hazards associated with youthful intoxication. Implications of the study for educators, counselors, parents, and others concerned about the prevalence of teenage drunkenness are explored.Current research interest are occupational safety and health, and alcohol and youth.Current interests are statistical research and curriculum development.     

Sex differences in identity and intimacy development in college youth

This study examined sex differences in the processes of identity and intimacy development among college youth. Fifty males, and 50 females were given measures of identity status, intimacy status, and self-esteem. Males were found to focus on intrapersonal aspects of identity status, intimacy status, and self-esteem. Males were found to focus on intrapersonal aspects of identity, females on interpersonal aspects. The pursuit of various identity development pathways affected self-esteem differentially for the two sexes. More females than males were found to be intimate and the achievement of intimacy seemed more closely related to identity in males than in females. The findins were interpreted in the context of Eriksonian theory, which seemed more adequate in explaining male than female development.This article is based in part on the doctoral dissertation by James W. Hodgson in partial fulfillment of the Doctor of Philosophy degree, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania.Received his Ph. D. in human development and family studies from The Pennsylvania State University. Current research interests include normative and dysfunctional development of late adolescence.Received her Ph.D. in social personality psychology from the University of Colorado. Current research interests include the developments of friendships and sex roles in adolescence.     

Two Steps Forward and One Step Backward: The Law and Psychology Movement(s) in the 20th Century

Law and Human Behavior - The field of law and psychology has existed, in some form or another, for almost 100 years. The article presents a brief overview of law and psychology in the last century...     

Methadone maintenance programs--a two-edged sword?

Retrospective review was undertaken of all autopsies in which methadone was detected at the Forensic Science Centre, South Australia, during a 3-year period from July 1996 to June 1999. Thirty-five cases were found in which methadone had either caused or contributed to death (age range = 14-54 years; average = 31 years; M:F = 3.4:1). Ten victims were participating in a methadone maintenance program, of whom four died within a week of enrollment. Eight victims (23%) not enrolled in a methadone maintenance program were found who had died after the use of "diverted" methadone (i.e., prescribed for someone else) (age range = 14-34 years; average = 25 years; M:F = 6:2). Deaths were directly attributable to methadone toxicity in seven of the eight cases, with additional drugs or alcohol being found in seven cases. Prevention of ongoing deaths caused by methadone diversion could be achieved by allowing only daily releases of methadone, with the addict having to consume the drug under close supervision.     

GHB free acid: II. Isolation and spectroscopic characterization for forensic analysis

A reference standard for gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB) free acid is not commercially available, making its analysis in forensic exhibits more difficult. GHB free acid is typically encountered in aqueous solution and in the presence of the lactone, gamma-butyrolactone (GBL), presenting difficulty in Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) analysis. The strong infrared (IR) absorptivity of the GBL carbonyl band, the shifting of the GBL carbonyl band in aqueous solutions, and the position of the O-H bend for water can mask the main carbonyl band for GHB free acid. Model solutions of beta-hydroxybutyric acid (BHB) and GBL were studied in order to further understand the masking of the GHB free acid carbonyl band in FT-IR analysis. The use of second derivative FT-IR spectroscopy was shown to provide resolution of the free acid carbonyl band, and a presumptive test for GHB free acid was developed and applied. An extension of this work included preparing, for use as a standard reference material, small amounts (< or = 10 mg) of GHB free acid. Preparation was based on the instantaneous reaction of GHB's sodium salt with a stoichiometric amount of hydrochloric acid in aqueous solution, and subsequent isolation of the free acid in neat liquid form. Both FT-IR and proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectra of the neat reference material were obtained and used to verify its identity. The isolation of GHB free acid from actual forensic exhibits is also presented, with identity confirmation using FT-IR.     

How reliable is the sub-population model in DNA testimony?

The performance of the sub-population model first proposed by Balding and Nichols [D.J. Balding, R.A. Nichols, DNA profile match probability calculation: how to allow for population stratification, relatedness, database selection and single bands. Forensic Sci. Int. 64 (1994) 125-140] is examined using a simulation approach. This work extends the investigations of Curran et al. [J.M. Curran, J.S. Buckleton, and C.M. Triggs, What is the magnitude of the sub-population effect? Forensic Sci. Int. 135 (2003) 1-8]. In particular the effect of underestimating the coancestry coefficient, theta, and the effect of departures from the modelling assumptions were investigated. The model tends to give strongly conservative estimates if the estimate for the coancestry coefficient is accurate. If this coefficient is underestimated then a larger fraction of cases give non-conservative estimates. Departures from the modelling assumption that the sub-population is in Hardy-Weinberg and linkage equilibria appear to have very little effect.     

Impulsivity and schemas for a hostile world: postdictors of violent behaviour

Forty male prisoners at a medium-security Canadian penitentiary completed the I Questionnaire, a measure of impulsivity, and two measures of schemas for a hostile world. Both hypervigilance for hostile words during a dichotic shadowing task and hostile attributions made about actors in social vignettes correlated greater than .30 with a criminal history of persistent violence. Impulsivity did not significantly correlate with the schema measures but correlated .30 with persistent violence. The results provide support for the Serin and Kuriychuk model of aggression that links impulsivity and hostile attributions with persistent male violence.