The establishment of offender DNA databases is critical to future crime prevention. Many countries have established databases or are in the process of passing database legislation. With new legislation the number of samples that will be collected could begin to exceed the testing capacity of many labs leading to backlogs.Two bottlenecks in the workflow that can contribute to a backlog of samples are DNA purification and PCR cycling time. The average purification time is approximately 2 h and the average cycling time of current STR kits is approximately 3 h. To address the second problem we investigated alternative DNA enzymes to decrease PCR cycling time. It was necessary to balance the increase in time to result against the need to address factors which can impact interpretation of a DNA profile such as: generation of stutter products, non-template addition, intra-locus balance, accuracy, and species specificity.Initial feasibility studies demonstrate that alternative enzymes can decrease PCR cycling time. The data show that this assay can increase throughput, providing results in less than 2 h. However, decreasing PCR cycling time will have an affect on multiplex STR performance. 相似文献
The purpose of this study is to understand how a social change approach to dating violence education affects the ways in which
students think about physical abuse in dating relationships. The program was designed to simulate a typical two-hour workshop
format, using small group discussion and short lecture. a total of 331 participants, recruited from introductory psychology
classes, attended one of 22 small group sessions; 14 received the Program condition (n=219), 8 the Comparison condition (n=119).
Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected. The results revealed significant differences between the Program and
Comparison groups which remained stable over a three-week period, as well as specific gender differences. Women were more
likely to view violence in relationships from a structural perspective, were more knowledgeable about dating violence and
responding to survivors, and were less likely to blame the victim. In addition, discriminant analyses showed that attitudes
towards survivors and response towards survivors emerged as the most important content separating Program and Comparison group
males, while attitudes toward survivors, a structural explanation for dating violence, and general knowledge about dating
violence were the best discriminators for females. Finally, implications for educating students about physical abuse in dating
relationships were examined, including the need to address power and control issues. 相似文献
Although considerable research on psychopathy has been conducted over the past 30 years, relatively few studies have examined key issues related to potential ethnic differences in this constellation of socially maladaptive personality traits. Given recent sociopolitical and scientific developments, an issue of considerable debate is whether Black individuals possess "more" traits of psychopathy than do Whites. To address this issue, a meta-analysis of differences between these groups' scores on the Psychopathy Checklist--Revised (PCL-R; Hare, 1991) was performed, using 21 studies (N = 8,890) of correctional, substance abuse, and psychiatric samples. Blacks exceeded Whites by an average of less than 1 point on the PCL-R total score. Effect sizes for core interpersonal and affective traits of psychopathy (Factor 1) were sufficiently homogeneous to clearly interpret, although other features manifested statistically significant heterogeneity. Our finding that Blacks and Whites do not meaningfully differ in their levels of core psychopathic traits is consistent with community-based findings for self-report measures of psychopathy and clinical diagnoses of antisocial personality disorder. 相似文献
The Quantifiler Human DNA Quantification Kit and the Quantifiler Y Human Male DNA Quantification Kit were designed for the quantification of human genomic DNA in forensic samples. The kits use a real-time PCR-based process to quantify, respectively, total human DNA or human male DNA only. We report the results of a developmental validation study that we performed with the Quantifiler Kits, following the official SWGDAM guidelines. The Quantifiler Kits were tested for performance criteria such as species specificity, sensitivity, stability, precision and accuracy, and in addition, were tested with forensic case-type samples and mixed (male:female) DNA samples. The Quantifiler Kit methods were highly specific for human DNA, and could detect as little as 32 picograms of DNA using 2 microL of sample per assay. The accuracy and precision of the Quantifiler Kit methods was comparable or superior to that of other quantification methods. 相似文献
A total of 2443 male individuals, previously typed for the 13 CODIS STR loci, distributed across the five North American population groups African American, Asian, Caucasian, Hispanic, and Native American were typed for the Y-STR loci DYS19, DYS385a/b, DYS389I/II, DYS390, DYS391, DYS392, DYS393, DYS437, DYS438 and DYS439 using the PowerPlex Y System. All population samples were highly polymorphic for the 12 Y-STR loci with the marker DYS385a/b being the most polymorphic across all sample populations. The Native American population groups demonstrated the lowest genetic diversity, most notably at the DYS393 and DYS437 loci. Almost all of the 12-locus haplotypes observed in the sample populations were represented only once in the database. Haplotype diversities were greater than 99.6% for the African Americans, Caucasians, Hispanics, and Asians. The Native Americans had the lowest haplotype diversities (Apaches, 97.0%; Navajo, 98.1%). Population substructure effects were greater for Y-haplotypes, compared with that for the autosomal loci. For the apportionment of variance for the 12 Y-STRs, the within sample population variation was the largest component (>98% for each major population group and approximately 97% in Native Americans), and the variance component contributed by the major population groups was less than the individual component, but much greater than among sample populations within a major group (11.79% versus 1.02% for African Americans/Caucasians/Hispanics and 15.35% versus 1.25% for all five major populations). When each major population is analyzed individually, the R(ST) values were low but showed significant among group heterogeneity. In 692 confirmed father-son pairs, 14 mutation events were observed with the average rate of 1.57x10(-3)/locus/generation (a 95% confidence bound of 0.83x10(-3) to 2.69x10(-3)). Since the Y-STR loci reside on the non-recombining region of the Y chromosome, the counting method is one approach suggested for conveying an estimate of the rarity of the Y-haplotype. Because the Y-STR loci are not all in disequilibrium to the same extent, the counting method is a very conservative approach. The data also support that autosomal STR frequencies can be multiplied by the upper bound frequency estimate of a Y-haplotype in the individual population group or those pooled into major population groups (i.e., Caucasian, African American, Hispanic, and Asian). These analyses support use of the haplotype population data for estimating Y-STR profile frequencies for populations residing in North America. 相似文献
The current study sought to extend the knowledge about factors associated with NGRI acquittees' maintenance of a conditional release after hospital discharge. The medical and forensic records of 125 NGRI acquittees were reviewed to collect a variety of demographic, clinical, criminal, and aftercare factors. A hierarchical survival analysis approach to determining success was compared to data analysis strategies typically employed in the area. Survival analysis, which accounts for both conditional release success status and time on conditional release, revealed that minority status, substance abuse diagnosis, and a prior criminal history were the factors that significantly predicted conditional release revocation. Treatment and policy implications of these results are discussed. 相似文献
This article examines the “dilemma of difference” transgender prisoners pose and face within a sex‐segregated prison system organized around the pursuit of safety and security. Our analysis uses data from a study of the culture and experiences of transgender prisoners in four men's prisons. Using qualitative data from interviews with transgender prisoners, focus groups with prisoners, and focus groups with staff, our findings reveal a common contention that transgender prisoners are (according to staff) and should be (according to prisoners) treated like everyone else, despite their unique situations. This further demonstrates the stakes that this dilemma carries for the prison regime and transgender prisoners’ roles in challenging it without engaging in overt resistance—which carries high stakes for them. Accordingly, we elucidate how the rigidity of an institutional structure built on inherent contradictions can have the potential to complicate the achievement of institutional goals. 相似文献
There is increasing interest in working at the intersections of intimate partner violence (IPV) and violence against children (VAC), especially in the family, yet few programmatic strategies exist or have been evaluated to assess the combined impact of strategies on both types of violence. This paper addresses this gap by exploring the influence that Indashyikirwa—a programme designed to reduce IPV in Rwanda— had on VAC in the families of couples participating in the programme. Indashyikirwa included a 21-session couples’ curriculum, safe spaces for IPV survivors, and community activism against violence. In addition to reductions in IPV, a randomized control trial found significant reductions in parent’s reports of children witnessing IPV, parents’ attitudes condoning harsh physical punishment of children, and parents’ use of corporal punishment as discipline. This paper uses qualitative data to better understand how and why the couples’ curriculum influenced parenting and VAC. Twenty-eight participants (fourteen male-female couples) were individually interviewed at three time points, once before and twice after the couples’ curriculum implementation. Six men and six women who completed the curriculum and subsequently carried out activism were also interviewed at two time points. The data were analyzed thematically. Pathways motivating couples’ attitude and behavior changes towards children included reflecting on the consequences of IPV for children and appreciating the benefits for children of non-violent, gender equitable households. This analysis suggests that working with co-habiting couples presents a viable strategy for working to prevent IPV, VAC and promote more gender equitable family dynamics.
Crime, Law and Social Change - Justice as a concept has permeated sociolegal scholarship in the U.S. since the founding of Law and Society as a field in the mid 1960s. Much of this scholarship has... 相似文献