How Litigants in Dutch Courtrooms Come to Trust Judges: The Role of Perceived Procedural Justice,Outcome Favorability,and Other Sociolegal Moderators

This paper examines the hypothesis that litigants' perceived procedural justice is positively associated with their trust in judges. We argue that although this association might seem quite robust, it can vary across contexts. In particular, we suggest that the nature and magnitude of the association between procedural justice and trust in judges depends on outcome concerns, and other sociolegal moderators such as outcome importance and prior court experience. We tested our predictions in three different types of law cases among 483 litigants at court hearings of the district court of the Mid‐Netherlands. As predicted, our results indicate that perceived procedural justice was positively associated with trust in judges when outcomes were relatively favorable, and that this association was even stronger when outcomes were relatively unfavorable. The courtroom context studied here enabled us to explore how other sociolegal variables moderated these relationships.     

Peri-mortem skin lesions caused by regurgitation of gastric juice. 2 case reports and differential diagnostic considerations

Two cases of regurgitation of gastric juice peri mortem are reported which resulted in lesions of the thoracic skin and led to the suspicion of being caused by another possibly dangerous chemical agent. In both cases, however, other causes of death could be established. Neither could any foreign chemical substances be detected by extensive toxicological investigations nor were any alterations of esophagus and gastric mucosa revealed in the course of the autopsy. Histological investigations demonstrated a circumscribed recent necrosis of the epidermis and dermis. Therefore, regurgitation of the acidic gastric content as the agent impairing the skin was most likely. The impressive histological appearance of the peri mortem regurgitation skin lesions lesions may be due to the circulatory arrest as well as stagnation of vital cellular reactions and repair mechanisms, dehydration of the altered tissue and postmortem permanence of the impairing agent.     

An Analysis of Differences in Work Motivation between Public and Private Sector Organizations

This study contributes to our understanding of the differences in work motivation between the public and private sectors. Data from a survey of 3,314 private sector and 409 public sector employees in Belgium strongly confirm previous research showing that public sector employees are less extrinsically motivated. Differences in hierarchical level are more important determinants of work motivation than sectoral differences. In addition, most observed differences can be wholly or partially explained by differences in job content, not by the sector itself. Evidence is presented to show that motivational differences can be explained by a positive choice of work–life balance.     

Preliminary Development of the Student Perceptions of School Safety Officers Scale

Research suggests that the safer students feel at school, the more likely they are to feel connected and able to focus on learning. Thus, measuring students’ experiences with a school safety officer (SSO) is essential to understand the connection between officer engagement and students’ safety. This study’s purpose was to evaluate a SSO scale among 1,065 adolescents. Results suggest the SSO scale displayed excellent internal consistency estimates, construct validity via factor analysis, convergent validity with the School Climate Measure, discriminant validity with key demographic variables, and known-groups validity among students who reported fighting at school. Positive perceptions of SSOs also significantly increased with frequency of contact. The SSO scale is a preliminarily valid measure, potentially useful in research, screenings, and/or evaluation efforts to improve student engagement with SSOs.     

A Comparison of Different Age Estimation Methods of the Adult Pelvis

The adult human pelvis is useful to estimate age because it contains three age indicators—the pubic symphysis, auricular surface, and acetabulum. This study tested the accuracy, inaccuracy, and bias of age estimation from the Suchey‐Brooks pubic symphysis, Osborne auricular surface, Rissech and Calce acetabulum aging methods, and a summary age of these indicators. The study sample consisted of 212 White individuals with known age and sex from the William M. Bass Donated Skeletal Collection. The Rissech method performed the best, was the most accurate method with smallest inaccuracy and bias, followed by the Osborne, Suchey‐Brooks, summary age, and then Calce methods. Though the Pearson correlation showed only the Suchey‐Brooks method to correlate significantly with known age, it is likely the Suchey‐Brooks study sample coincidentally reflected the age distribution of this test sample. Results suggested that Bayesian prediction may improve age estimation and should be applied to other age indicators.     

The EU 40 % greenhouse gas emission reduction target by 2030 in perspective

We assess the fairness and ambition level of the EU’s Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) of reducing domestic greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40 % relative to 1990. For this, we calculate which reduction targets for other major emitting economies are comparable to the EU target, given widely diverging effort-sharing approaches. We introduce a novel approach in which the EU target is taken as starting point for allocating emission reductions to other regions. Under this approach, the global emission level is an outcome of the analysis, contrary to standard effort-sharing approaches in which the global climate goal is specified. We find that the INDC of the EU, if other regions take on comparable targets based on a differentiated convergence per-capita approach, could be sufficient for a global 2 °C pathway. However, if emissions are allocated according to a historical responsibility approach, the global emission level in 2030 is much higher than the level of 2 °C pathways. Furthermore, we conclude that India, Mexico, and Brazil have more ambitious INDCs than the EU according to both a differentiated convergence per-capita approach and a historical responsibility approach.     

Adolescent Victim Types Across the Popularity Status Hierarchy: Differences in Internalizing Symptoms

Journal of Youth and Adolescence - Previous studies have called attention to the fact that popular youth are not immune to peer victimization, suggesting there is heterogeneity in the popularity of...