Latent profiles among sexual assault survivors: understanding survivors and their assault experiences

Little guidance exists about how to tailor empowerment and resistance sexual assault programming to be responsive to varying groups of women. Using an investigation of 415 college women who completed a self-administered survey about a range of sexually aggressive experiences by a known male assailant, this investigation tested for distinct multivariate profiles of contextual factors among sexually assaulted women to discern how these factors may differentially combine to influence women's vulnerability to sexual assault. We applied latent profile analysis (LPA) to determine meaningful subgroups of women based on interrelationships among factors that contextualize women's vulnerability to sexual assault, including prior victimization, alcohol consumption, relationship expectancies of the assailant, and assertive precautionary habits. LPA established four significantly distinct multivariate profiles of substantively different groups of women. Group difference tests reinforced the findings and aided in group profile interpretations. Implications for the development of tailored resistance and empowerment programs are discussed.     

The Pay Gap between Male and Female Jobs: Organizational and Legal Realities

Legalizing Gender Inequality results from a decade of research in which Robert Nelson, a sociologist of law, combined forces with William Bridges, a sociologist who has studied labor markets. This combination led to an unusual and creative approach. The authors chose four class-action court cases involving sex discrimination in pay, and did in-depth studies of the judicial decisions, testimony, exhibits, and depositions from each. They also obtained and reanalyzed statistical data sets involved in the cases and, where possible, interviewed key actors.     

Political and public acceptability of congestion pricing: Ideology and self‐interest

Studies of the “stated preferences” of households generally report public and political opposition by urban commuters to congestion pricing. It is thought that this opposition inhibits or precludes tolls and pricing systems that would enhance efficiency in the use of scarce roadways. This paper analyzes the only case in which road pricing was decided by a citizen referendum on the basis of experience with a specific pricing system. The city of Stockholm introduced a toll system for seven months in 2006, after which citizens voted on its permanent adoption. We match precinct voting records to resident commute times and costs by traffic zone, and we analyze patterns of voting in response to economic and political incentives. We document political and ideological incentives for citizen choice, but we also find that the pattern of time savings and incremental costs exerts a powerful influence on voting behavior. In this instance, at least, citizen voters behave as if they value commute time highly. When they have experienced first‐hand the out‐of‐pocket costs and time savings of a specific pricing scheme, they are prepared to adopt freely policies that reduce congestion on urban motorways. © 2010 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.     

Violent Victimization and Perpetration: Joint and Distinctive Implications for Adolescent Development

To date few reports have provided direct comparison of psychosocial vulnerability and resources among youth with victimization and perpetration histories. Within a racially diverse, high-risk adolescent sample (n = 849), this study undertakes MANCOVA tests on a multidimensional set of risk and protective factors contrasting youth with histories of 1) neither violent victimization nor perpetration, 2) victimization only , 3) both perpetration only, and 4) both victimization and perpetration. All three violence-affected groups reported elevated risk and diminished protection, with perpetrating victims demonstrating the greatest psychosocial impairment. Detailed contrasts among the youth group profiles provide insights regarding overlapping and distinct developmental etiologies and implications for preventive and remedial intervention.