Validity in judgments of high‐ and low‐accurate witnesses of own and other ethnic groups

Purpose. Research has shown that people often have difficulties estimating eyewitness accuracy correctly. In most previous studies examining validity in credibility judgments, participants have assessed the accuracy of witnesses who have been homogeneous in their memory performance. This study investigated validity in judgments of witnesses who varied widely in memory. A further purpose was to examine whether judgmental validity was moderated by the witnesses' ethnic in‐group/out‐group status. Methods. Participants (N = 120) rated the reliability of videotaped testimonies of high‐ and low‐accurate in‐group (Swedish, N = 4) and out‐group (immigrants, N = 4) witnesses who were genuinely trying to recall a criminal event. Results. Participants assigned more reliability to high‐ than to low‐accurate in‐group witnesses, while out‐group witnesses received low reliability ratings regardless of their actual memory performance. Path analyses demonstrated that the subjective confidence of in‐group, but not of out‐group, witnesses predicted participants' accuracy judgments. Conclusions. The results indicate that the validity in judgments of in‐group witnesses can be better than has previously been implied. Investigators may have difficulty distinguishing high‐ and low‐accurate witnesses from other ethnic groups, and they may also systematically underestimate the reliability of ethnic out‐group witnesses. Implications for legal practices are discussed.     

Customary Homicides in Diyarbakir Province

This study presents an analysis of the causes of so‐called honor killings in the context of “customary homicide” and a discussion of preventive measures. Finalized case files of customary homicide between January 1, 2007 and December 31, 2012 were retrospectively examined in Diyarbakir Province, Turkey. Of a total of 28 case victims, 17 (60.7%) were females and 11 (39.3%) were males. All perpetrators were male. There was a significant difference between male and female victims in terms of economic independence (p = 0.000). A direct blood relationship or relationship by marriage (such as brother‐in‐law) was found to have a significant association with the gender of the victim (p < 0.001). Multilevel educational activities targeting a transformation of the perception of women by society, replacement of patriarchal models with more modern attitudes, and encouragement of individuality may represent effective strategies that may help reduce the number of customary homicide, which represents a multifaceted problem.     

Multiple imaginations of the state: understanding a mobile conflict about justice and accountability from the perspective of Assyrian–Syriac communities

This article examines how the struggle for the recognition of genocide in the twentieth century opens up a political space which, on the one hand, generates historical discourses and imaginaries about the categories of victim and perpetrator and, on the other hand, redefines relationships between the state and its minority citizens. Genocide becomes a ‘critical event’, in the sense of Veena Das, that citizens from different ethnic, social and religious backgrounds use to express their positions concerning the repressive state practices they have been victims of. This expression creates a collective space of solidarity where parties support each other by adopting similar strategies in the struggle for state accountability. At the same time, it opens up a space for negotiation among the state, minority citizens and migrant communities regarding claims to rights and justice.     

The Corrective Effect of Ministerial Resignations on Government Popularity

Using data from the United Kingdom, we estimate the effects of ministerial resignation on government popularity. We test a counterfactual argument that resignations should have a corrective effect, that is, there is an increase in popularity following a resignation when taking into account the negative effect on popularity of the resignation issue. We get empirical estimates by using the age of ministers involved in resignation issues as an instrument. Our IV estimates provide empirical support for the corrective effect .     

Children in Out-of-Home Care and Adult Labor-Market Attachment: A Swedish National Register Study

Using longitudinal national register data, we investigated labor-market attachment during the years 1993–1995 in Sweden for persons aged 25–35 years who had been in out-of-home care before the age of 18 in Sweden during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. We consider whether an immigrant background has an additional influence on labor-market attachment. Compared to majority population peers, young persons who had been in foster care had shorter educations. Fewer had a strong labor-market attachment and more were dependent on social assistance. Results from multinomial regression models indicated that having been in foster care during childhood reduced the probability of high attachment to the labor-market and increased the probability of social assistance dependency, even after making adjustments for education, marital status, parenthood, domicile, and birth country. Few signs of additive effects from being both an immigrant and a former foster child are found.     

Comparison of the three age estimation methods: Which is more reliable for Turkish children?

BackgroundThree atlases—the GÖK, the Greulich–Pyle (GP), and the Tanner–Whitehouse (TW3)—are used frequently for age determination in Turkey. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the applicability of these three methods related to the skeletal age assessment for Turkish adolescents.Materials and methodsThe conventional roentgenograms of the left hands and wrists, elbows, shoulders, and pelvises of 333 healthy Caucasian children (164 females, 169 males) who fit the study and the criteria of each atlas were obtained. The mean differences (± standard deviation [S.D.] in years) between the chronologic age (CA) and the skeletal age (BA), which were obtained by using each age estimation method, were calculated and tested using t-test.ResultsFor girls, the most accurate method was the TW3 (mean differences (d): ?0.21 (p < 0.05)), following by the GP (d: 0.66 (p < 0.001), and the GÖK (d: 2.99 (p < 0.001)). For boys, the most accurate method was the GP (d: ?0.02 (p > 0.05)), followed by the TW3 (d: ?0.18 (p < 0.05)) and GÖK (d: 1.05 (p < 0.001)).Discussion and conclusionsResults show that the TW3 (for girls) and the GP (for boys) methods are more appropriate than the GÖK atlas for estimating the BA. GÖK could be used for boys aged 11–14 years but it should not be used for girls.