Normal responses to sexually anatomically detailed dolls

The behaviors and verbalizations of normal, preschool age boys and girls during interactions with sexually anatomically detailed (SAD) dolls were examined. A structured, nonsuggestive interview with each child was videotaped, and five behaviors and five verbalizations were coded for each of five phases of the interview. A two-way ANOVA (gender × phase) showed that during those phases when the dolls were undressed, both boys and girls showed more sexual exploratory play, aggressive behavior which was nonsexual, and active avoidance. Across all phases, nonsexual aggression accounted for 31% of the boys' and 22% of the girls' total responses. Behavioral and verbal sexual exploratory play represented 42% of the boys' responses and 50% of the girls' responses. In contrast, sexually aggressive behavior accounted for only 1% and 2% of the boys' and girls' responses, respectively. Girls interacted with the dolls more than did boys. Additionally, girls demonstrated more affection to the dolls than did the boys, and boys displayed more anxiety with the dolls than did girls. Investigators should be cautious as to inferences about preschoolers' interactions with SAD dolls, especially interactions of a sexual or aggressive nature which do not clearly depict fondling or intercourse.     

Conflict resolution a pre-trial intervention

Parties involved in interpersonal disputes often use the Criminal Justice System as a medium of retaliation. This study analyzed the effectiveness of a Citizens’ Dispute Settlement Program as an alternative to criminal prosecution. The program consists of trained volunteer hearing officers mediating between the complainant and the defendant in order to resolve the conflict without court involvement. All hearings scheduled over a six month period were studied (N-264). The hearings were categorized according to type of offense and were analyzed to determine the race and sex of the parties involved, and the effectiveness of conflict resolution efforts in each category. In general, there was no significant relationship between race and being a party in conflict. However, there was a highly significant relationship as to sex, with the majority of complainants being female, and the majority of the respondents being male. Of the scheduled hearings, 93.5% (N-247) were diverted from the court system, for an estimated savings of $80,522. The authors concluded that a Citizens’ Dispute Settlement Program, through the pretrial intervention of conflict resolution efforts, provides an effective means of alleviating the congestion in our courts.     

The utility of the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory with offenders

Self-report instruments can provide useful information as part of a thorough clinical assessment. However, their use in forensic settings can be problematic. The State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory (STAXI) has recently been proposed as an effective instrument for screening and outcome measurement in anger management programs. This study evaluated the effectiveness of this instrument in a sample of both voluntary and court-ordered anger-management clients, all of whom were determined through diagnostic interviews to have significant anger problems. Contrary to findings in nonforensic samples, the STAXI Trait Anger scale identified only about half of the participants as having anger-management problems severe enough to require intervention. Supplemental analysis with two additional scales did not significantly improve sensitivity. In addition to thorough diagnostic interviewing, forensic use of the STAXI (like similar assessment methods) may require additional validity scales to detect denial or socially desirable response patterns.     

The Effect of Clothing on the Rate of Decomposition and Diptera Colonization on Sus scrofa Carcasses

Twenty Sus scrofa carcasses were used to study the effect the presence of clothing had on decomposition rate and colonization locations of Diptera species; 10 unclothed control carcasses were compared to 10 clothed experimental carcasses over 58 days. Data collection occurred at regular accumulated degree day intervals; the level of decomposition as Total Body Score (TBS_surf), pattern of decomposition, and Diptera present was documented. Results indicated a statistically significant difference in the rate of decomposition, (t₄₂₇ = 2.59, p = 0.010), with unclothed carcasses decomposing faster than clothed carcasses. However, the overall decomposition rates from each carcass group are too similar to separate when applying a 95% CI, which means that, although statistically significant, from a practical forensic point of view they are not sufficiently dissimilar as to warrant the application of different formulae to estimate the postmortem interval. Further results demonstrated clothing provided blow flies with additional colonization locations.     

Plea decision-making by attorneys and judges

Objectives

Approximately 95 % of convictions in the United States are the result of guilty pleas. Surprisingly little is known about the factors which judges, prosecutors, and defense attorneys consider in these decisions. To examine the legal and extralegal factors that legal actors consider in plea decision-making, we replicated and improved upon a 40-year-old study by asking legal actor participants to review a variety of case factors, and then make plea decisions and estimate sentences for pleas and trials (upon conviction).

Methods

Over 1,500 defense attorneys, prosecutors, and judges completed an online survey involving a hypothetical legal case in which the presence of three types of evidence and length of defendant criminal history were experimentally manipulated.

Results

The manipulated evidence impacted plea decisions and discounts, whereas criminal history only affected plea discounts (i.e., the difference between plea and trial sentences). Defense attorneys considered the largest number of factors (evidentiary and non-evidentiary), and although legal actor role influenced the decision to plead, it did not affect the discount.

Conclusions

In replicating a landmark study, via technological advances not available in the 1970s, we were able to increase our sample size nearly six-fold, obtain a sample representing all 50 states, and include judges. However, our sample was nonrepresentative and the hypothetical scenario may or may not generalize to actual situations. Nonetheless, valuable information was gained about the factors considered and weighed by legal actors.

     

Identification of organic pigments in automotive coatings using laser desorption mass spectrometry

When one looks at an automotive coating, one sees color due to pigments. Modern organic pigments, with high molar absorptivities, may be only minor components of the mixture. Laser desorption mass spectrometry (LDMS) has been shown to be a useful tool for the analysis of colorants such as pen ink dyes. Here, LDMS is used to determine its utility for the identification of pigments, in simple media and in more complex paints. Small paint chips can be introduced into the LDMS instrument, and when an ultraviolet laser is focused on a portion of a chip, ions representative of the pigment(s) are selectively formed. Some pigments such as quinacridones and copper phthalocyanine are very stable and are desorbed and ionized intact. In contrast, benzimidazolones, which contain some single-skeletal bonds, form fragment ions. This method proves to be sensitive and convenient, as no sample preparation is required. The presence of inorganic pigments in addition to modern organic pigments can be determined, and pigments can be directly identified in actual automotive paint chip samples.