Sales and Use Tax Simplification and Voluntary Compliance

Because of difficulties collecting sales taxes on Internet sales, several states have engaged in an effort (the Streamlined Sales Tax Project, SSTP) to simplify their sales tax systems. One hope among SSTP proponents is that a simplified system will result in Internet vendors voluntarily collecting the sales tax. We address two issues:

• ? Will states adopt the extensive reforms proposed by the SSTP?
• ? Will vendors voluntarily collect the sales tax?

We argue that states are unlikely to adopt extensive reforms, but if they did, many vendors would voluntarily collect sales taxes.     

Trauma symptoms and life skill needs of domestic violence victims

This study identified the trauma symptoms and life skill needs of 84 domestic violence victims from three domestic violence programs. Women completed two self-report tools: Trauma Symptom Inventory (TSI) and Occupational Self Assessment (OSA). Staff members participated in focus groups regarding their perceptions of the women's needs. Women scored within the clinical range on the Defensive Avoidance (39.8%), Intrusive Experiences (30.1%), and Tension Reduction Behavior (24.1%) clinical scales of the TSI. On the OSA, the groups' priorities differed although all demonstrated a desire to function more independently. Their mental health functioning and prioritization of needs differed based on their level of involvement with the service delivery system. Staff members believe women lack skills in the areas of money management, seeking and obtaining employment, locating permanent housing, independently completing self-care and home management activities, managing stress, and parenting. The findings indicate that both mental health and life skills needs must be addressed.     

Attributions about perpetrators and victims of interpersonal abuse: results from an analogue study

This analogue study (written vignettes and videotapes) examines the influence of victim-perpetrator relationship (spouse or acquaintance), sex of perceiver, and type of abuse (psychological vs. physical) on attributions about victims and perpetrators of domestic abuse. College student participants (73 men, 108 women) were randomly assigned to condition. As expected, type of relationship influenced observer perceptions. Specifically, participants rated the victim of marital violence as more psychologically damaged and disturbed by the abuse than the victim of acquaintance violence. Furthermore, interaction effects showed that men, more than women, rated the actions of the married perpetrator as more of a victim's rights violation than the actions of the acquaintance perpetrator. Second, type of abuse was shown to influence perceptions of the perpetrator but not the victim. Sex-of-perceiver effects were also obtained. Women held the perpetrator more responsible and assigned less blame to the victim than did men. Legal and clinical implications are then discussed.     

Social perception of rape: how rape myth acceptance modulates the influence of situational factors

This study assessed the role of rape myth acceptance (RMA) and situational factors in the perception of three different rape scenarios (date rape, marital rape, and stranger rape). One hundred and eighty-two psychology undergraduates were asked to emit four judgements about each rape situation: victim responsibility, perpetrator responsibility, intensity of trauma, and likelihood to report the crime to the police. It was hypothesized that neither RMA nor situational factors alone can explain how rape is perceived; it is the interaction between these two factors that best account for social reactions to sexual aggression. The results generally supported the authors' hypothesis: Victim blame, estimation of trauma, and the likelihood of reporting the crime to the police were best explained by the interaction between observer characteristics, such as RMA, and situational clues. That is, the less stereotypic the rape situation was, the greater was the influence of attitudes toward rape on attributions.     

The epidemiology of female rape victims who seek immediate medical care: temporal trends in the incidence of sexual assault and acquaintance rape

Women who seek medical care following sexual assault are usually evaluated and treated in an emergency department (ED). Therefore, EDs can be an important source of sexual assault surveillance data. The authors compared the incidence of sexual assault presenting for emergency care in a single county during July to November of 1974 and 1991. Participants included all female sexual assault victims aged 14 and older who presented for ED evaluation. Treating physicians prospectively collected data using standardized forms. The z statistic was used to compare sexual assault incidence. There was a 60% increase in the incidence of sexual assault victims presenting for emergency care in 1991 compared to 1974, primarily due to an increase in the incidence of women presenting to the ED after rapes by known assailants. In contrast, the annual incidence of reported stranger assaults was similar in the two study years.