Welfare reforms,family resources,and child maltreatment

This paper examines the impact of welfare reforms on several measures of child maltreatment. The authors use state‐level data from 1990 to 1998 to examine whether recent welfare reforms have increased or reduced the incidence of reported and substantiated cases of maltreatment, the incidence of specific types of substantiated maltreatment—physical abuse and neglect—and the number of children living in out‐of‐home care. The welfare reforms considered are the imposition of: family caps, lifetime limits, work requirements, sanctions for non‐compliance, and the restriction of welfare benefits to immigrants. How welfare benefit levels and changes in state Earned Income Tax Credit programs affect reports and substantiated cases of maltreatment are also considered. Evidence strongly indicates that reductions in states' welfare benefit levels increase the number of children in out‐of‐home care, and some evidence indicates that strict lifetime welfare limits and tougher sanctions for noncompliance are related to higher levels of substantiated maltreatment. The evidence on family caps is mixed: family caps appear to be associated with fewer instances of substantiated maltreatment, but more children in out‐of‐home care. Because most of the welfare reforms examined have been in effect for only a short time, these results should be considered preliminary. Overall, however, they provide some evidence that the recent welfare reforms in the United States may have increased child maltreatment. © 2003 by the Association for Public Policy and Analysis and Management.     

Adolescent and Young Adult Mothers’ Relationship Quality During the Transition to Parenthood: Associations with Father Involvement in Fragile Families

Data from the Fragile Families and Child-Well-being Study were used to examine predictors of involvement among fathers of young children (N=2,215) born to adolescent and young adult mothers (ages 14–25; N=2,850). Participants were interviewed immediately following their baby's birth and at 3-years postpartum regarding co-parental relationship quality, fathers’ caretaking behavior (“father involvement”), and fathers’ provision of material support for the child (“in-kind” support). Early postnatal and 3-year postpartum parental relationship quality and father-child cohabitation predicted 3-year father involvement while early father involvement did not. The race of fathers, specifically African American, was associated with lower levels of father involvement. For in-kind support, 3-year father-child cohabitation and 3-year relationship quality were both positively associated with provision of in-kind support. Father's income was not a significant predictor but mother's involvement with a new partner at the 3-year follow-up was marginally significant. Lastly, the race of fathers, specifically African American and Latino, was associated with provision of less in-kind support. Christina B. Gee, Ph.D., Department of Psychology, The George Washington University, Christina Gee's research interests include coparenting and father involvement during transition to parenthood among adolescent mothers and fathers, adolescent mothers’ psychological adjustment, and romantic relationships among at-risk couples. Christopher M. McNerney, B.A., Department of Psychology, George Washington University, Christopher McNerney's research interests include marginalized couples, couples interventions, and family treatments to improve parenting outcomes. Michael J. Reiter, B.A., Department of Psychology, George Washington University, Michael Reiter's research interests include interfaith and interracial romantic relationships within a family systems approach. Suzanne C. Leaman, B.A., Department of Psychology, George Washington University, Suzanne Leaman's research interests include adolescents and young families, minority mental health, low-income communities, and the implications of dating violence for mental health.     

Body Morph: Feasibility Testing of an Interactive CD-ROM to Teach Young Adolescents about Puberty

The aim of this pilot study was to examine the feasibility of an interactive computer program among 34 sixth and seventh grade children and to assess the potential for knowledge acquisition about puberty. Based on a developmental self-esteem approach to teach children about their bodies, the Body Morph program was designed to maximize the educational experience by: (1) tailoring puberty information to boys or girls, and (2) creating a confidential experience. Preliminary results indicated that students significantly improved their knowledge about puberty after using the program. Satisfaction among boys and girls for this type of educational approach suggests that it is a compelling format from which to learn about puberty.This research project was funded with the support of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) 1R43DK061269-01A2 to develop an educational computer program to improve body image in middle schoolers.     

Aggression and delinquency: Family and environmental factors

Juvenile delinquency has become an increasing concern to society; aggressive behaviors are particularly harmful. This study examined parent and youth behaviors and personality types that may influence delinquent and aggressive behaviors. Youths were referred by the court to an intervention program; ratings of delinquency and aggression were derived from parent reports, self-reports, and court referral data. Results showed that high parent ratings of youth aggressiveness were related to high turmoil in the home and to youths' positive opinions of delinquent peers, while high aggressiveness of the youths' referring offenses was related to lax punishment. Developmentally, this suggests that in adolescence both the peer group and home influences are important in shaping different aspects of the youths' aggressive and delinquent behaviors.This study was partially conducted under University of Virginia Research Policy Council Grant No. 199505. The study was funded in part by a NICHD Training Grant (HD07289) to Dr. D. W. Fulker. Preparation of the paper was facilitated by grant RR-07013-20 awarded to the University of Colorado by the Biomedical Research Support Grant Program, Division of Research Resources, National Institutes of Health.Received Ph.D. in psychology from University of Virginia. Current research interests are intelligence and prosocial and antisocial behaviors from a developmental behavior genetics perspective.Received Ph.D. in psychology from Michigan State University. Current research interests are developmental pathways to problem behaviors of youth in high-risk communities.Current research interests are volunteer interventions with adolescents at risk for delinquency.Current research interests are clinical applications and intervention with adolescents and families.     

Multi-Sphere Governance in South Africa: An Interim Assessment

After considerable debate about whether a democratic South Africashould be constituted on federal lines, the 1996 Constitutionadopted three "distinctive, interdependent and interrelated"spheres of government. "Co-operative government" followed theGerman model, emphasizing concurrency, provincial delivery ofnational policies, and provincial representation at the center.Implementing this model, with new institutions, actors, andprocesses, has proved difficult because the governing partystrongly favors a relatively centralized polity, and becauseprovinces and local governments have weak political, administrative,and fiscal capacities. The analysis concludes that while thenew system has become fairly well established in a short time,its long-term success in promoting the values of democratization,effective governance, and conflict management remains uncertain.     

A comprehensive ATR-FTIR spectroscopic analysis for the identification and differentiation of lip balms

Lip balm may be encountered as physical evidence in cases involving sexual assaults, homicides, and kidnappings. Lip balm can be used as corroborative evidence by providing a potential link between the victim, accused, and the crime scene. For lip balms to be used as evidence, it is important to understand the diversity and their aging process under different conditions. Therefore, in this study, ATR-FTIR spectroscopy in conjunction with chemometric tools such as principal component analysis (PCA) and linear discriminant analysis (LDA) has been used for the objective identification and differentiation of 20 brands of lip balms. Moreover, lip balms on different substrates and wearing effects over time were also investigated. The results show that the PCA-LDA training accuracy was 92.5%, whereas the validation accuracy comes out to be 83.33%. A blind study using pristine samples was also performed which resulted in 80% PCA-LDA accuracy. PCA-LDA prediction of samples on various substrates showed a higher chemometric prediction accuracy for nonporous substrates (glass, plastic, and steel), than for porous substrates (cotton cloth, cotton swab stick, dry tissue paper, and white paper) for samples kept in room temperature and under sunlight for 15 days. The substrate study showed that the samples from various substrates could effectively generate respective spectra which can help in brand-level identification even after several days. The present method demonstrates a potential for lip balm samples to be used in forensic casework applications.     

The role of DNA in criminal indictments in Israel

In their investigations of criminal cases, law enforcement agencies rely heavily on forensic evidence. Numerous studies have examined the scientific and technological advancements of DNA testing, but little evidence exists on how the availability of DNA evidence influences prosecutors' decisions to move cases forward in the criminal justice system. We created a new database by juxtaposing data from the Forensics Division of the Israel Police, which recorded the presence (or not) of DNA profiles in criminal cases (n = 9862), and data on the indictment decision for each case (2008–2019). Rates of indictments are computed for each case, and trend lines are used to present variations in the rates of indictment decisions with and without DNA profiles. Approximately 15% of all criminal cases without DNA presented to the prosecutor's office are subsequently prosecuted, compared with nearly 55% of cases with DNA profiles. The presence of DNA evidence influences the prosecutor's decision to move a case forward in the criminal justice system. Utilizing a scientific approach to prosecute offenders is a welcome development; however, DNA evidence is not infallible, and caution must be exercised in regard to DNA's overuse in the legal system.     

A systematic approach to improve downstream single-cell analysis for the DEPArray™ technology

Most commercially available STR amplification kits have never been fully validated for low template DNA analysis, highlighting the need for testing different PCR kits and conditions for improving single-cell profiling. Here, current strategies rely mainly on adjusting PCR cycle number and analytical threshold settings, with a strong preference for using 30 amplification cycles and thresholds at 30–150 RFU for allele detection. This study aimed to (1) determine appropriate conditions for obtaining informative profiles utilizing a dilution series, and (2) test the outcome on single cells using the DEPArray™ technology. Four routinely applied forensic STR kits were compared by using three different amplification volumes and DNA dilutions down to 3.0 pg, while two well-performing kits were used for single/pooled leucocyte and sperm cell genotyping. Besides reduced costs, the results demonstrate that a 50%–75% PCR volume reduction was beneficial for peak height evaluation. However, this was counteracted by an increased artifact generation in diluted DNA volumes. Regarding profile completeness, the advantage of volume reduction was only prominent in samples processed with Fusion 6C. For single and pooled cells, ESIFast and NGMDetect provided a solid basis for consensus profiling regarding locus failure, although locus dropouts were generally observed as stochastic events. Amplification volume of 12.5 μL was confirmed as appropriate in terms of peak heights and stutter frequencies, with increased stutter peaks being the main artifact in single-cell profiles. Limitations associated with these analyses are discussed, providing a solid foundation for further studies on low template DNA.     

A Painting,a Crime,a Controversy

International Journal for the Semiotics of Law - Revue internationale de Sémiotique juridique - The exhibition by the Whitney Museum of American Art of a painting of the lynched Emmett Till by...