Romantic partners and young adult offending: Considering the role of partner's socioeconomic characteristics

In this study, we examined whether and to what extent the effects on offending of marriage and different types of cohabitating partnerships depend on the romantic partner's socioeconomic status (SES). Such research addresses a key gap in knowledge regarding potential heterogeneity of effects on behavior of romantic partnerships. Drawing on the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997, we examined the within‐individual effects of three romantic partner's socioeconomic characteristics–education, employment, and income–on offending from ages 18 to 34. Results revealed that marriage was related to reductions in arrest only for those whose spouse was employed (full or part time) and had income. In contrast to marriage, partner SES was not related to arrest among those who cohabited with a partner they never married. Additionally, partner SES was often associated with reductions in arrest among those who cohabited with a partner they later married, but the reductions were statistically indistinguishable across levels of partner SES. Lastly, these effects were experienced similarly for low‐ and high‐SES individuals alike, and no gender differences were detected in these effects. Our findings suggest that important life events such as marriage and cohabitation can be behavior‐altering transitions, but the effects of these events are variable.     

Perceptions of community policing in a small town

Much of the information regarding community policing is based upon research conducted in large urban areas. In contrast, this article utilizes survey data to examine resident perceptions of community-policing practices in a small southern town. Low response rates from minority citizens, along with the negative impressions reported by minority participants, point to race as a major concern. Black respondents are less willing to trust the police, express greater dissatisfaction with the police, and grade the police significantly lower than do white participants. Interestingly, community-policing measures do not appear to enhance perceptions of the police. Suggestions for future research are offered.     

Children's recall of emotionally arousing, repeated events: a review and call for further investigation

The influence, if any, of emotional arousal on memory is a controversial topic in the literature. Much of the research on memory for emotionally arousing events has focused on a few specific issues (e.g., differences in types of details recalled in emotionally arousing and neutral events; increasing ecological validity). Although gaining more recent attention, a neglected area in the literature has been memory for instances of repeated, emotionally arousing events. This issue has important implications for understanding children's ability to recall events in a forensic setting. We review existing findings on memory for emotionally arousing events in general and particularly in children, children's memory for events that occur repeatedly, and then discuss the scarce research on repeated emotionally arousing events and the need for further research in this area. We conclude that although it is clear that children are capable of accurately reporting arousing and repeated experiences, it is also apparent that circumstances both within and outside the control of investigative interviewers influence this ability.     

Enhancing Community Leadership Negotiation Skills to Build Civic Capacity

Most intra‐ and interorganizational decision making entails negotiations, and even naturally talented negotiators can improve with training. Executive trainings for managers and leadership programs for publicly elected officials, public managers, and nongovernmental organizations frequently include negotiation modules. These efforts, however, have yet to reach community leaders who also need to develop their negotiation skills. We propose that members of disadvantaged low‐income communities who lack educational and economic opportunities, and are less able to advocate for their own interest, need to build and strengthen their civic capacity, including their negotiation skills, to become more effective parties to decisions affecting them. While many professionals and executives have access to training, such opportunities are less accessible to the leaders of these disadvantaged communities. Although such leaders draw from their own heuristic knowledge, skills, and abilities, they could also benefit from sharpening their negotiation skills. We propose that the multidimensional understanding of their community that members accumulate through direct experience is indispensable, nontransferable to outsiders, and not teachable through in‐class activities. Leaders with the ability to leverage knowledge and assets to connect effectively to community insiders as well as to outside people, institutions, and resources, however, possess some specific inherent personality traits as well an understanding of social structures, strategies, and agency, which can be taught and learned. Such skills as how to conduct negotiations around the table and away from it and how to identify community members who can help and how to rally them are also teachable. The cases were chosen to illustrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) that make these leaders effective in and beyond their communities. We highlight those KSAs that we think are teachable in the framework of a negotiation module in community leadership training to enhance civic capacity for community betterment.     

Tracing the Rise of Evidence-Based Juvenile Justice in Florida

The movement toward evidence-based practice in juvenile justice has encouraged a research-informed approach that prioritizes the principles of effective intervention. And yet the shifts in this direction have been uneven across different states. This pattern underscores the value of state-level case studies for understanding the pace and nature of juvenile justice reform in recent decades. The authors provide such a study for the state of Florida. They begin in 1994 with the creation of the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice. The authors describe the unique history in these early years and identify the political and cultural factors that variously encouraged and constrained evidence-based reform. They then describe the resulting system that pervades today. The authors emphasize four key elements that define the current operation of Florida juvenile justice. They conclude by situating Florida’s shifts within the broader dialogue on evidence-based practice in U.S. juvenile justice.