Genetic data of 4 X-chromosomal short tandem repeats in a North of Portugal population

POPULATION: One hundred unrelated females and 100 unrelated males, autochthonous, healthy, from the North of Portugal.     

Vote Buying and Social Desirability Bias: Experimental Evidence from Nicaragua

Qualitative studies of vote buying find the practice to be common in many Latin American countries, but quantitative studies using surveys find little evidence of vote buying. Social desirability bias can account for this discrepancy. We employ a survey‐based list experiment to minimize the problem. After the 2008 Nicaraguan municipal elections, we asked about vote‐buying behavior by campaigns using a list experiment and the questions traditionally used by studies of vote buying on a nationally representative survey. Our list experiment estimated that 24% of registered voters in Nicaragua were offered a gift or service in exchange for votes, whereas only 2% reported the behavior when asked directly. This detected social desirability bias is nonrandom and analysis based on traditional obtrusive measures of vote buying is unreliable. We also provide systematic evidence that shows the importance of monitoring strategies by parties in determining who is targeted for vote buying.     

Determination of sex from juvenile crania by means of discriminant function analysis

This study provides evidence of craniofacial growth variation between the sexes in juveniles of European descent. Data were collected from lateral cephalometric radiographs belonging to the Michigan Craniofacial Growth Study. The collection consists of longitudinal lateral radiographs that represent individuals 5-16 years of age. Each radiograph was manually traced on hyprint vellum from which eight craniometric points were identified. From these points, 20 craniofacial measurements were recorded and then analyzed by means of a canonical discriminant function analysis. Sex classification equations were then created by applying a backward stepwise procedure to the discriminant functions. The analysis demonstrates the presence of sexually dimorphic differences in craniofacial growth. The neurocranium is the most sexually dimorphic region of the juvenile craniofacial skeleton, until the onset of puberty. Size is the main source of variation with males having taller and longer heads than females. Overall, sex classification in the sample ranges from 78 to 89% accuracy.     

Criminal Justice System Involvement Among Homeless Adults

This study characterized the specific offenses for which homeless individuals are arrested and incarcerated. Data were gathered from 581 homeless adults across 6 Oklahoma City shelters. Participants were asked to self-report incarceration history, nights spent in jails and prisons, and the offenses for which they were arrested. Overall, 76% of the sample had ever been arrested. Fifty-seven percent of the sample had been to jail more than 3 times in their lifetime and 13% had ever intentionally been arrested. The most prevalent type of arrest was drug possession (35%), followed by driving under the influence (31%) and disorderly conduct or public drunkenness (28%). Violent arrests, such as assault, robbery, domestic violence, murder, and rape, were the least prevalent type of arrest. In summary, offenses were largely drug and status offenses. These offenses may be prevented through increased substance use treatment accessibility and availability of housing. Policies to increase employment and housing for homeless adults regardless of criminal history should be expanded to reduce the occurrence of justice involvement.     

Why Listening to Children and Young People is Important in Family Justice

During the last 30 years, there has been a growing body of evidence indicating that children and young people often feel marginalized when their parents are making critical decisions that will shape their young lives, and they are calling for family justice professionals to hear their voices. This article explores the research evidence, examines the relevant theories about child development, and demonstrates how a focus on age‐related competency fails to take account of children's subjective meanings about their lives. The authors consider a model of participation first designed to understand adult participation in government and show how this can be usefully applied to understanding children's participation in family justice.     

Historical systems and social systems

Studies in Comparative International Development -     

A study on ten short tandem repeat systems: African immigrant and Spanish population data

This work presents the results obtained from a genetic-population study for the D1S1656 system in the population of Southwest Spain (Huelva, Cádiz and Sevilla), Spaniards of Caucasian origin from North Africa (Ceuta), as well as in the black Central West African and Moroccan immigrant populations in Spain. The results of a study of the autochtonous population of the Canary Islands (n=138), and immigrant Central West African populations in Spain (n=132), obtained for nine short tandem repeat (STR) loci (D3S1358, VWA, FGA, D8S1179, D21S11, D18S51, D5S818, D13S317, D7S820), as well as the amelogenin locus, all contained in Profiler Plus (Perkin-Elmer) PCR amplification kits, are also presented. Except for the FGA and VWA data on immigrant Central West African populations in Spain, no deviations from the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium were detected.