“Truly free consent”? Clarifying the nature of police legitimacy using causal mediation analysis

Journal of Experimental Criminology - To test whether normative and non-normative forms of obligation to obey the police are empirically distinct and to assess whether they exhibit different...     

Initial emotional response to childhood sexual abuse: Emotion profiles of victims and relationship to later adjustment

A sample of 137 college women's retrospective reports of childhood sexual abuse were examined in order to identify the emotional responses these victims experienced at the time of abuse and to investigate the relationship between these responses and the long-term effects of abuse. Results identified three important dimensions of responding including guilt/fear, anger/disgust, and positive emotions. Further, five groups of victims displaying unique emotion profiles were identified. These include: (a) guilty/fearful individuals, (b) low responders, (c) angry/disgusted individuals, (d) ambivalent individuals, and (e) positive individuals. It was determined that victims' responses to abuse were associated with abuse severity. Finally, victim's affective responses to abuse were related to subsequent adjustment. Individuals experiencing high levels of guilt/fear were identified as exhibiting poorer social adjustment than either individuals reporting primarily anger or disgust or individuals reporting low levels of all emotions. Possible mechanisms through which these experiences have their effects are discussed.     

The Military Ascent into Space: From Playground to Battleground: The New Uncertain Game in the Heavens

Netherlands International Law Review -     

Political Capture

National Commission of Audit, Report to the Commonwealth Government , Canberra: AGPS, June 1996. ISBN 0 644 36116 6. xxviii + 409 pp. 24.95     

SELF-CONCEPT, NEGATIVE FAMILY AFFECT, AND DELINQUENCY: A Comparison Across Mexican Social Classes

Using a semistructured measure to minimize cross-cultural biases, we examined the relationship between negative self and family-other affect and delinquency among 135 Mexican families of varying social class. The results indicated that: (a) both processed and released delinquent youths and their parents evaluated themselves more negatively than nondelinquent youths and their parents; (b) appraisals in the families of processed and released delinquents did not differ appreciably; (c) migrant families tended to manifest the most negativity and lower-class families the least, with middle-class families in between; and (d) socioeconomic status did not predict the relationship between family hostility and delinquency. The results are seen as providing more support for the family control theory of delinquency than for processing-labeling theory.     

The Fitness to stand trial Interview Test: how four professions rate videotaped fitness interviews

The results of this study provide some preliminary support for the use of the FIT as a method for providing structure to interviewers. The FIT may be particularly useful as a guide for making initial decisions about fitness. It was suggested that a screening evaluation based on the FIT could be completed by any properly trained individual with some professional background. The more difficult cases can be referred for lengthier evaluations. Of course, further research on the use of the FIT with actual defendants in real assessments will need to occur before such a procedure can be used as a matter of routine. Finally, the FIT promises to be an effective research tool for isolating professional group differences in definitions of fitness and the importance of different aspects of it, from both a legal and a mental health perspective.