Sexual Difference as Nomadic Strategy

Lisa Folkmarson Käll's article “Sexual Difference as Nomadic Strategy” deals with Rosi Braidotti's attempt at rethinking sexual difference and female subjectivity in terms of nomadism. It explores how the idea of nomadism can function as a framework for understanding sexual difference which takes into account the multiple ways in which difference is configured, experienced, and contextually given meaning. Braidotti's account of sexual difference as nomadism captures difference in three interrelated dimensions, namely the difference between man and woman, differences between women, and differences within each woman. In all three dimensions, the central issue at stake is to bring forth an understanding of identity as a site of difference. Such an understanding allows Braidotti to locate sexual difference at the very core of subjectivity and recognize difference as constitutive of identity in a more fundamental way than as marking out its external limits. According to Käll, Braidotti's tripartite understanding of nomadism further opens up towards a rethinking of sexual difference beyond the confines of a strict exclusionary binary relation between man and woman. It locates sexual difference as a central element in the identification and becoming of subjectivity while at the same time recognizing that sexual difference is not the only central element, but one which intersects with others.     

Gendered Academic Adjustment among Asian American Adolescents in an Emerging Immigrant Community

Research on the academic adjustment of immigrant adolescents has been predominately conducted in large cities among established migration areas. To broaden the field’s restricted focus, data from 172 (58% female) Asian American adolescents who reside within a non-traditional or emerging immigrant community in the Southeastern US were used to examine gender differences in academic adjustment as well as school, family, and cultural variables as potential mediators of gender differences found. Results suggest that girls report significantly higher educational goals, intrinsic academic motivation, and utility value of school compared to boys. These gender differences are statistically mediated by ethnic exploration and family processes, most prominently, family respect. School connectedness and perceived discrimination are also associated with academic adjustment at the bivariate level, suggesting that academic success may be best promoted if multiple domains of influence can be targeted.     

Parent and Peer Pathways to Adolescent Delinquency: Variations by Ethnicity and Neighborhood Context

Effects of ethnicity and neighborhood quality often are confounded in research on adolescent delinquent behavior. This study examined the pathways to delinquency among 2,277 African American and 5,973 European American youth residing in high-risk and low-risk neighborhoods. Using data from a national study of youth, a meditational model was tested in which parenting practices (parental control and maternal support) were hypothesized to influence adolescents' participation in delinquent behavior through their affiliation with deviant peers. The relationships of family and neighborhood risk to parenting practices and deviant peer affiliation were also examined. Results of multi-group structural equation models provided support for the core meditational model in both ethnic groups, as well as evidence of a direct effect of maternal support on delinquency. When a similar model was tested within each ethnic group to compare youths residing in high-risk and low-risk neighborhoods, few neighborhood differences were found. The results indicate that, for both African American and European American youth, low parental control influences delinquency indirectly through its effect on deviant peer affiliation, whereas maternal support has both direct and indirect effects. However, the contextual factors influencing parenting practices and deviant peer affiliation appear to vary somewhat across ethnic groups. Overall the present study highlights the need to look at the joint influence of neighborhood context and ethnicity on adolescent problem behavior.     

Meaning in Life as a Mediator of Ethnic Identity and Adjustment Among Adolescents from Latin,Asian, and European American Backgrounds

Establishing a sense of life meaning is a primary facet of well-being, yet is understudied in adolescent development. Using data from 579 adolescents (53% female) from Latin American, Asian, and European backgrounds, demographic differences in meaning in life, links with psychological and academic adjustment, and the role of meaning in explaining associations between ethnic identity and adjustment were examined. Although no generational or gender differences were found, Asian Americans reported higher search for meaning than Latin and European Americans. Presence of meaning was positively associated with self-esteem, academic adjustment, daily well-being, and ethnic belonging and exploration, whereas search for meaning was related to lower self-esteem and less stability in daily well-being. Presence of meaning mediated associations between ethnic identity and adjustment, explaining 28–52% of ethnic identity’s protective effect on development. Ethnic identity thus appears to affect adjustment, in part, through its role in fostering a positive sense of meaning in adolescents’ lives.     

Preparation of Tool Mark Standards with Jewelry Modeling Waxes

Abstract:  This paper presents how jewelry modeling waxes are used in the preparation of tool mark standards from exemplar tools. We have previously found that jewelry modeling waxes are ideal for preparing test tool marks from exemplar tools. In this study, simple methods and techniques are offered for the replication of accurate, highly detailed tool mark standards with jewelry modeling waxes. The techniques described here demonstrate the conditioning and proper use of jewelry modeling wax in the production of tool mark standards. The application of each test tool's working surface to a piece of the appropriate wax in a manner consistent with the tool's design is clearly illustrated. The resulting tool mark standards are exact, highly detailed, 1:1, negative impressions of the exemplar tool's working surface. These wax models have a long shelf life and are suitable for use in microscopic examination comparison of questioned and known tool marks.     

Developmental Validation of the PrepFiler™ Forensic DNA Extraction Kit for Extraction of Genomic DNA from Biological Samples*

Abstract: The PrepFiler? Forensic DNA Extraction Kit enables isolation of genomic DNA from a variety of biological samples. The kit facilitates reversible binding of DNA with magnetic particles resulting in high DNA recovery from samples with very low and high quantities of biological materials: 0.1 and 40 μL of human blood (donor 2) provided 14 and 2883 ng of DNA, respectively. Following the revised SWGDAM guidelines, performance of the developed method was investigated using different sample types including saliva on swabs, semen stains on cotton fabric, samples exposed to environment, samples with polymerase chain reaction (PCR) inhibitors, blood stains (on denim, cotton cloth, and FTA^® paper), and touch evidence‐type samples. DNA yields for all samples tested were equal or better than those obtained by both phenol–chloroform extraction and commercial kits tested. DNA obtained from these samples was free of detectable PCR inhibitors. Short tandem repeat profiles were complete, conclusive, and devoid of PCR artifacts.     

Practical Aspects of Analyzing Vegetable Oils in Fire Debris*

Abstract: Vegetable oils undergo burning, self‐heating, and spontaneous ignition, resulting in their presence in fire debris. As these processes can affect the fatty acid content of vegetable oils, it is important that debris be properly handled in order to obtain reliable and informative data. This research investigated changes in vegetable oil content as a result of storage conditions and different types of burning. Material spiked with vegetable oils and burned was stored under various long‐term conditions, and debris was tested by heating overnight using passive headspace concentration. Results indicated that refrigeration is ideal for fire debris samples suspected of containing vegetable oils and that including passive headspace concentration in the analytical scheme would not affect oils. Spontaneous ignition experiments were conducted to compare the effects of various burning processes on vegetable oil content. Vegetable oils that experienced nonpiloted ignition, self‐heating, and spontaneous ignition produced noticeably different chromatograms from those that underwent piloted ignition.     

Measurement of teen dating violence attitudes: an item response theory evaluation of differential item functioning according to gender

Accurate assessment of attitudes about intimate partner violence is important for evaluation of prevention and early intervention programs. Assessment of attitudes about cross-gender interactions is particularly susceptible to bias because it requires specifying the gender of the perpetrator and the victim. As it is likely that respondents will tend to identify with the same-gender actor, items and scales assessing attitudes about intimate partner violence may not have equivalent measurement properties for male and female respondents. This article examines data from 2,575 high school students who participated in a teen-dating violence intervention study. The majority of participants were Latino (91%), and the sample was nearly evenly split with respect to gender (51% female). Items from two scales (boy-on-girl violence, 4 items; girl-on-boy violence, 5 items) reflecting teens' attitudes about dating violence were calibrated with the graded item response theory (IRT) model and evaluated for differential item functioning (DIF) by gender. A total of three items, two from the girl-on-boy violence scale and one from the boy-on-girl violence scale, were identified as functioning differently for girls and boys. In all cases where DIF was detected, the item's attitudinal statement was easier to accept for the gender group that was portrayed as victim rather than perpetrator. For both scales, accounting for the identified DIF influenced inferences about the magnitude of mean differences in attitudes between boys and girls. These results support the use of IRT scores that account for DIF to minimize measurement error and improve inferences about gender differences in attitudes about dating violence.