The courts: Arbiters of conventional sexual morality on campus

Common wisdom often asserts that colleges are hotbeds of libertine sexual indulgence and that the courts are lenient in dealing with sexually-related matters on campus. Quite a different picture emerges, however, from an examination of the court cases involving serious sexual misconduct in American campus life. Indeed, it may be interpreted as a model of conventional morality. This study examines the appellate court decisions from the fifty states and the federal judicial circuits which relate serious sexual misconduct (defined as that which might or did constitute a criminal offense) to college and university campuses or programs. While there were almost no such cases two decades ago, the number has grown dramatically in recent years. The subject matter ranges from discipline or termination of professors and students charged with illegal or immoral sexual behavior to the assessment of liability in damage suits against institutions, and even their administrators, when they failed to provide a safe campus environment, and harm resulted to someone.     

The mass media and changes in adolescents' political knowledge during an election cycle

Two questions are considered: to what extent do children's levels of political knowledge and news media use change during an election campaign? To what extent are levels of political knowledge related to levels and types of news media use? The hypothesis that news media use at one point in time is related to subsequent levels of political knowledge is tested using crosslagged partial correlation analysis. The patterns of political knowledge and news media use in January (prior to the 1976 primaries), late May and early June, and after the general election among a panel of high school students are examined. The means indicate a small increase in news media use and a more substantial increase in political knowledge. A greater increase occurs in political knowledge about campaign and election relevant institutions and processes than about other types of political institutions and processes. Limited support is provided for the hypothesized lagged influence of news media use; the impact varies with the political interest of the student and the type of news media used.     

A measure of risk taking for young adolescents: Reliability and validity assessments

Researchers often define adolescent risk taking in terms of individual behaviors such as alcohol and drug use, early sexual activity, and reckless driving. It is not clear whether these behaviors defined by adults as risky have the same meaning for adolescents. This paper describes the development and preliminary testing of an instrument to assess risk taking among young adolescents. The six item scale was constructed by asking small groups of eighth grade boys and girls to describe things that teenagers your age do for excitement or thrills. The measure was then used in a longitudinal study of 758 young adolescents from three rural counties in Maryland. The scale shows good reliability, as indicated by coefficient alpha and factor analyses. Eighth-grade scores on the scale are associated with the initiation of sexual activity and substance use in ninth grade among virgins and nonusers of alcohol, marijuana, cocaine and pills in eighth grade.     

Population-specific histological age-estimating method: a model for known African-American and European-American skeletal remains

Previously developed histological age-estimating methods have been based on samples lacking interpopulation variability. A comparison of age-associated rib histomorphometrics between an European-American sample and an African-American sample indicates that ethnicity can have a significant effect on osteon population density (OPD), osteon cross-sectional area (On.Ar), and relative cortical area (Ct.Ar/Tt.Ar). Based upon these findings, new histological age-predicting formulae are presented that are recommended when estimating age for African-American or European-American skeletal remains. A general formula that is applicable to remains of unknown ethnicity is also provided.     

Sentence length: Interactions with race and court

Sentencing research tends to focus on two questions. First, do some categories of offenders receive substantially different sentences than do other categories of offenders, for the same or similar offenses? Second, do some courts give substantially different sentences, when compared to other courts, for the same or similar offenses? Focusing on these questions, researchers have typically examined the impact of three types of variables on either sentence length or sentence type: defendant status variables (e.g., race, education), extra-legal process factors (e.g., court, plea), and legal factors (e.g., seriousness of offense, prior convictions). Study results have been contradictory and inconclusive.The problem with sentencing studies is that only main effects are examined. A more appropriate model is one that contains the interactions between the defendant's race (black/white) and the other independent variables, and the interactions between the court's locale (urban/rural) and the other independent variables.Using data collected in 1978 on 412 male prisoners in Maryland, four interaction terms were found to contribute to an understanding of sentencing decisions. It was found that blacks received longer sentences than whites, net of all other variables. However, whites received lengthier sentences for more serious offenses. In comparison to blacks, whites received lengthier sentences when they used more court resources. It was found that rural jurisdictions give lengthier sentences than urban jurisdictions, net of all other variables. However, in comparison to rural courts, urban courts give lengthier sentences when the defendant uses more court resources. More serious offenses receive lengthier prison terms in rural, as compared to urban, courts.