Secondary Victimizations in Missing Child Events

This paper examines the incidence and nature of secondary victimizations (attempted and completed physical assault, sexual assault, and robbery) in a population of missing children (nonfamily abducted, family abducted, runaway/thrownaway, general/benign missing). Using data from the NISMART-2 studies, the following questions are addressed: How much secondary criminal victimization of children occurs in the context of missing children events, and what is the nature of this victimization? Are some categories/ types of missing children event more likely to result in secondary victimization than others? Is the risk for secondary victimization greater for some missing children than others (e.g., are age or race factors)? Are the outcomes of missing child events which include secondary victimizations different in significant ways from those which do not (more likely to be associated with harm for children or more likely to involve public resources like law enforcement)?     

Law From Below: Women's Human Rights and Social Movements in New York City

Despite the ambivalent history of the domestic application of human rights in the United States, human rights increasingly offer important resources for American grassroots activists. Within the constraints of U.S. policy toward human rights, they provide social movements a kind of global law "from below": a form of cosmopolitan law that subalterns can use to challenge their subordinate position. Using a case study from New York City, we argue that in certain contexts, human rights can provide important political resources to U.S. social movements. However, they do so in a diffuse way far from the formal system of human rights law. Instead, activists adopt some of the broader social justice ideas and strategies embedded within human rights practice.     

Routine activities of delinquent and non-delinquent victims of violent crime

The link between criminal victimization and offending has become increasingly well documented in recent years. Unfortunately, the empirical and theoretical enmeshment of these variables makes it difficult to determine the effect of specific activities purely on victimization. This paper provides an examination of the effect of engaging in specific risky activities on the violent victimization experiences of delinquent and non-delinquent youth. Our results show that there are some modest differences in the effects of risky behaviors on the likelihood of violent victimization for delinquents and non-delinquents.     

Factors affecting perception of pregnancy risk in the adolescent

Perception of pregnancy risk, fertility knowledge, and probability-based teaching examples of risk were assessed in 104 primiparous urban adolescents 13–18 years of age in their second and third trimester of pregnancy. Perception of risk was not associated with age, actual frequency of intercourse, or level of fertility knowledge. Sexually active adolescents were surprised at subsequent conceptions. Adolescents were unable to utilize concepts of risk taking, even after concrete examples and teaching techniques had been presented.This study was conducted under the auspices of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Baylor College of Medicine, which provides medical faculty to the Harris County Hospital District, Houston, Texas.Received Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin. Current interests are patterns of adolescent child bearing and rearing.Received M.P.H. from the University of Texas School of Public Health. Current interests are adolescent contraceptive behavior.Received D.P.H. from the University of Texas School of Public Health. Current interests are biological psychiatry and socio-medical research.Received M.D. from Baylor College of Medicine. Current interests are continuing education in medical and nonmedical settings.     

The impact of abuse allegations in perceiving parricide in the courtroom

One hundred and seventy five undergraduates (105 females) read a fictional criminal trial summary of a parricide case in which the juvenile defendant alleged sexual abuse or physical abuse or did not allege abuse. An allegation of either type of abuse led to a greater likelihood of a manslaughter conviction than a murder conviction and greater pro-child ratings (e.g., sympathy toward the defendant) compared to no abuse allegations. Specific evaluations of the defendant mediated the verdict results. In addition, there was no support for the claim that perceptions are more heinous for sexual abuse than physical abuse allegations and only limited support that perceptions for this type of case result in women being more pro-child defendant than men. The discussion focuses on how abuse allegations impact jurors' decision-making processes in parricide cases.     

The Soviet union,Japan, and east Asia: The security dimension

This article explores the ways in which the Gorbachev regime has tried to improve what Soviet policymakers perceive as an unfavorable balance of power in Northeast Asia. It argues that Gorbachev’s initial response, which emphasized regional arms control proposals, has not been successful because Japanese leaders do not see them as meaningful concessions. More recent changes in Soviet policy offer greater prospects for accommodation. Changes in the global East-West environment and domestic trends in Japan also may have a positive impact on Soviet-Japanese security relations. She is the author ofJapan and Arms Control (Canadian Centre for Arms Control and Disarmament, Ottawa, 1987).     

Road aggression among drinking drivers: Alcohol and non-alcohol effects on aggressive driving and road rage

This study specified aggressive driving (AD) and road rage (RR) and examined a number of alcohol and non-alcohol effects on and the reciprocity between the two behaviors in a drinking driving population. The sample contained 431 clients (79 percent men) who volunteered to complete a self-report survey from fifty alcoholism and substance abuse treatment facilities across New York State. All subjects were undergoing alcoholism treatment because of a drinking driving-related reason. Structural equation modeling with the LISREL program was employed to estimate the reciprocal effects between AD and RR. The results demonstrated that AD and RR were two separate behaviors that simultaneously influenced each other. Additionally, AD and RR, as problem behaviors, tended to be affected mostly by other problem behaviors, such as alcohol problems, impaired driving, and feelings of depression, rather than general situations or behaviors, such as the frequency of alcohol use, driving after drinking, and the experience of stressful life events. The findings convey a message to the criminal justice field as well as alcoholism and substance abuse treatment professionals that addressing the problem of road aggression requires special attention to persons with alcohol problems and especially those with multiple drinking driving offenses.     

The relationship of observed maternal behavior to questionnaire measures of parenting knowledge,attitudes, and emotional state in adolescent mothers

Although relationships have been found between maternal psychological characteristics and cognitive and emotional outcomes in children, the behaviors which may mediate these relationships are seldom examined. This is especially true for adolescent mothers, whose children are thought to be at high risk for adverse outcomes. In this study, adolescent mothers in two special programs completed questionnaires measuring perception of the newborn (Neonatal Perception Inventory), knowledge of influences on child development (Infant Caregiving Inventory), and emotional state (General Health Questionnaire); they were also systematically observed while interacting with their infants in a naturalistic situation. Specific maternal behaviors were found to vary with the age of the mother and of the baby. Mothers with neutral or negative perceptions of their infants touched them less than did mothers with positive perceptions. Degree of emotional disturbance was inversely related to the amount of time that the mother looked at her infant while in physical contact.This research was supported in part by NIH Biomedical Research Support Grant No. BRS 507 RR 05445-19 to Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health.Received her Sc.D. in mental hygiene (comparative behavior) from Johns Hopkins University. Main interests include relationships between observable behavior and reported psychological states, and behavioral and emotional disorders of children.Received her Ph.D. in population dynamics from Johns Hopkins University. Main interests are adolescent health and pregnancy and population changes influencing perinatal health.Received her Ph.D. in psychology from George Peabody College. Main interests include parenting of infants and children's rights.Received her Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Florida. Main interests include adolescent health and utilization of health services by children and adolescents.Received his Ph.D. in child psychology from the University of Iowa. Main interests are infant and child development, with focus on measurement of developmental status and its determinants.