Childhood Abusive and Supportive Experiences, Inter-Parental Violence, and Parental Alcohol Use: Prediction of Young Adult Depressive Symptoms and Aggression

Issues in both the children of alcoholics and child abuse literatures were addressed in an attempt to disentangle the effects on young adults of growing up in alcoholic homes versus abusive homes. Using multiple regression, retrospective reports of parental abuse (emotional, physical, and sexual) and parental support (love/support, independence, and fairness), witnessing violence between parents, and parental alcohol use were used as predictor variables for outcomes noted by both literatures. When the effects of all other predictors were statistically controlled, parental alcohol use was not significantly related to depressive symptoms or aggression. Different abusive and supportive behaviors, depending on sex of parent and sex of participant, were significant predictors of both depression and aggression. Results underscore the importance of including and controlling for inter-parental violence and for different types of child abuse (especially emotional abuse) and parental supportive behaviors in investigations of outcomes related to abusive and alcoholic families. Implications for treatment of individuals from these families are discussed.     

Assessment of home-based behavior modification programs for autistic children: reliability and validity of the behavioral summarized evaluation

Since the publication of Lovaas' (1987) impressive findings, there has been a proliferation of home-based behavior modification programs for autistic children. Parents and other paraprofessionals often play key roles in the implementation and monitoring of these programs. The Behavioral Summarized Evaluation (BSE) was developed for professionals and paraprofessionals to use in assessing the severity of autistic symptoms over the course of treatment. This paper examined the psychometric properties of the BSE (inter-item consistency, factorial composition, convergent validity, and sensitivity to parents' perceptions of symptom change over time) when used by parents of autistic youngsters undergoing home-based intervention. Recommendations for future research are presented.     

Amino acid alanine reactivity with the fingerprint reagent ninhydrin. A detailed ab initio computational study

Ninhydrin is one of the most widely used reagents for chemical development of fingerprints on porous surfaces. The detection is based on the reaction of ninhydrin with a monoacidic component of the fingerprint to form an intensively colored compound named Ruhemann's Purple. A computational study of the mechanisms and reaction energetics of the formation of Ruhemann's Purple from ninhydrin and alanine is presented. Such a study is significant from a forensic science point of view because of the strong interest in the forensic chemistry and law enforcement communities in developing alternatives to the current generation of ninhydrin like chemicals for the detection and development of latent fingerprints. Information about the mechanism of reaction between ninhydrin and amino acids can ultimately help to design compounds with stronger chromo-fluorogenic properties in aid of detecting fingerprints at crime scenes. The three most accepted mechanisms of formation have been considered using ab initio quantum mechanical calculations. At relatively high temperature ( approximately 100 degrees C) all three mechanisms are energetically feasible. However since it is recommended that forensic analyses be performed at room temperature, a revised mechanism is proposed for the formation of Ruhemann's Purple under this condition.     

Adults’ Judgments of Children's Coached Reports

This study investigated adults’ judgments of the honesty of children's coached true and fabricated mock testimony. Adults saw video clips of children testifying in a mock court about a true or fabricated event in their lives. They were asked to make an assessment of the truthfulness of the testimony, and respond to questions about their perception of children's credibility. Half of the adults saw children testifying after a competence examination, and the other half saw children testifying without a competence examination. Overall, girls were rated as more competent than boys, and their testimony was more likely to be believed. Younger children were more likely to be rated as incompetent than older children. A factor analysis of adults’ responses revealed six factors which significantly predicted adults’ overall assessment of children's credibility, and their evaluations of children's competence to testify. Adults’ detection accuracy was at chance, with the majority of children rated as truthful. Viewing the competency examination and cross-examination did not improve the adults’ detection accuracy. However, seeing the cross-examination made adults’ less likely to believe children's testimony. The implications of these results for the judicial system are discussed.     

Intellectual disability and mental illness in the NSW criminal justice system

There has been increasing international, national and local recognition of the need for more appropriate responses and services for individuals who come in contact with the criminal justice system and who have an intellectual disability and mental health issues. This article provides an overview of prevalence data that indicates a significant over representation of people with intellectual disabilities in correctional facilities and reviews the problems facing this population. Findings from two specific evaluation studies undertaken by the Centre for Developmental Disability Studies are presented, along with recommendations for future provision based on these results. One of these projects trialled a case management approach to supporting offenders with an intellectual disability upon their release from prison. The 20-month follow-up found that a number of serious barriers were encountered within the overall system of provision for this population; the most serious of which related to lack of adequate accommodation upon release. The second project involved a two-stage evaluation of one model of provision for individuals with intellectual disabilities who are sex offenders, only some of whom were on parole. This service provided both residential and therapy services in a small group home located in the community. Residents were found to have high levels of emotional and behavioural difficulties, in addition to offending behaviour, that continue to require support and supervision. Critical issues, including guardianship involvement, restrictive practices and retrieval, therapy provision, and risk management issues are discussed in relation to overall clinical and lifestyle outcomes.     

The role of beta-amyloid precursor protein (beta-APP) staining in the neuropathologic evaluation of sudden infant death and in the initiation of clinical investigations of subsequent siblings

This report highlights the importance of undertaking immunohistochemical staining of the brains of infants who die unexpectedly, as it may not only assist with the evaluation of the cause of death in an individual infant but may also help with the clinical management of subsequent siblings. A 5-month-old male infant who died suddenly was found to have diffuse beta-amyloid precursor protein (beta-APP) staining in the brain, with no unusual features in his history, death scene examination, routine autopsy dissection, and ancillary tests to suggest any definite cause of death. Due to the beta-APP staining, the possibility of previous episodes of occult trauma, apparent life threatening events (ALTEs), and accidental or inflicted suffocation was raised in the autopsy report. As detailed analyses and investigations provided no supportive evidence for trauma or inflicted injury, hypoxia was clinically considered the most likely cause. Because of these concerns, sleeping oxygen saturation levels were monitored following the birth of a subsequent sibling who had normal APGAR scores and no evidence of any health problems. Oxygen desaturation to 70% occurred in association with a color change while on the postnatal ward, and a subsequent polysomnogram showed multiple episodic significant desaturations to around 80% in association with central apnea. Other testing was unremarkable. These cases demonstrate that beta-APP staining of the brain may not only provide clues as to possible mechanisms of death in pediatric forensic cases but may indicate a need for careful clinical evaluation of subsequent siblings for possible central apnea requiring oxygen therapy.     

Knowledge transfer to emerging markets via consulting projects

In recent years, development agencies (DAs) have focused their activities on consulting projects rather than on financing turnkey projects when assisting emerging markets. The main reason is that the implementation of consulting projects is likely to be connected with an intensive knowledge transfer from developed to emerging markets. Training of local employees and cooperation with local firms are necessary elements to make the transfer effective. The empirical statistics shows training and cooperation to be more frequent in consulting projects financed by DAs as compared to commercial projects. According to theory and experience, training should be included in projects in the least developed host countries, whereas local cooperation should be more frequent, the higher is the development level of the host country. However, DAs do not follow these rules of thumb in a convincing way. A policy implication of the paper is therefore that DAs should better organize and plan the contents of their consulting projects.