Measuring the Difference Between Parental Alienation and Parental Estrangement: The PARQ-Gap

Parental alienation (rejection of a parent without legitimate justification) and realistic estrangement (rejection of a parent for a good reason) are generally accepted concepts among mental health and legal professionals. Alienated children, who were not abused, tend to engage in splitting and lack ambivalence with respect to their parents; estranged children, who were maltreated, usually perceive their parents in an ambivalent manner. The hypothesis of this study was that a psychological test—the Parental Acceptance–Rejection Questionnaire (PARQ)—will help to distinguish severely alienated from nonalienated children. The PARQ, which was used to identify and quantify the degree of splitting for each participant, was administered to 45 severely alienated children and 71 nonalienated children. The PARQ-Gap score—the difference between each child's PARQ: Father score and PARQ: Mother score—was introduced and defined in this research. Using a PARQ-Gap score of 90 as a cut point, this test was 99% accurate in distinguishing severely alienated from nonalienated children. This research presents a way to distinguish parental alienation from other reasons for contact refusal. The PARQ-Gap may be useful for both clinicians and forensic practitioners in evaluating children of separating and divorced parents when there is a concern about the possible diagnosis of parental alienation.     

An Unusual Cause of Headache and Sudden Death of a Young Sailor—Postmortem Computed Tomography and Histological Findings of a Fatal Retroperitoneal Malignant Mixed Germ Cell Tumor

A 26‐year‐old Caucasian sailor, with no past medical history aside from headache for the last 1 week, was found dead in his cabin. The body was stored in a refrigerator on board and disembarked for autopsy 3 days later. Autopsy showed a large, nodular, necrotic and hemorrhagic retroperitoneal mass, and smaller hemorrhagic nodules in the brain, lungs, liver, and left kidney, with the brain being markedly edematous. Both testes were descended and normal. Histologically, the retroperitoneal mass showed a malignant mixed germ cell tumor comprising choriocarcinoma, embryonal carcinoma, and teratoma components. Retroperitoneal extragonadal germ cell tumors are uncommon, and this case of a young male who presented with headache and sudden death due to metastases is extremely rare.     

Neighborhood Cultural Heterogeneity and Adolescent Violence

A small number of scholars have attempted to reorient current thinking about the way cultural effects operate in poor neighborhoods. Scholars argue that socioeconomic disadvantage fosters heterogeneity in cultural models. Moreover, cultural heterogeneity theoretically plays an important role in shaping adolescent decision-making in poor neighborhoods, including decisions related to violent behavior. We test these assumptions using multilevel data comprised of a sample of African-American adolescents. Our findings lend support to these arguments. In particular, the results suggested that neighborhood structural disadvantage increases the degree of disagreement or heterogeneity regarding the inappropriateness of violence. Further, exposure to cultural heterogeneity increased adolescents?? involvement in violent behavior and had a moderating influence on the link between individual frames and adolescent violent behavior.     

Ethyl glucuronide in hair - A highly effective test for the monitoring of alcohol consumption

In Germany drink driving offenders lose their license and must prove abstinence for one year in order to regain it. In this paper we assess the newly introduced ethyl glucuronide (EtG) tests in urine and hair in this alcohol abstinence monitoring. 20% (80 out of 386) of the 3cm long hair samples were tested positive for EtG in hair, compared to only 2% (92 out of 4248 samples) in urine in the same time period. Additionally 50% of the samples positive for EtG in hair had EtG values greater than 30pg/mg hair, indicating chronic alcohol consumption in the last three months. This study shows that four EtG tests in 3cm hair lengths reveal a significantly higher percentage of drink driving offenders who fail to be sober in the rehabilitation period, than do six random EtG tests in urine. Presumably, the hair test is more adequate to monitor long term alcohol abstinence than the urine test as defined by the new driving license re-granting medical and psychological assessment (MPA) in Germany.     

Can ethyl glucuronide in hair be determined only in 3 cm hair strands?

This paper addresses the suitability of ethyl glucuronide in hair (EtGH) strands other than 3cm for alcohol consumption. This issue will be addressed (a) by statistically comparing the distribution of EtGH results for 3cm hair strands to other hair strands analysed from 4126 cases and (b) by examining the stability of EtGH in an 8cm hair strand and two 12cm hair samples of two volunteers and a post-mortem case using 1cm segmental analysis. For 3464 driving license re-granting Medical and Psychological Assessment (MPA) cases, the detection of alcohol consumption using hair lengths longer than 3cm was never significantly less than for 3cm hair lengths, even up to 12cm hair lengths analysed non-segmented. For 662 non-MPA cases, where, in contrast to MPA cases, generally no abstinence was required, an increase in the EtGH positivity rate was observed with increasing hair length analysed up to 9cm, indicating that EtG-washout effects seem to play a minor role if any. For both MPA and non-MPA hair samples less than 3cm, a drastic, significant increase in the number of positive EtGH samples were observed, compared to 3cm hair lengths, strongly supportive of EtGH incorporation from sweat after a recent alcohol consumption. Segmental studies indicated that EtG is stable in the hair matrix up to 12cm long, hence supporting the above results. Even though both the statistical and the stability studies are preliminary results which need to be confirmed by other studies, they both provide evidence for the determination of alcohol consumption using EtGH in hair lengths longer than 3cm. Amendments to the Consensus of the Society of Hair Testing, the German driving license re-granting guidelines and EWDTS hair guidelines with respect to testing for abstinence and/or alcoholism are proposed for the benefit of the donors.     

The world revolution of our time: a review and update

In 1935 Harold D. Lasswell introduced constructs of the world revolution to improve the rational selection of topics and timing for policy research. This article reviews and updates his construct of the skill revolution arising from the differentiation of specialized environments in modern society, including three variants: the garrison-state construct, the permanent revolution of modernizing intellectuals, and the unspeakable revolution. Among transformations of the skill revolution facilitated by the growing interdependence of modern society, or globalization, are contending fundamentalist and cosmopolitan revolutions. A Gnostic revolution of declining faith in Western civilization is also possible. This article concludes with a preferential construct tracing a possible sequence of events leading toward a world order of peace, welfare and social justice.

Some Children See Him...: Political Participation and the Black Christ

This paper explores the role that membership in a politicized church and believing in a black Christ have on the political mobilization and participation of African Americans. Using data from the 1993–94 National Black Politics Study (NBPS), the authors conclude that imagining a black Christ is a radicalizing force on political participation. Hearing politicizing messages in a place of worship and believing that Christ is black appears to shift African Americans from relatively conservative or traditional forms of political participation, such as contacting officials, to more non-traditional political protest. Further, it appears that imagining a black Christ is distinct from other aspects of a racial belief system and while it has political implications, it clearly has religious roots that separate it from other racial beliefs.

Changes in homeland security activities since 9/11: an examination of state and local law enforcement agencies’ practices

This study investigated differences in state and local law enforcement agencies participation in homeland security activities within the year after the 9/11 terrorist attacks and 13 years later. Further, this investigation assessed whether there were regional differences for these practices during these same time periods. Activities assessed were based on a homeland security initiatives index. Data suggest that, in the year after the attacks, agencies’ participation in all of Stewart and Morris’ homeland security activities was not high and statistically significant differences existed across several regions for some of these practices. However, since then, the number of agencies participating in all of Stewart and Morris’ homeland security activities increased and statistically significant differences between regions decreased. The increase in participation may be attributed to incentives provided by the federal government. Nevertheless, data suggest that support may be waning within law enforcement agencies to participate in homeland security activities.