A comparison of women of color and non-Hispanic White women on factors related to leaving a violent relationship

This study compares women of color and non-Hispanic White women regarding the influence of socioeconomic status, family investment, and psychological abuse on leaving a violent relationship. It was found that most women who left stayed away for less than a month. Women of color and non-Hispanic White women did not differ in their length or rate of leaving, although women of color left more frequently when they did leave. Factors associated with leaving for both groups were threat with a weapon, psychological abuse, being single, and having fewer adults in the household. Women of color with higher socioeconomic status were less likely to leave, which was not the case for non-Hispanic White women. Non-Hispanic White women were more likely to leave if they had lived with their partners less than 5 years and had children at home.     

Using automated comparisons to quantify handwriting individuality

The proposition that writing profiles are unique is considered a key premise underlying forensic handwriting comparisons. An empirical study cannot validate this proposition because of the impossibility of observing sample documents written by every individual. The goal of this paper is to illustrate what can be stated about the individuality of writing profiles using a database of handwriting samples and an automated comparison procedure. In this paper, we provide a strategy for bounding the probability of observing two writers with indistinguishable writing profiles (regardless of the comparison methodology used) with a random match probability that can be estimated statistically. We illustrate computation of this bound using a convenience sample of documents and an automated comparison procedure based on Pearson's chi-squared statistic applied to frequency distributions of letter shapes extracted from handwriting samples. We also show how this bound can be used when designing an empirical study of individuality.     

Using subsampling to estimate the strength of handwriting evidence via score-based likelihood ratios

The likelihood ratio paradigm has been studied as a means for quantifying the strength of evidence for a variety of forensic evidence types. Although the concept of a likelihood ratio as a comparison of the plausibility of evidence under two propositions (or hypotheses) is straightforward, a number of issues arise when one considers how to go about estimating a likelihood ratio. In this paper, we illustrate one possible approach to estimating a likelihood ratio in comparative handwriting analysis. The novelty of our proposed approach relies on generating simulated writing samples from a collection of writing samples from a known source to form a database for estimating the distribution associated with the numerator of a likelihood ratio. We illustrate this approach using documents collected from 432 writers under controlled conditions.     

Unusual skin lesions mimicking bruises caused by Pseudomonas septicemia secondary to undiagnosed peripheral T-cell lymphoma in a young woman

We present a case of a 30-year-old woman with learning difficulties who was found dead at home by her mother. Her body was partially naked and covered in a number of unusual skin lesions with a targetoid appearance with red erythematous centers and well-delineated halos of pallor. These lesions were initially thought to be bruises by the police and by a forensic postmortem instigated. Postmortem examination also identified hepatosplenomegaly, severe lymphadenopathy, and focal patchy colonic ulceration. Histologic examination of the skin and bowel ulcers showed the lesions to be areas of infarction caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa vasculitis. Pseudomonas was also cultured from the swabs of the abdomen, the spleen, and the blood cultures. Histologic findings of the lymph nodes showed complete effacement of the normal architecture by a population of pleomorphic small lymphoid cells. Immunohistochemistry confirmed the predominant cell type to be T-cells. The diagnosis of peripheral T-cell lymphoma was made. The cause of death was given as Pseudomonas septicemia secondary to immunocompromise resulting from the undiagnosed peripheral T-cell lymphoma. The pathogenesis of Pseudomonas and its association with malignancy is discussed along with a brief review of peripheral T-cell lymphomas. This case report demonstrates the characteristic macroscopic appearance of cutaneous Pseudomonas-associated lesions and how they can be misinterpreted as bruises.     

CAPINDEX: Abstract descriptors

Both research and public policy efforts to determine levels of spouse abuse have been compromised, with significant incidence either uncounted or undercounted, owing to numerous factors: social stigma, victim guilt, evasive public policy, and sparse and/or technically inadequate research attempts. The CAPINDEX (Crimes-Against-Persons Index) is an estimation technique that tackles this persistent problem by using rates of well-reported violent crimes to predict the incidence of poorly reported violent crimes like spouse abuse. The numerical bases of the CAPINDEX, murder and aggravated assault, are well-reported and not subject to social class skewing. The relational approach of the technique is consistent with structural, cultural consistency, and ecological theories of violence. The technique is not only efficacious in estimating spouse abuse, but applicable to estimating sexual assault rates.     

Constitutional Arrangements of Federal Systems

Constitutions alone do not make or break federations. In anyevent, they are not static, and evolve over time through judicialreview and political understandings, even in the absence ofconstitutional change. Nevertheless, institutions, principles,and procedures for which constitutions provide are significantinfluences on federations. This article examines some key featuresof federal constitutional arrangements in different federalsystems: the status of the constituent instrument; the divisionof powers between the orders of government; the scope of economicunion; regional disparity; and the relationship of federalismto the rest of the system of government. Today, there is a wideand widening variety of federal structures in systems aroundthe world. Borrowing is tempting, but should be done with care;federalist elements are closely linked with other aspects ofa system of government and with the historical, political, andeconomic setting in which it has been developed.     

Sustained Dialogue in Managing Intractable Conflict

In the warn-torn new nation of Tajikistan, the author has been part of a five-stage dialogue for peace since 1993. The focus of the dialogue has been on transforming relationships and changing relationship dynamics so that this intractable conflict can be addressed positively. The author briefly describes this multilevel peace process both historically and substantively. He also discusses the continual process of evaluation of the Inter-Tajik dialogue effort as well as focuses on a series of questions that apply to intractable conflicts in general.     

Revictimization and self-harm in females who experienced childhood sexual abuse: results from a prospective study

Lifetime trauma histories were ascertained for females with confirmed histories of childhood sexual abuse and comparison females participating in a longitudinal, prospective study. Abused participants reported twice as many subsequent rapes or sexual assaults (p = .07), 1.6 times as many physical affronts including domestic violence (p = .01), almost four times as many incidences of self-inflicted harm (p = .002), and more than 20% more subsequent, significant lifetime traumas (p = .04) than did comparison participants. Sexual revictimization was positively correlated with posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms (PTSD), peritraumatic dissociation, and sexual preoccupation. Physical revictimization was positively correlated with PTSD symptoms, pathological dissociation, and sexually permissive attitudes. Self-harm was positively correlated with both peritraumatic and pathological dissociation. Competing theoretical explanations for revictimization and self-harm are discussed and evaluated.