School Quality, Neighborhoods, and Housing Prices

We study the relationship between school characteristics andhousing prices in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, between1994 and 2001. During this period, the school district was operatingunder a court-imposed desegregation order and drew school boundariesso that students living in the same neighborhoods were oftensent to very different schools in terms of racial mix and averagetest scores of the students. We use differences in housing pricesalong assignment zone boundaries to disentangle the effect ofschools and other neighborhood characteristics. We find systematicdifferences in house prices along school boundaries althoughthe impact of schools is only one-quarter as large as the naivecross-sectional estimates would imply. Part of the impact ofschool assignments is mediated by differences in the characteristicsof the population and the quality of the housing stock thathave arisen on either side of the school assignment boundary.     

Development of STR profiles from firearms and fired cartridge cases

Fired cartridge cases are a common type of evidence found at crime scenes. However, due to the high chamber temperatures and touch nature of this evidence, DNA testing is not commonly sought because it is believed DNA is only present in low levels, whether it is due to initial low levels of DNA and/or DNA degradation from the heat or inhibition of the PCR reaction. Moreover, very few laboratories report STR typing success with fired cases. This study focused on obtaining STR profiles from fired cartridge cases using the AmpFℓSTR^® MiniFiler™ kit, which is designed to amplify DNA from low level, inhibited, and degraded samples. Comparisons to other STR amplification kits were also conducted. In attempt to simulate casework, random individuals loaded cartridges into a firearm. DNA was recovered from the fired cartridge cases using the double swab technique and extracted using an automated large volume DNA IQ™ method. Initially, testing focused on known shedders handling cartridges for 30 s prior to firing. A significantly greater number of alleles was obtained following amplification with the MiniFiler™ kit versus the PowerPlex^® 16 BIO kit. No alleles were observed using the Identifiler^® kit. In an attempt to better simulate casework, a random selection of laboratory personnel handled shotshells for as long as needed to load and fire the weapon. In this mock sample study, the MiniFiler™ kit successfully amplified an average of 22% of expected alleles from DNA recovered from shotshell cases versus the PowerPlex^® 16 BIO kit where an average of 7% of alleles were observed. However, the total number of alleles obtained from the two kits was not significantly different. The quality of the DNA obtained from fired cases was studied with evidence of inhibition in at least 11% of shotshell case samples. After swabbing the head and the hull of three shotshell cases separately, a significantly greater number of alleles was obtained from the hull as opposed to the head of the fired shotshell case. In addition, after firing, various internal firearm surfaces were swabbed, including the chamber of barrel, ejection port, and breechface, in an attempt to obtain amplifiable DNA. DNA was obtained from the chamber of the barrel and was amplifiable using the MiniFiler™ kit, although mixtures were obtained with extensive drop-in and drop-out making this analysis unlikely to aid an investigation.     

Restoring community through traditional neighborhood design: A case study of Diggs town public housing

Abstract

This article examines how traditional neighborhood design (TND) can restore a sense of community to distressed neighborhoods. Traditional neighborhoods, such as those found in many cities and inner suburbs, provide their residents numerous opportunities and venues for social interaction. We apply the principles of TND to the redesign of a public housing project. We call our approach an “architecture of engagement.”

Using a case study of Diggs Town, a public housing project in Norfolk, VA, we explore how the application of TND principles transformed a socially alienated and distressed neighborhood into a socially integrated and functional one. We find that TND techniques improve the quality of life by facilitating the social exchanges that create social capital.     

Gender Differences in the Longitudinal Impact of Exposure to Violence on Mental Health in Urban Youth

There is evidence of gender differences in psychopathology during adolescence, but little research has investigated gender differences in trauma-related symptoms. Exposure to violence is a commonly experienced potentially traumatic event among urban adolescents, and the few studies examining gender differences in its mental health impact have produced inconsistent findings. The present study examines the moderating effects of gender on the longitudinal association between exposure to violence and a variety of mental health symptoms (externalizing, internalizing, PTSD, dissociation) in a racially diverse urban adolescent sample (N = 615; 50.6% female; Time 1 mean age = 14.15; Time 2 mean age = 16.70). For both genders, exposure to violence prospectively predicted increases in all types of symptoms. Although boys reported more exposure to violence on average, girls experiencing violence were more likely to experience dissociative (but not PTSD, internalizing, or externalizing) symptoms. The results suggest that adolescent girls exposed to potentially traumatic events may be especially vulnerable to experiencing certain trauma-related symptoms and imply gender-specific pathways to trauma-related psychopathology.     

The Death Penalty: An Unusual Punishment America is Inflicting Upon Itself

The United States is the only Western, industrialized nation still executing criminal offenders. The Constitutional provision that is most often used to call the appropriateness of capital punishment in the United States into question is the 8th Amendment, which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment. Opponents of capital punishment have often argued various reasons why the death penalty is a cruel punishment, but the Supreme Court of the United States has not agreed. A new approach to abolition advocacy is needed. Since the death penalty has not been determined cruel, I submit a new legal argument based on the unusual nature of capital punishment. Utilizing systems theory, I posit the death penalty is an unusual criminal punishment due to the extraordinary range of persons beyond merely the defendant who are negatively impacted by executions.     

Virtual determination of sex: metric and nonmetric traits of the adult pelvis from 3D computed tomography models

Examination of the adult os coxae and sacrum is one of the most common methods of sex estimation from bone. Medical imaging, such as computed tomography (CT), provides the opportunity for three-dimensional (3D) imaging of the skeleton from clinical scans of known individuals in situ. In this study, a randomly selected subset of abdominopelvic CT-derived models were used to evaluate simple, repeatable metric methods of sex estimation based on a combination of obstetric measurements and the traditionally nonmetric Phenice-derived traits. A four-variable discriminant function for sex estimation was developed based on statistical analyses. Overall, the cross-validated accuracy of this method was 100%, with inter-observer error showing an average of only 2.2%. Comparative analysis was run on the data set using FORDISC 3.0. This study shows that current sex determination standards from the pelvis should be updated to include more in vivo data to increase the accuracy of identification.     

Latent fingermark development on a range of porous substrates using ninhydrin analogs--a comparison with ninhydrin and 1,8-diazofluoren

Three relatively new reagents for developing latent fingermarks on porous substrates, 1,2-indandione (IND), 5-methylthioninhydrin (5-MTN), and lawsone, are compared with the more widely used ninhydrin and 1,8-diazofluoren (DFO). Developed latent fingermark visualization on 10 different substrates comprising colored papers, cardboard, and cellophane rather than conventional printer and writing/notepad paper is assessed using latent fingermark deposits from 48 donors. Results show improved fluorescent fingermark visualization using IND compared with DFO on a range of colored cardboards and thick white paper, thus extending the range of substrates known to yield improved visualization with IND. Adding zinc chloride to IND failed to yield any further improvement in fluorescent fingermark visualization. 5-MTN (with and without zinc chloride posttreatment) showed no improvement in visualization compared with ninhydrin and DFO although visible fingermarks were developed. Lawsone produced fluorescent visible fingermarks only with white substrates, which were inferior to those produced with DFO.     

Prospective associations among borderline personality disorder symptoms, interpersonal problems, and aggressive behaviors

This study examined the prospective relationships among borderline personality disorder (BPD) symptoms, interpersonal problems, and types of aggressive behaviors (i.e., experiencing psychological and physical victimization and perpetrating psychological and physical aggression) in a psychiatric sample (N = 139) over the course of 2 years. We controlled for other PD symptoms and demographic variables. BPD symptoms at baseline were associated with interpersonal sensitivity, interpersonal ambivalence, interpersonal aggression, need for social approval, and lack of sociability 6 months later. In turn, interpersonal sensitivity predicted not experiencing physical aggression, interpersonal aggression predicted experiencing physical aggression and perpetrating both psychological and physical aggression, need for social approval predicted experiencing both psychological and physical aggression, and lack of sociability predicted perpetrating physical aggression 2 years later. Results demonstrated that interpersonal problems mediated the relationship between BPD and later violent behaviors. Our findings suggest the importance of distinguishing between these groups of aggressive behaviors in terms of etiological pathways, maintenance processes, and treatment interventions.