Locating Supreme Court Opinions in Doctrine Space

We develop a scaling model to estimate U.S. Supreme Court opinion locations and justice ideal points along a common spatial dimension using data derived from the citations between opinions. Citations from new opinions to precedent opinions usually apply and endorse the doctrine of the precedent opinion; however, sometimes they implicitly or explicitly dispute the precedent opinion. We collect original datasets classifying citations from search and seizure and freedom of religion opinions written between 1953 and 2006 into these different types and develop a model relating the similarity of the doctrine embodied in the citing and cited opinions to the relative probability of these different types of citations. The resulting spatial estimates of opinion location are used to evaluate theories of Supreme Court bargaining and opinion writing. We find empirical support for theoretical models that predict the majority opinion will fall at the ideal point of the median member of the majority coalition. Given the centrality of theories of judicial policymaking to various substantive problems in political science, the method of scaling opinions developed in this article can facilitate a range of future research.     

Music Taste Groups and Problem Behavior

Internalizing and externalizing problems differ by musical tastes. A high school-based sample of 4159 adolescents, representative of Dutch youth aged 12 to 16, reported on their personal and social characteristics, music preferences and social-psychological functioning, measured with the Youth Self-Report (YSR). Cluster analysis on their music preferences revealed six taste groups: Middle-of-the-road (MOR) listeners, Urban fans, Exclusive Rock fans, Rock-Pop fans, Elitists, and Omnivores. A seventh group of musically Low-Involved youth was added. Multivariate analyses revealed that when gender, age, parenting, school, and peer variables were controlled, Omnivores and fans within the Exclusive Rock groups showed relatively high scores on internalizing YSR measures, and social, thought and attention problems. Omnivores, Exclusive Rock, Rock-Pop and Urban fans reported more externalizing problem behavior. Belonging to the MOR group that highly appreciates the most popular, chart-based pop music appears to buffer problem behavior. Music taste group membership uniquely explains variance in both internalizing and externalizing problem behavior.     

Forensic comparison of soils by bacterial community DNA profiling

This preliminary investigation has shown that a soil microbial community DNA profile can be obtained from the small sample of soil recovered from the sole of a shoe, and from soil stains on clothing. We have also shown that these profiles are representative of the site of collection and therefore could potentially be used as associative evidence to prove a link between suspects and crime scenes. Soil community profiles were obtained using the T-RFLP fingerprinting method that uses fluorescent primer technology and semi-automated analysis techniques similar to those used in human DNA profiling in forensic laboratories.     

Keeping Secrets From Parents: Longitudinal Associations of Secrecy in Adolescence

A 2-wave survey study among 1173 10–14-year-olds tested the longitudinal contribution of secrecy from parents to psychosocial and behavioral problems in adolescence. Additionally, it investigated a hypothesized contribution of secrecy from parents to adolescent development by examining its relation with self-control. Results showed that keeping secrets from parents is associated with substantial psychosocial and behavioral disadvantages in adolescence even after controlling for possible confounding variables, including communication with parents, trust in parents, and perceived parental supportiveness. Contrary to prediction, secrecy was also negatively associated with feelings of self-control. Secrecy from parents thus appears to be an important risk factor for adolescent psychosocial well-being and behavioral adjustment.PhD student, Department of Social Psychology, Free University, The Netherlands. Received Masters degree in social psychology at Utrecht University. Research interests are workings and consequences of secrecy in adolescence and adulthood, and evolutionary approaches to studying human social behavior.Associate Professor, Department of Social Psychology, Free University, The Netherlands. Received PhD in clinical and social psychology at the University of Louvain, at Louvain-la-Neuve. Research interests are communication and relationships in adolescence and the conceptualization and measurement of secrecy.Assistant Professor, Institute of Family and Child Care Studies, University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands. Research interests are family, work-stress, and methodological issues in multivariate longitudinal analyses.Professor, Institute of Family and Child Care Studies, University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands. Research interests are friendships, family relationships, and substance use and abuse in adolescence.     

Influences of Risk Behaviors on the Quality of Peer Relations in Adolescence

The majority of young people experiment with alcohol use, smoking, drug use, and delinquency. In order to understand why adolescents are engaged in potential risk behaviors, it is important to look at the functions of these behaviors for adolescents' social and personal functioning. In this study, we examined whether substance use, transgressive behavior, and delinquency are related to the quality of peer relations. Univariate analyses of data of a study on five hundred eight 12–18-year-olds showed that substance use and transgressive behavior are positively related to both the quantity (chumship, size of network, and time spent with peers) and the quality (attachment, support, acceptance, and competence) of peer relations. The association with peer relations were less straightforward for adolescent delinquency. Hierarchical regression analyses, however, showed that when the associations of quantitative aspects of peer relations are controlled for, no additional effects of substance use and transgressive behavior emerged. This suggests that social functions of risk behaviors may be understood as providing the opportunity to intensify contacts with peers or initiate new relations that, in turn, may be related to peer relations in a positive sense.