The relationship of observed maternal behavior to questionnaire measures of parenting knowledge,attitudes, and emotional state in adolescent mothers

Although relationships have been found between maternal psychological characteristics and cognitive and emotional outcomes in children, the behaviors which may mediate these relationships are seldom examined. This is especially true for adolescent mothers, whose children are thought to be at high risk for adverse outcomes. In this study, adolescent mothers in two special programs completed questionnaires measuring perception of the newborn (Neonatal Perception Inventory), knowledge of influences on child development (Infant Caregiving Inventory), and emotional state (General Health Questionnaire); they were also systematically observed while interacting with their infants in a naturalistic situation. Specific maternal behaviors were found to vary with the age of the mother and of the baby. Mothers with neutral or negative perceptions of their infants touched them less than did mothers with positive perceptions. Degree of emotional disturbance was inversely related to the amount of time that the mother looked at her infant while in physical contact.This research was supported in part by NIH Biomedical Research Support Grant No. BRS 507 RR 05445-19 to Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health.Received her Sc.D. in mental hygiene (comparative behavior) from Johns Hopkins University. Main interests include relationships between observable behavior and reported psychological states, and behavioral and emotional disorders of children.Received her Ph.D. in population dynamics from Johns Hopkins University. Main interests are adolescent health and pregnancy and population changes influencing perinatal health.Received her Ph.D. in psychology from George Peabody College. Main interests include parenting of infants and children's rights.Received her Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Florida. Main interests include adolescent health and utilization of health services by children and adolescents.Received his Ph.D. in child psychology from the University of Iowa. Main interests are infant and child development, with focus on measurement of developmental status and its determinants.     

Preserving Neighborhood Opportunity: Where Federal Housing Subsidies Expire

Abstract

Rent burdens are increasing in U.S. metropolitan areas while subsidies on privately owned, publicly subsidized rental units are expiring. As a result, some of the few remaining affordable units in opportunity neighborhoods are at risk of being converted to market rate. Policy makers face a decision about whether to devote their efforts and scarce resources toward developing new affordable housing, recapitalizing existing subsidized housing, and/or preserving properties with expiring subsidies. There are several reasons to preserve these subsidies, one being that properties may be located in neighborhoods with greater opportunity. In this article, we use several sources of data at the census tract level to learn how subsidy expirations affect neighborhood opportunity for low-income households. Our analysis presents several key findings. First, we find that units that left the project-based Section 8 program were – on average – in lower opportunity neighborhoods, but these neighborhoods were improving. In addition, properties due to expiry from the Section 8 program between 2011 and 2020 are in higher opportunity neighborhoods than any other subsidy program. On the contrary, new Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) units were developed in tracts similar to those where LIHTC units are currently active, which tend to be lower opportunity neighborhoods.     

Left Diaphragm Laceration Due to Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation

External cardiac massage is the essential life‐saving gesture for the management of any cardiac arrest. Since the 1960s, many recommendations have been published to improve the effectiveness of chest compressions alongside the development of automated systems intended to maximize the chances of survival. The use of these manual and/or instrumental techniques can cause secondary injuries, of which rib fractures are the most commonly observed by forensic pathologists. However, a comprehensive review of the literature seldom highlights reports of injuries to the abdomen, even less so to the diaphragm. In this observation, an iatrogenic left diaphragmatic laceration for the first time is described, as a result of manual and instrumental cardiopulmonary resuscitation, in a victim from an intrathoracic wound caused by a bladed weapon.     

Immigration and Crime in the New Destinations, 2000–2007: A Test of the Disorganizing Effect of Migration

Objectives

Drawing from a social disorganization perspective, this research addresses the effect of immigration on crime within new destinations—places that have experienced significant recent growth in immigration over the last two decades.

Methods

Fixed effects regression analyses are run on a sample of n = 1252 places, including 194 new destinations, for the change in crime from 2000 to the 2005–2007 period. Data are drawn from the 2000 Decennial Census, 2005–2007 American Community Survey, and the Uniform Crime Reports. Places included in the sample had a minimum population of 20,000 as of the 2005-07 ACS. New destinations are defined as places where the foreign-born have increased by 150 % or more since 1990 and with a minimum foreign-born population of 1000 in 2007.

Results

Results indicate new destinations experienced greater declines in crime, relative to the rest of the sample. Moreover, new destinations with greater increases in foreign-born experienced greater declines in their rates of crime. Additional predictors of change in crime include change in socioeconomic disadvantage, the adult-child ratio, and population size.

Conclusions

Results fail to support a disorganization view of the effect of immigration on crime in new destinations and are more in line with the emerging community resource perspective. Limitations and suggestions for future directions are discussed.

     

At the frontiers of scientific advancement: the factors that influence scientists to become or choose to become publicly funded principal investigators

This paper aims to unearth the factors that influence scientists in becoming and choosing to become publicly funded principal investigators (PIs). PIs are the linchpins of knowledge transformation and bridging triple helix actors, particularly academia-industry. At a micro level, PIs are at the nexus of engaging and interacting with other triple helix actors. No study to date has specifically focused on the factors that influence scientists to become or choose to become publicly funded PIs. For scientists taking on the role of a PI represents an important landmark in their research career. Set in an Irish research system we found two main categories of influencing factors—push and pull. Pull factors are where the PI has more choice in choosing to become a PI, where as push factors is where the PI has less choice in choosing to become a PI. Pull factors we identified were control, career ambition and advancement, personal drive and ambition. Pull factors we identified were project dependencies and institutional pressures.     

L'information administrative au Québec: faits et interprétations

Sommaire. L'information administrative. dans nos sociétés. sodre de failles diverses. Une recherche, faite pour le compte du Ministère des Communications du Québec, a voulu éclairer ces failles en vue de les corriger. La principale composante de la recherche a consisté en 78 entrevues de groupe conduites auprès de hauts-fonctionnaires, de fonctionnaires de contact, et de clients privilégés de différentes entités administratives. De plus, 17 experts de différentes disciplines se réunirent pendant deux jours avec des fonctionnaires du Ministère des Communications et d'autres ministères pour tenter d'interpréter et de situer dans des contextes plus larges les problèmes de l'information administrative. Après avoir défini l'information administrative d'après un schéma de la communication empruntéà Roman Jakobson, l'article fait état des principales constatations qui ont été faites lors de la recherche. Ensuite sont présentées les diverses interprétations proposées par les experts: interprétations psychologiques, interprétations en termes de techniques de la communication, interprétations micro-économiques, et interprétations en termes de pouvoir. Les forces et les faiblesses de ces interprétations sont évaluées, après quoi est esquissée une analyse structurale, où l'insistance est mise sur la capacité qu'ont les acteurs d'imposer les contacts par où passe l'information administrative. Il est montré en conclusion comment cette analyse structurale permet d'intégrer les interprétations proposées par les experts, et comment elle pourrait être améliorée dans des recherches subséquentes. Abstract. Administrative information, in our societies, suffers from various shortcomings. A research project undertaken on behalf of the Quebec Department of Communications has tried to focus on these weaknesses in order to eliminate them. The main element of the research was 78 group interviews with senior officials, ‘contact’ civil servants, and privileged clients of various administrative entities. Furthermore, 17 experts in various disciplines met for two days with officials of the Department of Communications and other departments in an attempt to interpret and place in broader contexts the problems of administrative information. Administrative information having been defined according to a communication grid borrowed from Roman Jakobson, this article states the various facts established by the research. Then, the various interpretations offered by the experts are presented: psychological interpretations, interpretations in terms of communication techniques, micro-economic interpretations, and interpretations in terms of power. Strengths and weaknesses of these interpretations are evaluated, and then a structural analysis is attempted; it focuses on the actors' ability to impose the contacts channelling administrative information. In conclusion it is shown how this structural analysis allows an integration of the interpretations proposed by the experts and how it could be improved with further research.     

Where to Begin?

If what goes on in human societies are viewed as "institutionalfacts"rather than "brutefacts," then basic issues are raised withregard to the meaning of federalism. Institutional facts areconstituted by reference to rules and rule-ordered arrangements.Such arrangements turn upon design concepts and their placein the constitution of order in human societies. Constitutingsocieties through patterns of covenantal relationships impliesthat federal societies cannot be understood by placing primaryreliance on forms of government. The question "where to begin?"raises basic ontological and epistemological problems bearingon the place of language and culture in the constitution ofcovenanting societies.     

Consensus on validation of forensic voice comparison

Since the 1960s, there have been calls for forensic voice comparison to be empirically validated under casework conditions. Since around 2000, there have been an increasing number of researchers and practitioners who conduct forensic-voice-comparison research and casework within the likelihood-ratio framework. In recent years, this community of researchers and practitioners has made substantial progress toward validation under casework conditions becoming a standard part of practice: Procedures for conducting validation have been developed, along with graphics and metrics for representing the results, and an increasing number of papers are being published that include empirical validation of forensic-voice-comparison systems under conditions reflecting casework conditions. An outstanding question, however, is: In the context of a case, given the results of an empirical validation of a forensic-voice-comparison system, how can one decide whether the system is good enough for its output to be used in court? This paper provides a statement of consensus developed in response to this question. Contributors included individuals who had knowledge and experience of validating forensic-voice-comparison systems in research and/or casework contexts, and individuals who had actually presented validation results to courts. They also included individuals who could bring a legal perspective on these matters, and individuals with knowledge and experience of validation in forensic science more broadly. We provide recommendations on what practitioners should do when conducting evaluations and validations, and what they should present to the court. Although our focus is explicitly on forensic voice comparison, we hope that this contribution will be of interest to an audience concerned with validation in forensic science more broadly. Although not written specifically for a legal audience, we hope that this contribution will still be of interest to lawyers.