Decision making by parole interviewers: The effect of case and interview factors

Nonverbal behavior of 103 inmates was coded during their parole interviews, and additional information was obtained from their case files. These data were related to interviewers' pre-and postinterview judgments of the inmates' likelihood of completing parole successfully and to interviewers' ratings of the inmates' honesty during the interview. Results showed that information obtained during the interview significantly affected the interviewers' postinterview judgments. Perceived honesty during the interview was affected significantly by the severity of the inmates' crime and by how much information the inmates' volunteered, how polite they were to the interviewers, and how much the inmates fidgeted during the interviews. Results suggest that the interviews did not improve, and may have lowered, interviewers' accuracy at predicting inmates' success on parole.     

Relationships Between Racial–Ethnic Identity,Self-esteem and In-group Attitudes Among First Nation Children

Positive in-group distinctiveness has been associated with self-esteem increases among adolescents and adults. To examine whether in-group biases are associated with self-esteem enhancement among minority group children, Native Canadian children (N = 414, 209 female) age 6–11 completed each year for 5 years, measures assessing their level of concrete operational thought, racial–ethnic identity, racial–ethnic centrality, implicit and explicit self-esteem, and implicit and explicit in-group attitudes. According to cognitive developmental theory, increases in the level of concrete operational thought will predict increases in racial–ethnic identity, and increases in identity should, in turn, predict more favorable in-group attitudes. Social identity theory predicts that more favorable in-group attitudes should predict increases in self-esteem. Multi-level structural equation modelling revealed support for these hypotheses. Cognitively mature children who identify closely with their group enhanced their level of self-esteem by positively differentiating between group members on dimensions that favor their group. Limitations of the present study and suggestions for future studies are also presented.     

Popular literature in seventeenth‐century England

This article is an extended review of Margaret Spufford's Small Books and Pleasant Histories, an account of the English chapbook. It argues that while Spufford has made an interesting attempt to penetrate the world of seventeenth‐century English popular culture, she is, in the final analysis, unsuccessful. Spufford's account of the chapbook is compared with recent work on other popular literary forms, and it is suggested that Small Books and Pleasant Histories does not always ask the right questions.

Small Books and Pleasant Histories. Popular fiction and its readership in seventeenth‐century Englandby Margaret Spufford. London: Methuen, 1981. Pp. xxi + 275, Index; £14.95 (hardback).     

凶杀案件现场勘查

凶杀案件现场勘查是刑事案件技术侦查的重要环节。现场勘查的好与坏,直接关系到案件侦破的成败、案件的定性处理及刑事诉讼活动的进行。在现场勘查时,要评估死者是死于谋杀、自杀还是事故,并分析其死亡原因。勘查时,要注意搏斗痕迹、武器位置。犯罪现场的尸检要由专业人员进行。