Behavioral Cues to Deception vs. Topic Incriminating Potential in Criminal Confessions

Coding statements of criminal suspects facilitated tests of four hypotheses about differences between behavioral cues to deception and the incriminating potential (IP) of the topic. Information from criminal investigations corroborated the veracity of 337 brief utterances from 28 videotaped confessions. A four-point rating of topic IP measured the degree of potential threat per utterance. Cues discriminating true vs. false comprised word/phrase repeats, speech disfluency spikes, nonverbal overdone, and protracted headshaking. Non-lexical sounds discriminated true vs. false inthe reverse direction. Cues that distinguished IP only comprised speech speed, gesticulation amount, nonverbal animation level, soft weak vocal and “I (or we) just” qualifier. Adding “I don't know” to an answer discriminated both IP and true vs. false. The results supported hypothesis about differentiating deception cues from incriminating potential cues in high-stakes interviews, and suggested that extensive research on distinctions between stress-related cues and cues to deception would improve deception detection.     

Religion, Spirituality, and the Workplace: Challenges for Public Administration

The relationship between religion and politics in the United States is a much-studied academic area, particularly evident in political institutional and behavioral venues such as interest groups, electoral behavior, and political culture. One academic area that has not received much attention is the influence of religion on public administration. Recently, however, public administration scholars have begun to mimic their counterparts in the business world by examining the role of religion and spirituality in the public workplace, especially with regard to organizational performance, ethical behavior patterns, decision making, and the personal spiritual health of employees. This article examines the role and impact of religion and spirituality in the workplace, reviews court cases and political measures regarding religious expression in the public sector, explores a private sector model to explain the interrelationship between religion and spirituality in the public workplace, and challenges public administrators to consider the positive role that religion and spirituality can play in the public workplace.     

Narcissistic Features in Young Adolescents: Relations to Aggression and Internalizing Symptoms

Recent research and theory suggest narcissistic features contribute to aggression in adults. The present study examined the association of narcissistic features with aggression and internalizing symptoms in 233 students of 5th–8th grade at three inner-city schools. A factor analysis of the Narcissistic Personality Inventory in this sample revealed three factors: Adaptive Narcissism, Exploitativeness, and Exhibitionism. Regression analyses were used to predict the association of these three narcissistic features with self-, teacher-, and peer-reported aggression and self-reported internalizing symptoms. Results indicate narcissistic exploitativeness positively predicted self-reported proactive aggression, and narcissistic exhibitionism positively predicted internalizing symptoms. Narcissism and self-esteem interacted to predict teacher-reported aggression and self-reported internalizing symptoms. Results are discussed in the context of existing theories of narcissism, threatened egotism, and self-perception bias.     

Seasonality in suicide: a study of farming suicides in England and Wales

Seasonality in suicide rates has long been reported. Spring peaks in suicide deaths have been positively correlated with the proportion of the workforce engaged in agriculture. Some studies have indicated that suicides using violent methods are more likely to show seasonality. Recent research has suggested that seasonal patterns have diminished. This study examined deaths in male farmers, an occupational group which might be expected to be more vulnerable to seasonal influences because of the nature of their work and the relatively high proportion of farmers using violent methods for suicide. Data on suicides between 1982 and 1999 by males in England and Wales aged 15 years and over were provided by the Office for National Statistics. Seasonal patterns of suicide in farmers and nonfarmers were examined by nonparametric tests and harmonic analysis. No significant seasonal variation was found for farmers. For nonfarmers, although a chi-square test showed significant variation in monthly distribution, this was not found when a harmonic analysis was applied. There was no significant difference in the variation of violent suicides throughout the year. This study reinforces recent findings that seasonal variation in suicide appears to be diminishing, even in an occupational group where this might be expected.     

The Coefficient of Party Influence

In a 2000 article in American Journal of Political Science,James Snyder and Tim Groseclose develop and apply an innovativemethod for detecting and estimating the frequency and magnitudeof party influence in congressional roll call voting. This paperpresents a framework for assessing the coefficient that theauthors interpret as "party influence." The analysis revealsthat, and shows why, the coefficient manifests two troublesomecharacteristics. The coefficient cannot discriminate betweendisparate types of party influence because the mapping betweentypes of partison influence and signs of the coefficient isnot one-to-one. Similarly, the coefficient has a responsivenessproblem because a marginal increase in one party's influencecan cause the estimate of the coefficient to increase, decrease,or remain constant. Because the literature on parties in Congressemphasizes majority-party strength, the inability of the coefficientto isolate party-specific effects is a serious drawback in theongoing hunt for genuine party discipline.     

Heart valve tissue donation does not preclude the diagnosis of clinically significant pediatric cardiac abnormalities

Medical examiners/coroners often have the responsibility of deciding whether to allow organ and tissue donation to proceed in cases under their jurisdiction. A 10-year retrospective study was conducted of autopsy cases in children younger than 6 years to determine whether the donation of cardiac valve tissue would preclude the diagnosis of clinically significant pediatric cardiac abnormalities. Only 1 case (0.1%) was found in the entire 10-year period in which valve tissue donation might have prevented the correct diagnosis. According to the results of the study, (1) most cardiac findings in forensic pediatric autopsies are not clinically significant; (2) clinically significant findings will be diagnosed in properly examined hearts, even those processed for valve tissue donation, and special studies will remain possible in nearly all hearts except those with suspicion of conduction defects; and (3) as long as there is good communication between forensic pathologists and organ and tissue procurement organizations, the concern of failing to diagnose significant cardiac findings should not inhibit medical examiners/coroners from allowing the donation of pediatric cardiac valve tissue.     

Public Procurement Directives in the European Union: A Study of Local Authority Purchasing

Prompted by the Single European Market initiative, virtually all public procurement, except for defence equipment, is now subject to European Union rules which prohibit discriminatory (buy national) purchasing policies. This paper examines the impact of recent procurement Directives on local authority tendering and contract award behaviour (compliance), and considers whether the legislation has been successful in opening-up such public procurement to international competition. Although local authorities are making extensive use of the Official Journal to advertise their requirements, there is evidence that purchasers do not always adhere to the new legislation and it is not obvious that adherence to the legislation is improving. Moreover, an analysis of local authority contract award data for 1993 revealed that almost all contracts were won by domestic firms. However, doubts about the ultimate ownership of such firms and the sourcing of components means that there remains considerable scope for further work.     

Alternative Models of the Future of Negotiation Research

In January of 1999, leading negotiation scholars and practitioners gatheredat Northwestern University for a conference sponsored by the HewlettFoundation. Here, we chronicle a conversation that occurred regardingnegotiation research. Our diverse group consisted of people with backgroundsin social psychology, anthropology, sociology, and clinical practice.We discussed issues surrounding where research takes place (in the lab orin the field), experimental participants (students or practicing professionals),and the ultimate value of research.