Demography of the Legal Profession and Racial Disparities in Sentencing

The demography of the legal profession has changed rather dramatically in recent decades, yet the consequences of a more racially and ethnically diverse pool of lawyers for the administration of justice have not received significant attention. The present research examines how the racial composition of the local legal profession affects one facet of criminal law: the sentencing of convicted defendants. Building on prior work in the fields of law, stratification, and mobility, we hypothesize that racial and ethnic disparities in sentencing are mitigated where the legal profession is more diverse. In line with this hypothesis, analysis of data from a sample of large urban counties taken between 1990 and 2002 shows that the black-white racial disparity in sentencing attenuates as the number of black attorneys in the county increases, net of the percent black in the county and other possible confounding variables. Comparable results are found for Hispanics. The findings are discussed in the context of a demographically changing legal profession and prior work on racial disparities in the justice system.     

School disorder, victimization, and general v. place-specific student avoidance

This study utilizes a national sample of 3, 776 high-school students to test two theoretical models of school avoidance behavior. More specifically, this study examines the relationships between student avoidance and both school disorder (or, incivilities) and previous victimization experiences. Further, the study also examines whether the presumed effects of incivilities and victimization on avoidance operate indirectly, through student fear. Negative Binomial regression analyses showed that perceived disorder in the form of presence of gangs and previous bullying victimization are key sources of student fear. In turn, student fear is positively correlated with two distinct types of avoidance behavior. Interestingly, controlling for student fear does not dissolve the significant, positive effects of perceived gang presence and bullying victimization.     

Integrated DNA and Fingerprint Analyses in the Identification of 60‐Year‐Old Mummified Human Remains Discovered in an Alaskan Glacier

Abstract: This report describes the identification of a merchant mariner who perished in 1948 when Northwest Airlines Flight 4422, a DC‐4 carrying 24 seamen and six crew members crashed into Mount Sanford, Alaska. Fifty‐one years later, a human forearm and hand were found close by the wreckage of the plane, prompting identification efforts using DNA and fingerprints. There were significant challenges to both the fingerprint and DNA analyses. The hand was badly desiccated, making fingerprint friction‐ridge detail almost invisible and the remains had been embalmed upon discovery, making DNA amplification difficult. We present the results of an interdisciplinary approach that successfully addressed these challenges and ultimately led to the identification of the remains. These efforts relied on efficient fingerprint rejuvenation and imaging techniques that improved print resolution, as well as new DNA extraction techniques optimized for aggressively embalmed remains.     

Repeated Eyewitness Identification Procedures: Memory,Decision Making,and Probative Value

Two experiments examined the effects of multiple identification procedures on identification responses, confidence, and similarity relationships. When the interval between first and second identification procedures was long (Experiment 1), correct and false identifications increased, but the probative value of a suspect identification changed little; consistent witnesses were more confident than inconsistent witnesses; and the similarity relationships between suspect and foils were unchanged. When the interval between first and second identification procedures was short (Experiment 2), suspect identification rates changed little, but foil identifications increased significantly; confidence for all identifications increased; consistent witnesses were more confident than inconsistent witnesses; and similarity relationships changed such that witnesses were less likely to identify the suspect as being the best match to the perpetrator.     

Addressing the mental healthcare needs of foster children: perspectives of stakeholders from the child welfare system

A qualitative study was conducted to better understand the factors that contribute to psychotropic medication (PM) overuse among children in the child welfare system in Kentucky, including barriers to providing psychosocial interventions that potentially minimize the need for PM. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with personnel in the Department of Community-Based Services (DCBS). Participants identified important areas to target for system-wide quality improvement efforts, which included improved exchange of health information, training, and communications on the use of PM, and measures to improve access to non-pharmacological psychosocial interventions to address the mental healthcare needs of children in the child welfare system.     

Is the Public Willing to Help the Nigerian Police During the Boko Haram Crisis? A Look at Moderating Factors

This paper sought the opinion of 200 Nigerians on their willingness to cooperate with the police during the Boko Haram crisis. Public perceptions of police effectiveness during the crisis, residence location, gender and religious affiliation were used as moderators. Data was analysed using an explanatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling. Results indicated a strong association between perceived effectiveness and willingness to report to the police with respondents who question the effectiveness of the police being less likely to be willing to report criminal activity about Boko Haram. Further to this, the impact of religion on willingness to report was at least partially mediated by perceived effectiveness of the police with the results showing that Christian respondents perceived the police as less effective. Females and those living in the north were significantly less willing to report criminal activity to the police. The findings are discussed in relation to the BH crises and directions for future research are given.     

Experiences of Racism,Racial/Ethnic Attitudes,Motivated Fairness and Mental Health Outcomes Among Primary and Secondary School Students

While studies investigating the health effects of racial discrimination for children and youth have examined a range of effect modifiers, to date, relationships between experiences of racial discrimination, student attitudes, and health outcomes remain unexplored. This study uniquely demonstrates the moderating effects of vicarious racism and motivated fairness on the association between direct experiences of racism and mental health outcomes, specifically depressive symptoms and loneliness, among primary and secondary school students. Across seven schools, 263 students (54.4 % female), ranging from 8 to 17 years old (M = 11.2, SD = 2.2) reported attitudes about other racial/ethnic groups and experiences of racism. Students from minority ethnic groups (determined by country of birth) reported higher levels of loneliness and more racist experiences relative to the majority group students. Students from the majority racial/ethnic group reported higher levels of loneliness and depressive symptoms if they had more friends from different racial/ethnic groups, whereas the number of friends from different groups had no effect on minority students’ loneliness or depressive symptoms. Direct experiences of racism were robustly related to higher loneliness and depressive symptoms in multivariate regression models. However, the association with depressive symptoms was reduced to marginal significance when students reported low motivated fairness. Elaborating on the negative health effects of racism in primary and secondary school students provides an impetus for future research and the development of appropriate interventions.     

Changes in Academic Adjustment and Relational Self-worth Across the Transition to Middle School

Moving from elementary to middle school is a time of great transition for many early adolescents. The present study examined students’ academic adjustment and relational self-worth at 6-month intervals for four time points spanning the transition from elementary school to middle school (N = 738 at time 1; 53 % girls; 54 % African American, 46 % European American). Grade point average (G.P.A.), intrinsic value for schoolwork, self-worth around teachers, and self-worth around friends were examined at every time point. The overall developmental trajectory indicated that G.P.A. and intrinsic value for schoolwork declined. The overall decline in G.P.A. was due to changes at the transition and across the first year in middle school. Intrinsic value declined across all time points. Self-worth around teachers was stable. The developmental trends were the same regardless of gender or ethnicity except for self-worth around friends, which was stable for European American students and increased for African American students due to an ascent at the transition into middle school. Implications for the education of early adolescents in middle schools are discussed.     

Leaving home: Irish press debates on female employment,domesticity and emigration to Britain in the 1930s

Although Ireland has had a long history of female emigration, the 1930s saw an important shift in emigration patterns. In the context of southern Irish nation-building, the emigration of tens of thousands of young Irish women to Britain raised serious questions about the opportunities and roles of women in the Irish Free State. This article analyses the Irish print media of the 1930s as discursive spaces within which female emigration was repeatedly highlighted and debated. Discussions of female emigration were usually related to issues of female education, female employment and the duties of women within the home. These issues need to be located within the specific context of Irish Free State economics and politics. The Conditions of Employment Act (1936) and the Constitution of 1937 were legislative measures that attempted to define and regulate the role of Irish women. But that is not to imply a simple ideological hegemony in the Free State; I argue that the media debates reveal the competing discourses surrounding women's roles in the newly established nation state. For example, one view was that young women and girls should be given training and preparation for emigration, another view was that plenty of jobs were available at home, while a third view was that women should be content to remain within the domestic sphere. The much-repeated view that women would be better off (at home) illustrates the overlapping constructions of home – domestic sphere – and home – the nation. The overlapping and interconnecting of these home spaces signified a blurring of boundaries that meant Irish women were expected to carry the responsibility for national as well as domestic well-being.