Neonaticides in Hamburg, Germany, from 1998 to 2008

In the analyzed period from 1998 to 2008, the autopsies performed at the Hamburg Institute of Legal Medicine included 13 cases in which an investigation for neonaticide had been initiated by the public prosecutor. The killed neonates showed a nearly equal distribution between both sexes. The most common method of neonaticide was suffocation. Most of the perpetrators were young, unmarried primipara with an average educational background. Almost all of them were suffering under psychological stress and had negated their pregnancy. In most cases, birth and neonaticide happened alone in their flat, and there was no medical attendance in any case. In the cases brought to court the women were charged with manslaughter (Section 212 German Criminal Code) and those found guilty were always granted a mitigated sentence pursuant to Section 213 Criminal Code.     

Predictors of Positive Development in Emerging Adulthood

This article responds to recent calls for a focus on successful development in young people and examination of its developmental precursors, in order to identify potentially modifiable targets for interventions. The current study examined child and adolescent precursors of positive functioning in emerging adulthood, including individual characteristics, relationship factors, and connections to the community, using a multidimensional positive development measure at 19–20 years. The sample consisted of 511 males and 647 females who were participants in the Australian Temperament Project, a population based longitudinal study that has followed young people’s psychosocial adjustment from infancy to early adulthood. Higher levels of positive development in emerging adulthood were associated with stronger family and peer relationships, better adjustment to the school setting, higher family socioeconomic status, and better emotional control. Some significant gender differences were observed, with emotional control, family relationships, and community orientation all being stronger predictors of males’ than of females’ positive development. The findings provide possible targets for child and adolescent interventions to promote positive development in early adulthood.     

Comparative study of electrochromic enhancement of latent fingerprints with existing development techniques

To address the challenge of capturing latent fingerprint evidence from metal surfaces, a new method of latent fingerprint enhancement based on electrochromic polymer films has recently been developed. Here, we present a study comparing the development and visualization of nonvisible fingerprints on stainless steel substrates using this electrochromic enhancement approach with three classical methods (dusting, wet powder, and cyanoacrylate fuming). Two variants of the electrochromic enhancement method were utilized with polyaniline and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) as the electrochromic materials. Fingerprint samples were taken from different donors (varying in age and gender) and were exposed to different environments for systematically varied periods of time (up to 28 days). The environments represent plausible evidential scenarios: left under ambient conditions, washed with aqueous soap solution, washed with acetone, submerged in water, and maintained at elevated temperature. The electrochromic enhancement procedure frequently outperformed the traditional methods, particularly for samples exposed to more challenging histories.     

RISK AND PROTECTIVE FACTORS FOR SECONDARY GIRLS OF INCARCERATED PARENTS

In a review of the literature on child gender and gender‐specific effects for children of incarcerated parents, the present paper examines what we do and do not know about gender‐specific protective and risk factors for children of incarcerated parents. The nuanced effects of parental separation based on child gender are offered, drawn from secondary level girls in an all‐female support group operated at a secondary school in Little Rock, Arkansas for the past six years. Other programs are examined that evidence gender‐specific effects for boys and girls in those programs. A few basic statistical indices suggest that the gender of an adolescent separated from his or her incarcerated parents has differential impacts to be better studied and possibly considered in service programming. The results may enhance the outcomes for the girls, and perhaps the boys.     

The Mad Heir Apparent and the Spanish Succession: The Fate of the Infante Don Carlos

In twentieth-century Britain, the monarch no longer exercises governmental power directly, and a monarch’s incapability creates rather different issues and problems than in periods when kings ruled as well as reigned. How was a situation such as that of disabled heir apparent, or a monarch who became physically or mentally incapable while reigning, dealt with when monarchs ruled directly? This article considers some examples of monarchs in the past who were physically or mentally disabled on accession or became so while reigning, and heirs apparent who were set aside by reason of disability. It reflects upon constitutional solutions and political actions taken and how was these were presented according to the ideas of the time.     

Modest Expectations: Gender and Property Rights in Urban Mexico

This article examines gender and property in Guadalajara, Mexico, in the light of debates that oppose formal title to the social embeddedness of rights in customary law and assert that titling is bad for women. The article focuses on urban homes, private property, and civil law but finds that qualities regarded as characterizing customary property relations also shape popular understandings of property in urban Mexico. Discussion groups and social surveys in four low-income neighborhoods addressed two aspects of family law and property: whose name should appear on titles, and who should inherit the home. The results show that women, as wives, sisters, and daughters, have a secondary relationship to property. They also suggest that the opposition of individual title to socially embedded rights is a false dichotomy and that generalizing arguments about formalization and especially the negative gender implications of titling risks replicating the universalizing tendencies of Western property models.     

The Mad Heir Apparent and the Spanish Succession: The Fate of the Infante Don Carlos

In twentieth-century Britain, the monarch no longer exercises governmental power directly, and a monarch’s incapability creates rather different issues and problems than in periods when kings ruled as well as reigned. How was a situation such as that of disabled heir apparent, or a monarch who became physically or mentally incapable while reigning, dealt with when monarchs ruled directly? This article considers some examples of monarchs in the past who were physically or mentally disabled on accession or became so while reigning, and heirs apparent who were set aside by reason of disability. It reflects upon constitutional solutions and political actions taken and how these were presented according to the ideas of the time.     

Strategic planning and budgeting in the “new texas”: putting service efforts and accomplishments to work

Texas implemented a new “strategic budgeting” system to craft the state's 1994-95 biennial budget. This performance-based budgeting system combines strategic planning, service efforts and accomplishments (SEA) indicators and reporting, and line-item appropriations. This article reviews the ideas and process behind linking strategic planning and line-item budgeting and describes the key role of SEA indicators. Interviews with agency practitioners and the experiences of the Governor's Office of Budget and Planning are used to evaluate the system.     

Why Do Adolescents Overestimate Their Peers' Smoking Prevalence? Correlates of Prevalence Estimates Among California 8th-Grade Students

Adolescents' estimates of their peers' smoking prevalence can influence their own smoking behavior. However, it is not clear how these prevalence estimates are formed, or what factors influence their accuracy. This study used data from a statewide sample of 5870 8th-grade adolescents in California to examine the correlates of smoking prevalence estimates. Best friends' smoking accounted for the largest proportion of the variance in prevalence estimates. Other significant correlates included female gender, actual smoking prevalence in the student's school, perceptions of smoking on TV, perceived access to cigarettes, low academic performance, cigarette offers, and ethnicity. The variables in the model accounted for 23.8% of the variance in smoking prevalence estimates. Adolescents with smokers in their social networks and schools may be especially susceptible to smoking, because their peers' smoking may give them the impression that smoking is more normative and prevalent than it actually is.