Testing repeatability and error of coordinate landmark data acquired from crania

This study evaluates issues of precision, repeatability, and validation in three-dimensional (3D) landmark coordinates. Two observers collected 19 homologous cranial landmarks from three skulls during three separate digitizing sessions. Statistical analysis was conducted on the 171 interlandmark distances (ILDs) derived from the original coordinate data. A mixed model ANOVA detected significant within-subject error in 54 of the 171 ILDs (i.e., 32%). A GLM procedure revealed significant between-observer variation in 14 ILDs and significant observer-by-session differences in 13 ILDs. The majority of these differences involved ILDs with type 3 landmarks as endpoints, such as euryon and alare. Unlike type 1 and 2 landmarks which are biologically informative in all directions, type 3 landmarks contain a substantial arbitrary component. Thus, it is not surprising type 3 landmarks displayed significant digitizing error. Given these results, we caution researchers to be mindful of type 3 landmarks measurement discrepancies when selecting landmarks for coordinate data evaluation.     

Public Support for Punishment and Progressive Criminal Justice Policy Preferences: The Role of Symbolic Racism and Negative Racial Stereotype

Prior studies have found that symbolic racism and negative African-American stereotypes are linked to public preferences for punitive criminal justice policy. But prior studies have mostly focused attention on White respondents and have not adequately examined whether the effects of symbolic racism and negative African American stereotypes are the same across race and ethnicity. This study used the 2000 American National Election Study data to fill this gap in the empirical literature. The study found that the effects of symbolic racism were broad and generally impact Whites, African-Americans, and members of other races/ethnicities the same. The effects of negative African-American stereotype were more limited. This variable predicted punishment policy preference for members of other races/ethnicities and there were significant differences in how stereotypes impacted policy preferences across race and ethnicity. Implications for theory are discussed.     

That Was Then, This Is Now, What About Tomorrow? Future Directions in State Crime Studies

Research and theorizing on state crime has come to play an important role in the fields of criminology and criminal justice for understanding the worst of crimes: those of powerful state agencies and agents. Since William Chambliss’ (1989) ASC presidential address, scholars of state crime have made advances in theoretical modeling and analyzing core enactment and etiological factors of crimes of the state (e.g., Barak 1991; Friedrichs 1998; Grabosky 1989; Kauzlarich and Kramer 1998; Kramer and Michalowski 2005; Kramer et al. 2005; Michalowski and Kramer 2006; Mullins and Rothe 2008a, b; Pearce 1976; Ross 1995, 2000; Rothe 2009; Rothe and Mullins 2006, 2008). Nonetheless, the study of state crime still has a long way to go before it ever reaches the magnitude or legitimacy afforded to the study of traditional street crime. It is with this in mind that several leading scholars of state criminality have come together and reevaluated the state of state crime and the ways in which the field must move forward. This kind of inventory, where scholars examine the past, present and future of the field, is not without precedent. For example, almost a decade ago (Ross et al. 1999) explored the difficulty of conducting state crime research and made a series of recommendations on how it could be improved. Nearly 7 years later (Rothe and Friedrichs 2006) re-evaluated the state of state crime and called for more attention to those beyond US crimes of the state and include crimes of globalization and also international controls such as the International Criminal Court (Friedrichs and Friedrichs 2007; Rothe and Mullins 2006; Rothe et al. 2006, 2008). Since that time, there has been substantial movement by scholars of state crime in these other areas, yet, as we note, there still remains key issues that need to be addressed and overcome: it is with this that we again revisit the field of state crime. We wish to thank all of those that contributed to our discussions and thoughts during the American Society of Criminology Roundtable on State Crime I and II, November 2007.

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Trust in government increased during the Covid-19 pandemic in Australia and New Zealand

Using an online panel, we surveyed a representative sample of 500 each in Australia and New Zealand during July 2020, in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic. We find trust in government has increased dramatically, with around 80% of respondents agreeing government was generally trustworthy. Around three quarters agreed management of the pandemic had increased their trust in government. Over 85% of respondents have confidence that public health scientists work in the public interest. Testing four hypotheses, we find that income and education predict trust in government and confidence in public health scientists, as does voting for the political party in government. Trust in government and confidence in public health scientists strongly predict Covid-19 phone application use, largely through convincing people the App is beneficial. Trust in government then is both an outcome and antecedent of government effectiveness. Building trust is important for governments implementing difficult policy responses during a crisis.     

The influence of implicit theories and offender characteristics on judgements of sexual offenders: a moderated mediation analysis

The psychological factors underpinning responses to sexual offenders are beginning to receive increased empirical scrutiny. One such factor is offender representativeness, which refers to the extent to which a given offender example matches a stereotype of those who are typically labelled as “sexual offenders”. Using a sample of 252 community members, we examined the role of implicit theories about sexual offenders (ie whether sexual offending is seen as fixed or malleable) in mediating the relationship between affective responses to sexual offenders and policy outcome judgements. We found support for this mediating effect, although this was eliminated when participants were presented with a “non-representative” offender vignette. We argue that the relationship between affective responses and policy judgements is contingent on the activation of a sexual offender stereotype, and that this link can be disrupted via the increased presentation of non-stereotypical case examples. Implications for public debate and professional practice are discussed.     

THE IMPACT OF THE SPORT OF BICYCLE RIDING ON SAFETY LAW

On Wednesday, a gentleman, who stated he came from Thornhill in Dunfries, was placed at the Gorbels public bar, charged with riding along the pavement on a velocipede to the obstruction of the passage, and with having, by so doing, thrown over a child. … The child who was thrown down had not sustained any injury, and under the circumstances, the offender was only fined 5 shillings. Glasgow Argus, June 9, 1842- arguably the first court decision applying safety law to the bicycle.     

Sudden death due to thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura

This case studies the clinical, laboratory, and pathologic findings observed in thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP). Although TTP is a well-recognized syndrome, it is frequently undetected antemortem and represents a rare cause of sudden death. We recently were involved in a case of TTP in which an 18-year-old woman with no previous history died suddenly. The case was referred to our office for consultation because of a recent history of methamphetamine abuse. We report herewith our approach to the diagnostic workup of TTP and review relevant literature.     

A soft-tissue calcification: differential diagnosis and pathogenesis

An autopsy of a 72-year-old white male revealed a 30.5 x 5.1 cm vertically aligned heterotopic ossification just deep to a 30.5 cm midline abdominal scar. The ossified mass was determined to be a heterotopic ossification or myostitis ossificans (MO) traumatica resulting from an abdominal surgical incision during life. While, MO traumatica is relatively common accounting for roughly 60-75% of patients with soft-tissue ossification, heterotopic ossification of abdominal incisions are relatively rare and thus infrequently reported. This article details the manifestation of this relatively large heterotopic bone and provides a comprehensive review of the literature and pathogenesis of this unusual ossification. A review of the English literature from 1920 to the present produced only a handful of articles for a total of 185 reported cases. All had bone formed within vertical incisions, usually within 1 year of surgery, and 89% were males. Knowledge of this phenomenon and the variable size at presentation is useful to both the autopsy pathologist and the anthropologist in generating a diagnosis for abnormal calcifications.