How shelter counselors' views about responsibility for wife abuse relate to services they provide to battered women

A survey of shelter counselors found their views of responsibility for wife abuse were significantly related to their: (a) support of a battered woman's decision to remain married, and (b) belief that battering husbands can stop being abusive. Counselors who viewed the husband and wife as equally responsible for wife abuse were the most supportive of a woman's decision to remain married and were most likely to believe that batterers are able to stop being abusive. Counselors who viewed the batterer as completely responsible for wife abuse were more likely to encourage battered women who want to remain married to end their marriage, and believe batterers are unable to stop being abusive.     

State and Local Government Officials' Perspectives on Intergovernmental Relationships in Surface Transportation Policy: 1987 and 2001

This article reports results of nationwide surveys of stateand local government officials conducted in 2000/2001 concerningtheir perspectives on intergovernmental relationships in surfacetransportation. It then compares the survey results with theresults from a 1987 survey on the same topic that was conductedby the U.S. Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations.Although there was some variation among the categories of stateand local government officials surveyed, overall, both stateand local government officials report that they are relativelysatisfied with intergovernmental relationships in surface transportationand that those relationships have generally improved since 1987.     

“Clean up and go straight”: Effects of drug treatment on recidivism among felony probationers

The central question we address in this article is whether participation in court-ordered drug treatment programs reduces future criminal involvement among convicted property offenders who have a history of drug abuse. Using a national sample of male property offenders sentenced to felony probation, we analyze drug treatment experience on probationers’ recidivism rates by employing proportional hazards techniques. Results indicate that how successful white men are in completing courtordered drug treatment programs has no significant effect on their recidivism rates. However, AfricanAmerican and Hispanic men who satisfy the expectations of their drug treatment programs are significantly less likely to be rearrested. Overall, our findings support the contention that drug treatment reduces further criminal behavior among men on probation for felony property offenses. Thus, we recommend that court service personnel strive to provide drug treatment programs for property offenders with a history of drug abuse and that supervisors closely monitor probationers’ activities while in treatment to assure lower rates of recidivism. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the annual meeting of the Midwest Sociological Society in Chicago in April 1996.     

Adolescents' capacities to provide voluntary informed consent

Minors' capacities to provide a valid informed consent for the treatment of medical and psychological disorders are contingent in part on the determination of whether they can make voluntary treatment decisions. The gravity of a medical dilemma and the nature of parental influence are two factors hypothesized to effect and perhaps compromise the voluntariness of treatment decisions made by adolescents. In the present study 40 14- and 15-year-old subjects were asked to note their conviction for treatment decisions they had made in response to hypothetical medical dilemmas in which parental influence varied. It was found that adolescents making treatment decisions are generally deferent to parental influence, although they are more likely to resist parental influence when the consequences of the decision have serious implications for the hypothetical adolescent's health.This investigation was supported in part by a grant from the American Psychology-Law Society/ Division 41 of the American Psychological Association, whose assistance is gratefully acknowledged. Gratitude is also extended to the Albemarle County School District, the Blue Ridge School. and St. Anne's-Belfield for their kind cooperation. The authors wish to thank William Gardner, Jeanne Smith, and Edith Lawrence for their work on behalf of this project. Special recognition is due to Lois A. Weithorn for her guidance and support of this research endeavor.     

Real-time forensic DNA analysis at a crime scene using a portable microchip analyzer

An integrated lab-on-a-chip system has been developed and successfully utilized for real-time forensic short tandem repeat (STR) analysis. The microdevice comprises a 160-nL polymerase chain reaction reactor with an on-chip heater and a temperature sensor for thermal cycling, microvalves for fluidic manipulation, a co-injector for sizing standard injection, and a 7-cm-long separation channel for capillary electrophoretic analysis. A 9-plex autosomal STR typing system consisting of amelogenin and eight combined DNA index system (CODIS) core STR loci has been constructed and optimized for this real-time human identification study. Reproducible STR profiles of control DNA samples are obtained in 2 h and 30 min with ≤0.8 bp allele typing accuracy. The minimal amount of DNA required for a complete DNA profile is 100 copies. To critically evaluate the capabilities of our portable microsystem as well as its compatibility with crime scene investigation processes, real-time STR analyses were carried out at a mock crime scene prepared by the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office (PBSO). Blood stain sample collection, DNA extraction, and STR analyses on the portable microsystem were conducted in the field, and a successful “mock” CODIS hit was generated on the suspect's sample within 6 h. This demonstration of on-site STR analysis establishes the feasibility of real-time DNA typing to identify the contributor of probative biological evidence at a crime scene and for real-time human identification.     

Autonomy in nicaragua

Since the 1979 Revolution, Nicaragua's Sandinista government has been engaged in the reconstruction of political and administrative institutions throughout the country. Problems of administrative development have been especially acute along the Atlantic Coast, which has not only been geographically separate from the Pacific Coast, but ethnically and culturally distinct as well. U.S. intervention into the region since 1981 has intensified Sandinista efforts to accommodate indigenous demands for autonomy. The result has been the establishment of limited self-government involving a regional coordinator and council structure. Although many problems remain unresolved, the Nicaraguan experience offers a novel approach to a number of the policy and administrative issues involving indigenous minority populations within modern nation-states.