Investigating Recurrent Generational Wartime Behavioral Health Crises: Part 2 of a Preliminary Analysis

This is the second of a two-part analysis of generational wartime mental health crises. Wartime mental health crisis has been defined as a sentinel public health event whereby mental health demand of the military population demonstrably exceeds the mental health system’s capacity to provide adequate access to timely, effective mental health and social support services during and/or after a period of war. The present study extends an analysis that substantiated a twenty-first century wartime crisis by investigating the hypothesis of repetitive mental health crises following every major American war since the 20th century. Compelling evidence of recurring generational crises is established by citing first-hand primary sources from wartime cohorts. A clear trend emerged, possibly linking the pattern of wartime crises with generations of self-reported failure to learn well-documented war trauma lessons (e.g., the need to adequately plan, prepare, and train for inevitable war stress casualties). The authors discuss the need for further research that would elucidate so-called “psychiatric lessons of war” and contribute to the prevention of cyclic crises.     

Anarchy,self-governance,and legal titling

Scholars and policymakers prescribe legal titling to improve prospects for economic development and political order. However, a public choice literature exists that has long recognized that self-governance often works well and that the state may not be able to improve upon local economic institutions at reasonable cost. Although the implication that legal titling should proceed with caution is seemingly straightforward, the literature on legal titling does not take anarchy seriously as a policy option. In addition, there is a public choice literature that presumes the state is the most important source of property rights. This essay fills this gap in the property rights literature by applying the concept of “efficient anarchy” to legal titling in Afghanistan. Original fieldwork evidence from rural Afghanistan suggests that anarchy of land governance is a better option than legal titling. The essay concludes by opening up the black box of state building by explaining why it often makes sense to sequence improvements in political capacity and political constraints prior to investing in legal titling.     

Postmortem red coloration of teeth. A retrospective investigation of 26 cases

Postmortem red coloration of teeth (pink teeth) was found in 26 of 119 consecutive autopsy or forensic dental identification cases during 1973-1984. The present study confirms that red coloration of teeth may occur some time after death under conditions that promote putrefaction and adipocere formation. The red coloration is due to hemolysis after exudation of hemoglobin derivatives through the dentine tubules in cases in which blood has accumulated in the head, either due to congestion or by a postmortem head-down position, as after submersion in water.     

Co-occurring mental disorders among criminal offenders

Many convicted offenders suffer from major mental disorders. These offenders commit crimes with great frequency. They do not receive mental health care and are often found in isolation cells of correctional facilities. The present investigation examined lifetime multiple disorders, measured by the DIS, among a representative sample of male penitentiary inmates. Pure forms of the major mental disorders were rare. All possible combinations of the major disorders were found to exist. No patterns of groupings of disorders were evident.     

Custodial Relationships Of Grandparents Raising Grandchildren:Results of a home-based intervention study

The phenomenon of grandparents raising grandchildren has increased significantly over the past two decades. The literature documents that health, financial, and legal worries top the list of concerns for grandparents who raise grandchildren. The authors describe the results of a multidisciplinary study that provides home visitation with social, nursing, legal, and educational support to grandparents raising grandchildren in parent absent households. This article examines the custodial relationships of one hundred and sixty-three children being raised in sixty-eight families headed by grandparents in an urban population in the South. The data showed that of the 163 children, 70 were in the guardianship of their grandparents, 40 of the children had no legal relationship with their grandparents, 28 were in the custody of the State Department of Family and Children's Services, 21 were in the temporary custody of their grandparents, and four were adopted by their grandparents. Recommendations from this study include educating service providers and grandparents raising grandchildren regarding the potential financial benefits under Title IVE adoption assistance and supporting legislative reform to increase the stability of intergenerational kinship care. This project demonstrates an innovative approach of combining university-based research with multidisciplinary education while providing cost-effective support services through a partnership with the community.     

Face-to-Face Confrontation: Effects of Closed-Circuit Technology on Children's Eyewitness Testimony and Jurors' Decisions

The present study was designed to examine effects of closed-circuit technology on children's testimony and jurors' perceptions of child witnesses. For the study, a series of elaborately staged mock trials was held. First, 5- to 6-year-old and 8- to 9-year-old children individually participated in a play session with an unfamiliar male confederate. Approximately 2 weeks later, children individually testified about the event at a downtown city courtroom. Mock juries composed of community recruits viewed the trials, with the child's testimony presented either live in open court or over closed-circuit television. Mock jurors made ratings concerning the child witness and the defendant, and deliberated to reach a verdict. Results indicated that overall, older children were more accurate witnesses than younger children. However, older, not younger children produced more inaccurate information in free recall. Compared to live testimony in open court, use of closed-circuit technology led to decreased suggestibility for younger children. Testifying in open court was also associated with children experiencing greater pretrial anxiety. Closed-circuit technology did not diminish factfinders' abilities to discriminate accurate from inaccurate child testimony, nor did it directly bias jurors against the defendant. However, closed-circuit testimony biased jurors against child witnesses. Moreover, jurors tended to base their impressions of witness credibility on perceived confidence and consistency. Implications for the use of closed- circuit technology when children testify are discussed.     

Severity of penalty,seriousness of the charge,and mock jurors' verdicts

It has been suggested that jurors in criminal trials are less likely to convict when the penalty is more severe or the charge is more serious. This was explained by Kerr (1975) in terms of a perceived increase in the cost of a Type I error (convicting an innocent person) that resulted in a criterion shift in the amount of evidence jurors required to vote guilty. The previous research found only weak support for the prediction regarding severity but consistent support for the predicted effect of seriousness. However, in the case materials used in these studies, more evidence was legally required to prove guilt on the more serious charges. This article presents studies in which the amount of evidence needed to prove guilt was equated for all charges. Under these circumstances, there was no effect on verdicts of seriousness of charge or severity of penalty and no evidence of a criterion shift due to either variable. There may still be reason to believe that these factors affect real juries, but this belief is not supported by the systematic evidence from mock jury studies.