Intimate Partner Violence and Psychological Distress among Young Couples: Analysis of the Moderating Effect of Social Support

Young adults are more likely to experience intimate partner violence (IPV) than older adults. Little is known about the effect of confiding to others about sustained violence on the mental health of victims. The objective of this study was to explore the links between IPV, help-seeking behaviors and psychological distress by gender in a sample of 233 young couples.Our results indicate the frequency of sustained psychological violence, but not physical violence, was positively associated to distress. For women, seeking help from a greater number of confidents moderated the association between violence and psychological distress. For men, results showed that frequencies of physical and psychological violence were both positively linked to distress. However, unlike women, social support had no buffering effect on men’s distress. These findings increase our understanding of the effects of social support on young adults’ distress following episodes of IPV.     

The Effect of Gang Perpetrated Crime on the Likelihood of Non-Lethal Victim Injury

Studies consistently find that gang members are involved in a disproportionately high rate of violence. The association between gangs and violence is largely based on the legal definition of violence, however. The current study moves beyond the legal definition of gang violence by examining the relationship between non-lethal gang involved incidents and the likelihood of victim injury, using pooled data (1992–2005) from the National Crime Victimization Survey. Overall, results reveal that gang members are not more likely than are non-gang members to injure their victims. When analyses are restricted to incidents involving injury, or incidents involving weapons, gang members are no more likely to more severely injure their victims than non-gang members. Strengths and limitations of the study are discussed.     

The effect of a judicial declaration of competence on the perceived credibility of children and defendants

Purpose. Three studies were conducted to determine the effect of a judicial declaration of competence on perceptions of credibility towards a child witness and an adult defendant. Methods. Undergraduates read vignettes about a 5‐ or a 13‐year‐old child witness or an adult involved in either a sexual assault case or a motor vehicle accident case. In the child conditions, the case was either preceded by a declaration of the child's competence to testify (either specific or general declaration) or there was no mention of the competence of the child. Participants then rated the perceived credibility of both the complainant/witness and the defendant. Results. A judicial declaration of competence that was targeted at the particular child sometimes increased the credibility ratings of the child and decreased those of the defendant, sometimes to levels beyond those observed in the adult conditions. These effects on credibility were not replicated when a general declaration of all children's competence was used. In fact, the general declaration sometimes resulted in more positive ratings of the defendant. Conclusions. These results are discussed in the context of recommendations for the use of competence evaluations and declarations of competence in court.     

Rethinking the Relationship between Religion and Political Tolerance in the US

While there has been numerous empirical works on political tolerance in the United States, many of these studies have not: addressed the role of religion, used adequate measures of religion, incorporated advances in the measurement of political tolerance, and/or included all the psychological and political predictors of political tolerance. Correcting these deficiencies, I present and test a religious model of political tolerance utilizing structural equation modeling. I find that the negative relationship typically demonstrated between both religious commitment and doctrinal orthodoxy to political tolerance does not manifest and that religion is insignificant vis-à-vis political and psychological determinants of political tolerance.

"No way out": Russian-speaking women's experiences with domestic violence

This article explores the experience of domestic violence and utilization of domestic violence resources among immigrant women who were Russian speaking. Participants, many of whom came to the United States as so-called mail-order brides, reported diverse forms of abuse, including isolation and financial restrictions, and were reluctant to get outside help because of embarrassment about their circumstances. Survivors stressed the importance of language- and culture-appropriate outreach and services and urged that women receive information about domestic violence services and laws on immigration. Assistance with housing, child care, and job searches is integral to safe transitions out of abusive relationships.     

Rapid quantification and sex determination of forensic evidence materials

DNA quantification of forensic evidence is very valuable for an optimal use of the available biological material. Moreover, sex determination is of great importance as additional information in criminal investigations as well as in identification of missing persons, no suspect cases, and ancient DNA studies. While routine forensic DNA analysis based on short tandem repeat markers includes a marker for sex determination, analysis of samples containing scarce amounts of DNA is often based on mitochondrial DNA, and sex determination is not performed. In order to allow quantification and simultaneous sex determination on minute amounts of DNA, an assay based on real-time PCR analysis of a marker within the human amelogenin gene has been developed. The sex determination is based on melting curve analysis, while an externally standardized kinetic analysis allows quantification of the nuclear DNA copy number in the sample. This real-time DNA quantification assay has proven to be highly sensitive, enabling quantification of single DNA copies. Although certain limitations were apparent, the system is a rapid, cost-effective, and flexible assay for analysis of forensic casework samples.     

Personality differences between women police recruits, their male counterparts, and the general female population

Presently police manager and their recruiting staff are using an increasing number of screening tools including psychological testing during the hiring processes. Prior research suggests that gender is often ignored in the review of testing results. This could lead to problems in the interpretation of results. This research investigates the existence, if any, in the pre-socialization personality differences between male and female police recruits as well as between female police recruits and the general population of females. Subjects (N=104) were from a multi-agency training facility in a southern state. Subjects completed the MMPI-2 at the beginning of their police academy training to control for any socialization effects the training may have. The diagnostic clinical scales, the content scales, and the gender scales of the MMPI-2 were subjected to independent discriminant function analyses to determine if differences between male and female recruits exist. Scale 5 (Mf), GM, and GF were analyzed via t-tests to determine if differences between the female recruits and women in the normative sample exist. All discriminant functions were significant at the .05 level. Scales that differentiated male and female recruits were: Ma (Scale 9), ASP, FRS, BIZ, Mf (Scale, 5), and GF. Female recruits differed from the female normative sample on only GF (recruits were lower). It is suggested that future research focus on the predictive power of the content scales for continuation in the police field. It is also suggested that future research investigate the flexibility of the gender constructs throughout the policing career. Author Notes: Send all enquires to Larry A. Gould, Ph.D., Dept. of Criminal Justice, Northern Arizona Univerity, Box 15005, Flagstaff, AZ 86011-5005. 1. A special thank you is given to Northern Arizona University for providing the funding of the parent project from which this research was accomplished. I also wish to extend my gratitude to those whose time and effort went into the collection and computer entry of the data—Dr. Larry Gould and Rachel Rowland. In addition, I would like to thank Dr. Clay Moore for the statistical “chats”.