Journey history reconstruction from the soils and sediments on footwear: An empirical approach

The value of environmental evidence for reconstructing journey histories has significant potential given the high transferability of sediments and the interaction of footwear with the ground. The importance of empirical evidence bases to underpin the collection, analysis, interpretation and presentation of forensic trace materials is increasingly acknowledged. This paper presents two experimental studies designed to address the transfer and persistence of sediments on the soles of footwear in forensically relevant scenarios, by means of quartz grain surface texture analysis, a technique which has been demonstrated to be able to distinguish between samples of mixed provenance.It was identified that there is a consistent trend of transfer and persistence of sediments from hypothetical pre-, syn- and post-crime event locations across the sole of the shoe, with sediments from ‘older’ locations likely to be retained in small proportions. Furthermore, the arch of the shoe (the area of lowest foot pressure distribution) typically (but not exclusively) retained the highest proportion of grain types from previous locations including the crime scene. A lack of chronological layering of the retained sediments was observed indicating that techniques that can identify the components of mixed provenance samples are important for analysing footwear sediment samples. It was also identified that the type of footwear appeared to have an influence on what particles were retained, with high relief soles that incorporate recessed areas being more likely to retain sediments transferred from ‘older’ locations from the journey history. In addition, the inners of footwear were found to retain sediments from multiple locations from the journey history that are less susceptible to differential loss in comparison to the outer sole. These findings provide important data that can form the basis for the effective collection, analysis and interpretation of sediments recovered from both the outer soles and inners of footwear, building on the findings of previously published studies. These data offer insights that enable inferences to be made about mixed source sediments that are identified on footwear in casework, and provide the beginnings of an empirical basis for assessing the significance of such sediment particles for a specific forensic reconstruction.     

The Hispanic Experience of the Child Welfare System

As the Hispanic population grows in the United States and the child welfare system, it is necessary to examine how experiences of Hispanic families differ from those of White/Caucasian families and to assess whether Hispanic families’ needs are properly addressed. This literature review will examine research on the outcomes and experiences of Hispanic families in the child welfare system and how case characteristics interact with the experiences of Hispanic families. This article will then explore theories for Hispanic families’ different experiences and conclude by recommending future directions and solutions for improving the experiences of Hispanic families in the child welfare system.     

Predictors of Psychosocial Well-Being in Urban African American and European American Youth: The Role of Ecological Factors

Hierarchical regression analyses were used to identify factors that functioned as either promotive or protective factors against the impact of ecological risk on the psychological adjustment of 112 African American and 94 European American adolescents (13–19 years of age). Indicators of ecological risk, promotive/protective factors, and adjustment were assessed concurrently via adolescent self-report questionnaires. Supportive parenting emerged as a promotive factor for both African American and European American adolescents for academic achievement, competence, and problem behaviors. Additionally, school connectedness served as a promotive factor for both African American and European American adolescents with competence as the criterion. However, in analyses with problem behaviors as the criterion, school connectedness intensified the effect of ecological risk for European American adolescents. Of the three hypothesized positive factors (supportive parenting, ethnic identity, and school connectedness), only ethnic identity emerged as a protective factor for problem behaviors and this effect was only observed for European American adolescents. An assistant Professor in Psychology at the University at Albany, State University of New York. Received her PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of North Texas. Major research interests are risk and resiliency processes in ethnic minority youth and measurement equivalence issues. Doctoral student in Clinical Psychology at the University at Albany, State University of New York. Research interests are risk and protective factors in minority youth Post-doctoral Fellow now at Arizona State University. Received his PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University at Albany, State University of New York. Research interests are risk and protective processes in minority youth and measurement equivalence issues     

Property Crime Victims' Decision to Notify the Police: Social,Cognitive, and Affective Determinants

Previous research suggests that 3 general processes underlie the decision of property crime victims to notify the police: One that is cognitively driven by reward/cost considerations, one that is affectively driven, and another that is socially driven. This study is the first to employ a community sample of crime victims to compare the 3 processes within a single study. Computer-assisted interviews were conducted with 422 property crime victims (n = 129 burglary, n = 293 theft) located via a random digit dialing procedure. Logistic regression analyses showed that each process independently accounted for a significant amount of the variance in victim reporting, and that there were no interactions among the three processes in predicting reporting. Of the 3 processes, social influence was the best predictor of reporting. Analysis of the affect-driven process showed that reporting was primarily a function of the level of fear rather than anger or the level of generalized arousal upon discovering the crime.     

Institutional Inconsistency and Political Instability: Polity Duration, 1800–2000

This article examines how political institutional structures affect political instability. It classifies polities as autocracies or democracies based on three institutional dimensions: election of the executive, constraints on executive decision-making authority, and extent of political participation. It hypothesizes that strongly autocratic and democratic regimes will exhibit the greatest stability resulting from self-enforcing equilibria, whereby the maintenance of a polity's institutional structure is in the interest of political elites, whether through autocratic or democratic control. Institutionally inconsistent regimes (those exhibiting a mix of institutional characteristics of both democracy and autocracy) lack these self-enforcing characteristics and are expected to be shorter-lived. Using a log-logistic duration model, polity survival time ratios are estimated. Institutionally consistent polities are significantly more stable than institutionally inconsistent polities. The least stable political systems are dictatorships with high levels of political participation. The most unstable configuration for polities with an elected executive is one where the executive is highly constrained, but the electorate is very small.     

Royal Commissions in Australia: When Should Governments Appoint Them?

The Cole Royal Commission into AWB sales of wheat to Iraq once again draws attention to questions of when should governments resort to ad hoc inquiries and, in particular, establish royal commissions with their associated prestige and statutory powers to call and examine witnesses and require presentation of documents. In this article, Dr Scott Prasser, author of ‘Royal Commisions and Public Inquiries in Australia (Lexis Nexis 2006) examines the use of royal commissions and other investigatory/inquisitorial instruments of executive government by Commonwealth and state governments.