Structural discrimination and social stigma among individuals incarcerated for sexual offenses: Reentry across the rural–urban continuum

The stigma associated with a felony conviction can impede the reentry process, and emerging research findings indicate that one's community can amplify or temper the mark of a criminal record. Researchers examining criminal stigma have focused on individuals living in urban areas, overlooking the experiences of persons outside these communities. Using qualitative data collected from a sample of men and women paroled for sexual offenses in Missouri, we contrast how social and structural stigma alter the reentry experiences for participants living in communities along the rural and urban continuum. The results show that the stigma of a sex offense conviction was a near‐universal experience and residence restrictions stymied efforts to find housing. Residents of urban areas and some large cities felt that the community offered relative anonymity from stigma but the stress of their status being discovered was omnipresent. Participants in rural areas and small cities had less social privacy and reported being shunned in the community, although strong social ties did mitigate some of the consequences of stigma. The results highlight the importance of considering place when studying reentry and have implications for designing correctional policies to address the needs of residents returning to non–metropolitan locations.     

A Pimp's Game: A Rational Choice Approach to Understanding the Decisions of Sex Traffickers

We employ a rational choice framework to understand the conditions under which sex traffickers allow their victims access to telecommunications devices while under their control. We posit that sex traffickers are rational actors who make calculated decisions regarding whether to allow their victims access to the Internet and cell phones. We hypothesize that sex traffickers allow younger victims and those they did not defraud in the recruitment process greater access to telecommunications devices because these decisions maximize their payoffs with minimal risk. However, we hypothesize that younger victims’ access to telecommunications devices is conditional on whether they have been defrauded in recruitment. In order to test these hypotheses, we deployed a survey to 115 victims of sex trafficking in the United States to learn about how they were recruited by their sex trafficker and the level of access they had to technology while under their sex trafficker's control. We find support for all of our hypotheses. The results have serious implications for criminal justice policy and practice.     

“A different world” exploring and understanding the climate of a recently re-rolled sexual offender prison

Understanding how sexual offenders experience prison and its environment is important because such experiences can impact on rehabilitation outcomes. The purpose of this research investigation was to explore the rehabilitative and therapeutic climate of a recently re-rolled sexual offender prison. The research took a mixed methods approach and consisted of quantitative and qualitative phases. There were differences between prisoners and staff on their perception of the prison climate and for prisoner and staff relationships. The qualitative results helped to explain the quantitative findings and added a more nuanced understanding of the experience of the prison, the nature of prisoner and staff relationships and the opportunities for personal growth within the prison. The study has important implications for prisons that co-locate sexual offenders and want to provide an environment conducive to rehabilitation.     

“Kind regards”: an examination of one buyer's attempt to purchase a trafficked child for sex

A call to awareness regarding sex trafficking has increased research, bolstered social justice efforts, improved education, and influenced federal laws that protect victims and prosecute traffickers. Federal laws on sex trafficking are now being used through undercover sting operations via the Internet to arrest and prosecute buyers who attempt to engage in commercial sex with minors. A narrative analysis was completed to create an in-depth case study outlining the correspondences between a buyer and an undercover agent advertising trafficked children for sex. Readers are afforded a rare opportunity to examine actual emails related to the purchase of a child for sexual exploitation. The emails were used against the buyer as evidence within the court of law. The authors assert that the following case study will contribute to the body of literature on the victim selection processes and cognitive distortions employed by buyers of children for sex.     

The Competition–Violence Hypothesis: Sex,Marriage, and Male Aggression

Sexually active men, who are not in a monogamous relationship, may be at a greater risk for violence than men who are sexually active within monogamous relationships and men who are not sexually active. The current study examines changes in sexual behavior and violence in adolescence to early adulthood. Data on male (n = 4,597) and female (n = 5,523) respondents were drawn from four waves of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent and Adult Health (Add Health). HLM regression models indicate that men who transition to a monogamous, or less competitive, mode of sexual behavior (fewer partners since last wave), reduce their risk for violence. The same results were not replicated for females. Further, results were not accounted for by marital status or other more readily accepted explanations of violence. Findings suggest that competition for sex be further examined as a potential cause of male violence.     

牦牛子宫内膜细胞的分离培养及性激素对其增殖的影响

为了分离培养牦牛子宫内膜细胞,并探讨不同浓度雌激素和孕激素对上皮细胞和基质细胞增殖的影响,采用Ⅰ型胶原酶消化、离心分离和差速消化纯化的方法分离纯化上皮细胞和基质细胞,对其进行免疫细胞化学染色鉴定,绘制生长曲线,最后用MTT法测定不同浓度的17β-雌二醇和孕酮对细胞增殖的影响。结果显示,1g/L胶原酶消化1h,500r/min离心10min,经2代差速消化纯化获得的上皮细胞的纯度为96%,基质细胞的纯度为93%;不同浓度的17β-雌二醇均能促进上皮细胞和基质细胞的增殖,孕酮可促进基质细胞的增殖,但对上皮细胞的增殖有抑制作用,不同浓度的17β-雌二醇和孕酮共同作用均能显著促进基质细胞增殖,而对上皮细胞增殖的影响随混合液中孕酮浓度的增加由促进转为抑制。本研究获得了高纯度的牦牛子宫内膜上皮细胞和基质细胞,证实雌激素能促进2种细胞的增殖,孕激素能促进基质细胞的增殖但抑制上皮细胞的增殖。     

Three-dimensional modeling of the various volumes of canines to determine age and sex: a preliminary study

Canines are usually used in anthropological and forensic sciences for sex and age determination. The best methods to estimate age are based on secondary dentine apposition, evaluated from periapical X-rays. The aim of this study was to propose a new method of sex and age estimation using 3D models to obtain more precise predictions using tooth volumes. Fifty-eight dental CT scans of patients aged 14-74 with a well-balanced sex ratio composed the sample. One hundred and thirty-three healthy canines were modeled (Mimics 12.0). The sample was divided into a training sample and a validation sample. An age formula was determined using the "pulp volume/tooth volume" ratio. Sex prediction was adjusted with total volumes. Applying the equations to the validation sample, no significant difference was found between the real and predicted ages, and 100% of the sex predictions were correct. This preliminary study gives interesting results, and this method is worth being tested on a larger data sample.     

Sexual Dimorphism of Anterior Sacral Curvature

Abstract: This study assesses the predictive value of anterior sacral curvature for sex estimation from skeletonized remains. Sacra from a sample of 125 American adults of known age and sex were examined. Nine measurements describing anterior sacral curvature were used in the analysis. Statistical treatment of the data included univariate statistics and discriminant function analysis for sex classification. A bootstrap validation method was employed to assess the classification error rates. Sacral curvature was significantly greater in men than in women at the level of the S2–S3 and S3–S4 articulations (p < 0.05). Correct classification estimates for the discriminant function range from 66–72%. Although sexually dimorphic, metric observations of sacral curvature are not as reliable at predicting sex as other skeletal elements. Anterior sacral curvature should only be used for sex estimation in the absence of other, more reliable, indicators.     

新文化运动中对贞节观的理论批判

古老的贞节观念影响、控制中国女性几千年,甚至深入到社会的各个角落.它不仅仅是一种社会意识,更形成了评价女性的价值尺度、道德体系中最基本的内容.新文化运动以其巨大的冲击力摧枯拉朽地破坏着传统旧中国的封建传统,其中就包括清算古老贞节观念的内容.先觉者们办刊物,发文章,打破了性禁忌的坚冰,从理论上批判贞节观的腐朽,并大力提倡新的婚姻道德和性道德,使这笼罩在中国女性身上的巨大黑影终于开始慢慢消褪,不再面目沉重狰狞.当然,要彻底解决此问题毕竟还需假以时日,不能企望毕其功于一役,但新文化运动对贞节观念的祛魅之功是怎样估量都不过分的.