Perceptions of police-juvenile contact predicts self-reported offending in adolescent males

ABSTRACT

Evidence suggests that positive experiences with the police can foster attitudes of respect towards the justice system that can reduce an adolescents’ propensity to commit later illegal behaviors. To advance prior work, we tested whether this association might be stronger for those adolescents who associate with deviant peers. Additionally, we tested whether the link between attitudes towards police and the justice system, and the influence of peer delinquency, would be weaker for those with elevated callous–unemotional (CU) traits. These predictions were examined in a prospective study using a sample (N?=?1,216) of adolescent males who were followed prospectively for 2 years following their first official contact with the juvenile justice system. Positive experiences with the police following the youth’s first arrest were associated with less self-reported delinquency 2 years later, which was partially mediated by reductions in adolescents’ cynicism about the legal system. However, this link was only significant for youth with low levels of peer delinquency. Although CU traits were related to less positive perceptions of experiences with the police and greater cynicism about the justice system, CU traits did not moderate the associations among experiences, attitudes, and later illegal behavior nor did they moderate the influence of peer delinquency.     

特征表型信息SNP在法医学分析中的研究进展

以DNA为基础的STR和SNP遗传标记的检验,已广泛应用于各种个人识别、亲子鉴定和人口失踪案件。但现场DNA样本分型不能与相关个体匹配时,利用特征表型信息SNP则可能为侦查提供有价值线索。本文综述了近年来特征表型信息SNP在法医学应用中的研究进展,并简述其发展方向,旨在为相关研究和应用提供参考和借鉴。     

Statistical Classification Methods for Estimating Ancestry Using Morphoscopic Traits,

Ancestry assessments using cranial morphoscopic traits currently rely on subjective trait lists and observer experience rather than empirical support. The trait list approach, which is untested, unverified, and in many respects unrefined, is relied upon because of tradition and subjective experience. Our objective was to examine the utility of frequently cited morphoscopic traits and to explore eleven appropriate and novel methods for classifying an unknown cranium into one of several reference groups. Based on these results, artificial neural networks (aNNs), OSSA, support vector machines, and random forest models showed mean classification accuracies of at least 85%. The aNNs had the highest overall classification rate (87.8%), and random forests show the smallest difference between the highest (90.4%) and lowest (76.5%) classification accuracies. The results of this research demonstrate that morphoscopic traits can be successfully used to assess ancestry without relying only on the experience of the observer.     

Psychological and behavioral adjustment in female youths with high or low psychopathic traits

The aim of the present study was to analyze the role of psychopathic traits in female juvenile delinquency. Using a sample of 236 young females from the Juvenile Detention Centers of the Portuguese Ministry of Justice and schools in the Lisbon area, a group of female youths with high psychopathic traits (n = 118; M = 15.84 years of age; range = 14–18 years of age) and a group of female youths with low psychopathic traits (n = 118; M = 15.77 years of age; range = 14–18 years of age) were formed based on the Portuguese version of the Antisocial Process Screening Device-Self-report (APSD-SR). The results showed that young females with high psychopathic traits start engaging in criminal activities and come into contact with the justice system earlier in life; exhibit higher levels of behavioral problems, conduct disorder, delinquent behaviors and serious criminality; and demonstrate lower levels of self-esteem and pro-social behavior. The importance of some variables in predicting group membership (high versus low psychopathic traits) was established through a binary logistic regression. Our findings reinforce the importance of the psychopathy construct for the early identification of potentially high-risk female youths and for the assessment of female youths who have already come into contact with the judicial system.     

浅谈反恐基层一线警察的心理特征——以心理健康、人格特征和工作应对方式的研究为中心

特殊的任务和使命使反恐基层一线的警察承受着较大的职业压力和职业风险,而他们所承受的压力源和应激源又完全不同于其他的警察,因此探索反恐基层一线警察的心理健康状况、人格特征及应对方式,对于提高他们的心理健康水平,工作效率以及维护社会稳定有重大意义。