Children's knowledge of legal terminology

The present study examined age-related patterns in communicative abilities relevant to providing testimony, specifically, knowledge of legal terms commonly used with children in court. Subjects were 60 public school students comprising 3 groups of 20 each in kindergarten, third, and sixth grades. Grade-related patterns emerged in children's knowledge of legal terms and in their misunderstanding of terms. Results suggest that age-appropriate word choice in the examination of child witnesses may be an important factor in eliciting accurate testimony. Potential mediators of the relation between age and accurate knowledge of legal terminology (i.e., verbal skills, television, viewing of court-related programs, direct experience with the legal system) also were explored. Implications for future research, court preparation, and training of legal professionals in age-appropriate examination of children are discussed.This study was funded in part by an award to Karen Saywitz from the Harbor-UCLA Collegium. The authors wish to thank the Torrance United School District, Mrs. Diana Bowlby, and Dr. Peter Mundy for their invaluable assistance.     

Financing Constraints in the Inter Firm Diffusion of New Process Technologies

This paper explores why finance constraints may impact upon the inter firm diffusion of new technology, incorporates these arguments in a hazard rate formulation of a diffusion model and then estimates that model using data relating to the adoption of CNC machine tools in the UK. The results indicate that financial constraints can be a significant factor in the diffusion process.     

Dysphoria and Hopelessness Following Battering: The Role of Perceived Control, Coping, and Self-Esteem

Coping, perceived control, dysphoria, hopelessness, and self-esteem in a sample of 100 battered women were assessed. Participants reported dysphoria and low self-esteem, but not hopelessness. High perceived control over current abuse and greater use of drugs, behavioral disengagement, denial, and self-blame as coping mechanisms were associated with increased dysphoria and low self-esteem. High expectations for control over future abuse were associated with decreased dysphoria and hopelessness and increased self-esteem. After controlling for the effects of abuse severity and low self-esteem, self-blame was a unique contributor to dysphoria and high expectations for control of future abuse were unique contributors to hopelessness. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for clinical intervention with battered women.     

Interviewing Children about Real and Fictitious Events: Revisiting the Narrative Elaboration Procedure

Elementary school children participated in a staged event. Two weeks later they were randomly assigned to three interview conditions: (a) a streamlined version of the Narrative Elaboration (NE) procedure involving training in the use of reminder cue cards, (b) exposure to reminder cue cards without training in their use (cue card control group), and (c) a standard interview including no NE training or exposure to reminder cue cards (standard-interview control group). Children in each interview condition were questioned about the staged event and a fictitious event to determine whether children trained in the streamlined NE procedure would provide more information about a staged event than would children in the two control groups and whether the NE interview would result in increased reporting of false information when questioned about a fictitious event. Results indicated that children questioned with the NE interview reported a greater amount of accurate, but not a greater amount of inaccurate, information during cue-card presentation for the staged event than did the cue-card control group. Analyses further indicated that the NE-interview group did not report significantly more false information about the fictitious event than did children in the two control groups. Large standard deviations for the NE-interview children's cue-card recall indicate that the streamlined NE procedure was useful for many children in reporting the staged event, but may have contributed to a small number of children providing false information for the fictitious event. Further research is being conducted to determine which children may be more likely to be helped and which children may be more likely to provide false information regarding a fictitious event.     

Thinking and Doing Prevention: A Critical Analysis of Contemporary Youth Crime and Suicide Prevention Discourses

In this article, we have traced some of the dominant cultural narratives shaping current understandings of youth crime and suicide. We have aimed to show some of the ways that our received understandings of what the problem is and what should be done about it are social constructions that privilege a certain kind of scientific explanation. By starting from the premise that narrow, highly regulated approaches to studying these complex problems are bound to be inadequate we have argued that alternative ways of thinking, studying and doing prevention need to be considered. A number of theoretical frameworks, including constructionist, critical, and postmodern paradigms, have been identified as having a useful contribution to make. We conclude by recommending ways of thinking and doing prevention that capitalize on young people's wisdom, recognize more collaborative approaches to knowledge-making and community building, and enable multiple forms of critical engagement and resistance as well as engendering practices of hope and solidarity.     

Multiservice adolescent programs: Seeking institutional partnership alternatives

This paper focuses on the increasing need for partnership across service systems. Data are presented that show a high degree of overlap in the needs of different client bases, and this overlap points to the demand for more comprehensive programming than is feasible within any one system. The paper goes on to discuss a unique interagency partnership currently underway, and the implications this demonstration program can have for future public policy and programming.Currently research director for a four-year demonstration project under joint funding and supervision of the Gateway National Recreation Area, National Park Service, U.S. Department of Labor (Job Corps) and the New York State Division of Substance Abuse Services. Social and organizational psychologist who has over the past seven years specialized in the study of public sector organizational development, and the promotion of integrated educational, vocational, and treatment services for underserved adults and at-risk youth.