Predicting patrol officer performance from a psychological assessment battery: A predictive validity study

The psychological assessment battery is an integral part of the selection process used to select patrol officer applicants. Unlike all other procedures used in the selection process, the psychological assessment has not been adequately validated. The purpose of this study was an attempt to provide validation data for a psychological assessment battery. The battery consisted of the Nelson-Denny, Shipley-Hartford, MMPI, and the Motivational Analysis Test (MAT). Performance measures included various measures of training academy performance and field training performance. A stepwise regression and MANOVA/Discriminant Analysis indicated that the psychological tests did predict performance, although an exact predictive equation could not be developed due to the high intercorrelations between predictor variables. This research was sponsored in part by a grant from the School of Applied Arts and Technology, Southwest Texas State University.     

How Stable is the Condition of Family Homelessness?

Although research has documented the majority of homelessness experienced by individuals and families in the US to be transitional rather than chronic, the mechanisms by which some families successfully escape homelessness while other do not remains relatively unclear. To provide more information to this area of inquiry, this study analyzed the transitional nature of homelessness for a sample of families with school-aged children who were homeless under the McKinney-Vento definition. By conducting a survey with over 1000 homeless families with children enrolled in two public school systems in Central Florida, we find that over a quarter of families exit homelessness in less than six months. We compare these families to those that remained homeless to examine the potential importance of demographic differences and other potential barriers to securing housing. Many of the commonly assumed barriers were not significant predictors of continued homelessness; the most salient difference between the groups was income underscoring the importance of employment opportunities for families to allow them to exit homelessness.     

The International Criminal Court and the Control of State Crime: Prospects and Problems

Over the past two decades, crimes committed by nation states has received strong theoretical and empirical attention from critical criminologists. Much of this work has highlighted the lack of internal and external mechanisms to control such injurious behavior. Potentially, this has now changed. In the summer of 1998, delegates from nearly 140 countries created the Rome Statute establishing the International Criminal Court (ICC). Entering into force in the summer of 2002, the ICC has unprecedented international jurisdiction over the crimes of genocide, war, aggression, and those against humanity. This paper provides a brief history of international law and attempts to develop an ICC. It then examines the functioning and structure of the ICC as established in the Rome Statute. We then proceed to analyze the potential which the ICC posses to control state criminality. Our analysis concludes with discussions of how the ICC might be modified to better act as a deterrent to such offending.     

Post-Hospital Medical Respite Care and Hospital Readmission of Homeless Persons

Medical respite programs offer medical, nursing, and other care as well as accommodation for homeless persons discharged from acute hospital stays. They represent a community-based adaptation of urban health systems to the specific needs of homeless persons. This article examines whether post-hospital discharge to a homeless medical respite program was associated with a reduced chance of 90-day readmission compared to other disposition options. Adjusting for imbalances in patient characteristics using propensity scores, respite patients were the only group that was significantly less likely to be readmitted within 90 days compared to those released to Own Care. Respite programs merit attention as a potentially efficacious service for homeless persons leaving the hospital.     

Stopping the Cycle of Child Abuse and Neglect: A Call to Action to Focus on Pregnant and Parenting Youth in and Aging Out of the Foster Care System

Each year, a significant number of adolescents become pregnant in the United States, with more than half of these pregnancies resulting in live births. Adolescent parenting is associated with poor outcomes, including increased risk of child maltreatment. Youth “aging out” of the foster care system may be at greater risk of maltreating their children due to their experiences of child maltreatment, a lack of social support, and little preparation for parenthood. This article examines current programs and policies targeting pregnant and parenting youth aging out and presents a research agenda that focuses on pregnancy prevention and positive parenting.     

The International Criminal Court and United States opposition

While the International Criminal Court (ICC) has been touted as the most fundamental development in international society to date, there has been relatively little criminological research examining the potential influence of the ICC. Additionally, criminologists have neglected the United States' responses to the ICC. Our purpose is to fill that gap by examining the United States' role in the development of, and subsequent reactions to, the ICC. Moreover, we draw upon Chambliss' Structural Contradictions Model to explicate processes within the development of International Law, thereby expanding its utility. We begin with a brief discussion of the most contentious elements of the ICC for the United States, sovereignty and jurisdiction, followed by a review of the theoretical model utilized in our analysis. We then discuss the role of the United States in the development of the ICC followed by the proceeding actions taken against the Court. We suggest how US withdrawal and legislative undermining of the ICC not only reflects the US ambiguous relationship with international law but also reveals some of the inherent limitations placed on the ICC as an international institution of formal social control. We conclude with a criminological analysis of the Court's potential based on the existing Rome Statute and the recent efforts of the U.S. to thwart its efficacy.Dawn L Rothe is an Assistant Professor of Criminology at the University of Northern Iowa. She earned her Ph.D. in Sociology from Western Michigan University. Her main research interests focus on White-Collar-Crime (state and transnational crimes), international law and institutions of social control, and criminological theory. Her recent work has appeared in Critical Criminology and Social Justice, and is the author of the forthcoming book Symbolic Gestures and the Generation of Social Control: the International Criminal Court published by Lexington.Christopher W. Mullins is an Assistant Professor of Criminology in the department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminology at the University of Northern Iowa. His research focuses on violence, especially interconnections between street culture, gender and street violence, as well as violence by corporations and nation-states. His work has appeared in Criminology, Critical Criminology, and Criminal Justice Review and is the author of two forthcoming books and several book chapters.     

TO WED OR NOT TO WED

Changing traditions mean that the Chinese are marrying at a less tender age than before, and that some don't bother at all. THERE was a time in China when a bride, who might have been 16 years old, didn't see her betrothed's face until his anxious hands removed her silken red veil on their wedding night. Back then, all decisions regarding marriage were the parents' preserve.