Examining the developmental trajectories of adolescent sexual offenders

The aim of the current study was to assess the validity of the sex-plus versus sex-only categorization method for distinguishing between different types of adolescent sex offenders (ASOs; Butler & Seto, 2002). It is hypothesized that this categorization method has utility when attempting to distinguish between generalist and specialist ASOs (Seto & Pullman, 2014). Additionally, further classification of ASOs was attempted using a well known juvenile delinquency classification scheme, early-onset versus late-onset offenders (Moffitt, 1993). The current study was an archival analysis of clinical files from a sample of 158 male ASOs seen for clinical assessment at a Metropolitan Family Court Clinic. Results indicate that sex-plus offenders are more antisocial, exhibit more psychiatric issues, and have greater deficits in general social skills compared to sex-only offenders. Conversely, sex-only offenders were found to have more atypical sexual interests, and were more likely to have greater deficits in romantic relationships compared to sex-plus offenders. Due to a power related limitation, little support was found for the use of the early-onset versus late-onset classification scheme with ASOs. Overall, these results provide further support to the validity of a sex-only versus sex-plus distinction. Given these results mirror those found in the generalist/specialist literature regarding the etiology of ASOs, sex-only and sex-plus offenders may indeed have different etiological pathways: sex-plus offenders are more driven by general antisociality factors, as the generalist perspective suggests, and sex-only offenders are more driven by special factors, as the specialist explanations suggest.     

Enabling customer relationship management: Multi‐channel content model and management for financial eservices

Abstract

This study examines convergence as both a concept and a process. It examines the current state of convergence, various definitions of convergence, convergence practices, and it identifies Seven Observations of Convergence to be used as a strategy for best practices for organizations to integrate new and old media. Everett Rogers (1995) diffusion of innovations and the five stages of the innovation process in organizations, coupled with innovation management research are theoretical foundations used to examine the infusion of technological changes into business practices in the media industry. The study is based on research conducted during the summer of 2002 that included in‐depth interviews, participation‐observation, and archival documents from three leading corporate media groups and convergence pioneers‐Tribune Company, Media‐General, and Belo Corp at their integrated business units in Chicago, Dallas, and Tampa, Florida. The three organizations were selected for field study because they are convergence pioneers that fell under the grandfather clause of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission 1975 cross‐ownership rule and were allowed to maintain ownership of their television broadcast and newspaper business units in the same market.     

Factors Influencing Schoolchildren's Responses to a Questionnaire in Wildlife Conservation Education

Questionnaires are important tools for assessing attitudes regarding conservation issues. However, they are not easily comparable and their reliability has been insufficiently assessed. We examined factors influencing responses to open- and closed-ended questions about animal conservation to more than 600 schoolchildren (9 years old on average). We analysed the level of understanding, controllable (e.g. sample size) and less controllable factors (e.g. affectivity). Most children responded appropriately to the questions, but subtle changes in the phrasing influenced the answers. Affectivity towards endearing species and spontaneity also influenced the responses whereas small sample sizes (～50 children) provided relatively stable patterns. Overall, we suggest that standardization of questionnaires administered over large spatial and time scales is needed to accurately assess children's attitudes towards conservation issues.     

What’s in a Name: Differential labelling of plant and animal photographs in two nationally syndicated elementary science textbook series

This study investigated plant and animal photographs in elementary science textbooks to discern whether there were disparities in the number of plant and animal photographs or in how those photographs were labelled. We examined the Life Science sections of two nationally syndicated (USA) textbook series. For each text, we identified the photographs with plant and/or animal content and evaluated them for two features: (1) the subject of the photograph, and (2) the specificity of the label (name) provided. We found that photographs with animal subjects were more numerous than those with plant subjects; they also represented a greater diversity of animals and had a higher instance of repetition than did plant photographs. We also found a significant naming disparity: animal photographs were three times more likely to be provided with a specific label (common name) than were plant photographs. Not only were plant photographs less likely to be provided with a specific name for the plant (e.g. orchid or dandelion), but also they were commonly identified only by the name for a plant part (such as flower or leaf) or life‐form (e.g. tree or shrub). To address the disparity revealed by this study, and to encourage student interest in and knowledge about plants, we recommend that educators go beyond textbooks to expose students to a diversity of named plants, and present plants as distinct organisms rather than as a collection of parts.     

Elite Female Business Students in China and Norway: Job‐Related Values and Preferences

The focus of this paper is on the work‐related values, preferences, and future expectations among female students at two elite business schools in China and Norway. The paper argues that while gender theory predicts no significant differences between these two groups, both cultural and economic development theory imply fundamental differences. The overall picture we get from this study is mixed, in that while both cultural dimensions and economic development dimensions generally have a significant impact on the variations in job‐related values between the selected Chinese and Norwegian female business students, there are also commonalities that are ascribable to gender. That is, while there clearly are differences between the two groups there are also a number of significant similarities.     

From Refugee Camp to Solitary Confinement: Illiterate adults learn Swedish as a second language

This is a study, based upon 22 interviews, of the factors that govern immigrants' acquisition of a second language. Half of the interviewees are illiterate quota refugees from a Kurdish refugee camp and the other half are immigrants with at least six years of school education. The interpretation framework consists of theories of language and language learning with the emphasis on the acquisition of literacy and theories of motivation. The interviewees from the refugee camp have lived under very difficult conditions. It has been difficult to meet their basic needs. The social needs cannot be provided in Sweden because the refugees become isolated, without any contact with Swedes. They lack the contact with speakers of the target language that is necessary for them to acquire the language. The lack of integration into Swedish society leads to their marginalisation. The pedagogic conclusions that can be drawn from this study relate mainly to measures for increasing motivation. In this respect the most important measure is to achieve greater contact with target language speakers.     

Stress in Families of Young Children with Down Syndrome, Williams Syndrome, and Smith-Magenis Syndrome

This study examined whether stress levels differ in families of young children with three different genetic etiologies of mental retardation, and whether child characteristics associated with those genetic etiologies may help explain these differences. Participants were sixty families of young children with Down syndrome, Williams syndrome, and Smith-Magenis syndrome. All children were between the ages of 3 and 10 years. Parents completed Achenbach's Child Behavior Checklist, the Questionnaire on Resources and Stress-Friedrich edition, and a demographic questionnaire. Families of children with Down syndrome experienced significantly less Pessimism than the other two etiology groups and significantly less Parent and Family Problems than families of children with Smith-Magenis syndrome. The strongest predictor of Parent and Family Problems was maladaptive behavior in Smith-Magenis syndrome, younger age in Down syndrome, and both maladaptive behavior and younger age in Williams syndrome. Maladaptive behavior predicted Pessimism in families of children with Smith-Magenis syndrome, but none of the variables examined significantly predicted Pessimism in the other two syndromes. The importance of behavioral phenotype research is discussed for practitioners working with young children with mental retardation and their families.     

Egg-laying preference for ethanol involving learning has adaptive significance inDrosophila melanogaster

To study the influence of negative or positive experience of the ingestion of ethanol in femaleDrosophila with thefast form of the Adh gene on the acceptance of a medium containing this substance as site for egg laying, flies raised on a medium without alcohol were kept (1) on a regular medium, (2) on a medium supplemented with ethanol, (3) on a medium supplemented with 4-methylpyrazole (4-MP, an inhibitor of the enzyme ADH), and (4) on a medium containing both ethanol and this inhibitor. Whereas theDrosophila exhibited no spontaneous egg-laying preference for ethanol, a preference was induced by the ingestion of this substance, which also led to an increase in the number of eggs laid. By contrast, ingestion of ethanol, associated with the inhibitor, reduced the number of eggs laid and led to an avoidance of ethanol-containing media. Flies treated with ethanol and 4-MP exhibited signs of sickness (reduction in locomotor activity and loss of balance). The egg-laying preference for the ethanol results from learning linked to the metabolic utilization of this alcohol. The adaptative significance of this learning is discussed.     

Making a Difference: Women in management in Australian and Canadian faculties of education

This article reports a study of Australian and Canadian women in management positions in university faculties of education. It provides a perspective on the contradictory and multilayered experiences of the first cohort of academic women to reach management positions in any significant numbers in education. The article explores the way in which women are positioned as different but at the same time negotiate their place by using marginality and difference as strengths. Many of the women continue to hold to feminist agendas that were forged in relation to the university of a quarter of a century ago. They have strong commitments to 'making a difference'. The authors raise the question of how these agendas will operate in the years to come and whether we can anticipate a new feminist politics of leadership.