Urgent medical assessment after child sexual abuse

BACKGROUND: Immediate medical assessment has been recommended for children after sexual abuse to identify physical injuries, secure forensic evidence, and provide for the safety of the child. However, it is unclear whether young children seen urgently within 72 hours of reported sexual contact would have higher frequencies of interview or examination findings as compared to those seen non-urgently or whether forensic findings would be affected by child characteristics, type of reported contact, or later events. DESIGN/SETTING: We evaluated 190 consecutive cases of children under 13 years of age urgently referred during a 5-year period in 1998-2003 to a community child advocacy center and compared them to those non-urgently referred with regard to their physical examination findings, any sexually transmitted infections or forensic evidence, gender, pubertal development, type of contact, reported ejaculation, later bathing or changing clothes, time to examination, and gender, age and relationship of alleged perpetrator. RESULTS: Children seen urgently were younger and had less frequent CPS involvement, more disclosures, and more positive physical examinations, and had more contact with older perpetrators than those seen non-urgently. Overall, most children were female and had normal or non-specific physical examinations. Certain case characteristics were predictive of evidence isolation in the 9% who had positive forensic evidence identified. Semen or sperm was identified from body swabs only from non-bathed, female children older than 10 years of age or on clothing or objects. CONCLUSIONS: Female children over 10 years old who report ejaculation or genital contact without bathing have the highest likelihood of positive examinations or forensic evidence. While there are other potential benefits of early examination, physicians seeking to identify forensic evidence should consider the needs of the child and other factors when determining the timing of medical assessment after sexual abuse.     

The second face of systems integration: An empirical analysis of supply chains to complex product systems

Systems integration encompasses both system design and management of supplier networks. We examine the “second face” of systems integration related to the organization and management of supplier networks. We analyze a unique dataset on the supply chains for three major U.S. weapon systems to examine how systems integrators balance the economies-of-scope benefits of general-purpose technologies and the benefits of horizontal supplier specialization. We show that horizontal specialization – an establishment’s focus on a particular market – differs with distance from the systems integrator. Systems integrators derive the benefits of specialization primarily (though not exclusively) from their direct suppliers, and they access general-purpose technologies from lower-tier suppliers. Some of the lower-tier suppliers themselves integrate complex subsystems, belying the image of the supplier network as a “production pyramid” with simple firms at its base. We further find that the supply chains of the three weapon systems that we study are dominated by facilities whose main line of business is in non-defense markets, because of the large number of lower-tier suppliers that serve commercial markets. This demonstrates the importance of the supply chain as a source of commercial-military integration, linking defense production to the wider economy and casting doubt on the view that there is a “wall of separation” that prevents the U.S. defense effort from gaining access to civilian technologies.     

Media-Related Works

Eugene P. Sheehy, comp. Guide to Reference Books (Chicago: American Library Association, 1976—$30.00)

Richard Kuhn, Susan Rumsey and Diane Willis, An Annotated Bibliography of Aspen Institute Publications (Aspen Institute Publishing Program Office, 360 Bryant St., P.O. Box 1652, Palo Alto, Calif. 94302—$4.00, paper)

Albert D. Talbott and Malcom S. MacLean, Jr., Use of Simulation and Games for Mass Communication Education: A Symposium (1974, 143 pp. spiral bound, $3.50, paper)

Hanno Hardt, ed. Experience and Learning: A Collection of Papers on Communication Education (Occasional Paper No. 1, 1976—$3.50, paper)

The Journal of Communication Inquiry: Essays in Honor of Malcom S. MacLean, Jr. (Spring 1976—$3.00, paper)

Conference on Culture and Communication: Program and Abstracts (Dept. of Anthropology, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pa. 19122—apparently free on request, paper)

The Popular Culture Scholar: A Journal of Theory and Analysis (Department of English, Frostburg State College, Frostburg, Md. 21532—exact price not known, but about $5.00 or $6.00 per year/quarterly)

John P. Robinson's How Americans Use Time: A Social-Psychological Analysis of Everyday Behavior (New York: Praeger Special Studies, 1977—no price given)

James D. Halloran, ed. Mass Media and Socialization: International Bibliography and Different Perspectives (International Association for Mass Communication Research, Center for Mass Communication Research, University of Leicester, 104 Regent Rd, Leicester, United Kingdom, 1976—price not given, paper)     

Creative block play

Blocks should be part of the daily free choice activity in early childhood settings for children between the ages of two and six. Large enough segments of time need to be allotted for blockbuilding activities, so that children can build various structures and also have enough time to use blocks for social and dramatic play. Eugene F. Provenzo, Jr. is Associate Professor of Education at the University of Miami. Arlene Brett is Associate Professor of Elementary Education at the University of Miami. This article is excerpted from The Complete Block Book, ©1983 Syracuse University Press, 1600 Jamesville Avenue, Syracuse, New York 13210. Photographs © 1983 by Michael Carlebach. The book is available from the publisher in paperback edition for $12.95 (plus $1.25 for postage and handling).     

Student Evaluations of Grade Appeal Procedures: The Importance of Procedural Justice

Data from an experimental study involving 408 participants were used to test a structural model based on the procedural justice literature. The model posits that two independent variables (processes permitted in a grade appeal procedure and the ombudsman's grade recommendation) affect general attitudes toward the grade appeal procedure. The model further assumes that these effects are mediated by perceived conformity of the appeal procedure with six justice rules (Leventhal, 1980) and by perceived favorability of the ombudsman's recommendation for the student. In addition, the study assessed the psychometric properties of the measure of rule conformity and its six justice rule subscales. Results of structural equation modeling analyses supported the a priori model. As predicted, perceived favorability of the outcome for the student, which presumably was associated with perceived self-interest for our student respondents, had direct effects on perceived conformity of the appeal procedure with the justice rules and on general attitudes toward the procedure. These effects of self-interest are especially important because self-interest is often ignored in theories and research on fairness. In addition, analyses revealed that the measure of rule conformity and its six subscales had sufficiently good psychometric properties to warrant their use in future research on procedural justice. Implications of our findings for Leventhal's model and for educational institutions are discussed.     

Overview of the Scaling Methodology Used in the National Assessment

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) uses item response theory (IRT)–based scaling methods to summarize the information in complex data sets. Scale scores are presented as tools for illuminating patterns in the data and for exploiting regularities across patterns of responses to tasks requiring similar skills. In this way, the dominant features of the data are captured. Discussed are the necessity of global scores or more detailed subscores, the creation of developmental scales spanning different age levels, and the use of scale anchoring as a way of interpreting the scales.