“Jagged Edges”: Victim Blaming,Student Care,and Legally Defensible Sexual Assault Investigations

Victims and survivors of sexual violence are sometimes blamed for the assault because of irrelevant factors such as how much they had to drink or what they wore. Research has indicated that conservative religious beliefs increase the prevalence of victim blaming. In order to see if this pattern extended to college administrators, we used a hermeneutic phenomenological approach and interviewed eight sexual assault investigators at a faith-based institution to understand their lived and shared experiences. Four significant themes emerged from our study: the tension between student care and a legally defensible process, hope amid a never-ending saga, forbidden knowledge, and victim blaming. We conclude with a call to focus more carefully on language used, recommendations for decreasing the prevalence of victim blaming, and on preventing investigators from compassion fatigue, vicarious traumatization, and burnout.     

Integrated carbon fiber electrodes within hollow polymer microneedles for transdermal electrochemical sensing

In this study, carbon fiber electrodes were incorporated within a hollow microneedle array, which was fabricated using a digital micromirror device-based stereolithography instrument. Cell proliferation on the acrylate-based polymer used in microneedle fabrication was examined with human dermal fibroblasts and neonatal human epidermal keratinocytes. Studies involving full-thickness cadaveric porcine skin and trypan blue dye demonstrated that the hollow microneedles remained intact after puncturing the outermost layer of cadaveric porcine skin. The carbon fibers underwent chemical modification in order to enable detection of hydrogen peroxide and ascorbic acid; electrochemical measurements were demonstrated using integrated electrode-hollow microneedle devices.     

Golf styles and centre of pressure patterns when using different golf clubs

When using a driver, the centre of pressure of a golfer shows a pattern that is characteristic of one of two distinct swing styles: the "front foot" style or the "reverse" style. The aim of this study was to establish whether these two swing styles are also evident when using other clubs, and if so, to determine whether golfers use the same swing style when using different clubs. Forty-six professional, amateur, and recreational golfers performed swings to hit a ball into a net placed 3 m away. Ten swings were performed for each of the driver, 3-iron, and 7-iron while standing on two force plates. The position of the golfer's centre of pressure parallel with the line of shot and relative to the feet was quantified at eight swing events that were identified from 200-Hz video. Cluster analysis confirmed that the front foot and reverse styles were evident in all three clubs, and most of the golfers (96%) used the same swing style for all three clubs. Golfers that used the reverse swing positioned their centre of pressure nearer to their toes at ball contact compared with golfers that used the front foot swing.     

‘Go over there and look at the pictures in the book’: an investigation of educational marginalisation,social interactions and achievement motivation in an alternative middle school setting

The middle years of school represent a time of educational turbulence, serving to marginalise some students from educational opportunities. Much research has focussed on individual cognitive factors influencing educational engagement, with less attention directed towards social interactions. Theoretically positioned within an expectancy–value model of achievement motivation, this study draws on the lived experience of a 12-year-old student within an alternative school in South Australia, Australia, to explore how social encounters may contribute to educational marginalisation. Findings from a narrative case study employing a semi-structured interview suggested that connections exist between social influences, such as interactions with teachers and peers, and subsequent achievement motivation. This study suggests that social interactions are critical determinants to an individual's educational engagement, affecting educational ability, expectancy and value beliefs.     

Press Rankings in Criminology/Criminal Justice: A Preliminary Assessment of Book Publisher Quality

This research examined press rankings in criminology and criminal justice (C/CJ). Based on a large sample of respondents (N = 812) from the American Society of Criminology and the American Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, the authors solicited quality and familiarity rankings on 81 presses that publish in the area of C/CJ. The research revealed that university presses such as Oxford, Cambridge, University of Chicago, and Harvard University dominated the quality rankings. On the other hand, commercial academic presses such as McGraw‐Hill, Sage, and Prentice‐Hall dominated the familiarity rankings. Commercial academic presses including Prentice‐Hall and Sage were the presses most desired by scholars for future book publishing plans. The authors also discuss the significance of the findings for faculty in C/CJ.     

An Era‐Based Exploration of the Most Significant Books in Criminology/Criminal Justice: A Research Note

This research solicited the views of criminology and criminal justice scholars regarding the most significant books in the field. Overall, the research found that the work of early theorists such as Beccaria and Lombroso were considered among the classic works in the discipline. Scholars associated with the Chicago School of Sociology (Sutherland, Shaw, and McKay) also produced books that received considerable nominations. In more recent times, books devoted to social control theory received the most nominations. In general, the research contributed to the nearly three decade‐long attempt to identify the key publications in the field.     

Is Criminology Out-of-Date? A Research Note on the Use of Common Types of Data

There is a need to explore trends in data use by researchers in criminology to assess the limitations of the knowledge base in the discipline. The current study explores the use of data published in three top criminology journals over a 10-year period to review: (1) data types (primary, secondary, or both), (2) the age of the data, and (3) whether scholars using data at least a decade old mention it as a limitation. The study found that the time dimension of data varied by publication source. A heavy reliance on secondary data was observed across all journals. Studies using only secondary data tended to have older data on average when compared to other data types. A majority of articles using data at least a decade old did not mention it is a shortcoming. The paper concludes by discussing advantages and disadvantages of relying on secondary data within the discipline of criminology.