Hope and Rejection

2021 ◽  
pp. 113-129
Author(s):  
Jennifer Hochschild
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Predictive Models ◽  
Scientific Research ◽  
Social Programs ◽  
Dna Testing ◽  
Personal Choice ◽  
Policy Interventions ◽  
Genetic Science ◽  
Environmental Causes ◽  
Societal Problems

Chapter 5 examines the remaining two cells in the basic framework: “Hope,” about developing social programs separate from genetic influence, and “Rejection,” emphasizing the hubris of both genetic science and social programming. For each viewpoint, this chapter explores arenas within medical and scientific research (including environmental causes of and cures for disease, and personal choice), criminal justice (including predictive models, epigenetics, and environmental or personal causes), and biogeographical DNA testing (largely rejected except through traditional genealogy in both cells). Chapter 5 provides evidence to support both hope about understanding causes of individual or societal problems and policy interventions to solve them, and the conviction that policy interventions will be a waste of time or actually harmful.

Enthusiasm and Skepticism

2021 ◽  
pp. 78-112
Author(s):  
Jennifer Hochschild
Keyword(s):  
Gene Therapy ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Gene Editing ◽  
Scientific Research ◽  
Dna Testing ◽  
Forensic Dna ◽  
Genetic Inheritance ◽  
Dna Databases ◽  
Based Medicine ◽  
Biogeographical Ancestry

Chapter 4 examines two of the cells in the basic framework: “Enthusiasm” about the benefits of using the science of genetic inheritance, and “Skepticism” about the risks of using the science of genetic inheritance. For each viewpoint, this chapter explores arenas within medical and scientific research (including gene therapy, the search for Covid-19 vaccines, and gene editing), criminal justice (including forensic DNA databases, rapid DNA testing, and exoneration), and biogeographical ancestry (including racial and ethnic ancestry testing, race-based medicine, and deep ancestry). Chapter 4 provides evidence to support both excitement about the benefits of genomic science and concern about its risks and costs.

Science Communication Meets Consumer Relations: An Analysis of Twitter Use by 23andMe

2020 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 244-264
Author(s):  
Nicole M. Lee ◽  
Alan Abitbol ◽  
Matthew S. VanDyke
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Genetic Testing ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
Scientific Research ◽  
Research Results ◽  
For Profit ◽  
Direct To Consumer ◽  
Science News ◽  
Genetic Science ◽  
Over Time

For-profit organizations play a considerable role in the dissemination of scientific research and information. In the case of direct-to-consumer genetic testing, this is important because how consumers learn about genetic science can influence health decisions and support for science. Through a content analysis of Twitter posts ( N = 1,000), this study examined how 23andMe balances traditional promotion, communicating product benefits, and sharing scientific research. Results indicated that about half of all posts share science news but sharing science has declined over time. Far fewer posts communicate about the products or their benefits, but these posts garner more retweets and replies.

The Effects of Legislation Mandating DNA Testing in Sexual Assault Cases: Results in Texas

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (5) ◽  
pp. 417-437
Author(s):  
Robert C. Davis ◽  
Bernard Auchter ◽  
William Wells ◽  
Torie Camp ◽  
Susan Howley
Keyword(s):  
Mixed Methods ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Dna Testing ◽  
Time Line ◽  
Mixed Methods Approach ◽  
Mandatory Testing ◽  
State And Local ◽  
Local Levels ◽  
Crime Laboratories

Many cities and states have taken steps to identify and process all untested sexual assault kits (SAKs). Texas was one of the first states to enact such legislation—SB 1636—which created a time line for a statewide audit and mandatory testing of SAKs. A mixed-methods approach was used to assess the effects of SB 1636 at both state and local levels. The study did not detect any effect of SB 1636 on reporting, arrests, or convictions. The legislation did have a significant effect on criminal justice workloads, particularly crime laboratories.

Developing Empirically Informed Policies for Sexual Assault Kit DNA Testing: Is It Too Late to Test Kits Beyond the Statute of Limitations?

2016 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca Campbell ◽  
Steven J. Pierce ◽  
Dhruv B. Sharma ◽  
Hannah Feeney ◽  
Giannina Fehler-Cabral
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Dna Testing ◽  
Dna Index ◽  
Equivalence Tests ◽  
Continuation Ratio ◽  
Forensic Testing ◽  
Dna Profiles

A growing body of research indicates that there are thousands of sexual assault kits (SAKs) in police property storage facilities that have never been submitted for DNA forensic testing. Some of these rape kits may be quite dated, and the statute of limitations (SOL) for prosecution of the case may have expired. Whether testing such kits could still provide useful information for criminal justice system personnel is unknown. To address this gap in the literature and to inform policy regarding rape kit testing, we randomly sampled 700 previously untested SAKs from Detroit, MI: 350 were presumed to be beyond the SOL for prosecution (based on the date the SAK was collected), and 350 were still within the SOL. All SAKs were submitted for DNA testing, and then we quantified and compared the forensic testing outcomes. At issue was whether these older SAKs would yield DNA profiles that were eligible for entry into Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), the federal DNA forensic database, and whether these profiles would match (“hit”) to other criminal offenses catalogued in CODIS. Rates for presumed SOL-expired SAKs and unexpired SAKs were compared via a continuation-ratio model and equivalence tests. The rates of CODIS-eligible DNA profiles, CODIS hits, and serial sexual assault CODIS hits were statistically equivalent in the SOL-expired and SOL-unexpired groups. Testing older SAKs has potential utility to the criminal justice system because these kits produced DNA matches to other crimes, including other sexual assault crimes, at a rate equivalent to current, SOL-unexpired SAKs.

The Criminal Justice Response to Policy Interventions: Evidence from Immigration Reform

2015 ◽  
Vol 105 (5) ◽  
pp. 214-219 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Bohn ◽  
Matthew Freedman ◽  
Emily Owens
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
San Antonio ◽  
Criminal Activity ◽  
Policy Intervention ◽  
Immigration Reform ◽  
Policy Interventions ◽  
And Control ◽  
Criminal Justice Response

Changes in the treatment of individuals by the criminal justice system following a policy intervention may bias estimates of the effects of the intervention on underlying criminal activity. We explore the importance of such changes in the context of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA). Using administrative data from San Antonio, Texas, we examine variation across neighborhoods and ethnicities in police arrests and in the rate at which those arrests are prosecuted. We find that changes in police behavior around IRCA confound estimates of the effects of the policy and its restrictions on employment on criminal activity.

Victimization and revictimization

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra Walklate ◽  
Jody Clay-Warner
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Data Sources ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Policy Interventions ◽  
Key Points ◽  
International Data ◽  
Justice Process ◽  
Criminal Justice Process ◽  
Assault Victims

Central to understanding the experiences of sexual assault victims is the phenomenon of revictimization, in which victims feel victimized not only from the assault but also from their experiences of the criminal justice process. This essay discusses the nature and extent of victimization as a result of sexual assault from national and international data sources. It considers the key points at which such victims experience revictimization from their contact with the criminal justice process. It analyses the success of policy interventions designed to have an impact on those experiences. Underpinning this analysis is the concept of gender. The authors demonstrate the extent to which gendered assumptions embedded in policy and practice still frame the experiences of sexual assault victims.

scholarly journals Lineage Matters: DNA, Race, and Gene Talk in Judaism and Messianic Judaism

2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-127 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Imhoff ◽  
Hillary Kaell
Keyword(s):  
North American ◽  
The Self ◽  
Dna Testing ◽  
Archival Research ◽  
American Judaism ◽  
Messianic Judaism ◽  
Race Ethnicity ◽  
Genetic Science ◽  
Per Se

AbstractBased on ethnographic and archival research conducted on North American Judaism and Messianic Judaism, this article argues that each group uses DNA in what appear to be sociologically similar ways but that actually differ profoundly at the theological level. Our analysis moves beyond DNA testing per se to focus on what anthropologist Kim Tallbear calls “gene talk,” referring to “the idea that essential truths about identity inhere in sequences of DNA.” Contrasting Jews and Messianic Jews, we demonstrate clearly what scholars have only begun to recognize: how theological commitments may drive investments in genetic science and interpretations of it. Further, we show how religiously significant identities associated with race, ethnicity, or lineage interact with DNA science, coming to be viewed as inalienable qualities that reside in the self but move beyond phenotype alone. Finally, we argue that gene talk in these contexts is a religiously inflected practice, which serves to binds communities and (implicitly or explicitly) authorize existing theological ideals.

scholarly journals Is it time to drop the term ‘prostitution’ from policy discourse?

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 385-393 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natasha Mulvihill
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Sex Work ◽  
Sexual Exploitation ◽  
Policy Discourse ◽  
Sex Industry ◽  
Policy Action ◽  
Survival Sex ◽  
Policy Interventions ◽  
Loaded Term

In this paper, I wish to explore whether it is time to drop the use of the term ‘prostitution’ in English policy discourse. I argue here that ‘prostitution’ is a culturally loaded term and is insufficiently precise in describing the different contexts in which the exchange of sex for money or other resources between adults takes place. This lack of clarity has implications for policy action, which in turn materially affects the lives of those involved in the sex industry. I draw on MacKinnon’s (1989) thesis of the eroticisation of dominance as a productive framework for explaining why violence, harm and coercion are possible within the exchange of sex for money (or other resource), though not inevitable. I propose that we distinguish four categories: sex entrepreneurship, sex work, survival sex and sexual exploitation. For some scholars, such categorisations overlook how disparate practices are connected (Jeffreys, 2009), most obviously by patriarchy or economic inequality. However, I believe we need to see both the connections and the distinctions: if we conflate different practices, we lose the particularity of the contexts of practice and weaken the rationale for policy action. Worse, policy interventions may be harmful. I suggest these four categories can help us identify and distinguish between structural and interpersonal harm and structural and interpersonal coercion and help to formulate attendant criminal justice and social justice measures.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH HUMAN RIGHTS

2021 ◽  
pp. 70-78
Author(s):  
I.A. Aleshkova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Labor Relations ◽  
Scientific Research ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Adverse Impact

The review examines the main areas of scientific research in the field of human rights in the context of digital technologies and AI, noting both the advantages associated with their appearance (improved quality and availability of services) and the likelihood of their adverse impact on human rights. Attention is focused on the use of AI in the areas of criminal justice, Finance, health, information and labor relations, and education.

Special Issue Editors’ Essay

2019 ◽  
Vol 43 (5) ◽  
pp. 231-265
Author(s):  
Burt S. Barnow ◽  
David H. Greenberg
Keyword(s):  
Simple Model ◽  
Survey Data ◽  
Administrative Data ◽  
Final Section ◽  
Social Programs ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Policy Interventions ◽  
Introductory Essay

Background: Impact evaluations draw their data from two sources, namely, surveys conducted for the evaluation or administrative data collected for other purposes. Both types of data have been used to estimate program impacts. This is an introductory essay to a Special Issue entitled “Do the Estimated Effects of Social Programs Depend on the Source of Data Used to Measure Them? Survey Data Versus Administrative Data.” In addition to this essay, the Special Issue contains six articles, which appear in Volume 42, Issue 5–6 (October–December 2018) and in this issue (Volume 43, Issue 5 (October 2019)) of Evaluation Review. Objective: To describe and summarize each of the six papers and draw lessons from them. The papers investigate the relative strengths and weaknesses of survey and administrative data for estimating the impacts of policy interventions. Results: This essay first describes a simple model of the mechanisms that can cause impacts estimated with survey data to differ from those estimated with administrative data. It then describes and summarizes each of the papers appearing in this Special Issue and uses the model described to interpret the findings when it is applicable. The final section draws general lessons from the papers. Conclusions: The decision on whether to use survey or administrative data to estimate program impacts can be highly consequential because the estimates can differ considerably. All the papers in this Special Issue point to the importance of using both survey data and administrative data whenever possible.

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