Criminal Justice Considerations for Unsubmitted and Untested Sexual Assault Kits: A Review of the Literature and Suggestions for Moving Forward

2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (9) ◽  
pp. 925-945 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gillian M. Pinchevsky

One of the latest reforms to the criminal justice response to sexual assault involves changes to the submission and testing of sexual assault kits. Across the United States, thousands of kits have either not been submitted to a laboratory or tested by a laboratory, prompting criticisms that victims of sexual assault have not received justice for the crimes perpetrated against them. Jurisdictions across the country have reevaluated their responses to sexual assault, including their investigations and submission and testing of sexual assault kits. It is critical that future efforts respect the recommendations of jurisdictions that have spearheaded earlier reforms and are guided by victim-centered and trauma-informed principles. This article reviews recent research that has been conducted on changes in processing sexual assault kits, provides examples of different approaches to address unsubmitted and untested kits, and suggests ideas for future research and practice to consider as this area moves forward.

1995 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 321-323
Author(s):  
Rhoda H. Halperin

The author comments on the use of anthropological methodologies in economic development research and practice in a developed economy such as the United States. The focus is the article by Morales, Balkin, and Persky on the closing of Chicago's Maxwell Street Market in August 1994. The article focuses on monetary losses for both buyers (consumers of market goods) and sellers (vendors of those goods) resulting from the closing of the market. Also included are a brief history of the market and a review of the literature on the informal economy. The authors measure “the value of street vending” by combining ethnographic and economic analytical methods.


Author(s):  
Logan J. Somers

Using the survey data from 791 officers in a large western police department in the United States, the current study assesses how officers’ unique work experiences (i.e., shifts, crime areas, and duty assignments) vary and culminate throughout a career in policing. Findings provide a glimpse into the early socialization and work experiences of novice officers and how experiences manifest across officers as they gain years on the job. The results also show that there is particularly high variation in the career work experiences amongst the most tenured officers, which calls into question the validity of using only length of service to measure officer experience. This study closes by discussing the implications that these findings have for future research and practice.


2020 ◽  
pp. 003022282097453
Author(s):  
Jacob S. Sawyer

The present study applied several concepts typically included in thanatology research to an atheist sample. Atheists are a growing segment of the population in the United States, though little is known about this group. A sample of 355 adults who self-identify as atheist completed an online survey assessing forms of spirituality, anti-atheist discrimination, and meaning reconstruction in order to examine associations between these variables and bereavement outcomes of complicated grief and psychological distress. Results of a multiple regression analysis suggested that spirituality was not related to bereavement outcomes, anti-atheist discrimination was related to poorer bereavement outcomes, while the relationship between meaning reconstruction and bereavement outcomes was mixed. These results provide a foundation for additional exploration of bereavement processes in atheist individuals, and implications for future research and practice are discussed.


2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. 193-211
Author(s):  
Maru Gonzalez ◽  
Alex Barker ◽  
Megan Clarke ◽  
Christy M. Byrd

Despite its status as the largest youth-serving organization in the United States, there is a dearth of empirical scholarship about LGBTQ+ youth within 4-H; research examining 4-H professionals’ competencies to effectively support LGBTQ+ youth is even more scarce. To address this gap in the literature, this quantitative study explored the knowledge, skills, and dispositions of 4-H professionals in North Carolina as they relate to working with LGBTQ+ youth. Seventy-five professionals responded to an online survey. Professionals displayed higher levels of knowledge than skills or dispositions, were more knowledgeable about how to support LGB youth compared to transgender and gender expansive youth, and expressed the need for and substantial interest in professional development. Rural professionals tended to report lower knowledge, skills, and dispositions compared to professionals working in urban/suburban settings. This article presents the study’s findings and explores implications for future research and practice.


2020 ◽  
pp. 174889582095124
Author(s):  
Doris C Chu ◽  
Michael A Cretacci ◽  
Yandong Gao

A number of studies in the United States examine the impact of religiosity on attitudes towards various types of criminal sanctioning. Research seems to indicate that more conservative denominations and faiths have a more punitive preference for criminal sanctions. Previous studies have also examined these attitudes between criminal justice and non-criminal justice students. While this area of inquiry has drawn attention in the United States, only scant attention has been paid to this phenomenon in other countries. To the best of our knowledge, no study has addressed this issue in China and our research seeks to serve as a foundation for examining this topic in that country. Using data collected from students attending universities in China, we examine the relationship between respondents’ religiosity and their punitive attitudes. We also compare the punitive attitudes between law and non-law majors. Findings indicate that students with higher levels of religious behaviour were less likely to support the death penalty. In addition, law majors were found to be less likely to endorse severe sentences. Suggestions for future research are discussed.


2020 ◽  
pp. 107755952091078 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melanie B. Fessinger ◽  
Kelly McWilliams ◽  
Faizun N. Bakth ◽  
Thomas D. Lyon

Most child forensic interviewing protocols recommend that interviewers administer a series of ground rules to emphasize concepts that are important to accurately answering interview questions. Limited research has examined whether interviewers follow ground rules recommendations in real-world forensic interviews. In this study, we examined how often highly trained interviewers presented and practiced each of the recommended ground rules. We also examined whether children accurately responded to practice questions. We coded transcripts from 241 forensic interviews of 4- to 12-year-old children conducted by interviewers in the United States who were largely trained using the Ten Step Investigative Interview. Results demonstrated that interviewers routinely presented and practiced the ground rules, but this significantly varied by children’s age. Additionally, children often accurately responded to practice questions, but younger children were less accurate than older children. Taken together, results highlight that interviewers may deviate from ground rules recommendations based on the characteristics of the child, which has implications for both future research and practice.


2020 ◽  
pp. 21-41
Author(s):  
Leanne McCallum

Hurricane Katrina was a devastating natural disaster that changed the landscape of the United States’ Gulf Coast. This was followed by a human-made disaster of failed policies, poor governmental oversight, and rampant labour abuse. This article compares how the anti-trafficking and labour rights movements responded to the widespread labour abuse following Katrina. It examines how the worker rights movement responded to systemic issues impacting labourers, and explores the anti-trafficking movement’s criminal justice response to severe forms of exploitation. It shows how the anti-trafficking movement failed to adequately address severe forms of labour abuse, as opposed to the more successful organising efforts of the worker rights movement. The article concludes by considering how the two movements may respond to conditions of labour exploitation emerging as a result of a new disaster impacting workers in Louisiana: the COVID-19 pandemic.


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