Police and prosecution systems: An evaluation of a police criminal case preparation program

Program evaluation can provide objective information relevant to decisions on program maintenance. A program to address problems in the preparation of criminal investigation reports in a metropolitan police department was evaluated. The program permanently altered environmental conditions under which reports were prepared to facilitate performance. Police officers, who had previously prepared reports without assistance, visited the Case Preparation Room to prepare reports with assistance from office personnel. Compared to reports prepared without assistance, reports prepared in the Case Preparation Room documented more case elements required by the state legal code for criminal prosecution, were completed in fewer days following arrests, and received higher ratings from Assistant District Attorneys. Operation of a permanent program available to approximately 945 officers proved a practical solution to improving the preparation of criminal investigation reports.     

PROGRAM EVALUATION RESEARCH: AN EXPERIMENTAL COST-EFFECTIVENESS ANALYSIS OF AN ARMED ROBBERY INTERVENTION PROGRAM

An armed robbery alarm system was implemented in 48 different stores in two separate geographical areas for 6 months and 12 months, respectively. The alarms were placed in the two separate areas at different times and all alarms were eventually removed. Thus, multiple baseline and reversal strategies were used to evaluate program impact. A device planted in a cash drawer was triggered whenever “bait” money was removed from the drawer sending an alarm signal directly to police cars and headquarters. Onscene apprehensions of armed robbers within target stores were greatly increased even though the armed robbery systems did not deter robbery incidents nor influence the court disposition of the cases. There was also no crime deterrence, crime displacement, or increased apprehensions in either the immediate neighborhoods of target stores or on a city-wide basis. The cost effectiveness of the program was calculated to be poor even though the program is being maintained because of the absence of an alternative robbery apprehension technology.     

Trajectories of maternal depressive symptoms, maternal sensitivity, and children's functioning at school entry

Using data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development, the authors modeled trajectories of maternal depressive symptoms from infant age 1 month to 7 years. The authors identified 6 trajectories of maternal depressive symptoms: high-chronic, moderate-increasing, high-decreasing, intermittent, moderate-stable, and low-stable. Women on these depression trajectories varied in sociodemographic risk and in changes in observed maternal sensitivity over time. Maternal sensitivity was generally higher and increased when depressive symptoms were low; sensitivity was lower and decreased when depressive symptoms were either high or increasing. Child outcomes at 1st grade were examined by trajectory group. The authors discuss the complexity of disentangling maternal symptoms from maternal sensitivity and sociodemographic risk when predicting children's functioning.     

Alcohol and group formation: a multimodal investigation of the effects of alcohol on emotion and social bonding

We integrated research on emotion and on small groups to address a fundamental and enduring question facing alcohol researchers: What are the specific mechanisms that underlie the reinforcing effects of drinking? In one of the largest alcohol-administration studies yet conducted, we employed a novel group-formation paradigm to evaluate the socioemotional effects of alcohol. Seven hundred twenty social drinkers (360 male, 360 female) were assembled into groups of 3 unacquainted persons each and given a moderate dose of an alcoholic, placebo, or control beverage, which they consumed over 36 min. These groups' social interactions were video recorded, and the duration and sequence of interaction partners' facial and speech behaviors were systematically coded (e.g., using the Facial Action Coding System). Alcohol consumption enhanced individual- and group-level behaviors associated with positive affect, reduced individual-level behaviors associated with negative affect, and elevated self-reported bonding. Our results indicate that alcohol facilitates bonding during group formation. Assessing nonverbal responses in social contexts offers new directions for evaluating the effects of alcohol.