Predictors of Offense Severity, Prosecution, Incarceration and Repeat Violations for Adolescent Male and Female Offenders

We examined factors predicting severity of first offense, adjudication, incarceration, and repeat offenses for first time juvenile offenders. The sample consisted of 12,468 juveniles, all born in 1985. Each of the juveniles had been assigned to the South Carolina Juvenile Justice System (SCDJJ) on at least one occasion (“referral”). Analysis on referral severity showed significant age, gender, and race differences, with older youth, blacks and males referred for more serious offenses. On first referrals, older youth and whites were more likely to be adjudicated with white females showing the greatest likelihood of prosecution; this was true with severity level controlled. Status offenses were more likely to be prosecuted than non- status offenses. Analyses on prosecution versus diversion showed that blacks and males were more likely to be diverted than prosecuted. Youth referred for violent crimes were most likely to be incarcerated. There were no gender or race effects on incarceration. Youth who were prosecuted for the first offense were more likely to be referred a second time than those who were not prosecuted. Gender and race did not significantly affect second referral rates. Findings for third referrals followed similar patterns. The relationship of our findings to previous research findings, and implications for juvenile justice procedures are discussed.     

Sex differences in face processing: Are women less lateralized and faster than men?

The aim of this study was to determine the influence of sex on hemispheric asymmetry and cooperation in a face recognition task. We used a masked priming paradigm in which the prime stimulus was centrally presented; it could be a bisymmetric face or a hemi-face in which facial information was presented in the left or the right visual field and projected to the right or the left hemisphere. The target stimulus was always a bisymmetric face presented centrally. Faces were selected from Minear and Park’s (2004) database. Fifty-two right-handed students (26 men, 26 women) participated in this experiment, in which accuracy (percentage of correct responses) and reaction times (RTs in ms) were measured. Although accuracy data showed that the percentage of correct recognition – when prime and target matched – was equivalent in men and women, men’s RTs were longer than women’s in all conditions. Accuracy and RTs showed that men are more strongly lateralized than women, with right hemispheric dominance. These results suggest that men are as good at face recognition as women, but there are functional differences in the two sexes. The findings are discussed in terms of functional cerebral networks distributed over both hemispheres and of interhemispheric transmission.     

Can the Media Help Women Be Better at Math? Stereotype Threat,Selective Exposure,Media Effects,and Women's Math Performance

This study examines women's media selections when under the gender–math stereotype threat and the subsequent media effects on their math performance through the lens of the Selective Exposure Self‐ and Affect‐Management (SESAM) model, mood management theory, and social comparison theory. Female college students were randomly assigned to the stereotype threat condition or the control condition; then, they selectively browsed magazine pages showing female role models in stereotypical domains (beauty or family) and counterstereotypical domains (career or science) before taking the math test. The results show that women spent more time on career magazines when under threat, and this selective exposure's effect on their math performance was moderated by their assimilation to the role models.     

The interaction of state and trait aspects of self-focused attention affects genital, but not subjective, sexual arousal in sexually functional women

In this study we investigated the effects of state and trait aspects of self-focused attention on genital and subjective sexual arousal of sexually functional, healthy women during presentation of audiovisual erotic stimuli. Psychophysiological sexual response was measured as vaginal pulse amplitude using a vaginal photoplethysmograph. Experiential aspects of sexual arousal were measured both during stimulus presentation and retrospectively after stimulus offset. Trait level of sexual self-focus was measured with the Sexual Self-Consciousness Scale. State self-focus was induced by switching on a TV camera that pointed at the participant's face and upper torso. A manipulation check revealed that both groups experienced equally elevated levels of self-focused attention of their physical appearance. Induction of state self-focus per se did not affect genital responses, but an interaction effect of self-focus and participants' level of trait sexual self-focus was revealed. Compared with women with low scores on this trait, women with high scores exhibited smaller genital responses when state self-focus was induced. Both groups did not differ when no self-focus was induced. Increase of state self-focus did not affect subjective sexual arousal, but participants with a high level of trait sexual self-focus reported stronger subjective arousal, compared with those with low trait level. The results were discussed with reference to previous work in this field. Some implications for treatment of sexual arousal disorder were discussed.     

Qualitative Study on the Traumatic Experiences of Female Sex Offenders

This study into female sex offenders examines the links between their sexual acting out and traumatic life events. The methodology is based on an analysis of 35 court cases involving females convicted of sexual abuse alongside semistructured interviews recorded with 13 participants. NVivo® software was used to analyze the data thematically, whence four key themes emerged (a desire for power, sadism, extreme anger, and the quest for self-affirmation); these themes fall into a typology that highlights the different contexts and characteristics of the sexual abuse. The results also highlight a traumatic context during childhood and adolescence that is likely to have formed the basis for the development of the deviant sexual behavior and the fact that all the women acted in collusion. The discussion on the results suggests that assessing and analyzing the needs of these women should focus in particular on the relationship between the current sexual acting out and a personal biography filled with traumatic events.     

Female relative age effects and the second-quartile phenomenon in young female ice hockey players

ObjectivesRelative age effects exist across sports and cultures (Cobley, Baker, Wattie, & McKenna, 2009), though a recent, unusual trend is females born in the second quartile of the selection year are most over-represented on elite teams. The first purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that the second-quartile phenomenon was the result of first-quartile female athletes registering to play male sport. Due to the nature of the collected data, a secondary purpose was to examine relative age effects across female age divisions.DesignCross-sectional, with multiple chi-square analyses.MethodPlayers included 29,924 female ice hockey players (ages 7–17 years) from the Ontario Hockey Federation. Birthdates were converted into quartiles following the Hockey Canada selection year.ResultsRelative age effects (with the second quartile most over-represented) existed for the entire sample (χ² [3, 29923] = 401.95, p < 0.001), those registered for female ice hockey (χ² [3, 24984] = 369.90, p < 0.001) and those registered for male ice hockey (χ² [3, 4938] = 37.88, p < 0.001). The strength of the effect lessened as athletes aged.ConclusionIt appears the second-quartile phenomenon cannot be explained by athletes’ choice to play male sport. Further, female relative age effects appear strongest at younger ages. The discussion includes integration of results with previous literature, along with plausible explanations.     

Insular activity during passive viewing of aversive stimuli reflects individual differences in state negative affect

People differ with regard to how they perceive, experience, and express negative affect. While trait negative affect reflects a stable, sustained personality trait, state negative affect represents a stimulus limited and temporally acute emotion. So far, little is known about the neural systems mediating the relationship between negative affect and acute emotion processing. To address this issue we investigated in a healthy female sample how individual differences in state negative affect are reflected in changes in blood oxygen level-dependent responses during passive viewing of emotional stimuli. To assess autonomic arousal we simultaneously recorded changes in skin conductance level. At the psychophysiological level we found increased skin conductance level in response to aversive relative to neutral pictures. However, there was no association of state negative affect with skin conductance level. At the neural level we found that high state negative affect was associated with increased left insular activity during passive viewing of aversive stimuli. The insula has been implicated in interoceptive processes and in the integration of sensory, visceral, and affective information thus contributing to subjective emotional experience. Greater recruitment of the insula in response to aversive relative to neutral stimuli in subjects with high state negative affect may represent increased processing of salient aversive stimuli.     

Emotional Reaction to Fragile X Premutation Carrier Tests Among Infertile Women

Female fragile X premutation carriers are at ∼10-fold increased risk of premature ovarian failure (follicle stimulating hormone >40 mIU/mL, amenorrhea, age <40). A milder degree of premature ovarian aging (diminished ovarian reserve, where follicle stimulating hormone levels are typically 10–20 mIU/mL) results in infertility. Approximately 10% of fertility clinic patients have this diagnosis. A cohort of 20 women diagnosed with diminished ovarian reserve provided a blood specimen (confidential results), and completed structured questionnaires that assessed emotional reactions to potentially being a premutation carrier (pretest questionnaire, n = 20) and the posttest known carrier status (3 month follow-up questionnaire, n = 18 non-carriers). Responses were measured using 9-point scales, and analyzed with Fisher exact and Wilcoxon exact tests. While most participants did not view fragile X premutations as a serious medical condition, perceptions of seriousness were positively correlated with anger and regret about not knowing sooner of the potential association of these premutations with infertility. Overall, when women (pretest) imagined themselves as carriers, their self-esteem and Health Orientation Scale responses were unchanged with the exception of feeling more afraid (p = 0.004). Despite strongly wishing for negative test results, they were glad to know there might be a medical explanation for their infertility. Financial Support: This work was financially supported by a University of Virginia School of Medicine Research & Development Award.     

Female religious leadership in Switzerland: norms,power, and money

Women’s access to positions of leadership in religions is a highly contested issue in Western societies, both inside religions themselves and in societal discussions of religion. Reliable data on actual female leadership are, however, scarce, especially in European countries and regarding minority religions. This article describes and explains statistically the normative openness of congregations to female leadership as well as the actual existence, position, and financial remuneration of female leaders across the whole range of religious traditions in Switzerland. The study is based on data from the representative National Congregations Study of 2008/2009. Our results show that, despite considerable normative openness, female spiritual and administrative leadership remains scarce in most religious traditions. The highest percentage of female spiritual leaders can be found in the milieu of alternative spirituality, followed by the Reformed congregations. A generally high percentage of female leadership can be found on administrative boards. It is only leadership positions in certain Christian traditions (Reformed, Catholic, Evangelical-classical) that are normally remunerated for women; many other traditions do not have female leadership or, as in the case of the milieu of alternative spirituality, such leadership positions are not remunerated.