Barriers to the Adoption of Technological Innovations in Corrections: A Review and Case Study.

Over 600,000 criminal justice involved individuals are released from state and federal prisons each year, and close to 5,000,000 former offenders are placed under some form of community-based supervision. Access to services that may facilitate the reentry process is complicated and more often than not, returning citizens have significant and wide-ranging needs left unaddressed that require a comprehensive approach. In the current paper, we discuss the adoption and implementation processes of technological innovations noted in the criminal justice and correctional literature, as well as other disciplines, while using examples and lessons learned from a pilot project evaluating a new technology known as Pokket, which is a cloud-based service aimed at improving the re-entry process for returning citizens, service providers, and criminal justice agencies.

[CLIPPERS syndrome - a disorder with many faces- a case report]. / CLIPPERS-Syndrom: Eine Erkrankung mit vielen Gesichtern ­ ein Fallbericht.

The CLIPPERS syndrome is a chronic, inflammatory disorder of the central nervous system of unknown etiology, which was first described in 2010 by Pittock and colleagues. It is characterized by typical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) changes with lesions mainly in the brainstem, a perivascular, lymphohistiocytic inflammatory process and significant improvement under glucocorticoid therapy. Here we describe the case of a 40-year-old male who presented initially with typical clinical and radiological signs of CLIPPERS syndrome and who achieved complete remission under immunosuppressive therapy. Two years later, he presented with severe headaches. The MRI showed a reappearance of the lesion in the cerebellum, but now with a confluent character. The first brain biopsy showed lymphoproliferation. A second brain biopsy could finally confirm the suspected diagnosis of a primary CNS lymphoma.

The Role of Stressful Life Events and Cultural Factors on Criminal Thinking among African American Women Involved in the Criminal Justice System.

African American women are positioned at the intersection of multiple disadvantaged statuses and disproportionately impacted by criminal justice policies, as evinced by their increased likelihood of incarceration. Yet, they continue to be overlooked in mainstream criminological research. Using data from 418 African American women in the B-WISE (Black Women in a Study of Epidemics) project, the current study investigates the relationship between several prominent stressors occurring in five social contexts and criminal thinking as a coping strategy. Findings indicate that criminal thinking may be one maladaptive coping mechanism to manage stressors, such as gendered racism, financial stress, and network loss, that occur across these multiple social contexts for African American women in prison and on probation. Spirituality, on the other hand, seems to operate as a buffer. Implications for practice include promoting programs that strengthen a sense of collective identity in the community, as well as hiring more African American women who could provide additional culturally-competent behavioral health services in criminal justice professions.

From Athletes to Astrophysicists: Gender Differences in Patterns and Predictors of Career Aspirations in Pre-Adolescence.

This paper adds to research on girls' growing educational advantage by examining gender differences in career paths. Using baseline data from an intervention study (TRY-IT!) targeting 265 sixth-graders in Title I schools, our research traces adolescent career aspirations by gender, race and class. Additionally, we investigate whether girls and boys exhibit differential sensitivity to environmental risk and protective factors that shape career and educational aspirations. We find that the career choices of boys vary more widely by social context, including socioeconomic status, race, and academic resources. Specifically, among youth with fewer social and academic advantages, girls aspire to more practical careers and careers which require higher levels of educational attainment relative to boys. The findings reveal how sources of inequality such as race and class shape gendered aspirations and complicate gender inequality. We reason that boys' choices are more volatile and socially contingent because of the emphasis on high-status careers as a signifier of masculinity.

Misalignment of Career and Educational Aspirations in Middle School: Differences across Race, Ethnicity, and Socioeconomic Status.

Misalignment of educational and career goals (i.e., educational aspirations expressed are inadequate for attaining one's desired occupation) is associated with lower educational attainment and a lack of college readiness, and may contribute to persistent educational and employment disparities. Drawing on data from 249 sixth graders in low-income schools, this research examines misalignment between educational and career aspirations across racial and ethnic and socioeconomic groups. Findings indicate that students in low-income schools aspire to middle and upper middle class careers, but sometimes lack an understanding of the educational degrees required to achieve their goals. Latinos are significantly more likely than other groups to report misaligned aspirations, as are students in the free and reduced lunch program and those without a college-educated parent. Consequently, early gaps in misaligned career and educational goals for disadvantaged students may set them on a trajectory that perpetuates educational and occupational inequalities in this population. We discuss the programmatic implications of these findings in light of the elevated college and career planning needs of students traditionally underrepresented in higher education.

Diversifying the STEM pipeline.

PURPOSE: The current paper focuses on the description and evaluation of a two-year STEM intervention targeting underserved middle schools students from minority and low SES backgrounds. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: Middle school students from low-income and minority backgrounds (n = 166) were targeted to participate in a two-year, intensive, hands-on science and technology intervention to increase their interest in biomedical and health sciences. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected from TRY-IT! Students as well as a control group that did not participate in the intervention, teachers, and parents to assess changes in attitudes and knowledge with respect to a variety of STEM-related topics. FINDINGS: Quantitative analyses did not reveal significant long-lasting differences between the TRY-IT! and the control group, thus providing a mixed assessment of the effectiveness of the intervention. However, qualitative student responses collected during the second year of participation revealed positive attitudes toward the program experience and benefits of their exposure to science. In light of these findings, insights drawn from reflecting on successes and challenges experienced during the course of planning and implementing the study are provided to guide future programs and research. ORIGINALITY/VALUE: The intervention was developed in response to the continued under representation of minority and lower SES individuals in STEM careers. An effort to boost positive attitudes toward science and math, as well as confidence in the accessibility of STEM careers among this population is important given the promising outlook of this career field compared to others for future generations.

On the relation between the mental number line and arithmetic competencies.

In this study, we aimed at investigating whether it is indeed the spatial magnitude representation that links number line estimation performance to other basic numerical and arithmetic competencies. Therefore, estimations of 45 fourth-graders in both a bounded and a new unbounded number line estimation task (with only a start-point and a unit given) were correlated with their performance in a variety of tasks including addition, subtraction, and number magnitude comparison. Assuming that both number line tasks assess the same underlying mental number line representation, unbounded number line estimation should also be associated with other basic numerical and arithmetic competencies. However, results indicated that children's estimation performance in the bounded but not the unbounded number line estimation task was correlated significantly with numerical and arithmetic competencies. We conclude that unbounded and bounded number line estimation tasks do not assess the same underlying spatial-numerical representation. Rather, the observed association between bounded number line estimation and numerical/arithmetic competencies may be driven by additional numerical processes (e.g., proportion judgement, addition/subtraction) recruited to solve the task.

Unbounding the mental number line-new evidence on children's spatial representation of numbers.

Number line estimation (i.e., indicating the position of a given number on a physical line) is a standard assessment of children's spatial representation of number magnitude. Importantly, there is an ongoing debate on the question in how far the bounded task version with start and endpoint given (e.g., 0 and 100) might induce specific estimation strategies and thus may not allow for unbiased inferences on the underlying representation. Recently, a new unbounded version of the task was suggested with only the start point and a unit fixed (e.g., the distance from 0 to 1). In adults this task provided a less biased index of the spatial representation of number magnitude. Yet, so far there are no children data available for the unbounded number line estimation task. Therefore, we conducted a cross-sectional study on primary school children performing both, the bounded and the unbounded version of the task. We observed clear evidence for systematic strategic influences (i.e., the consideration of reference points) in the bounded number line estimation task for children older than grade two whereas there were no such indications for the unbounded version for any one of the age groups. In summary, the current data corroborate the unbounded number line estimation task to be a valuable tool for assessing children's spatial representation of number magnitude in a systematic and unbiased manner. Yet, similar results for the bounded and the unbounded version of the task for first- and second-graders may indicate that both versions of the task might assess the same underlying representation for relatively younger children-at least in number ranges familiar to the children assessed. This is of particular importance for inferences about the nature and development of children's magnitude representation.

Learning and development of embodied numerosity.

Recent empirical evidence indicates that seemingly abstract numerical cognitions are rooted in sensory and bodily experiences. In particular in finger counting finger-based representations reflect a specific case of embodied cognition, we termed embodied numerosity. Furthermore, we suggest that finger-based representations should be considered a distinct representation of number (magnitude) and argue that this representation is activated automatically whenever we encounter a number. We discuss in what way such a theoretical framework can account for the associations of fingers and numbers observed so far. In the final part, we evaluate whether the concept of embodied numerosity should be generalized beyond finger-based representations with particular focus on whether bodily-sensory experiences (such as moving the whole body along the mental number line) may corroborate numerical capabilities. In a series of intervention studies, we consistently observed more pronounced training effects for our embodied numerosity trainings for different age groups, different digital media, different number ranges, and different control conditions. Taken together, we conclude that embodied representations of number (magnitude) exist, are not limited to finger-based representations, and influence number processing in a systematic and functional way that can be used to foster the efficiency of numerical trainings.

Youthful intoxication: a cross-cultural study of drinking among German and American adolescents.

OBJECTIVE: This study explores whether and what differences exist between German and American adolescents on levels of alcohol use and on measures of protective factors as well as risk factors with regard to alcohol use consonant with societal and cultural differences. METHOD: A series of negative binomial regression models of adolescent alcohol use is examined with data from Germany and the United States from the 2003 European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs and Monitoring the Future. RESULTS: Despite mean differences in drinking, findings emphasize the significance of deviant peers and perceived risks in both populations. Whereas deviant peers strongly mediate the effects of social bonds, perceived risk and opportunity influence other measures in the model only slightly. Several of the interaction terms used to assess cross-cultural variation are statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: Empirically, the current results lend support to the cross-cultural generalizability of the applied criminological theoretical constructs to German adolescents. Theoretically, the findings suggest that any explanation of cross-cultural differences regarding a specific type of problem behavior should include explicit arguments about why the supposed causes are expected to apply to that specific type of behavior in the particular cultural context.

Buprenorphine diffusion: the attitudes of substance abuse treatment counselors.

In October 2002, the Food and Drug Administration approved buprenorphine for use in the treatment of opioid dependence. Successful diffusion, adoption, and implementation of this medication within the treatment field depend in part on substance abuse counselors. Using questionnaire data obtained from 2,298 counselors in community-based treatment programs in the private and public sectors between June 2002 and July 2004, we explored the diffusion of this new treatment technique. Analyses indicate that a substantial proportion of the clinical workforce is unaware of the effectiveness of buprenorphine in the treatment of opiate addiction. Several variables predicted counselors' attitudes toward buprenorphine. Predictors included receipt of buprenorphine-specific training, educational attainment, years of experience, and 12-step orientation. Implications for the diffusion of this and other emerging treatment techniques are discussed.

Toward an ecstasy and other club drug (EOCD) prevention intervention for rave attendees.

A growing body of recent research has identified that "rave" attendees are at high risk for the use of "club drugs," such as 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA or "ecstasy"). Rave attendees, however, comprise only one of several club-going populations. In the current study, we explore the prevalence of ecstasy and other club drug (EOCD) use among a sample of club attendees in Washington, DC. Data were collected from adult, primarily homosexual, club attendees during the summer of 2003. Data collection was scheduled between 11 p.m. and 3 a.m. Participation rates were high. Of the 211 club attendees approached, 88% (n = 186) completed the interview. Drug use prevalence rates were low. With the exception of alcohol and marijuana, 2-day self-reports were less than 1% for each drug. These findings, amalgamated with results from other EOCD-related studies involving several distinct populations, offer considerable insight into the state of ecstasy in American society. Based on a meta-analysis of this literature, we offer a community-level prevention intervention for the population at highest risk for EOCD use-rave attendees.