Evaluating Self-Control Theory Among the Deaf Community.

This study evaluates the generality of self-control theory with a previously untested cultural group rarely studied by criminologists, the Deaf community. Survey data (n = 428) from participants attending a university that houses a college for the Deaf and hard-of-hearing were compared with a sample of "hearing" students. The findings support Gottfredson and Hirschi's cultural invariance thesis as self-control was consistently able to predict a wide range of rule-breaking behaviors among the culturally distinct groups examined. However, several unexpected results challenge the parental management thesis. In particular, exposure to effective parenting techniques was a significant contributor to variations in self-control for the hearing, but not the Deaf sample. Additionally, self-control did not fully mediate the relationship between child-rearing experiences and norm violating behaviors for the Deaf sample. Implications of these findings are discussed.

Juror Decision Making and Euthanasia: Exploring the Role of Jury Nullification, Manner of Death, and Defendant-Decedent Relationship.

In cases of euthanasia, determinations of guilt may be influenced by legal and extra-legal factors. This study explores the role that nullification instructions play in juror decision making. A defendant may be viewed as less culpable if the act was done out of mercy and jury nullification may occur as a result. We anticipated that these determinations may be influenced by the manner of death and the relational distance between the defendant and the decedent. It is unknown how euthanasia is viewed when it is performed by a physician compared to a family member or friend. To answer these questions, participants acted as mock jurors in a euthanasia case. The descriptions of the case varied by the presence of nullification instructions, the manner of death, and the defendant's relationship to the decedent. The results revealed significant effects of method of euthanasia and the type of defendant on juror verdicts. Jurors were most likely to acquit in a case that provided nullification instructions and involved a spouse using lethal injection for euthanasia. This finding suggests that different circumstances of a euthanasia case will affect jurors' propensity to focus on personal sympathies and interpretations. Limitations and future directions are discussed.

Investigating the Risk of Date Rape by Auditory Status.

This exploratory study examines the impact of auditory status, gender, and prior sexual victimization on attitudes and behaviors related to date rape among undergraduate college students (n = 3,352) at a private university in the northeast. An abbreviated version of the College Date Rape Attitude and Behavior Survey (Lanier & Elliot, 1997) and the Sexual Experiences Survey (Koss, Gidycz, & Wisniewski, 1987) were employed. Findings indicated that Deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) students were more likely to experience negative sexual experiences than hearing students. No differences were found in rape-supportive attitudes by auditory status. The analysis also found that DHH students were more likely to engage in sexual behaviors that increase the risk of date rape than were hearing students. Finally, significant differences were found regarding gender and prior sexual victimization on rape attitudes and behaviors. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.

Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that map to gaps in the human SNP map.

An international effort is underway to generate a comprehensive haplotype map (HapMap) of the human genome represented by an estimated 300,000 to 1 million 'tag' single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Our analysis indicates that the current human SNP map is not sufficiently dense to support the HapMap project. For example, 24.6% of the genome currently lacks SNPs at the minimal density and spacing that would be required to construct even a conservative tag SNP map containing 300,000 SNPs. In an effort to improve the human SNP map, we identified 140,696 additional SNP candidates using a new bioinformatics pipeline. Over 51,000 of these SNPs mapped to the largest gaps in the human SNP map, leading to significant improvements in these regions. Our SNPs will be immediately useful for the HapMap project, and will allow for the inclusion of many additional genomic intervals in the final HapMap. Nevertheless, our results also indicate that additional SNP discovery projects will be required both to define the haplotype architecture of the human genome and to construct comprehensive tag SNP maps that will be useful for genetic linkage studies in humans.