Evaluating the Relation of Vocal Accommodation in Conversation Partners' Fundamental Frequencies to Perceptions of Communication Quality

Previous acoustic analysis of fundamental frequencies from interview partners' voices revealed mutual accommodation of voice frequency and amplitude. These findings also showed partners' accommodation was associated with such attributes as social status. However, previous studies did not assess the function of partners' voice accommodation in extending general communication quality. The present study employs an experimental protocol wherein the fundamental frequency is included in some conversations and filtered from others to show, first, that partners do actively accommodate the fundamental frequency of their voices, and, second, that elimination of the fundamental frequency from conversation partners' voices profoundly alters perceived positive evaluations by judges overhearing the conversation. This experiment specifies an important auxiliary role for the fundamental frequency in nonverbal communication.     

Integrating child welfare, juvenile justice, and other agencies in a continuum of services

This article presents a comprehensive strategy framework for integrating mental health, child welfare, education, substance abuse, and juvenile justice system services. It proposes an infrastructure of information exchange, cross-agency client referrals, a networking protocol, interagency councils, and service integration models. This infrastructure facilitates integrated service delivery.     

Family structure,intergenerational mobility,and the reproduction of poverty: Evidence for increasing polarization?

Demography - A substantial body of research has demonstrated links between poverty and family structure from one generation to the next, but has left open key questions about the implications of...     

Can't hear or won't hear? — the evidential experience of children with disabilities

Twin brothers aged 12 attended a special needs boarding school which had provision for children with emotional disturbances and other disabilities. While they were at home during the holidays, their mother overheard a conversation between them which led her to suspect abuse. She asked them several questions and decided to contact the police. An investigation began which also included interviewing several other boys, some of whom had been removed from the twins' school and were attending a school elsewhere. The evidence obtained from a number of the boys was considered to be strong enough for the Crown Prosecution Service to take the case forward. Almost a year after the mother's initial referral the committal hearing took place. Lobbying from a local voluntary organization resulted in screens being used in the courtroom which would otherwise not have been provided. The case was heard and transferred to the Crown Court for trial. The magistrate in the committal hearing made clear recommendations that the children's disabilities and the delay there had already been in bringing the case to court should determine that the subsequent trial needed to take place as soon as possible. However, more delays ensued and the final date was established almost a year later. The children each spent between 2 and 6 hours in the witness-box. The defence counsel frequently focused on their disabilities in questioning the validity of their evidence. The twins were expecting to give evidence by video-link, but the delays meant they were considered too old to be ‘vulnerable’ witnesses and had to speak in open court. The first twin's evidence was not completed in one day and the mother was told that she could not talk to either of them about the case, nor could they stay together that night. She was told that she had to choose which of her distressed sons to take home and that she had to make alternative arrangements for the other child. She was given no support in making the decision. In addition to this distress, during the day she had witnessed the defence counsel's attitude to her son, who had severe hearing difficulties. The defence counsel had laughed at the child's difficulty in hearing and said, ‘Can't hear or is it that you don't want to answer?’ One of the other children was humiliated by the defence counsel saying, ‘Who would want a smelly, shitty boy on their lap, no-one hugs smelly, shitty boys like you?’. The child was giving evidence on video-link and became so upset he was ‘switched off’ so that he was no longer visible to the court. Another child had epilepsy and counsel argued that he could not put questions to the child in case the child had a fit. In addition, an ‘expert’ witness who had seen some of the children 5 years previously stated categorically that ‘these children are born liars’. The outcome of this trial was that the headmaster was found guilty on several counts and received an 18-month prison sentence.     

Accuracy and precision of the topological mapping procedure for estimating within-tree populations of bark beetles

Summary The accuracy and precision of the topological mapping procedure for estimating within-tree populations of bark beetles was investigated for a variety of different sampling conditions. Simulation techniques were used to define the mean and standard deviation of proportional errors encountered in estimation under different sampling intensities. The number of samples collected at a particular height and the vertical spacing between heights were varied. Information presented should aid in developing sampling plans for studies of bark beetle populations and will permit the reexamination and/or recovery of historical data sets on bark beetle populations. Texas Agric. Exp. Stn. TA No. 14318.     

Supporting the collaborative decision-making process in an automotive supply chain with a multi-agent system

Collaborative initiatives such as collaborative design, collaborative planning and forecasting, and open collective innovation are increasingly accepted as approaches that can effectively support decision-making (DM) processes in a range of different industries. However, justifying and demonstrating the benefits of collaborative solutions remains a challenge and has been under-researched. Demonstrating the feasibility of implementing collaborative solutions as opposed to traditional, linear and transactional solutions is even less evident. The purpose of this paper is to conceive a collaborative solution that supports the multi-level DM process in a real, tree-based automotive supply chain environment. The hypothesis presented posits that by sharing information collaboratively, improvements in terms of the profit and service levels will be found within the supply chain and at every supply chain node.     

The Liberalization of Cannabis Possession Laws and Birth Outcomes: A State-Level Fixed Effects Analysis, 2003–2019

Population Research and Policy Review - As states liberalize their cannabis laws, cannabis use has become more widespread among adults across the United States, including pregnant women. As a...     

The Brazilianisation of Youth Transitions in Australia and the UK?

A central theme of Beck's argument in The Brave New World of Work (2000) is that labour markets in the developed world are taking on some of the core characteristics that have been associated with less developed labour markets such as employment insecurity, informality and precarity. A process he refers to as Brazilianisation. In this paper we consider whether Beck's thesis can help us understand changes in youth transitions in Australia and the UK by developing a comparative analysis of processes of casualisation in the youth labour markets of the two countries. We assess the extent to which precarious labour market biographies have become entrenched and represent modern forms of engagement with the labour market. While evidence is presented to suggest that young people's labour market experiences have been affected by a trend towards greater casualisation, we argue that the changes are having the greatest impact on those in the weakest positions: in both countries women are more likely to be affected than men and casualisation is most evident in the lowest skilled occupations.     

Trauma and stress among older adults in the criminal justice system: a review of the literature with implications for social work

The purpose of this article was to review the empirical literature that investigated trauma and stress among older adults in the criminal justice system. Nineteen journal articles published between 1988 and 2010 were identified and extracted via research databases and included mixed age samples of adjudicated older and younger adults (n = 11) or older adult only samples (n = 8). Findings revealed past and current trauma and stress, consequences and/or correlates, and internal and external coping resources among aging offenders. The implications and future directions for gerontological social work, research, and policy with older adults in the criminal justice system are advanced.