Comments on how child protective services investigators decide to substantiate mothers for failure-to-protect in sexual abuse cases

This commentary discusses the decisions of child protective service (CPS) investigators to substantiate mothers for failure to- protect (FTP) in child sexual abuse cases. Four areas are identified in which the scientific literature remains inadequate to fully inform child maltreatment researchers, CPS practitioners and child welfare policymakers on models and outcomes for FTP substantiation decisions. Attention is called to the need for more information about how differences in statutory definitions, common guidelines, and professional education and training influence FTP substantiation decisions. Current gaps in the knowledge base on FTP and nonoffending caregivers are highlighted. doi:10.1300/J070v15n04_05.     

A Gender-based Examination of Past-year Recreational Gamblers

Background Most adults gamble recreationally yet few studies have systematically investigated for gender-related differences in recreational gamblers.Methods Logistic regression analyses were performed on data from a nationally representative sample of respondents from the 1998 Gambling Impact and Behavior Study. Results Female gamblers versus non-gamblers were more likely to report use of alcohol and drugs. Male gamblers versus non-gamblers were more likely to report alcohol use and abuse/dependence, any substance abuse/dependence, and lifetime incarceration. An analysis of gambling by gender group interaction effects did not identify significant differences in health-related measures. Male as compared with female gamblers reported beginning gambling earlier, experiencing higher past-year maximal losses and wins, and finding favorite and engaging in different types of gambling.Conclusions Despite heavier gambling in male as compared with female recreational gamblers, similar mental health functioning was observed in female and male past-year recreational gamblers. Types of gambling problematic for men and women are reflected in the gambling preferences of recreational gamblers.     

Financial Edgework and the Persistence of Rogue Traders

This work explores financial edgework by professional speculative traders as an explanation for the persistence of rogue trading in financial markets. The article joins in the scholarly application of “edgework,” the social psychological study of voluntary risk, to speculative trading. The discussion focuses on the origins and persistence of that subset of behavior wherein the trader knowingly creates the condition in which he or she endangers the brokerage house that employs them and even, at times, threatens the public's perception of the integrity of the securities industry. Going over the edge between risk taking and unauthorized rogue trading is explained by looking at five inducements to escalate risk taking provided in the securities industry. This examination of financial edgework demonstrates how and, to a lesser degree, why rogue trading is a result of the security industry's pursuit of and desire to capitalize upon yet not publicize an occupational culture stressing a “risk‐and‐win” ethos.     

Emotional intelligence and leadership emergence in small groups

We report the findings from two studies that examine the association between emotional intelligence and leadership emergence in small groups. In both studies, members of groups completed measures of emotional intelligence and other individual differences prior to working on a group project. Their peers rated their leadership emergence at the conclusion of the project. Overall emotional intelligence and a number of its dimensions were associated with leadership emergence over and above cognitive intelligence, personality traits, and gender. These findings were observed when emotional intelligence was measured with an ability test but not when it was measured with a self-report scale. Among the dimensions of emotional intelligence, the ability to understand emotions was most consistently associated with leadership emergence.     

Women and the Wild: Gender Socialization in Wilderness Recreation Advertising

Women are underrepresented in wilderness recreation despite the numerous benefits such activities provide to mental, physical, and emotional health. Several theories have been proposed linking women??s beliefs about their competence in outdoor spaces, fears of victimization, and concerns over retaining femininity to their lack of participation. We explore media representations of wilderness recreation as a possible agent in the gender socialization process that dissuades women from participation. Through analyzing advertisements from the 42 issues of Backpacker and Outside magazines published in 2008 and 2009 we find that, when women are shown, they are portrayed as having limited and passive roles in wilderness recreation. These advertisements also use the setting to reinforce traditional gender arrangements and paint women as consumers rather than conquerors of the wild. When women are shown as active participants in wilderness recreation, their physical accomplishments are often either downplayed or depicted as the endeavors of ??unique?? women who require feminization.     

Estimation for one- and two-parameter exponential distributions under multiple type-II censoring

In this paper, we derive explicit best linear unbiased estimators for one- and two-parameter exponential distributions when the available sample is multiply Type-II censored. Further, after noting that the maximum likelihood estimators do not exist explicitly, we propose some linear estimators by approximating the likelihood equations appropriately. Some illustrative examples from life-testing experiments are also presented.     

Beyond access and supply: youth-led strategies to captivate young people's interest in and demand for youth programs and opportunities

Increasing access, even increasing supply, may not be sufficient to attract young teens who do not typically participate in youth programs. Several youth mapping projects in rural and urban communities have led to these conclusions: youth do not know what is available even in their own neighborhoods, young teens have a strong voice in how they spend their discretionary time, and we need to learn how to market youth programs much more effectively. This author reviews important findings from youth community-mapping experiences and showcases a project attempting to move beyond access and supply issues to increasing young people's interest and engagement in community youth development programs.     

The implementation and the cultural adjustment of functional family therapy in a Dutch psychiatric day-treatment center

Because of the increasing severity of adolescent problem behavior, evidence-based practices are becoming of interest as an alternative to traditional treatment with the behavior problems of adolescents in juvenile justice settings. Despite interest in evidence-based practices, questions exist regarding whether or not evidence-based intervention models can be successfully transported to cultures other than those in which they were developed. This article describes the transportation process of an American evidence-based family therapy (Functional Family Therapy [FFT]) into the service delivery system of a psychiatric day treatment center for juvenile delinquents in Amsterdam. The characteristics of FFT that make it cross-culturally sensitive are discussed. Results from the changes in service delivery suggest FFT can be successfully implemented in international settings with adjustments to make the model fit the culture(s) of The Netherlands without changing the model of FFT itself.     

Household Income and Trajectories of Marital Satisfaction in Early Marriage

Are the marriages of lower income couples less satisfying than the marriages of more affluent couples? To address this question, we compared trajectories of marital satisfaction among couples with a wide range of household incomes. The marital satisfaction of 862 Black, White, and Latino newlywed spouses (N = 431 couples) was assessed five times, each 9 months apart, during the first 4 years of marriage. Lower income couples did not have less satisfying marriages on average, nor did their satisfaction decline more steeply on average. They did, however, experience (a) significantly greater fluctuations in marital satisfaction across assessments and (b) significantly more variability between husbands and wives. If efforts to support the marriages of low‐income couples are to address the unique characteristics of their marital development, these findings suggest that efforts to stabilize their marriages may be more effective than efforts to improve their satisfaction alone.