Campus Information Sharing and Responses to Sexual Misconduct Violations: An Exploratory Study.

Recent years have seen growing public interest in how college and university administrators respond to sexual misconduct. Despite policy changes in this area, minimal research exists on how institutions of higher education (IHEs) are sharing and processing information about students found responsible for sexual misconduct. Aiming to establish some of the key questions and parameters in this line of research, this practitioner-researcher collaboration offers a first look at how IHEs share information about students who have been found responsible both within their campus and between campuses, as well as how IHEs respond when that information is shared (e.g., admitting a student applicant who has been previously sanctioned for a sexual misconduct violation). Practitioners designed and disseminated a questionnaire to campus administrators, including Title IX coordinators and student conduct administrators, via higher education association listservs. Exploratory results from 176 participants showed that 80% reported having some form of policy regarding sharing information within their institution, while approximately half have policies regarding sharing information to other IHEs regarding students found responsible of sexual misconduct. Nearly one-third of participants reported that their IHEs are engaging in campus information sharing through the use of transcript notation. In terms of IHEs receiving information about student applicants having been previously sanctioned for a sexual misconduct violation, approximately one-fourth of participants indicated their IHE has chosen not to accept a student for this reason within the past 5 years, and a quarter of IHEs have accepted such students. For those IHEs that have accepted a student previously found responsible, the majority of IHEs are not following the outcomes of these students, indicating an unknown in terms of whether information sharing policies were effective. As a result, preliminary findings suggest that more evaluation research is needed before any further policies are mandated.

Help wanted: Lessons on prevention from young adults with a sexual interest in prepubescent children.

BACKGROUND: Adolescents and young adults with a sexual interest in young children represent an underserved population. The needs of this group, and their implications for child sexual abuse prevention program development, are not well understood. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this research is to advance knowledge about adolescents and young adults with a sexual interest in children to better inform the development of effective prevention and mental health efforts. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: The sample consisted of 30 young adults, ages 18-30, from North America, South America, Europe, and Australia. METHODS: Researchers conducted telephone interviews with participants, and asked about when their interest in children emerged, how they responded to this sexual interest, and what resources could have been helpful during this process. Participants also completed a brief, online survey. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed using Dedoose software. RESULTS: Participants reported that their sexual interest in children emerged during adolescence, and as part of that process, they experienced a variety of emotions, including fear, shame, and feelings of isolation. Participants also noted the need for role models who are sexually interested in children and successfully navigating life, positive messaging, and support from families and the community. CONCLUSIONS: Young people with a sexual interest in children are largely hidden, vulnerable, and looking for help. Findings from this research can be used to direct the development of the prevention and mental health programs that are responsive to the needs of this community.

Collateral Consequences of Juvenile Sex Offender Registration and Notification: Results From a Survey of Treatment Providers.

Among many in the research, policy, and practice communities, the application of sex offender registration and notification (SORN) to juveniles who sexually offend (JSO) has raised ongoing concerns regarding the potential collateral impacts on youths' social, mental health, and academic adjustment. To date, however, no published research has systematically examined these types of collateral consequences of juvenile SORN. Based on a survey of a national sample of treatment providers in the United States, this study investigates the perceived impact of registration and notification on JSO across five key domains: mental health, harassment and unfair treatment, school problems, living instability, and risk of reoffending. Results indicate that treatment providers overwhelmingly perceive negative consequences associated with registration with an incremental effect of notification indicating even greater concern across all five domains. Providers' demographics, treatment modalities, and client profile did not influence their perceptions of the collateral consequences suggesting that provider concern about the potential harm of SORN applied to juveniles is robust. Policy implications are discussed.

Commercial sexual exploitation of children and the emergence of safe harbor legislation: implications for policy and practice.

Commercial sexual exploitation of children is an enduring social problem that has recently become the focus of numerous legislative initiatives. In particular, recent federal- and state-level legislation have sought to reclassify youth involved in commercial sexual exploitation as victims rather than as offenders. So-called Safe Harbor laws have been developed and centered on decriminalization of "juvenile prostitution." In addition to or instead of decriminalization, Safe Harbor policies also include diversion, law enforcement training, and increased penalties for adults seeking sexual contact with minors. The purpose of this paper is to review the underlying rationale of Safe Harbor laws, examine specific policy responses currently enacted by the states, and consider the effects of policy variations. Directions for future research and policy are addressed.

Integrating medical examiner and police report data: can this improve our knowledge of the social circumstances surrounding suicide?

BACKGROUND: Recently, suicide in the United States has begun to be viewed as a preventable public health issue. This has led to the creation of a National Violent Death Reporting System that collects and integrates data on the social circumstances surrounding suicides. AIMS: The study examines data on social circumstances surrounding suicides as collected by the medical examiner report (ME) and police report (PR) and subsequently integrated into the state of Maryland's violent death reporting system. METHODS: Reported data on social circumstances surrounding suicides occurring in the years 2003-2006 in Maryland (n = 1,476) were analyzed by examining their prevalence in the ME and PR, strength of association, and integration. RESULTS: With the exception of three circumstances, there was variation among reported circumstances in the ME and PR. Furthermore, there was only a moderately strong relationship between the ME and PR for most circumstances, while a significant increase occurred in the prevalence of these circumstances when ME and PR were integrated. CONCLUSIONS: The integration of ME and PR has the potential to increase our knowledge of the circumstances surrounding suicide and to better inform prevention efforts. However, before this potential can be reached, there are still issues that must be considered.

The effects of nonshared environments on adolescent depression: findings from a sample of monozygotic twins.

PURPOSE: Behavioral genetic research has revealed that nonshared environments are associated with depression and depressive symptomatology. Research examining specific nonshared environments related to adolescent depression remains relatively limited. To address this gap in the published data, we analyzed a sample of monozygotic (MZ) twin pairs from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) to examine the effects of nonshared environmental variables on adolescent depression. METHODS: We used the MZ-twin-difference-scores method on data from MZ twins (n = 289 twin pairs) drawn from the Add Health to examine the effect of specific nonshared environments on adolescent depression. RESULTS: Findings from the MZ-difference-scores analyses revealed that between-twin differences in maternal disengagement were significantly related to differences in adolescent depression. Additional analyses revealed that the association between adolescent depression and maternal disengagement was largely a child-driven effect. CONCLUSION: Compared with previous research that has implicated maternal socialization in the development of depression among adolescents, the results of the current study revealed that differences in maternal socialization were a response and not a cause of adolescent depression.

Gender differences in genetic and environmental influences on gambling: results from a sample of twins from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health.

AIMS: To examine the extent to which genetic factors and shared and non-shared environmental factors are implicated in the development of gambling behaviors and to examine whether there are gender differences in the genetic and environmental contributors to gambling behaviors. DESIGN: A genetically informative analysis was performed by using DeFries-Fulker (DF) analysis. SETTING: Analysis of secondary data drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health). PARTICIPANTS: A total of 324 monozygotic (MZ) twins and 278 same-sex dizygotic (DZ) twins were included in the analysis. Of these twins, there were 150 male MZ twins, 144 male DZ twins, 174 female MZ twins and 134 female DZ twins. MEASUREMENTS: Gambling behavior was measured through eight self-reported questions that tapped a range of items designed to measure problems related to gambling. Self-reported measures of self-control and delinquent involvement were also included to examine the degree to which these factors covaried with gambling behavior. FINDINGS: The results of the DF analysis indicated that when male and female twin pairs were analyzed simultaneously, genetic factors explained approximately 70% of the variance in gambling and non-shared environmental factors explained the remaining variance. When gender-specific models were calculated, substantial gender differences emerged. For males, genetic factors explained approximately 85% of the variance in gambling, with the non-shared environment accounting for the remaining variance. For females, genetic factors explained none of the variance in gambling behaviors, while the shared environment explained 45% of the variance and the non-shared environment explained 55% of the variance. CONCLUSIONS: Analysis of twins from the Add Health data suggests that there are significant gender differences in the genetic and environmental underpinnings to gambling behaviors.