Conceptualizing the Youthful Male Sex Offender: A Meta-Analytic Examination of Offender Characteristics by Offense Type

A review of the literature demonstrates that, to date, no concerted effort has been made to conceptualize and develop typologies for youthful male sex offenders on the basis of offense type. Such typologies are deemed important to the understanding of possible developmental antecedents for sexual offending, as well as to the development of theory-driven, empirically based interventions and preventions. This study attempts to begin the conceptualization process through a meta-analytic examination of 140 research samples that provide data on over 16,000 individuals who have committed sexual offenses as youth. Three subtypes of offenders are identified on the basis of offense type: sexual assault offenders, pedophilic offenders (those who molest children significantly younger than they are), and mixed offense offenders (those who commit multiple types of offenses, e.g., voyeurism, sexual assault, and pedophilic acts). The paucity of research that exists for youth voyeurs and exhibitionists precluded the inclusion of these and other hands-off offense subtypes. Descriptive and inferential analyses are conducted and described, typologies are presented, and implications for treatment are suggested. Recommendations for future research are made

The Effects of an Adolescent Social Skills training Program on Adolescent Sex Offenders

The purpose of this research was to assess the efficacy of a 9-week social skills training (SST) program for improving the social competence of adolescent sex offenders. The study was conducted at an outpatient treatment center, Intermountain Sexual Abuse Treatment Center, in Salt Lake City, Utah. A pretest-posttest control group design was utilized and comparisons were made on a variety of self- and parent-report measures to examine treatment effects. The results indicate that the experimental group was able to acquire the specific SST behaviors to a far greater degree than expected by chance. However, evidence of increased social competence outside the training context is somewhat more equivocal. Implications for treatment programs and further research needs are discussed

Efficient application switching with a single gesture

This disclosure describes techniques that enable switching between applications with a single gesture. The techniques can be implemented in any device that supports gestures, e.g., a mobile phone, tablet, laptop, etc. A user can switch between applications by performing a swipe gesture from an icon, e.g., a task switcher icon, or other location. In a touchscreen implementation, as the user’s finger moves, each available application window is briefly in focus. To switch to a target application, the user releases her finger. In this manner, a single continuous operation (swipe and release gesture) enables the user to switch between applications quickly and efficiently

(Re-) Mapping the System: Toward Dialogue-Driven Transformation in the Teaching and Assessment of Writing

Over three days, 180 junior and senior high school English teachers, postsecondary (university and college) writing instructors, workplace (corporate and small business) writing instructors, and government officials who are responsible for portfolios related to workforce training and literacy met to understand from a broad systems-level perspective how writing development was being supported and assessed in Alberta Canada. Conversations were structured using Dynamic Criteria Mapping (Broad, 2003) as a method for understanding the values, expectations, and contextual factors that shape the system. Participants shared values related to clarity of expression, risk-taking, and ability to motivate audience. These values, however, were enacted differently within school and workplace contexts. Writing as a problem-solving activity was identified as a tool for enhancing knowledge transfer within the system. Alberta’s large-scale writing exams, on the other hand, created barriers to transfer and development by undermining shared values within the system. Recommendations related to curriculum redesign, pedagogical change, assessment reform, and professional development are suggested for enhancing students’ longitudinal development as writers.Pendant trois jours, 180 enseignants d’anglais au secondaire (de la 7e à la 12e), professeurs d’écriture au post-secondaire (université et collège), enseignants d’écriture en milieu de travail (sociétés commerciales et petites entreprises) et fonctionnaires responsables de dossiers relatifs à la formation et la littéracie en milieu de travail, se sont rencontrés pour déterminer, selon une perspective élargie au niveau des systèmes, dans quelle mesure le développement de l’écriture est appuyé et évalué en Alberta, au Canada. Les conversations étaient articulées sur le recensement de critères dynamiques de Broad, 2003 (Dynamic Criteria Mapping) comme méthode pour comprendre les valeurs, les attentes et les facteurs contextuels qui façonnent le système. Les participants ont fait part de leurs valeurs liées à la clarté de l’expression, la prise de risques et la capacité de motiver un public. Toutefois, ces valeurs ne se manifestaient pas de la même façon dans un contexte scolaire que dans un milieu de travail. En tant qu’activité de résolution de problèmes, la rédaction a été identifiée comme outil pour améliorer le transfert de connaissances au sein du système. Pourtant, les examens à grande échelle portant sur l’expression écrite en Alberta posaient des obstacles au transfert et au développement en ébranlant les valeurs partagées au sein du système. On présente des recommandations touchant une reformulation du curriculum, des changements pédagogiques, une refonte de l’évaluation et le perfectionnement professionnel, le tout visant une amélioration du développement longitudinal de l’expression écrite chez les étudiants.

Summary Report for Contract 330088-A-T9: Procurement of Zircaloy-4 Products from Superior Tube Company

This report documents the initial procurement activities from the Superior Tube Company associated with production quantities of Zircaloy 4 components (Contract 330088-A-T9) and the demonstration of their capability to produce full-length getter components (Contract 406957-A-T5)

Loose but Normal: A Semantic Association Study

An abnormal facilitation of the spreading activation within semantic networks is thought to underlie schizophrenics' remote associations and referential ideas. In normal subjects, elevated magical ideation (MI) has also been associated with a style of thinking similar to that of schizotypal subjects. We thus wondered whether normal subjects with a higher MI score would judge "loose associations” as being more closely related than do subjects with a lower MI score. In two experiments, we investigated whether judgments of the semantic distance between stimulus words varied as a function of MI. In the first experiment, random word pairs of two word classes, animals and fruits, were presented. Subjects had to judge the semantic distance between word pairs. In the second experiment, sets of three words were presented, consisting of a pair of indirectly related, or unrelated nouns plus a third noun. Subjects had to judge the semantic distance of the third noun to the word pair. The results of both experiments showed that higher MI subjects considered unrelated words as more closely associated than did lower MI subjects. We conjecture that for normal subjects high on MI "loose associations” may not be loose after all. We also note that the tendency to link uncommon, nonobvious, percepts may not only be the basis of paranormal and paranoid ideas of reference, but also a prerequisite of creative thinkin

Ratoon Stunting Disease of Sugarcane: Isolation of the Causal Bacterium

A small coryneform bacterium was consistently isolated from sugarcane with ratoon stunting disease and shown to be the causal agent. A similar bacterium was isolated from Bermuda grass. Both strains multiplied in sugarcane and Bermuda grass, but the Bermuda grass strain did not incite the symptoms of ratoon stunting disease in sugarcane. Shoot growth in Bermuda grass was retarded by both strains