Potential and Peril of BAPCPA for Empirical Research, The

This article surveys the history of bankruptcy data and identifies the BAPCPA provisions that bear directly on research. It concludes by examining how such studies will and should proceed. BAPCPA provides both opportunities and hazards to advance our understanding of bankruptcy. The development of comprehensive federal data offers the potential to dramatically increase the scope of knowledge about the bankruptcy system. The peril lies in the government conducting its research without the transparency and accountability necessary to convince private industry, academic scholars, and the general public of the integrity and usefulness of these data. Rather than eclipsing academic research, the federal government\u27s bold new foray into empirical bankruptcy work challenges the scholarly community to engage with government and private industry to ensure collective improvement of bankruptcy knowledge. If these collaboration succeed, the result will be a new world of research that features more reliable impirical data and facilitates a better understanding of the bankruptcy system

The impact of prior sexual victimization and victim identification on threat recognition in a college sample

Previous research on sexual assault has demonstrated a pattern of revictimization, in which victims of childhood sexual assault are at an increased risk for adult sexual assault (e.g., Tjaden & Thoennes, 2000). Previous findings indicate that participants with a history of sexual assault take longer to identify and respond to risks (Marx et al., 2001; Soler-Baillo et al., 2005; Wilson et al., 1999), are less likely to respond in assertive ways (VanZile-Tamsen et al., 2005), and are more likely to indicate that they would be compliant in risky sexual situations (Naugle, 1999). The present study attempted to replicate and expand this literature by investigating psychological variables that have been previously theoretically and/or empirically linked to revictimization to assess their impact on how female college students perceived and responded to risk in dating scenarios, as well as assessing difference between the perceived risk and consequence. This study was completed in two phases online. In total 111 students completed the full study. Results indicated that students did not differ in their overall perception of risk based on their assault status, but those with a history of assault took statistically significantly longer to indicate that they would choose to leave. Additionally, when asked to predict what would happen if the scenario continued, participants with a history of assault were significantly more likely to predict that the characters would have consensual sex. They were also more likely to indicate that the female in the scene may miss out on a meaningful relationship if she chose to leave

The Debt Dilemma

Part I describes the nature of credit card spending and explores the usefulness of Mann\u27s comparative approach to studying credit cards. Part II evaluates Mann\u27s findings on the overall relationships between individual credit card transactions and aggregate levels of spending, borrowing, and bankruptcy. It also briefly analyzes the relationship between his findings and policy recommendations. Part III explores data on families who refrain from credit card use and struggle with serious financial distress. Part IV revisits Mann\u27s policy recommendations in light of this new data. I conclude that implementing credit card reform would offer families only partial, albeit valuable, protection from the risks of our modern economy

Cracking the Code: An Empirical Analysis of Consumer Bankruptcy Outcomes

Chapter 13 is a cornerstone of the bankruptcy system. Its legal requirements strike a balance between the rehabilitation of debtors through keeping assets and reducing debt, and the repayment of creditors over a period of years. Despite the accolades from policymakers, the hard truth is that the majority of the half-million families each year that seek refuge in chapter 13 bankruptcy will not achieve the debt relief of a discharge. Prior research found that those who drop out of bankruptcy quickly endure the serious financial struggles that they had before bankruptcy—now even worse off for having spent thousands of dollars to seek help. Despite the profound inefficiency of chapter 13 bankruptcy, we previously did not know what differentiates those who succeed in chapter 13 from those who fail. This article is the first study to use a national random sample to predict which debtors obtain a discharge of debt. Using sophisticated statistical techniques that allow us to control for unobservable or unmeasurable effects at the local level, we identify the factors that make completing chapter 13 bankruptcy more likely. We find, among other robust effects, that blacks are more than twice as unlikely to receive debt relief than non-blacks, that those without an attorney have extremely low odds compared to those who hire an attorney, and that families with children fare worse. We also find that the local variations in bankruptcy practice that have been deemed “best practices” do not correlate with higher rates of bankruptcy completion. We discuss the implications of our findings for the millions of families who struggle to repay their debts in bankruptcy, and suggest concrete fixes to increase the efficacy of the consumer bankruptcy system. This article upsets the debate about bankruptcy reform and will help shape policy and practice in upcoming decades