The current study investigated citizen reactions to notifications of sex offenders in the neighborhood, in an effort to determine whether sex offender notification laws are accomplishing their goal of increased protective actions against sex offenses. Lazarus's stress and coping theory provided the theoretical framework for the study. Telephone surveys were conducted with 250 Alabama residents who were notified of an offender in the neighborhood. Questions were posed regarding notification importance, fear of crime, coping, and locus of control. Notification importance predicted fear of crime, which, in turn, predicted coping. Fear of crime did not mediate the relation between notification importance and coping, however. Finally, situational locus of control did not moderate the relation between fear of crime and coping strategy.

Juvenile sex offenders were compared to other juvenile offenders in the degree of violence against women they witnessed in their families of origin. Poor impulse control, a callous and unemotional interpersonal style, and sexist attitudes toward women were tested as potential mediators of this relation. Participants were 70 incarcerated juvenile males, ages 13 to 18, from three offender categories: 23 sex offenders, 17 violent offenders, and 30 noncontact offenders. Results indicated that the witnessing of severe domestic violence was related not only to juvenile sex offending but to contact offending in general. There were no group differences on measures of poor impulse control or sexist attitudes toward women. However, sex offenders were found to have more callous and unemotional traits than other offenders. Therefore, although these traits do not mediate the effects of witnessing family violence, they do seem to be important in distinguishing juvenile sex offenders from other juvenile offenders.

Meta-analysis was used to (a) assess the overall validity of personality measures as predictors of law enforcement officer job performance, (b) investigate the moderating effects of study design characteristics on this relation, and (c) compare effects for commonly used instruments in this setting. Results revealed a modest but statistically significant relation between personality test scores and officer performance. Prediction was strongest for the California Psychological Inventory and weaker for the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory and Inwald Personality Inventory. Effect sizes were larger for studies examining current job performance, as opposed to future job performance. Implications for using personality tests in the law enforcement officer hiring process are discussed, and recommendations for future research are provided.

The authors investigated popular understandings of cruelty among 103 undergraduates who identified the cruelest acts that they had experienced vicariously and personally. The authors also examined the reasons that the cited acts were defined as cruel. Results indicated that most of the vicarious cruel acts involved intense aggression or sexual imposition, whereas personally experienced cruelty was milder, frequently consisting of teasing or gossip. Offense, victim, and perpetrator characteristics were all cited as reasons that acts were considered cruel. The authors also investigated gender differences in reported acts and reasons. Future researchers should address the discrepancies between vicarious and personally experienced cruelty. Findings with regard to personal acts also call for links to the literature on callousness and victimization.

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