Contemporary research suggests that increased efforts to transfer juveniles to the adult criminal justice system may backfire because waived youths generally exhibit greater recidivism as compared to similar offenders retained in juvenile court. One concern with this research is the possibility of selection bias, meaning that the findings could be explained as merely a simple consequence of the highest risk youth being transferred. This study examined this issue for 494 violent youths from Pennsylvania, of which 79 were waived to adult court and 415 were retained in juvenile court. The likelihood, seriousness, and timing of their recidivism were analyzed, with a statistical control for selection bias included. The findings still suggest heightened recidivism among the transferred youths.

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Although research has examined the effectiveness of juvenile transfer on recidivism, there has been a lack of research done in assessing how well juvenile waiver to adult court meets the criteria necessary for deterrence to occur (i.e., certainty, severity, and swiftness of punishment). The purpose of this study is to assess how well juvenile transfer meets these criteria, using data on 345 youths legislatively waived to adult court in Pennsylvania. The findings indicate that there is greater punishment severity in adult court, but there is no difference in punishment certainty between the two court systems. In addition, court processing occurred more quickly in juvenile court. In other words, only one element of deterrence theory is achieved with juvenile transfer. Implications for subsequent research and policy are discussed.

Based on review of representative literature, history and current research indicate that battering by male partners is a major health problem for women. Use of physical aggression and verbal coercion can be described by three-term contingencies involving escape, avoidance, punishment, and positive reinforcement. These contingencies occur within societal practices, rules, and models that involve oppression of women and insubstantial consequences for men who batter. The difficulties in directly observing a couple's interactions and their aggression have been a methodological barrier to the involvement of behavior analysts in treatment of and research on domestic violence. Recommendations are made for behavior analysts to contribute to reducing battering through development and analysis of program components and application of contingency management and behavioral training technology.

Participation by women and men in (a) the editorial process and publication of three behavior analysis journals, (b) leadership in the Association for Behavior Analysis (ABA) and the Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, and (c) participation in the 1982 and 1991 conventions of the Association for Behavior Analysis are described. The data indicate that the relative involvement of women in all three areas is lower than the percentage of ABA members who are women (31%) and is considerably lower than the percentage of women in society at large (51%). This underrepresentation of women in editorial and leadership roles in behavior analysis mirrors the reported phenomenon of a glass ceiling for women in leadership roles in business and industry. The men who control our institutions are asked to share power and responsibility by increasing the involvement of women in behavior analysis.