This paper extends the use of statistical learning algorithms for object localization. It has been shown that object recognizers using kernel-SVMs can be elegantly adapted to localization by means of spatial perturbation of the SVM. Whilst this SVM applies to each frame of a video independently of other frames, the benefits of temporal fusion of data are well known. This is addressed here by using a fully probabilistic Relevance Vector Machine (RVM) to generate observations with Gaussian distributions that can be fused over time. Rather than adapting a recognizer, we build a displacement expert which directly estimates displacement from the target region. An object detector is used in tandem, for object verification, providing the capability for automatic initialization and recovery. This approach is demonstrated in real-time tracking systems where the sparsity of the RVM means that only a fraction of CPU time is required to track at frame rate. An experimental evaluation compares 1 this approach to the state of the art showing it to be a viable method for long-term region tracking.

Thirteen scenarios were used to measure and compare the perceptions of elder abuse and help-seeking behaviors of African-American, Caucasian American, and Korean-American elderly women. Significant group differences existed in their perceptions of elder abuse with regard to six scenarios, and the Korean-American women were substantially less likely to perceive a given situation as abusive than the other groups. The three groups also showed significant differences in their intended use of formal and informal sources of help in the case of elder abuse.

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Research Summary:Clinicians and researchers have strongly recommended culturallyfocused counseling with African-American men arrested for domestic violence. An experimental clinical trial tested the effectiveness of this approach against conventional cognitive-behavioral counseling in all-African-American groups and in racially-mixed groups (N = 501). No significant difference was found in the reassault rate reported by the men's female partners over a 12-month follow-up period (23% overall). During that period, men in the racially-mixed groups were, moreover, half as likely to be rearrested for domestic violence as the men in the culturally-focused groups. The men's level of racial identification did not significantly affect the outcomes of the counseling options. Policy Implications:Simply adding a culturally-focused counseling group to domestic violence programs does not seem in itself to improve outcomes. In the current study, the culturally-focused counseling was an appendage to an existing agency closely linked to the criminal justice system. Culturally-focused counseling may prove to be more effective within community-based organizations tied to local services and supports.

Partner abuse literature reveals that treatment is less effective with minorities than with their white counterparts. Our survey of partner abuse programs (N = 142) indicates that, for the most part, little or no special effort is being made to understand or accommodate the needs of minority populations. This colorblind approach lacks the effectiveness of a culturally competent approach, which fosters an environment that helps minority groups succeed in treatment Do partner abuse programs make efforts to be culturally competent? The major characteristics of an organizational transformation towards cultural competence occur when these programs do the following: (a) network with the minority community, (b) locate outside consultants with expertise in working with minority clients, (c) obtain information concerning service delivery and programming for minority clients, and (d) have at least one bilingual counselor. These four characteristics accounted for .58 of the variance in the minority-focused activities.