Sex offender residence restriction laws: Parental perceptions and public policy

Despite a steady decline in sex crime over the past twenty years, new laws, such as residence restrictions, targeting such crime have proliferated. Some scholars have argued that public concern about sexual offending against young children has served as a catalyst for the emergence of these laws. Few studies, however, have empirically tested this claim. To address this gap and to contribute to scholarship on public opinion about crime and justice, this research tests a central implication flowing from prior work—namely, the notion that people with children will be more likely to endorse increased restrictions on where sex offenders can live. Analyses of public opinion data from a 2006 poll of Florida residents suggest that parents are indeed significantly more likely to support such restrictions. Implications of the study for research and policy are discussed.     

Chemical enhancement of footwear impressions in blood deposited on fabric — Evaluating the use of alginate casting materials followed by chemical enhancement

Most footwear marks made in blood on a surface such as fabric tend to be enhanced in situ rather than physically recovered using a lifting technique prior to enhancement. This work reports on the use of an alginate material to recover the impressed footwear marks made in blood and deposited on a range of fabric types and colours. The lifted marks were then enhanced using acid black 1 and leuco crystal violet with excellent results.This presents a new method for the lifting and recovery of blood impressions in situ from crime scene followed by subsequent mark enhancement of the lifted impression.     

The effect of mark enhancement techniques on the presumptive and confirmatory tests for blood

An investigation into the effects of physical and chemical enhancement on subsequent presumptive and confirmatory tests for human blood is presented. Human blood was deposited onto porous (white 80 gsm paper and brown envelope) and non-porous (tile and linoleum) substrates in a depletion series (30 depletions on non-porous and 20 on porous) and subjected to three ageing periods; 1, 7 and 28?days. A number of enhancement techniques were tested [fluorescence, black magnetic powder (BMP), iron-oxide black powder suspension (PS), cyanoacrylate (CA) fuming, acid violet 17 (AV17), acid yellow 7 (AY7), ninhydrin, DFO and Bluestar Forensic Magnum (BFM) luminol] to evaluate their potential effects on subsequent presumptive and confirmatory tests. AV17 and Bluestar provided the best enhancement and fully enhanced all depletions in the series. The sensitivity of the Kastle-Meyer (KM) (presumptive), Takayama and RSID-Blood tests (confirmatory) was initially investigated to determine the range of detectable depletions. The KM test detected all depletions, whereas the Takayama test detected up to depletion 6 and RSID-Blood detected up to depletion 20 (paper), 10 (envelope), 15 (tile) and 9 (lino). The abilities of these tests to detect blood after enhancement were then observed.A number of techniques resulted in little to no effect on any of the blood tests, whereas adverse effects were observed for others. Ninhydrin and CA fuming caused weak but instantaneous positive KM results whereas methanol-based AV17 and AY7 delayed the reaction by as much as 1?min. The Takayama test was not very sensitive, therefore, its performance was easily affected by enhancement and negative results were often observed. RSID-Blood tests were largely unaffected by chemical enhancement although a drop in positive results was observed for some of the techniques when compared to positive controls.Using a standard procedure for DNA extraction, all the tested blood samples (before and after enhancement) gave a detectable quantity of DNA and were successfully profiled. Out of the 45 samples processed for DNA profiling, 41 gave full profiles, while the remaining showed allele drop out in one or two loci.     

Older Youth in Extended Out-of-home Care

The purpose of this study is to examine the permanency experiences of older youth, age 18–21 in out-of-home placements and placement characteristics that influence age of exit from child welfare. Findings suggest a difference between age groups with more 18-year old youth exiting to emancipation than youth who exit at age 21. A higher number of spells in care and a higher number of placement changes during the last spell were associated with exit to emancipation. Additional study findings suggests that youth who leave care before the age of 21 may be more vulnerable than youth who stay through age 21. Implications for practice are discussed.     

The Expansion and Normalization of Police Militarization in Canada

Despite extensive analysis of police militarization in the United States (US), the case in Canada has been overlooked. Building on Kraska’s (in Policing 1(4):501–513, 2007) framework of police militarization indicators, this paper examines militarization within Canadian police forces between 2007 and 2016. Drawing from data on deployments disclosed under freedom of information law, our research shows deployment of special weapons and tactics (SWAT) teams have escalated in many major Canadian cities and are even higher in some cases than those reported by Kraska on militarization of US public police. We show how SWAT teams are increasingly used by public police for routine police activities such as warrant work, traffic enforcement, community policing, and even responding to mental health crises and domestic disturbances. We also analyze data on SWAT team growth, and benchmarking between police service SWAT units. We conclude by reflecting on the implications for public policing in Canada and avenues for future research on police militarization and police violence in Canada and other countries.     

The Perks of Being a Lawmaker: Returns to Office as a Legislative Goal

Extant literature demonstrates that holding public office is financially lucrative. Yet little is known about which sitting legislators profit from office. Relying on original data of members of the Florida legislature, I estimate predictors of income growth among sitting legislators. I find that legislators whose vote share increases by 10 percentage points between elections report income growth of nearly $20,000. This finding is robust to estimation technique and model specification, indicating that electoral safety is tied to income growth. Lawmakers appointed to legislative posts with agenda‐setting power do not obtain additional income. These data demonstrate the market values of electorally dominant legislators.     

Behind closed doors: the effect of pretrial publicity on jury deliberations

Abstract

Effective treatment of aggressive behaviour and accurate release decision making are necessary components of adequate clinical practice in forensic psychiatric units. Unfortunately, methods to identify treatment targets and ameliorate aggressive behaviour have developed at a slower pace than risk assessment technologies. Recent progress on the identification of offence paralleling or functionally equivalent behaviour offers a framework for individually tailored treatment and idiographic release decision making, although empirical scrutiny of this approach is inadequate. This paper describes an examination of the relationship between aggressive behaviour prior to admission with aggression during inpatient psychiatric treatment, and reconviction for violent offending following discharge. Results showed a relationship between pre- and post-admission aggression but no relationship between aggression during inpatient psychiatric treatment with either pre-admission aggressive behaviour or violent recidivism. These findings indicate the importance of state psychological variables, specifically those states affected by symptoms of psychiatric illness, as well as environmental activators and inhibitors of violence that operate within the hospital. These require inclusion in an adequate functional analysis of aggressive behaviour for forensic psychiatric patients.     

Social anxiety and sexual offending against children: A cumulative meta-analysis

Abstract

We examined the extent to which sexual offenders against children (SOC) differ from men who do not offend against children (non-SOC) on social anxiety. In study 1, 30 SOC and 31 non-sex offenders (NSO) were compared on a self-report measure of social anxiety (Social Avoidance and Distress Scale; SADS). SOC and NSO had virtually identical levels of social anxiety. In study 2, we conducted a meta-analysis of existing comparisons of SOC with various non-SOC groups on the SADS. SOC were generally more socially anxious than non-SOC. These findings suggest that the average SOC is more socially anxious than the average male who does not sexually offend against children. It remains unclear, however, whether social anxiety plays a causal role in the initiation of child sexual abuse.     

Developing a therapeutic environment for boys in secure settings who have sexually offended

Abstract

The role of secure units in helping sexually abusive adolescent boys to change their behaviour and attitudes is examined. The problems presented by 23 adolescent sex offenders at Glenthorne Youth Treatment Centre were used to identify issues for management and treatment. These boys had committed a variety of non-sexual offences, and were responsible for 691 recorded crimes. Many had committed violent offences and had emotional, educational, relationship and substance-abuse problems. In contrast to the situation in community settings, the use of offence-focused groupwork and individual psychological therapy is limited in secure units. Many of these boys are not suited to this kind of work, or are not yet ready to benefit from it. Secure units also have difficulty resourcing these types of intervention. Nevertheless, the secure unit environment can be organised and structured to effect changes in behaviours and attitudes associated with sexual offending. Attention should be given to particular aspects of residential practice, including anti-discriminatory practice, organisational values, establishing behavioural boundaries, challenging unacceptable behaviour and language, reinforcing appropriate behaviour, encouraging interpersonal problem-solving, providing effective supervision based on an evaluation of risk, and education to raise victim awareness and respect for others. Liaison with community programmes for sexually abusive adolescents should be encouraged.