Toxicology and Circumstances of Completed Suicide by Means Other than Overdose*

Abstract: To determine the prevalence and circumstances of psychoactive substances amongst nonoverdose completed suicide, 1436 consecutive cases autopsied at the NSW Department of Forensic Medicine over the period 1/1/1997–12/31/2006 were analyzed. Substances were detected in 67.2% of cases, and illicit drugs in 20.1%. Alcohol was present in 40.6% of cases. Males were more likely to be positive for alcohol, cannabis, and psychostimulants, and females for pharmaceuticals. Illicits were associated with younger age. Alcohol was most prominent amongst toxicity cases, as were opioids, psychostimulants amongst gunshot cases, and pharmaceuticals amongst drownings. Cases in which drug and alcohol histories were noted were more likely to have a substance detected. Alcohol was more common where a suicide note was left and where relationship problems were involved. Pharmaceuticals were more common where a previous attempt was noted. Licit and illicit substances are strongly associated with suicide, even when the method does not involve drug overdose.     

Examining Factors Co-Existing with Interpersonal Violence in Lesbian Relationships

Interpersonal violence within lesbian relationships is a significant yet understudied problem. Women attending a gay pride festival in Atlanta, GA, were asked to complete a survey concerning same-sex interpersonal violence. Women who reported being in a current or previous same-sex partner relationship were included in the analyses (N = 226). Factors that occurred in the context of interpersonal violence were investigated: substance use, HIV/STI risk behaviors, barriers to reporting abuse, and attitudes inhibiting seeking of social support. In addition, the survey assessed relationship-related power dynamics. Results of multivariate analyses support the hypotheses that power imbalance and inequality when making sex-related decisions within women’s same-sex relationships are associated with interpersonal violence. Further findings suggested that a combination of factors must be considered when dealing with and reducing the risk for violence in same-sex relationships.     

Discourses of Division: Law, Politics and the ICJ Advisory Opinion on the Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory

This article undertakes a critical reading of the argumentsused at the bench and the bar in the 2004 ICJ Wall advisoryopinion. The Wall case included an unprecedented number of Stateand non-State participants and it is therefore a valuable sitein which to explore the parameters and limits of legal speech.What argumentative strategies were employed at the Peace Palace?How did different participants present the relationship betweenlaw and politics? In particular, because the example of Palestinecan be seen as a challenge to the post-colonial order, how didThird World States employ the language of international lawin support of Palestinian self-determination? It is shown thatalthough international legal speech is highly restrictive, manyThird World States are willing to challenge its boundaries througha deep-set faith in the dividends of legal argumentation.     

Agency dynamics of International Environmental Agreements: actors,contexts, and drivers

International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics - The structural elements of global environmental governance are notoriously difficult to change and align with the needs of a...     

The Politics of Food Regulation and Reform in Ireland

Amid a period of increasing political anxiety generated by the BSE crisis, the Irish Government sought to replace a confusing medley of food regulations with a single agency responsible for regulating food from the 'farm to the fork'. Presented as a radical departure from a regime previously discredited, its remit would be to redefine the relationship between risk assessment, management and communication. In this context, the paper puts forward three principal arguments. First, that while the Minister for Health and Children was keen to extol both the scientific credentials of the agency, and the importance of shifting regulatory responsibility from the Department of Agriculture and Food (DAF) to the Department of Health and Children (DOHC), what remains novel is the manner in which reform has managed to retain political access for influential agri-business interests. Second, that any reform undertaken should be fully cognisant of the international agreements between the European Union and the World Trade Organisation which extended further a free market in food trade. The agency's institutional architecture therefore was framed with the intention of restoring market confidence without threatening the habitat of those multi-national companies that occupy this arena. Finally, that the role of science (and risk) in food regulation has altered. Rather than perform the task of sustaining order through responsible government, science now participates in (re)constituting order through the market.     

Violent victimization and involvement in delinquency: Examining predictions from general strain theory

In a recent critique and elaboration of general strain theory, Agnew (2001) argued that criminal victimization might be among the most consequential strains experienced by adolescents, and therefore might be an important cause of delinquency. Few studies to date, however, had examined victimization as a potential cause—rather than outcome—of delinquency. This article addresses this void by examining predictions from general strain theory about the effects of victimization on later involvement in delinquency. The analyses indicated that violent victimization significantly predicted later involvement in delinquency, even when controlling for the individual's earlier involvement in delinquency. Moreover, general strain theory appears to be a useful theoretical framework for examining this relationship. The effects of victimization on delinquency were explained in part by its effects on anger (the key intervening variable specified by the theory). Partial support also emerged for the theory's hypothesis that the effects of strain should be conditional upon other factors. Specifically, the effects of victimization were marginally greater for juveniles with weak emotional attachment to their parents and significantly greater for those low in self-control.