The relationship between trauma and violence in a jail inmate sample

Research suggests there is a link between trauma and violence, although the nature of the relationship is rather equivocal. This study explored this relationship by examining self-reported trauma as a predictor of self-reported violence in 93 jail inmates. Ninety-six percent of the sample reported experiencing a traumatic event, and 67% reported having been violent during the year preceding incarceration. Inmates reporting trauma were more than twice as likely to report having been violent than nonviolent. Stepwise multiple regression analyses suggested traumatic events, as a combined model, significantly contributed to violence perpetration. In addition, witnessing serious violence predicted perpetration of violence. Implications and limitations of the present study are discussed.     

Leisure Experience, Prison Culture, or Victimization? Sex Offenders Report on Prison Gambling

Opportunities for gambling in mainstream North American society have increased greatly over the past two decades. Despite the popularity of legalized gambling and attention it is receiving among social science researchers and economists, gambling within jails and prisons has been overlooked. This study utilized a semistructured interviewing procedure (Smith, 1995) to gain information about prison gambling from 11 sexual offenders on parole—all had spent significant time incarcerated. Qualitative analyses of responses suggest that offenders may gamble in various forms and for a variety of reasons, including a means of alleviating boredom, providing excitement and risk, and an opportunity to socialize. Prison gambling appears to be a complex phenomenon. A substantial amount of prison gambling seems to be associated with certain psychosocial benefits, while for a minority of cases there may be severe violence and victimization.     

When is 100% inspection not enough? An analysis of three pickup truck front wheel assembly failures

The loss of a cotter pin in the front wheel assembly of cars and trucks has been a problem for several years. This is shown by the fact that the automobile manufacturers have been committed to a 100% inspection of the process for installing them on cars and trucks. In this paper, three accident cases are presented, along with a method by which the forensic engineer can determine if a cotter pin has ever been installed on the front wheel assembly. Testing was done to show what the spindle would look like if the cotter pin had been installed properly and forcibly removed. Photographs show both the accident and test spindle for comparison.