Female serial killers in the early modern age? Recurrent infanticide in Finland 1750–1896

This article examines multiple infanticide in early modern Finland in which the same woman killed several newborns after repeated hidden pregnancies and childbirths. A well-documented case in Lohja, Nummi and Pusula Court of Assizes in 1874 is compared with nine other recurrent infanticides in Finland in the period 1750–1896. The context of the series of crimes and the reasons why it took so long to apprehend the murderers differed from the majority of reported infanticides, which were quite unplanned and the perpetrators of which were apprehended within days of the act. These offenders were serial killers who experienced a need to kill even if they were not literally serial killers according to modern conceptions of male-oriented serial killing. They did not deliberately get themselves pregnant with men in order to obtain psychological gratification from killing newborn babies. Rather, they resorted to killing several of their illegitimate babies as a solution of birth control because their first such crime went unreported or unprosecuted, probably as a result of the complicity of others. Such a perpetrator in the early modern age is labeled a ‘love-child murderess’ or a ‘burker of newborns’, depending on her relationship with the father or fathers of the victims. Serial killings of newborn babies as a solution of birth control continue to exist in modern times as serial neonaticide. It is suggested that a perpetrator of this category of crime in all ages be labeled a ‘birth controller’.     

We Are All to Some Extent Vladimir Vol'foviches …

… Yet if Vladimir Vol'fovich did not exist we would have to invent him. Yes, Russia needs him. Moreover, he was created by Russia from the same papilionaceous material from which is cut in its entirety the flitting philosophy of Ivan Aleksandrovich Khlestakov. There is a certain grayness, a certain defenseless cheekiness, and a certain disarming, childlike, innocent candor in Zhirinovsky's very existence:

I had nowhere at all to play—neither in the room nor in the corridor. There was always a queue at the toilet, there was always a stench because it always smelled bad in the toilet, especially as people would enter it one after the other in unending succession. There were no fresheners. If a total of ten or eleven persons go to the toilet in the morning, there is no time for fresheners. And some people smoked there, which was also revolting. … Since childhood, I had always been in these noxious clouds of tobacco smoke. … I was in everyone's way. I was the smallest.     

Consecutive infanticides in Japan

A 34-year-old housewife who was arrested for patricide confessed that she had also killed six newborn infants between 1975 to 1983. She is the mother of four other children, and her husband frequently works away from home. Her motive seemed to be economic. In addition to this case, 11 other cases of three or more consecutive infanticides are recorded for the 8-year period between 1979 and 1986 in Japan. All of the suspects were the natural mothers of the murdered infants, and most of them were married. The infants were killed immediately after delivery by various methods of asphyxia, such as strangulation, throttling, smothering, or suffocation.     

National planning for locally controlled health systems: the Finnish experience

The World Health Organization considers Finland's health planning system to be among the most successful in the developed world. Despite tight resource constraints--symbolized by total health expenditures held consistently to less than 7 percent of gross domestic product--the Finns have built up a strong primary care sector and dramatically improved the overall availability and accessibility of needed services. This article compares the official health planning system with the actual planning process as experienced within one Finnish central hospital district. The official planning system seeks to integrate national strategic goals with local municipal ownership, administration, and funding of service delivery. The actual planning process within the studied district suggests that technically oriented civil servants at the regional level may be at least as important in the overall decisionmaking structure. The article concludes with a brief exploration of this finding's potential consequences for the long-term development of the Finnish health care system and for national health planning efforts generally.     

TRIAL COURTS' RESPONSES TO SUPREME COURT POLICY CHANGES

This is an exploratory study focusing on the response of federal district courts to Supreme Court changes in three policy areas: economic regulation, civil liberties, and criminal justice. An analysis of federal district court opinions published in the Federal Supplement before and after the Supreme Court decisions announcing the policy changes indicated that opinion-writing patterns of federal district judges changed in a manner consistent with the Supreme Court's new direction. Further study of the federal district courts' role in the policy process is recommended and suggestions for such research are made.     

The Location of Multinationals in Industrial Districts: Knowledge Transfer in Biomedicals

In order to access and exploit knowledge, MNCs are induced to make FDI in technological districts. It occurs in a two-step process: first joint venture and then acquisition. This perspective is consistent with the evolutionary theory of multinational corporations, which looks at technology transfer as a sound rationale for FDI. The location strategy of multinationals produces a reorganization of district structure and a change in its evolutionary pattern: MNCs become catalysts, bring in new finance, ideas and managerial practices, open the district to external markets and international flows of technology. Biomedical Valley in Italy is a recent high-tech district that fits this picture well. It demonstrates that the rationale for FDI was not wage differentials with parent countries, but rather local knowledge and innovation. Knowledge transfer through subcontractors diffuses and recombines inside the district in two ways: becoming the medium for the dissemination of new codes, procedures and knowledge within the district, and evolving from the role of subcontractors to that of independent producers of final products. The case of biomedical district also induces changes of a number of stereotypes and common beliefs about industrial districts and MNCs.     

An unusual suicide with a safety razor blade--a case report

A 29-year-old male was found dead lying in a pool of blood inside a community toilet locked from inside. The individual is alleged to have committed suicide by cutting his throat with a safety razor blade, which was found at the scene by the investigating police authority. The deceased, as per his relatives, was suffering from depression for the last few days.     

Battered wives,lawyers, and district attorneys: An examination of law in action

The legal services received by 146 Milwaukee women who had been beaten by their husbands, but had been free of the violence for at least a year, are described and evaluated. Of these women 106 recieved legal help in connection with at least one battering incident. Some women saw more than one member of the legal profession, so the total number of legal contacts among the 106 women was 255. There is evidence that lawyers and district attorneys were most likely to be used by those battered women for whom the use of personal strategies and informal help sources (such as family and friends) were ineffective in combatting the violence. Contrary to the negative image of lawyers and district attorneys found in the literature on wife beating, most legal service contracts were rated as very or fairly successful by the battered women. The more difficult and severe the situation, the higher the success ratings given to lawyers and district attorneys by their clients. Despite the generally positive reactions that most beaten women had to lawyers and district attorneys, there were many negative incidents reported, including district attorneys who refused service or discouraged battered women from filing charges, and lawyers who sided with the aggressors or attempted to meet their personal and professional needs at the expense of their clients. These incidents remind us that it would be useful to educate legal professionals about the nature of family violence, the situation and needs of battered women, and the legal and ethical responsibilities that lawyers and district attorneys have when they are contacted by battered women.     

Power and intergroup perception between public defenders and district attorneys

This paper proposes a theoretical framework for understanding intergroup perception differences between public defenders and district attorneys. Social psychological research is reviewed to outline the role of power in intergroup perception differences between high and low status groups. These power differences as well as perception differences are then applied to public defenders and district attorneys, who themselves represent low and high status groups, respectively. To help substantiate this theoretical framework, a qualitative field study is presented in which public defenders and district attorneys of the juvenile justice system were interviewed regarding their perceptions of the youth they process, themselves, and each other. While this field study is a first step and supports the theoretical claim that power underpins intergroup perception differences between public defenders and district attorneys, more quantitative and qualitative empirical research is necessary. The implications of this research are discussed in the terms of the welfare of juvenile offenders.     

Social ecology and police discretion: The influence of district crime, cynicism, and workload on the vigor of police response

This study provided a partial test of Klinger's (1997) postulations on the ecological correlates of police vigor using data drawn from the Project on Policing Neighborhoods (POPN). Klinger's theory hypothesized that a form of police behavior he called vigor would vary inversely with district crime levels because officers would be more cynical of residents, view crime as normal, perceive victims as less deserving, and have less time to devote to calls in high crime districts. Although data limitations precluded a full test, the current study examined two of the four mediating variables (officer cynicism and district workload) and their influence on the crime/vigor relationship. Findings revealed variables other than those examined might mediate the effect of district crime on vigor or the relationship between district crime and vigor might be spurious. Implications for future research and theoretical development are discussed.     

卫生纸上汗潜手印显现方法比较研究

目的通过比较实验来探寻卫生纸上汗潜手印的最佳显现方法,为实际工作提供指导性建议。方法选择市面上常见的四种卫生纸,在每种卫生纸上制作汗潜指印实验样本,分别将茚三酮溶液浸泡法与茚二酮溶液浸泡法、茚二酮溶液浸泡法与茚二酮溶液超声雾化法、茚二酮溶液超声雾化法与(对)-二甲(替)氨基肉桂醛(DMAC)显现纸冷熏法、茚二酮溶液浸泡法与红外加热显现法、茚二酮溶液超声雾化后加热显现法与室温显现法进行两两比较,分析显现效果。结果茚二酮显现的灵敏度和质量均优于其他几种方法,特别是超声雾化后室温显现,既能很好地显现手印又不影响后期的DNA检验。结论采取茚二酮超声雾化室温条件显现方法显现卫生纸上的汗潜手印具有显现效果好、设备条件要求低、操作性强的特点,在实际案件中可以借鉴应用。     

STR polymorphism among two tribal populations of India

Two tribal populations of India, Bison Horn Maria and Muria from Bastar district of Madhya Pradesh in Central India were studied for DNA polymorphisms at tetranucleotide short tandem repeat (STR) loci (F13A01 and HUMvWA). A total of 63 random adult individuals for F13A01 locus and 53 samples for HUMvWA were analyzed in the present study.     

区域经济一体化进程中法院执行协助问题研究——以环渤海地区法院之间的委托执行为例

本文针对区域经济一体化进程中日渐增多的法院委托执行问题,对最近十年环渤海地区各级人民法院之间委托执行案件的情况进行了实证考察,分析阐释了委托执行工作中存在的问题及成因,并结合环渤海地区的实际,提出重新配置环渤海地区法院之间委托执行的权限以及完善相关监督机制的设想。     

完备水法构建与水资源保护研究

水资源保护与水资源污染防治是世界各国普遍关注的重要问题,中国水资源的人均占有量仅是世界水资源人均占有量的四分之一。本文针对中国水资源现状,系统分析了影响我国水资源保护与水资源污染防治的社会因素和法律因素,并结合中国河流、湖泊的分布特点,提出了中国水资源保护与水资源污染防治的方法、技术和法律机制的构建。     

Choking on toilet paper: an unusual case of suicide and a review of the literature on suicide by smothering, strangulation, and choking

While reports of suicide by smothering and strangulation are common, suicide by choking is far more rare. In addition to the act being difficult to carry out, suspected cases are not easily distinguished from accidental or homicidal deaths. Here, we present a case of suicide by choking on toilet paper in a patient with a long history of schizophrenia. The case was ruled a suicide based on the patient having been witnessed in a previous unsuccessful attempt of the same act.     

Perceptions of gender-based violence around public toilets in Mumbai slums

ABSTRACT

The lack of adequate public toilets and associated gender-based violence around their use is a matter of concern in many developing countries and has recently come to the forefront of the political agenda and media discourse in India. Previous research suggests the absence of lighting, inadequate provision of basic sanitation, poor design and siting of toilets, and lack of police presence in slums as facilitators for violence against women. However, the evidence is often anecdotal and usually unsystematic. The exact extent of crimes against women in these circumstances is unknown because unsurprisingly women in slums rarely report crimes to the police, either due to fear or lack of access. The research reported in this paper gauges women’s perception and experience of crime and violence around different types of public toilets in two slums areas in Mumbai, India. A survey of 142 households indicated that although women’s fear of crime was higher than their actual experience, the perception of insecurity was not uniform for all toilet types and locations. Findings also indicated that there was at least minimal provision of toilet facilities, basic security features, water, and electric supply in the research sites. Furthermore, greater police presence and previous contact with the police in one slum area led for greater confidence in reporting offences to the police as compared to the other. Overall, better provision of lighting and regular police patrols were considered by a majority of those surveyed to reduce fear of crime around toilets.     

Carrying Out Assessment of Groundwater Quality of Villages of Bhavnagar District of Gujarat,India

Groundwater is an important component of an eco-system fulfilling necessities of life. Continuous tapping of groundwater to meet rapidly growing demand has not only led to decline of water table levels but has also significantly deteriorated the quality of groundwater. This article aims at assessing the groundwater quality of Bhavanagar district; for which 87 sources across the district were monitored for both the pre-monsoon and post-monsoon seasons, respectively, during a period from April 2017 to February 2018. The physico-chemical characteristics of groundwater were compared with Indian Standards for drinking water to assess the suitability of the groundwater for drinking purpose.     

Mixed Rules,Different Roles? An Analysis of the Typical Pathways into the Bundestag and of MPs' Parliamentary Behaviour

Does the German mixed electoral system produce two types of representatives – MPs elected in the district who aim primarily to represent the interests of their constituencies and list MPs who are primarily loyal to their party or seek to serve ‘functional’ interest groups? The paper addresses this controversial question in two steps. It first uses sequence analysis in order to discover empirically just how prominent the exclusive ‘path into the Bundestag’ actually was by way of either the party list or the electoral district. The empirical basis is a data set covering all 3581 members of parliament from 1949 to 2009. Secondly, after having identified MPs with clear district or list careers, the paper replicates a study on committee membership asking whether district MPs sat more often in committees that are of relevance for their districts while list MPs more often sit in so-called ‘policy’ committees. The paper finds no evidence for a clear ‘mandate divide’ between MPs elected in a district and those numerous MPs entering parliament via the party list but also contesting a district.     

The incidence and characteristic features of fatal hemorrhage due to ruptured varicose veins: a 10-year autopsy study

Death due to hemorrhage from ruptured peripheral varicose veins is an uncommon event. A review of the files of Forensic Science SA (FSSA) in Adelaide, South Australia, was undertaken over a 10-year period from January 1996 to December 2005 for such cases. A total of 8 cases were found out of a total of 10,686, representing <0.01% of autopsy cases. The male to female ratio was 1:3, with an age range of 58-84 years (mean = 78 years). The victims were all located at their home addresses, where they had been alone at the time of their deaths. Scene investigations revealed considerable blood loss, with pooling around the victims' bodies, and also in other parts of the house, particularly the bathroom/toilet areas. Four ulcers were of an acute perforative type and 2 were of a chronic ulcerative type. In 2 cases, bleeding followed trauma. Toxicologic evaluation was performed in only 3 of the cases, revealing blood alcohol levels of 0.06% and 0.14% in 2 cases, respectively. A further victim had been prescribed anticoagulant drugs for an unrelated condition. Additional findings of significance were ischemic heart disease in 3 cases and deep venous thrombosis of the calf veins on the side of the fatal hemorrhage in another case (with no evidence of pulmonary thromboembolism). One victim had acute gastric erosions, suggesting that hypothermia following collapse played a role in the terminal event. Autopsy evaluation of such cases should include careful layer dissection of the area of hemorrhage to confirm the presence of the ruptured varix and to enable directed histologic sampling.     

DISTRICT ATTORNEYS AND CORPORATE CRIME: SURVEYING THE PROSECUTORIAL GATEKEEPERS

A mail survey of California district attorneys regarding corporate crime focused on the recent experiences of the prosecutors with such crimes and on factors that limit the likelihood of their prosecuting corporate offenders. A significant majority of the district attorneys had prosecuted a variety of corporate crimes, and a sizable minority anticipated devoting more resources to corporate crime prosecutions in the future. There was a strong consensus among the district attorneys that the primary obstacle to corporate crime prosecutions is not political but practical and inheres in the level of resources available to them. Prosecutors in small districts were more constrained by the potential impact that a corporate prosecution might have on the local economy than their counterparts in large districts. This finding suggests that community context may influence social control responses to corporate lawbreakers.