Theory and practice in interviewing young children: A study of Norwegian police interviews 1985–2002

Abstract

Has the increased public and professional awareness of the challenges of interviewing children in forensic contexts led to changes and improvements in police interviewing practices? A representative sample (n=91) of police interviews conducted during the period of 1985–2002 from a large Norwegian police district was analysed. The results indicated that interviewer strategies have improved; there was a decrease in the use of suggestive, yes/no and option-posing questions and this decrease was accompanied by a comparable increase in the use of cued recall questions. The frequency of open-ended invitations was low and did not change much over time. Factors that might have led to the observed changes are briefly discussed.     

Policing and the Feeling of Safety: the Rise (and Fall?) of Community Policing in the Nordic Countries

A major trend in the Nordic countries is the increasing focus on citizens' perceptions of safety, the enhancement of which is seen as a task for the police. One way to accomplish this has been the introduction of proximity policing. Existing research on the subject from all the Nordic countries is evaluated, with special focus on a comprehensive evaluation of a Danish experiment. The evaluations demonstrate that the concept of proximity policing has had limited success, and it has been abandoned in Finland and Norway. The article concludes by offering some explanations for the lack of success, among these the high level of perceived safety already present in the Nordic countries, the lack of causal relation between police visibility and citizens' perception of safety, and the lack of tradition for citizen involvement in the Nordic welfare states.     

Re-election and political career paths in the Uruguayan Congress, 1985–99

Given the presumed marginal – or at best the ‘rubber-stamp legitimising’ – character of Latin American legislatures, they ‘have escaped careful scrutiny’. Even in cases where legislatures are supposed to play a much more significant role than the continental average, such as Chile, Costa Rica and Uruguay, knowledge of legislative politics is still far from conclusive. This article studies re-election patterns of legislators in Uruguay during the four post-authoritarian elections. During these elections in Uruguay, we observed a decreasing but still high rate of turnover of legislators. These high rates of legislative turnover are affected by a significant number of legislators who do not seek re-election. While inter-party electoral volatility strongly influences the rates of incumbent re-election, intra-party volatility does not seem to have an impact on this phenomenon. Lastly, the closed and blocked lists in conjunction with the Uruguayan multiple simultaneous vote, and the fact that a legislator belongs to the Senate, are additional institutional features that help to explain the turnover and incumbent re-election in the legislature.     

Accuracy and reliability in sex determination from skulls: a comparison of Fordisc® 3.0 and the discriminant function analysis

Identification in forensic anthropology and the definition of a biological profile in bioarchaeology are essential to each of those fields and use the same methodologies. Sex, age, stature and ancestry can be conclusive or dispensable, depending on the field. The Fordisc(?) 3.0 computer program was developed to aid in the identification of the sex, stature and ancestry of skeletal remains by exploiting the Forensic Data Bank (FDB) and computing discriminant function analyses (DFAs). Although widely used, this tool has been recently criticised, principally when used to determine ancestry. Two sub-samples of individuals of known sex were drawn from French (n=50) and Thai (n=91) osteological collections and used to assess the reliability of sex determination using Fordisc(?) 3.0 with 12 cranial measurements. Comparisons were made using the whole FDB as well as using select groups, taking into account the posterior and typicality probabilities. The results of Fordisc(?) 3.0 vary between 52.2% and 77.8% depending on the options and groups selected. Tests of published discriminant functions and the computation of specific DFA were performed in order to discuss the applicability of this software and, overall, to question the pertinence of the use of DFA and linear distances in sex determination, in light of the huge cranial morphological variability.     

Restricting the import of ‘emission credits’ in the EU: a power struggle between states and institutions

This article examines the development of a cap on the use of so-called ‘project credits’ in the EU emissions trading scheme. It investigates how the issue of such a limit was addressed in the negotiations of the Linking Directive, and how it has been dealt with in the later implementation of this directive. The article applies two explanatory approaches: one based on intergovernmentalist theory, assuming that the cap reflected the preferences of the EU Member States; and one based on the multi-level governance model, assuming that the cap expressed the preferences of EU institutions rather than Member States. What is found is a two-stage development: during the negotiations of the Linking Directive, Member States managed to secure a no-cap solution allowing extensive use of the project credits. In the later implementation phase, however, when the emissions trading scheme was up and running and a certain legitimacy for the system had been established, the Commission managed to ‘regain control’ by bringing back a cap. Thus, the project credit cap—and by that, the very nature of the EU emissions trading scheme—has been the subject of a continuing power struggle within the EU—and different theoretical perspectives explain different stages of this process.     

Fatal attraction: An analysis of employee boundary violations in a southern prison system, 1995–1998

Prison employees are trained to maintain their distance from prisoners and to do their job professionally without personal entanglements or abuse of prisoners in any way. Efforts are made to ensure that those who enter the correctional service serve honorably; these efforts, however, do not prevent some prison employees from ending their careers in disgrace. Some employees engage in career-ending infractions whereby they are suspended and/or reprimanded; some are terminated for engaging in inappropriate relationships (or boundary violations) with inmates. This paper examines boundary violations among 508 Texas state prison security staff members disciplined between January 1, 1995 and December 31, 1998.     

Partition by Degrees: Routine Exceptions in Border and Immigration Practice between the UK and Ireland, 1921–1972

Using archival materials, we reflect on the legal process of creating (and mitigating) a border in Ireland after partition in 1922 and interactions between those laws and the people whom they affected. After 1922, superficially durable exceptions developed to the territorial state's distinctions between citizens and foreign nationals under the aegis of the Common Travel Area. They survived the 1930s UK–Ireland ‘Economic War’, were sustained (if in a restricted form) during the Second World War and were rebuilt in its aftermath. These arrangements proved beneficial for both countries, providing an outlet for surplus labour for Ireland and a resource for the UK economy. We nonetheless explore how far practice reflected this overarching cooperative framework, particularly given the complications introduced by the policies of Northern Ireland's institutions.     

Hate crimes in Pennsylvania, 1984–99: Case characteristics and police responses

To gain a better understanding of factors related to the occurrence and processing of hate crimes, we examined 2,031 hate-crime incidents reported to the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission from 1984 to 1998. The results of multilevel random coefficient analyses indicated that the frequency and severity of hate incidents, as well as police involvement in response to hate crimes, were significantly related to individual-and community-level influences. Furthermore, some characteristics of victims, offenders, and offenses were significant predictors of local police involvement, the composition of a county's population moderated the processing of hate crimes. Implications for reporting, policy, and future research on hate crimes are discussed.     

Gender differences in lethal violence: Historical trends in the relationship between homicide and suicide rates, 1960–2000

This study examines historical trends in the relationship between homicide and suicide rates and considers the extent to which gender differences exist in that relationship. From the perspective of the integrated homicide-suicide theory, gender differences in the homicidesuicide relationship stem from differences in the manner in which males and females attribute blame and responsibility for negative life events. Consistent with expectations, the data indicate that females engage in less homicide but in more suicide than males. Seemingly unrelated regression techniques were used to further examine gender differences in the relationship between homicide and suicide rates by analyzing U.S. data for 1960 through 2000. The results indicate more gender similarities than differences in that temporal trends in the production and direction of lethal violence for both males and females tend to be associated with similar social and economic factors.     

Do drug users use less alcohol than non-drug users? A comparison of ethyl glucuronide concentrations in hair between the two groups in medico-legal cases

Two groups were selected from the remainder of hair samples that had been tested for drugs at TrichoTech for medico-legal cases: samples that tested negative (drug-negative group; N=42, age 33.4+/-7.2 years) and samples that tested positive for drugs (drug-positive group; N=57, age 32.5+/-8.8 years). A rapid, simple method to detect the ethanol metabolite, ethyl glucuronide (EtG) in hair has been developed. The hair samples were sectioned, and then submitted to overnight sonication in water. Samples then underwent SPE using anion exchange cartridges, followed by derivatisation with N,O-bis[trimethylsilyl]trifluoroacetamide (BSTFA), before confirmation by GC-MS/MS. The assay produced excellent linearity and sensitivity over the calibration range 0.02-1.0 ng/mg, assuming a 10 mg hair sample. The mean age of the two groups was not statistically different (p=0.575, Student t-test), indicating a homogeneous group. Twelve of the 57 (21.0%) hair samples of the drug-positive group tested positive for EtG, and 17 of the 42 (40.5%) hair samples of the drug-negative group tested positive for EtG. The mean concentration of EtG in the drug-positive group was 0.011 ng/mg compared to 0.107 ng/mg in the drug-negative group. When the full results of this study were subjected to statistical analysis it was shown that EtG levels in the drug-negative group were statistically higher than those found in the drug-positive group (p<0.05). This preliminary finding may be of use in the study of addiction and adds valuable data to previous studies regarding the use of EtG as a valuable marker for alcohol levels in hair.     

Axonal injury in young pediatric head trauma: a comparison study of β-amyloid precursor protein (β-APP) immunohistochemical staining in traumatic and nontraumatic deaths

We tested the independent utility of β-amyloid precursor protein (β-APP) immunohistochemical staining as evidence of brain trauma in the deaths of young children. Blinded reviewers retrospectively reviewed immunostained brain tissues from homicidal deaths, age-matched control cases without evidence of trauma, as well as cases of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). The reviewers correctly identified five of the seven cases with documented inflicted head trauma. However, one of seven age-matched control cases and one of 10 SIDS/sudden unexplained death in infancy (SUDI) cases demonstrated staining patterns similar to those seen in cases of inflicted trauma. We discuss these cases and the circumstances surrounding them with the intent to explain the difficulties associated with immunohistological interpretation of axonal injury. Although the utility of β-APP is quite powerful if not confounded by global hypoxic-ischemic injury, ultimately, β-APP studies should be only one piece of information in the determination of cause and manner of death.     

Crime and punishment in the soviet union and the united states: 1986–19901

A relatively recent development in the comparative criminology literature concerns cross‐national comparisons of criminal sentencing practices (e.g., Lynch, 1993). While there are now several studies comparing sentencing practices and lengths, there is a particular shortage of studies that examine the disposition of serious criminal cases through several stages of the criminal justice process. Specifically, there is a shortage of information concerning this issue in Russia and the former Soviet Union. To address this limitation, we present data on the police and court disposition of violent criminal cases in the former Soviet Union during the period of 1986 to 1990. For comparative purposes, comparable data from recent studies of criminal case dispositions in the United States are presented. Implications of the findings are discussed.     

Integrating the desire–for–control and rational choice in a corporate crime context

The “rational choice” framework, with its focus on risks and rewards, is often used to explain corporate criminality. In this paper, we build on this framework by integrating the notion of “desire‐for‐control.” Although common to many psychologists, the desire‐for‐control, or the general wish to be in control over everyday life events, has not been examined for its relevance in understanding criminal activity generally, or within corporate offending in particular. After demonstrating the importance of desire‐for‐control in the corporate context, we use data from a sample of managers and MBA students to examine the extent to which desire‐for‐control relates to rational‐choice considerations and corporate criminal decision‐making. Results suggest that desire‐for‐control (1) influences the interpretation of rational‐choice considerations and (2) is positively related to corporate criminality even after controlling for a number of important situational‐ and individual‐level factors. Implications for future theoretical and empirical research are addressed.     

Crime and punishment in Russia and the United States: 1990–1998

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, dramatic sociopolitical changes have affected the ability of the Russian criminal justice system to effectively process violent crimes. This paper compares the police and court processing of selected violent crimes in Russia and the United States during the period 1990–1998. Using data from the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs and the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, we examine the disposition of homicide, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault (i.e., serious bodily injury) cases in both countries during this period. Our findings indicate that while arrests and rates of homicide, robbery and aggravated assault decreased in the U.S. during this period, they increased in Russia. On the other hand, rape rates and arrests decreased in both countries during this period. Conviction rates as well as the percentage of defendants sentenced to prison in Russia were both higher than in the U.S. for each of the offenses studied during this period. We discuss implications of the findings and suggest additional research.     

Procedural justice and the judge–probationer relationship in a co-occurring disorders court

Although a considerable amount of research has been conducted on treatment-based courts, there is little quantitative evidence that describes the relationship between the judge and the probationer. The present study examines perceptions of the judge–probationer relationship (JPR), procedural justice, and outcome satisfaction within a co-occurring disorders court (CODC) in Orange County, California. Based on interview and survey data from a sample of probationers within the CODC (n = 24), this article argues that perceptions of procedural justice are linked to perceptions of relationship quality between the judge and probationer. Analysis of the data found that probationers in the CODC have very positive views of their relationships with the judge, and elements of relationship quality are significantly linked with perceptions of procedural justice. Procedural justice is also a predictor of satisfaction with outcome in this sample. The results show promise that procedural justice and the quality of the judge–probationer relationship can positively affect probationers with co-occurring disorders in specialty courts.     

Young People as Objects of Police Control in a Nordic Context: Who Are the Socially Visible Targets?

In Finland, more than one in four young females and almost one in three young males experienced some type of adversarial police contact in a year. The high prevalence of adversarial police contact among contemporary youth highlights the need to study the nature of the contacts and labelling theory’s hypothesis of control bias. Consequently, we develop the theory’s concept of social visibility to examine differential selection. We draw on a nationally representative youth survey to explore police contacts among youths aged 15 to 16 (N?=?5826). The open-ended responses suggested that police interventions typically focus on traffic situations or use of alcohol in public places. Also, we used multivariate logistic regression to examine which factors increase the likelihood of adversarial police contact. We found that a variety of delinquency and heavy alcohol use emerge as strong triggers of getting caught by the police. In addition, male gender, living in a city, having a single father, and low educational aspirations increases the likelihood of police contact, controlling for delinquency, and socio-demographic variables. Our findings seem to be consistent with mixed-model hypothesis, which highlights that both, differential involvement and selection, might operate together. We suggest that even in the Nordic conditions, which is characterised by high social equality, social biases seem to exist and some youth are more socially visible to formal social control than others.     

Trends in the Experience of Injustice: Justice Indexes About Earnings in Six Societies, 1991–1996

This paper examines trends in the experience of injustice in six societies—Bulgaria, Czech Republic, East and West Germany, Hungary, and Russia—between 1991 and 1996. Using data collected by the International Social Justice Project, we estimate the justice index, JI1, and its decomposition into the amount of injustice attributable to poverty and the amount of injustice attributable to inequality; and we also examine gender differences in the justice index and its decomposition. The justice index is a summary measure of individuals' justice evaluations, and therefore the paper also takes a preliminary look at the two basic quantities that underlie the justice evaluation—actual earnings and just earnings—and their determinants, investigating, for the men of East and West Germany, the actual and just returns to schooling and experience in 1991 and 1996.     

Demographic socialization and reproductive behavior in a transitional context: a macro–micro perspective

This paper analyzes the impact of individuals’ socialization in a given demographic context on their later reproductive behavior in 19th century Geneva. To assess this socialization effect on the fertility of first generation immigrants, I combine family reconstitution data with Coale’s aggregate indexes of marital fertility. I then run two-level Poisson regression models predicting age-specific fertility rates as a function of individual characteristics at the lower level and as a function of province-level fertility at the higher level. The results show a strong socialization effect among couples who were already married when arriving in Geneva, whereas among immigrants who arrived as singles and who got married in Geneva the impact of demographic socialization turns out much weaker.