Family Influences on Female Offenders’ Substance Use: The Role of Adverse Childhood Events among Incarcerated Women

Childhood maltreatment, witnessing violence, and growing up with absent, addicted, or mentally ill caregivers influence adult physical and psychological well-being and may play an important role in female offending. This study utilizes data from a study of 60 incarcerated women to examine a possible intervening variable in the victimization-crime relationship. We conduct qualitative analyses to examine family influences on substance use among female offenders. Findings indicate that substance use may arise from a need to cope with child victimization and adversity, and that factors such as poor parental supervision may contribute to girls’ substance use. After onset of drug use, many women may turn to further criminal activity to support their habits. Implications for research and intervention are addressed.     

Do they Aggress Earlier? Investigating the Effects of Ego Depletion on Police Officers’ Use of Force Behavior

Endowed with the state monopoly on the legitimate use of even potentially lethal force, it is intolerable for police officers to act outside the governing legal and ethical framework. At the same time, officers are expected to exert self-control and refrain from excessive use of force when they deal with provocative and perilous situations. This study sought to investigate corresponding self-control and self-control failures through the role of ego depletion in the decision to use force by police officers. Two experiments were conducted using officers from a German State Police force, requiring the participants to use force against a provocative role player. Experiment 1 found that the ego depletion measure failed and there were no differences between the groups. Using a different ego depletion method, experiment 2 found that ego-depleted participants aggressed earlier than controls. These results indicate that circumstances that produce ego depletion could lead to the inappropriate use of force through reducing self-control. This has major implications for the police use of force and how we understand police officers’ decision-making in response to provocation.     

What shall we do with the drunken sailor?: Effects of alcohol on the performance of ship operators

The purpose of this study was to specify the effects of alcohol on the performance of ship operators as a contribution to the development of new strategies against the risks of alcohol in water traffic. The nautical performance of 21 captains before and after alcohol consumption was assessed on a ship piloting simulator. The simulated scenarios represented passages of a container vessel through the German Bight. Performance was examined by nautical instructors according to standardised protocols. Mean (S.D.) blood alcohol concentrations (BACs) of 0.100 (0.024) g/dl before and 0.100 (0.017) g/dl after the performance trial resulted in striking effects on the nautical performance. The categories most severely affected were foresight and analysis of situation (impairment in 18 of 21 cases), concentration (impairment in 16 of 21 cases), accurateness, risk disposition and navigation (impairment in 15 of 21 cases). Chart work, preparation and communication were impaired in 12, 11 and 10 of 21 cases, respectively. None of the participants were capable to operate the simulated ship with an adequate safety after ingestion of alcohol. From these findings, and in consideration of the well-established impairment of a multitude of mental and physical functions by alcohol, it can be concluded that even low BACs bear high risks in water traffic, a concentration above 0.1 g/dl will hinder a sufficiently safe performance of ship operators. This should be considered in alcohol education and legislation.     

Evaluating the Long-Term Effects of Prisoner Reentry Services on Recidivism: What Types of Services Matter?

We analyzed data collected for a large multi-site evaluation of 12 prisoner reentry programs in 12 states to examine the impact of pre-release services on time to rearrest and number of rearrests up to 56 months post-release for male offenders. A two-stage matching quasi-experimental design was used to define the comparison groups and multivariate models were used to examine the relationships among service and program receipt and recidivism. Participation in the reentry program was associated with longer time to arrest and fewer arrests after release. However, the specific services delivered as part of the program showed modest or inconsistent impacts on recidivism. Services that focused on individual change were more beneficial than services that focused on practical skills and needs. Practitioners should consider careful sequencing of program and service delivery in prison, linking in-prison services to post-release assistance, and evaluating all services and programs for fidelity and effectiveness.     

Effects of purchaser competition in the Dutch health system: is the glass half full or half empty?

In 2006, the Dutch health insurance system was radically reformed to strengthen competition among health insurers as purchasers of health services. This article considers whether purchaser competition has improved efficiency in health-care provision. Although supply and price regulation still dominates the allocation of health services, purchaser competition has already significantly affected the provision of hospital care, pharmaceuticals and primary care, as well as efforts to gather and disseminate information about quality of care. From this perspective, the glass is half full. However, based on the crude performance indicators available, the reforms have not yet demonstrated significant effects on the performance of the Dutch health system. From this perspective the glass is half empty. The article concludes that the effectiveness of purchaser competition depends crucially on the success of ongoing efforts to improve performance indicators, product classification and the risk equalisation scheme.     

Assessment of the Effects Exerted by Acid and Alkaline Solutions on Bone: Is Chemistry the Answer?

The treatment of corpses with extremely acid or basic liquids is sometimes performed in criminal contexts. A thorough characterization by chemical analysis may provide further help to macroscopic and microscopic analysis; 63 porcine bone samples were treated with solutions at different pH (1–14) for immersion periods up to 70 days, as well as in extremely acidic sulfuric acid solutions (9 M/18 M) and extremely basic sodium hydroxide. Inductively coupled optical emission spectrometry (ICP‐OES)/plasma mass spectrometry (ICP‐MS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT‐IR), energy dispersive X‐ray analysis (EDX), X‐ray powder diffraction (XRPD), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed that only the sulfuric acid solution 18 M was able to completely dissolve the sample. In addition, chemical analysis allowed to recognize the contact between bone and substances. Hydrated calcium sulfate arose from extreme pH. The possibility of detecting the presence of human material within the residual solution was demonstrated, especially with FT‐IR, ICP‐OES, and EDX.     

Documenting Fair Use: Has the Statement of Best Practices Loosened the Fair Use Reins for Documentary Filmmakers?

The United States Copyright Act allows for fair use of copyrighted material under certain circumstances, but federal courts have been inconsistent in rulings on copyright infringement cases in which documentary filmmakers claim fair use. This can be problematic for documentarians, who often use copyrighted materials. The 2005 “Documentary Filmmakers’ Statement of Best Practices in Fair Use” addressed this inconsistency by providing guidelines for filmmakers. This article analyzes relevant federal cases before and after the statement in which a documentary filmmaker was sued under the Copyright Act for infringement and in which a court addressed the issue of whether the use was fair. A case analysis shows that federal rulings have become slightly more accommodating toward the use of copyrighted material in documentaries and the use of copyrighted video in general since the statement was introduced. The statement's relevance to fair use case law is also examined.     

Superior Responsibility under Article 28 ICC Statute: For What Exactly is the Superior Held Responsible?

Superior responsibility is a concept for attributing criminalliability to military commanders and other superiors that isemployed with some frequency in the ad hoc international criminaltribunals. Nevertheless, it remains unclear for what the superioris actually blamed. The author argues that with respect to superiorresponsibility as construed in Article 28 ICC Statute the answerto this question depends on the form of superior responsibilityfor which the accused is found guilty. If the superior is heldresponsible for not having prevented or repressed the subordinate'scrime even though the superior knew of the crime, he or shecan be blamed for both, the criminal conduct of the subordinateand the wrongful consequence caused by it. For all other formsof superior responsibility, the superior can only be blamedfor his or her failure to exercise control properly, which resultedin a wrongful consequence, but not for the criminal conductof the subordinate.     

A War on Cops? The Effects of Ferguson on the Number of U.S. Police Officers Murdered in the Line of Duty

Police agencies in the U.S. are currently facing a major legitimacy crisis resulting from a spate of high-profile use of force incidents, many involving minority citizens. Recent headlines emphasize that there is now a “war on cops” and that police officers are facing increasing levels of hostility and violence fueled by a growing anti-police sentiment. In the aftermath of events in Ferguson, Missouri in August 2014, some commentators claim that the number of police officers feloniously assaulted and killed in the line of duty has increased sharply. Using time series analysis of data from the Officer Down Memorial Page, we test whether events in Ferguson were associated with an increase in the number of police officers murdered in the line of duty. Our results provide no evidence for a “Ferguson Effect” on the number of U.S. police officers murdered in the line of duty as of March 2016.     

Effects of defendant age and juror bias on judgment of culpability: What happens when a juvenile is tried as an adult?

The current study examined the possibility that trying juveniles as adults was prejudicial. One hundred and fifty three undergraduate mock jurors, classified as either prosecution-biased (PB) or defense-biased (DB), participated in the experiment. The jurors were randomly assigned to read a murder trial summary depicting a 19-year-old adult defendant (AD-19), a 16-year-old juvenile tried as an adult (JA-16), or a 13-year-old juvenile tried as an adult (JA-13). Defendant age interacted with juror bias. In the JA-16 condition, compared with defense-biased jurors, prosecution-biased jurors found the defendant guilty more often, had higher confidence in the defendant’s guilt, and set a lower standard of proof. By all appearances, some jurors might lose neutrality when judging juveniles tried as adults.     

This time is different?—on the use of emergency measures during the corona pandemic

European Journal of Law and Economics - In many areas such as consumer law or competition law, legislators can opt between two alternative forms of sanctions to remedy wrongdoing: they can impose...     

Psychological Abuse and Depressive Symptoms in Dating Women: Do Different Types of Abuse Have Differential Effects?

The purpose of the current study was to examine potential differential effects of two forms of psychological abuse, emotional/verbal and dominance/isolation, on women's depressive symptoms. It was expected that emotional/verbal abuse would have a direct impact on both concurrent and prospective depressive symptoms among dating women. In contrast, it was expected that the depressogenic effect of dominance/isolation abuse would be moderated by level of perceived interpersonal control. Women who perceived themselves to have high levels of interpersonal control were hypothesized to be less negatively affected by partner dominance/isolation behaviors than their low control counterparts. Although the effects of both types of abuse on concurrent depressive symptoms were relatively weak, more robust longitudinal effects were found. Emotional/ verbal abuse at Time 1 did not predict Time 2 depressive symptoms after controlling for depressive symptoms at Time 1. In contrast, dominance/isolation abuse at Time 1 significantly predicted increases in depressive symptoms over time, and this effect was moderated by level of perceived interpersonal control in the expected direction. Implications for future research and clinical intervention/prevention efforts are discussed.     

Advocacy 20 years on from Hampel: is it time we revisited the postgraduate teaching of advocacy?

This paper seeks to discuss the teaching of advocacy as a discipline with specific reference to the way in which advocacy is taught on the Bar Professional Training Course in England and Wales. The Advocacy Training Council favours the Hampel Method of teaching advocacy first developed more than 20 years ago in Australia. The paper seeks to review the use of the Hampel Method by offering a critique of behaviourist learning theory from a constructivist standpoint and putting forward alternative teaching techniques which are in harmony with the principles of constructivism, experiential learning and productive failure. We conclude that the teaching of advocacy can be improved and that greater scholarship is needed in this important area to ensure students are taught using the best techniques.     

Who is steering the jurisprudence of the European Court of Justice? The influence of Member State submissions on copyright law

The juridification of the European policy process is increasingly fragile, and little understood. This study develops a novel methodology to investigate the influence of Member States on the rulings of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). The focus is on the domain of copyright law which has seen a dramatic escalation of preliminary references to the Court, indicating a normative void. Examining 170 documents relating to 42 cases registered between 1998 and 2015, we measure empirically the impact of submissions by Member States and the European Commission on the interpretation of copyright concepts. We show that France is the most influential country by some distance, both in terms of the number of interventions (an ‘investment’ in policy) and in terms of persuasive power (arguments adopted by the Court). The evidence also suggests that the departure of the UK from EU litigation will disturb the delicate balance of CJEU jurisprudence.