An initial evaluation of the Global Review Form as an approach to measuring individual change

Background: Routine assessment of individual change in forensic mental health services is increasingly recognised as important. However, existing tools have been criticised and their periodic use make them unsuited to directly measure the impact of interventions. This paper describes the initial evaluation of the Global Review Form (GRF) as a framework for measuring change over time. Specifically, measurement properties, feasibility and usefulness in routine practice are examined. Method: 28 male service users in three distinct areas of an adult secure service (low secure, locked rehabilitation and high relational support housing) were rated over a 20-week period by their multidisciplinary teams. Findings: The GRF showed promising construct validity and appropriate stability and sensitivity to change across time. It enabled measurement and understanding of individual change over time. Staff feedback suggested the GRF is a useable and practical outcome measuring tool. Conclusions: The GRF shows promise for use as a routine outcome monitoring tool within forensic mental health services.     

The thin blue line meets the big blue sky: perceptions of police legitimacy and public attitudes towards aerial drones

Police departments across the United States are now integrating new visual monitoring technology (e.g. unmanned aerial vehicles [UAVs or ‘drones’], body cameras) into routine police practices. Despite their potential use in multiple areas of proactive and reactive policing, public attitudes toward police use of UAVs, and visual monitoring technology overall, is mixed. As an extension of previous research, the current study uses a national survey to assess how well individuals’ perceptions about police legitimacy, effectiveness, and other criminal justice attitudes predict the level of public receptivity and opposition toward police UAV use in various contexts. The implications of these findings for public policy and law enforcement practices are discussed.     

ASSESSING AND COMMUNICATING SOCIAL SCIENCE INFORMATION IN FAMILY AND CHILD JUDICIAL SETTINGS: STANDARDS FOR JUDGES AND ALLIED PROFESSIONALS

Social science is increasingly important in judicial decision making and family law development. This increased use means that judges, lawyers, mental health professionals, and social scientists must assess the quality of social science information and communicate it in a multidisciplinary environment. This article provides tools for improving multidisciplinary communication by identifying logical, methodological, and community standards for assessment and communication that are fundamental both to the scientific method and to the inquiries the Daubert decision instructs judges to make in their gatekeeper evaluations of scientific information. Employing a common set of standards can result in a significant improvement in the quality of the social science knowledge used in judicial settings.     

Unmanned aircraft systems: Surveillance,ethics and privacy in civil applications

This paper examines how the use of unmanned aircraft systems (UASs) for surveillance in civil applications impacts upon privacy and other civil liberties. It argues that, despite the heterogeneity of these systems, the same “usual suspects” – the poor, people of colour and anti-government protesters – are targeted by UAS deployments. It discusses how current privacy-related legislation in the US, UK and European Union might apply to UASs. We find that current regulatory mechanisms do not adequately address privacy and civil liberties concerns because UASs are complex, multimodal surveillance systems that integrate a range of technologies and capabilities. The paper argues for a combination of top-down, legislated requirements and bottom-up impact assessments to adequately address privacy and civil liberties.     

Environmental crime prosecutions in Ireland, 2004–2014

Despite increased interest in environmental crime and green criminology, few studies address the use of criminal penalties in response to environmental crimes. A handful of published examples employ data from the United States or the Flanders court system, and little is known about how other nations punish environmental violations. Addressing this issue, the current study examined the use of criminal environmental penalties in Ireland from 2004 to 2014. Few criminal environmental cases (N = 147) and few environmental offenders (N = 154) were represented in these data over time. Consistent with the expectations of green/environmental crime researchers, mean penalties for environmental violations, which in Ireland only include fines and investigative cost recovery penalties, were rather small. Unlike in the US or Flanders, the majority of offenders were corporate offenders as opposed to individuals. Contextual factors related to Ireland’s economy, history and use of criminal sanctions should be used to interpret these factors, and prevent generalising from these data.     

Homicide–Suicide in Cuyahoga County,Ohio, 1991–2016

Research on homicides followed by suicides has relied heavily on small samples and relatively short time spans of data. This study helps to fill this gap by examining 26 years of homicide–suicide data from Cuyahoga County, Ohio, between 1991 and 2016. The main data source for the study is medical examiner files. Analyses of the data indicate the rate of homicide–suicide in Cuyahoga County is consistent with other studies but fluctuates considerably across years studied. The majority of victims are female while perpetrators are overwhelmingly male. Black people are overrepresented as victims and offenders. Use of drugs and/or alcohol leading up to the incident is common among perpetrators. Both the homicides and suicides were overwhelming committed with firearms. When comparing our results to the typology of murder–suicides developed by Marzuk, Tardiff, and Hirsch (JAMA 1992;267:3179), we find amorous jealousy is a significant motivating factor in a many cases, including those involving nonintimate partners. Our findings underscore the importance of widespread use of lethality assessment instruments.     

The Evolving Structure of the Environmental Justice Movement in the United States: New Models for Democratic Decision-Making

Over the last two decades in the United States, mainstream environmental organizations have reduced, rather than increased, democratic participation by citizens in environmental problem-solving. The environmental justice movement, on the other hand, has served to enlarge the constituency of the environmental movement by incorporating poorer communities and oppressed people of color into environmental decision making process; build community capacity by developing campaigns and projects that address the common links between various social and environmental problems; and facilitate community empowerment by emphasizing grassroots organizing over advocacy. This paper outlines the different components in the environmental justice movement. It is our contention that if researchers and policymakers continue to conceive of the ecological crisis as a collection of unrelated problems, then it is possible that some combination of regulations, incentives, and technical innovations can keep pollution and resource destruction at tolerable levels for more affluent socioeconomic populations. However, poor working class communities and people of color which lack the political–economic resources to defend themselves will continue to suffer the worst abuses. However, if the interdependency of issues is emphasized as advocated by the environmental justice movement, then a transformative environmental politics can be invented.     

Supreme Court to Hear Landmark Case on Climate Change Emissions: Judgment Day Comes in Global Warming Litigation

The Supreme Court has historically been reluctant to involve itself in environmental matters, especially those relating to the regulation of releases or emissions of harmful substances. The court has typically been content to allow the legislative branch to fashion appropriate regulations to address environmental issues and for the executive branch to enforce those regulations. The acceptance of certiorari in the Second Circuit's Connecticut v. AEP case was a surprise because it not only involves environmental regulation, but also the common law applicable to public nuisance actions seeking redress for climate change damage allegedly caused by emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs). The AEP case is shaping up to be a blockbuster in the climate change debate in the United States, and the decision could have broad repercussions in not only future litigation involving climate change, but also GHG legislation and the insurance available to address damage due to weather-related events.     

Criminogenic need and women offenders: A critique of the literature

Purpose . This paper considers the criminogenic needs of women offenders, raising the question of whether there may be women‐specific criminogenic needs. Arguments . The risk‐needs model of offending has become increasingly influential in both research and practice. Simply, the risk–needs model holds that some aspects of an individual's functioning are risk factors for offending. The distinction can be drawn between static and dynamic risk factors: the former are historical, the latter reflect current functioning and are amenable to change. These dynamic attributes linked to offending – such as financial status, emotional problems, and substance use – are referred to as criminogenic needs. Needs assessment instruments, such as the Level of Service Inventory‐Revised (LSI‐R; Andrews & Bonta, 1995 ) have been developed to assess criminogenic need and predict risk of offending. Much of the research informing the risk–needs model has been carried out with male offenders, leading to questions about the criminogenic needs of women offenders and whether there may be women‐specific criminogenic needs. Conclusion . An overview of typical criminogenic needs, as assessed by the LSI‐R, suggests that there are probably common needs for male and female offenders. A common need does not imply that aetiology or level of importance of that need is the same for men and women, while some events, such as physical and sexual abuse, are arguably criminogenic needs for women. The implications for practice and research of understanding more about women‐specific criminogenic needs are considered.     

Anger, Child Behavior, and Family Distress: Further Evaluation of the Parental Anger Inventory

Presumably, anger is a common experience of parenting. Although practitioners and researchers recognize the role of anger in various parenting situations, objective and standardized measures of parental anger have been notably lacking in the field. This study examined the Parental Anger Inventory (PAI), a measure developed specifically to assess parental anger in response to child misbehavior. A diverse sample of 98 parents participated in the study, including (a) physically abusive or neglectful parents, or both, n = 44; (b) nonmaltreating clinic parents seeking assistance for child behavior problems, n = 24; and (c) nonmaltreating, non-help-seeking community parents, n = 30. Results support the internal consistency, temporal stability, and convergent validity of the PAI. Findings also demonstrate the PAI's potential utility when working with maltreating and help-seeking parents. Results highlight the importance of assessing parental anger toward children and support the use of the PAI in assessment, treatment, and research.     

Sequence‐based Saudi population data for the SE33 locus

A set of 87 reference samples collected from the population of Saudi Arabia were sequenced using the ForenSeq™DNA Signature Prep Kit on a MiSeq FGx™. The FASTQ files contain the sequences of the SE33 STR, but are not reported by the ForenSeq™ Universal Analysis Software (UAS). The STRait Razor software was used to recover and to report SE33 sequence‐based data for the Saudi population. Ninety-six sequence-based alleles were recovered, most of which had previously reported motif patterns. Two unreported motif patterns found in three alleles and seven novel allele sequences were reported. We also reported a single discordance between the sequence-based data and the CE data that was due to the presence of a common TTTT deletion. SE33 had 130% more sequence-based alleles; the highest number of observed sequence variants were in alleles 27.2 and 30.2, which each had 7 sequence variants. The statistical parameters emphasize the usefulness of using the sequence-based data.     

Medicare and Medicaid; resident assessment in long term care facilities--HCFA. Final rule

This final rule establishes a resident assessment instrument for use by long term care facilities participating in the Medicare and Medicaid programs when conducting a periodic assessment of a resident's functional capacity. The resident assessment instrument (RAI) consists of a minimum data set (MDS) of elements, common definitions, and coding categories needed to perform a comprehensive assessment of a long term care facility resident. A State may choose to use the Federally established resident assessment instrument or an alternate instrument that is designed by the State and approved by us. These regulations establish guidelines for use of the data set and designation of the assessment instrument. The provisions contained in these regulations implement statutory requirements. The resident assessment instrument is intended to produce a comprehensive, accurate, standardized, reproducible assessment of each long term care facility resident's functional capacity.     

The Norwegian Barents Sea Management Plan and the EC Marine Strategy Directive: Some Political and Legal Challenges with an Ecosystem-Based Approach to the Protection of the European Marine Environment

This article addresses some of the implications of the EU's proposed Marine Strategy Directive for ongoing work in the regional seas conventions and for national work on regional marine strategies. The starting point is the proposed directive's focus on the ecosystem approach to the protection of the marine environment. Key elements within this approach are analysed, such as integration of environmental considerations into other policy areas; introduction of ecological quality objectives; and establishment of holistic monitoring and assessment programmes. Is it possible to transform these concepts into legally binding obligations? What will the implications of the proposed directive be for the rights and obligations of EU Member States under international law? A Management Plan for the Norwegian Part of the Barents Sea ('Barents Plan') was adopted by the Norwegian Government in March 2006 and approved by the Norwegian Storting (Parliament) in June 2006. It provides an example of a concrete application of the concepts in the proposed directive. Based on an analysis of the proposed Marine Strategy Directive and the Barents Plan, some key political and legal challenges are discussed in this article.     

贵州侗族环境习惯法渊源研究

贵州侗族环境习惯法以其鲜活、具体、独特的形式在侗区环境保护过程中弥补了国家环境制定法由于宏观、抽象而留下的空白,为保护侗乡优美和谐的生态环境起到了跨越历史时空的作用。然而目前对该习惯法的研究还比较零散和不够深入。对贵州侗族环境习惯法的渊源及其内容进行系统和深入的掘进研究,有利于探寻和宣示侗族环境习惯法存续的内在价值,也为贵州乃至全国少数民族地区生态文明的建构发掘良好的地方性资源。     

Evaluation of the ADViSOR project: Cross‐situational behaviour monitoring of high‐risk offenders in prison and the community

Purpose. The release on licence of prisoners who have committed serious violent and/or sexual offences requires rigorous risk assessment and risk management. This study evaluates the ADViSOR project, designed to examine the contribution of prison behaviour monitoring to community supervision of a sample of the highest risk offenders released in England and Wales under Multi‐Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA). Method. The offence‐related behaviour of a total group (n= 25) of MAPPA prisoners in one prison, due for release in the following year to two adjacent probation trust areas, was monitored. Their behaviours in the community were followed up for 1 year. A comparison group (n= 36) was formed of the total number of MAPPA prisoners released from prisons nationally to the same two probation trusts. Results. The frequencies of ADViSOR negative behaviours in prison and the community were strongly correlated, r_s (25) = .55, p= .004, as were positive behaviours, r_s (25) = .56, p= .004. No statistically significant correlations were found either under usual MAPPA processes in the ADViSOR prison or comparison group prisons. The frequency of ADViSOR negative behaviours statistically significantly predicted, with 92% accuracy, the offenders who would reoffend or be recalled to prison (n= 8). Statistically significant similarities in types of behaviour were also identified. Conclusion. Results are discussed in terms of the contribution of behavioural monitoring to risk prediction with high‐risk offenders, consistency of cross‐situational behaviours, and implications for policy and practice.     

Indigenous Peoples and Sustainable Development Subprojects in Brazilian Amazonia: The Challenges of Interculturality*

The implementation of sustainable development projects for Indigenous peoples in Brazilian Amazonia by the Pilot Program for the Protection of Brazilian Tropical Forests has generated new types of intercultural relations between the dominant society and local Indigenous communities. This article analyzes sixteen of these projects focussing upon (1) sociocultural relations, in which two different administrative and political systems come into contact and require the adoption by Indigenous peoples of a Western “project” format to meet their social and environmental needs, and (2) interscientific relations, whereby unresolved legal issues concerning the use of and access to Indigenous knowledge by members and institutions of the wider society are exacerbated.     

The identification of the emulsifier component of emulsion explosives by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry

ABSTRACT: The widespread availability of emulsion explosives for commercial blasting has inevitably lead to their diversion for criminal misuse. Present techniques for the characterization of emulsion explosives and their residues is generally based on the detection and identification of the oxidizer and the hydrocarbon components. Use of these components is problematic for residue identification because ammonium nitrate, waxes, and oils are relatively common in the urban environment and even their co-detection does not exclude them being sourced from materials other than explosives. The detection of the emulsifier component offers increased evidential value as certain emulsifiers used in explosive formulations are manufactured for that specific use, or have limited environmental distribution. In the current study liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) was utilized for the characterization of two emulsifiers in common use; ethanolamine adducts of polyisobutylene succinic anhydride and sorbitol mono-oleate (SMO). The LC-MS technique enabled the detection of both emulsifiers in preblast samples; however, only SMO was detected in postblast residues. The analysis of the hydrocarbon component by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry was achieved in the same procedure.     

A Situational Model for Distinguishing Terrorist and Non-Terrorist Aerial Hijackings, 1948–2007

Despite the centrality of situational variables to crime theories, they remain uncommon in criminology. Based on the hypotheses drawn from the literature on situational determinants of crime, we examine whether aerial hijackings perpetrated by terrorists are situationally distinct from other aerial hijackings. We define terrorist hijackings as those that include threatened or actual use of illegal force or violence to attain a political, economic, religious or social goal through fear, coercion, or intimidation. Other aerial hijackings include those perpetrated for transportation or extortion purposes. Using a newly updated dataset, we examined 1,019 aerial hijackings that occurred around the world from 1948 to 2007, out of which we classified 122 as terrorism. Results provide strong support for the argument that situational factors measuring organizational resources distinguish terrorist from non-terrorist aerial hijackings, and partial support for the argument that situational factors measuring publicity distinguish these events.     

The Impact of Unfunded Environmental Mandates When Environmental Quality and Timber are Produced Jointly

A number of different aspects of environmental quality are produced jointly with timber. Unfunded environmental mandates whose costs are borne strictly by the private landowner lead to reduced production of both timber and environmental quality relative to the quantity of both that would be produced in the absence of such policies. That is, acting without regard to environmental consequences, private landowners produce more environmental quality (as a byproduct of producing timber) than they do when unfunded policy mandates result in de facto partial takings for which they are not compensated.     

The predictive validity of youth violence risk assessment tools: a systematic review

ABSTRACT

This paper reports the findings of a systematic search of published literature which reports the predictive validity of violence risk assessment tools specifically designed for use with youth. A total of 38 studies, involving 9,307 participants, reported data for six different tools; the most common of which were the SAVRY and the YLS/CMI. Each of the tools demonstrated at least moderate levels of predictive validity, with the predictive validity of several newer assessment tools yet to be established. The results provide an up-to-date overview of the state of knowledge in an area in which practitioners make choices about which tools to use on an almost daily basis. It is important that practitioners are aware of the strength of evidence that is available to support the choice of violence risk assessment tools and the interpretation of results.