Gangs and delinquency

This study explores the meaning of police estimates of gang membership, by reviewing the characteristics of youth labeled as gang members in one western state, Hawaii, during 1991. Arrest patterns of these youth do not support the notion that they constitute a seriously violent subset of criminals. Indeed, nearly a third had not been arrested in the previous three years; notable too is the absence of a large number of weapon or drug arrests. These findings are amplified by data from a comparison of youth who were not labeled as gang members; these indicate that youth (in the City and County of Honolulu) who are delinquent differ little from those youth suspected of gang membership in terms of the frequency or severity of their offenses. Finally, the groups most commonly labeled by police as gang members are Filipino and Samoan males, but self-report data on gang membership indicate a somewhat different ethnic composition. The policy implications of these findings are also discussed.A previous version of this paper was presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Criminology, November 1992, New Orleans, Louisiana     

Child witness statement quality

Use of general questions in child witness interviews often limits the completeness of young children's recall. In this study experienced professionals interviewed 5–6 year olds and 8–9 year olds “as they would normally” about live events witnessed by the children. Interviewers' spontaneous use of general and specific questions was assessed, as were the effects of these question types on the children's recall. A main result was that the younger children would frequently fail to answer general questions but would then provide information relevant to these same questions later in the interview. Use of specific questions in these relatively naturalistic interviews did not necessarily improve the overall completeness of younger children's recall, contrary to some previous findings, although, in line with previous findings, such questioning reduced overall accuracy rates. These results highlighted the scale of the problem of “omission errors” in young children's recall. Implications for the use of general questions by professionals who interview child witnesses are discussed.     

Women Who Kill Their Abusive Partners: from Sameness to Gender Construction

Since the early 1990s there has been a plethora of academic commentary on the criminal law’s treatment of women who kill their abusive partners. More recently, the debate has been re-opened due to the Law Commission’s proposals on Partial Defences to Murder. This article aims to critically analyse the approach adopted by the academic commentary and to place in within a feminist theory framework. In addition the article argues that the work of queer theorist Judith Butler enables the analysis of the law’s treatment to be developed further.Law Lecturer, Liverpool John Moores University. I would like to thank Dr Jamie Murray and Dr Lorie Charlesworth for their help and support in the writing of this article.     

The International Crime Business Survey: Findings from Nine Central–Eastern European Cities

The important findings of the International Crime Victim Survey (ICVS) have led the organisers to attempt to expand the scope of research to address the problem of victimisation of businesses through a specific international survey. Further to a first international survey in eight countries in 1994, the questionnaire was revised to focus in particular on the issues of corruption, fraud and extortion. The International Crime Business Survey (ICBS) was conducted in nine central–eastern European capital cities in 2000. The article presents a comparative analysis of experiences and attitudes of businesses in central–eastern Europe, where possible with reference to comparable information collected through the international households survey (ICVS) in the same cities and at the same time. Although there is great potential in this type of international research, too few resources are involved in analysing the results and looking at possible policy implications.The opinions expressed in this paper are those of the author and do not necessarly reflect the views of the United Nations     

New pitfall for the pharmaceutical industry

Legal context This article reviews the Commission decision thatfined AstraZeneca 60 million for abuse of Article 82 EC. Itlooks at the decision in the context of the EU legal frameworkfor pharmaceuticals and considers the legal basis for the Commissiondecision. Key points The article highlights the key points of the allegedabusive practices that do not appear to be consistent with theEU regulatory legal framework and the ECJ jurisprudence in particular,read in conjunction with the principle of commercial freedom. Practical significance The Commission decision (if upheld bythe courts) would have an significant impact on the way thatpharmaceutical companies run their business. This would constitutean unprecedented interference with the principle of commercialfreedom afforded to pharmaceutical companies and specificallyrecognised by the ECJ.     

CYP2D6 and CYP2C19 genotypes and amitriptyline metabolite ratios in a series of medicolegal autopsies

In a series of 202 postmortem toxicology cases, the CYP2D6 and CYP2C19 genes were genotyped, and the concentrations of amitriptyline (AT) and six metabolites were analyzed. The polymorphic CYP2D6 and CYP2C19 genes encode enzymes participating in the metabolism of several potentially toxic drugs, and mutations in these genes may lead to adverse drug reactions, possibly even intoxications. AT was chosen as the substrate of interest because it is mainly metabolized by these enzymes, is considered relatively toxic, and ranks among the major causes of fatal drug poisoning in Finland. Our objective was to evaluate genetically determined interindividual variation in conjunction with metabolite ratios of drugs found in toxicological analysis in a series of medicolegal autopsies. Positive correlations were found between the proportion of trans-hydroxylated metabolites and the number of functional copies of CYP2D6 and between the proportion of demethylated metabolites and the number of functional copies of CYP2C19. None of the accidental or undetermined AT poisonings coincided with the CYP2D6 or CYP2C19 genotype which predicts a poor metabolizer phenotype. However, an unusually high femoral blood concentration of AT, 60mg/l, was found in one suicide case with no functional CYP2D6 genes. Our study shows a concordance of AT metabolite patterns with CYP2D6 and CYP2C19 genotypes in the presence of confounding factors typical for postmortem material. This result demonstrates the feasibility of postmortem pharmacogenetic analysis and supports the dominant role of genes in drug metabolism.     

Sudden death from tubercular myocarditis

Tuberculous myocarditis is a rare finding. We present the case of a 33-year-old woman who was in good health and who died suddenly at home. Autopsy and histopathologic examinations revealed granulamatous lesions in the myocardium, lungs, lymph nodes, liver, and spleen. No fast acid bacilli were demonstrated on histological examination. The presence of a Mycobacterium tuberculosis DNA complex was identified using a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) on formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded histological samples. An HIV test carried out on the blood obtained during the autopsy was negative according to the DNA amplification technique (PCR) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay serological test. We hypothesize that the mechanism of death was severe ventricular arrhythmia due to granulomatous proliferation in the structures of the interventricular septum.     

Facing rejection: new relationships, broken relationships, shame, and stalking

This study provides a preliminary examination of the relationship among shame-proneness, emotions, and persistent, unwanted courting or pursuit behaviour. A total of 222 undergraduates completed a questionnaire measuring responses to the termination of a relationship or the declining of a date. The Test of Self-Conscious Affect was used to measure shame. Although shame was unrelated to types of intrusive behaviour, individuals who engaged more repetitively in covert pursuit tended to ruminate more over their love interest than did those who rarely engaged in such behaviour. Rumination was positively correlated with shame. Self-harm behaviours and harm toward others were associated with feelings of sadness and depression, and those who engaged more often in harm toward others also reported feelings of anger and jealousy. Conclusions are made regarding the function of shame and other emotions in intrusive behaviour and their potential relevance to treatment of stalkers.