Detection System for Malingered PTSD and Related Response Biases

This article consists mostly of an appendix on the detection of feigned/malingered PTSD that was justified after analysis of extant malingering detection systems and then presented in Young (2014a) as a long table. The submission reviewers at the journal had considered it appropriate that, although it had been published in book format, it is opened up to peer-review commentary to deal with errors of omission and commission, thereby leading to relevant changes, if any, before further use other than as a guide to assessments in the area. In this regard, we solicit reviews, comments, criticisms, suggestions for change, and so on, with a response (rebuttal) to follow. The present malingered PTSD detection system constitutes the first in the field. It incorporates multiple corrections and additions relative to the extant systems on which it is based (MND, Malingered Neurocognitive Dysfunction; MPRD, Malingered Pain-Related Disability; respectively, Slick, Sherman, & Iverson, 1999; Bianchini, Greve, & Glynn, 2005). It includes very specific rules and procedures both for testing and considering inconsistencies/discrepancies in the file history. Therefore, it is comprehensive and lengthy, or takes about ten times as long to present in tabular format as the MND and MPRD systems on which it is based, (portions in italics indicate what is new to the system). It was constructed to permit the creation of equivalent systems for neurocognition and pain, presented in Young (2014a). The system is useful to mental health professionals not well-versed in psychological testing because, aside from its testing component, it includes extensive procedures for evaluating inconsistencies/discrepancies in examinee files. The system needs evaluation of its reliability and validity, as well as clinical utility.     

A porous humanitarian shield: The laws of war,the red cross,and the killing of civilians

An important literature examines the attempts by the international community in inducing or coercing conflict parties in civil wars to refrain from committing atrocities against the civilian population. We examine in this article whether a non-governmental actor, the distinctively neutral and independent International Committee of the Red Cross, whose mission includes the promotion of humanitarian law and the protection of the civilian population, has such a restraining effect on the conflict parties. Our results suggest that the more time has passed since the ratification of the relevant Geneva Conventions and Protocols, the larger is the risk of civilian victimization. We cannot find evidence that the ICRC’s presence in conflict zones and the seminars it conducts to spread humanitarian law make a crucial difference. Case studies of Bosnia and Darfur indicate that shaming strategies and thus a relatively unusual instrument for the traditionally neutral actor did not abate the killings; the statistical evidence in the form of Granger causality tests rather show that the killing and harming precedes the naming and shaming.     

The effect of imprisonment on recommitment: an analysis using exact,coarsened exact,and radius matching with the propensity score

Objectives

This study examines the effect of prison versus community sanctions on recommitment to prison and compares two levels of community supervision, community control (house arrest) and probation, evaluating whether the findings are contingent on the type of matching methods used in the analysis.

Methods

Logistic regression was conducted on unmatched and matched samples. Exact, coarsened exact, and radius-matching procedures were used to create a selection on observables design. Matching variables included current offense, demographics, criminal history, supervision violations, and a rich set of Florida Sentencing Guidelines information culled from an official scoring sheet. Florida judges use this instrument to sentence offenders within the framework of the state determinate sentencing system.

Results

The results show that with exact matching, there is no effect of imprisonment on recommitment, while the other procedures suggest a specific deterrent effect of imprisonment. All four analysis methods showed that offenders under community control are more likely to reoffend than those under normal probation. Analyses between the matched and unmatched prison observations demonstrate that the matched set of prisoners is composed of offenders who have less extensive criminal records and less serious conviction offenses than unmatched offenders regardless of the matching algorithm.

Conclusions

Contrary to a prior analysis of these data, which found a criminogenic effect of prison, a null effect was found using exact matching. Comparing the matching procedures, the more precise the match the less likely there was an effect of prison. However, community control was criminogenic regardless of the matching procedure.

     

An Intentionally Unfair Trial

Numerous flaws made the Dujail trial a violation of the internationallyprotected human right to a fair trial. The United States andthe Iraqi authorities conducted an unfair trial knowing thatboth the Third and Fourth Geneva Convention describe ‘wilfullydepriving’ a person ‘of the rights of fair and regulartrial’ as a war crime. Even if Saddam Hussein was notto be regarded as a prisoner of war, that is, merely as a civilian,in any case his right to fair trial was protected by internationallaw. According to the author, both the relevant states and theindividuals involved in the unfair Dujail trial bear responsibilityfor breaches of international law.     

Self-made "electric chair" for sexually motivated child abuse of children

A 52-year-old man had altered a wooden folding chair by placing two electrodes and a circuit underneath the seat. Using a remote control, he was able to give electric shocks to a person sitting on the chair. He used this device on more than 50 children, video-taping their reactions for his own pleasure. There are no reports that any of the children suffered a lasting damage to their health. The construction as well as the function and the electrical parameters of the chair were examined by forensic specialists. According to their expertise, the construction was not able to cause a potentially life-threatening condition when used with healthy children. The perpetrator was convicted for bodily harm etc.     

Bill of Sale Lending: Reforming a ‘Toxic’ Form of Credit

The Bills of Sale Acts were enacted in Victorian times as a form of secured credit whereby ‘goods’ owned by a borrower could be assigned under the bill of sale to a lender who would have title to the goods transferred to him. The lender would then allow the borrower to retain possession of the goods in exchange for instalment payments with interest. In the twenty‐first century these bills are most commonly used as ‘logbook loans’ for vehicles with extortionate interest rates and very little protection for individual consumers. This article examines the operational background to the Bill of Sale Acts. It focuses upon particular concerns for consumers and businesses and provides critique of the registration process before examining the proposals and consultations for reform currently before the Law Commission.