Public Attitudes and Sentencing Policies Across the World

Many Western countries have experienced a boom in prisoners rates, characterised as “carceral hyperinflation” or “new punitiveness”. Politicians and opinion makers assume that this reflects the demand of the public for more severe sentencing. This article analyses data on the attitudes of the population towards punishment from over thirty different countries taken from the International Crime Victim Surveys of 2004/2005. First, some key findings on punitivity are presented showing that in many countries the public prefers non-custodial sentences for recidivist buglars. Next, results are presented from a multi-level analysis of the correlates of punitiveness at both the individual and country level. This multi level analysis shows that individual characteristics explain very little variance in country differences in punitiveness. On country level, the level of common crime and the Gini coefficient, a measure for income differences in the country, have significant explanatory power. The often mentioned tougher attitude towards sentencing in the English speaking/common law countries is fully explained by this. Finally, the relation between the publics attitude towards sentencing and a measure of actual sentencing severity showed a weak and inverse relationship at country level.     

The Reliability of Chronological Age Determination by Means of Mandibular Third Molar Development in Subjects in Croatia*

Abstract: The aim of this study was to determine the development of the mandibular third molar and its relation to chronological age. The evaluated material consisted of 979 orthopantomograms of patients of Croatian Caucasian origin aged between 5.7 and 14.6 years. Third molar developmental stages were evaluated according to the stages proposed by Nolla. The frequencies of different stages of mineralization and the mean value of the mineralization of the mandibular third molars with regard to age, gender, and size of the mandible were determined and the coefficient of correlation determined between the age of the subject and the stage of development of the mandibular molars. Statistically significant correlation was determined between mineralization of the mandibular third molar and chronological age of the subjects (boys, mandibular left third molar r = 0.779, right third molar r = 0.793; girls, mandibular left third molar r = 0.746, right third molar r = 0.725). It can be concluded that the accuracy of age estimation based on Nolla’s method is applicable for Croatian children.     

Another victim of the ＂banana war＂： Some reflections on the status of the principle of liability in the absence of unlawful conduct in the community legal system

Articles 235 and 288 second paragraph EC provide remedies for damages caused by Community institutions, to individuals, legal bodies or States that concern legal obligations outside the scope of contractual relations. Although it did not receive any real application, the principle of liability in the absence of fault is mentioned by the Court in a couple of cases. This article seeks to explore this principle in its due context and in the light of comparative law. To that effect, it is first necessary to make a short recall of the historical case law in this field, to analyze afterwards the latest jurisprudential developments （FIAMM/FEDON case）, and finally to consider the future prospects of this principle in the Community law through two options. One alternative would be to adopt more lenient conditions for the application of Community＇s liability for fault and notably a progressive abandon of the current serious fault regime and the adoption of the simple fault regime. Another option would be to remove the tort nature from the no-fault liability and to move from the reparation of damage to a compensation for the breach of the equality.     

Interesting but irrelevant: Social capital and the saliency of politics in Western Europe

Abstract. Many explanations of political involvement are based on the idea that higher levels of resources will be matched by higher levels of political involvement. Yet these kind of interpretations seem to overlook the fact that resources potentially increase individual autonomy and widen the scope of alternative actions, and so facilitate a decrease of political involvement. The analyses presented here are based on the rather paradoxical expectation that we will find a higher level of subjective political interest and, simultaneously, a lower level of political saliency among people commanding relatively high levels of social capital or other resources. The empirical evidence available for Western European countries in 1990 and 1998 essentially confirms the notion of diverging consequences of social capital (and other resources) for political involvement. People combining high political interest with a low saliency of politics are labelled spectators here. For them politics has lost its obligatory character – it is interesting and probably important to follow what goes on in this area, but compared with other matters its relevance is relatively low. Besides, a strong gender bias still can be found for each and every aspect of political involvement.     

Deliberate self-harm patients who discharge themselves from the general hospital without adequate psychosocial assessment

Deliberate self-harm patients who leave the acute hospital environment before the completion of psychiatric assessment have an increased risk of subsequent self-harm. We considered the available data on 50 premature self-discharges identified prospectively in a general hospital with a well-developed integrated-care pathway for self-harm patients, and compared them to a control group. The self-discharge group was found to be more likely to have attempted self-poisoning without alcohol intoxication or other forms or combinations of self-harm, and an absence of identifiable previous self-harm or prior contact with local specialist psychiatric services. The two groups showed no difference in age, sex, or area of residence based on community mental health team sectors. It is proposed that these findings indicate hypotheses for further studies of why people leave the hospital without adequate assessment, and how service design could be improved in order to help them.     

Maltreatment of handicapped children: A critical review

Despite increased interest in child abuse and neglect in the past decade, little research attention has been focused on maltreatment in handicapped populations. This is surprising given that many handicapped children display characteristics (e.g., chronic and pervasive behavioral disturbances, decreased social initiations with caregivers) that are associated with high risk for assault and neglect in nonhandicapped children. Numerous investigations have found an overrepresentation of handicapped children in maltreated samples, and results of more recent efforts reveal a high incidence of abuse and neglect in handicapped populations. Although these data underscore the high risk for maltreatment in handicapped children, a number of important issues warrant further empirical examination. Moreover, generalizations and interpretations of findings from previous research have been obfuscated by methodological shortcomings. The present paper reviews the literature concerning abuse and neglect of handicapped children. Research strategies and issues are delineated and current problems in this field are discussed. Suggestions for directions future research might take are offered.     

Analysis of buprenorphine in urine specimens.

The simultaneous determination of buprenorphine (Temgesic) and its major metabolite, N-desalkylbuprenorphine, in urine samples has been studied. By using reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with electrochemical detection, therapeutic concentrations of unconjugated buprenorphine down to 0.2 ng/mL, and 0.15 ng/mL for the metabolite, can be detected in urine samples. This method has been applied to a variety of urine samples from drug users. The possible analytical interference from several other regulated drugs has been studied. The results were also compared with those obtained from a commercial radioimmunoassay (RIA) test. This test is only capable of detecting buprenorphine concentrations higher than 1 ng/mL.     

The ‘new’ policy approach to housing: A review of the literature

A new convention of ‘self-help housing’ has become established over the past 20 years. However, a close examination of the literature shows that this approach is not widely implemented, but remains largely at the level of showcase projects; moreover the lowest income groups are usually not the principal beneficiaries of sites-and-service schemes. The literature gives evidence of powerful political, administrative and economic interests against the large-scale legal delivery of sites-and-services, and in favour of the continued dependence of the poor on illegal access.     

Emerging problems for staff associated with the release of potentially dangerous forensic patients

Mental health professionals have been concerned recently about their liability for the actions of patients in their outpatient practices. The history of suits against clinicians for negligent release of inpatients extends back several decades since before the Tarasoff decision. The authors suggest that the same consumerism/victims' rights trends that resulted in Tarasoff and its progeny are likely to rebound again on forensic clinicians and that such pressures are likely to add to other political and social pressures that already complicate the treatment of forensic inpatients. They present three cases to illustrate the dilemmas involved in the release of forensic patients and argue that clinicians must bear significant responsibility for their current plight because of overstated claims of capacities to predict and treat aggressive behavior.