The evaluation of the extent of transporting or "tracking" an identifiable ignitable liquid (gasoline) throughout fire scenes during the investigative process

Tests have determined that boots or shoes of individuals at a fire scene do not transport sufficient contaminants ("tracking") through the fire scene to produce a positive laboratory result for the presence of gasoline in a fire scene that was not present at the time of the fire. Questions about the validity of forensic laboratory results have been raised on the basis that low-level gasoline residues detected in the laboratory samples could have been the result of transporting the residue by footwear contaminated from the fire scene ("tracking"). The data collected in this study establish that "tracking" does not lead to false-positive laboratory results. Canines trained and experienced in the detection of trace ignitable liquid residues were also utilized in this study. The canine results confirmed that properly trained canines show a higher sensitivity than do standard ASTM laboratory techniques for fire debris analysis. In a few cases, canines responded to contamination, but laboratory testing (which is the definitive indicator) did not produce positive results.     

Identifying sex chromosome abnormalities in forensic DNA testing using amelogenin and sex chromosome short tandem repeats

Forensic DNA laboratories worldwide have begun using multiplexed STR systems to decrease analysis time and increase sample throughput. The loci used in these systems are basically "nonsense" regions of human DNA. However, due to the chromosome on which some of these loci are located, various genetic abnormalities can sometimes be detected. This paper will show one such abnormality--Klinefelter's Syndrome--and the process used to show the possibility of this defect in two undiagnosed males using peak height ratios at the Amelogenin locus, and X-Y STRs.     

Distributive Justice and Crime

The heavy concentration of crime on a few areas, and the concentration on the chronically victimised within those areas, together illustrate the gross inequality of the risk of crime victimisation. This inequality also characterises other hazards of life. Criminology has too often reduced the problem of crime to the problem of the offender. Recognising crime hazard as an issue of distributive justice requires a different mind set. The Crime and Disorder Act 1998 recognises the drivers of crime as lying outside criminal justice, but does not put in place a panhazard analysis of the kind required, community safety being presented as a type of crime prevention. Movement towards panhazard thinking may well be somewhat facilitated by the workingthrough of the incorporation of the European Convention on Human Rights, actions flowing from section 17 of the Crime and Disorder Act, and a reconsideration of how emergency services might work.     

Policy capacity in Saskatchewan: strengthening the equilibrium

Abstract: This article examines the views of provincial public servants concerning how policy capacity can be strengthened. The findings are based on interviews conducted in 1997 with thirty-three senior public servants in the Province of Saskatchewan. Findings indicate that most public servants regard their role in policy-making as both natural and important to maintain, but they all accept the division of responsibilities in the policy process between themselves, as system stabilizers, and politicians, as the providers of energy in the system. In this regard, the public servants interviewed welcome clearly articulated goals that apply directly to their departmental concerns. Overall, the responses indicate that policy capacity can be strengthened by improving the government's policy processes, especially those linking cabinet and the bureaucracy, and those that operate horizontally across departments. These views are consistent with the traditional self-image of senior career officials who see themselves as policy managers overseeing a process that invests decisions with a high degree of legitimacy, power and accuracy. Sommaire: Dans cet article, on examine I'avis des functionaries provinciaux en ce qui conceme le renforcement de la capacité de prise de décisions politiques. Les constatations découlent d'entrevues avec 33 hauts fonctionnaires de la Saskatchewan, effectuées en 1997. Selon les constatations, la plupart des fonctionnaires voient leur rôle de décideurs politiques comme étant naturel et important à maintenir, mais ils acceptent tous le partage des responsabilités dam le processus décisionnel, entre, d'une part, eux-mêmes en tant que stabilisateurs du système, et d'autre part, les politiciens comme source de dynamisation. Sur ce point, les fonctionnaires interviewés aimeraient voir des objectifs clairement formulés s'appliquant directement à leurs préoccupations ministérielles. Dans l'ensemble, les réponses indiquent qu'on peut renforcer la capacité décisionnelle en améliorant les processus décisionnels du-gouvernement, particulièrement ceux qui relient le conseil des ministres au fonctionnariat et ceux qui assurent le lien horizontal entre les ministères. Ces avis cadrent bien avec la perception de soi classique des hauts fonctionnaires qui se perçoivent comme des gérants de politiques souhaitant que le processus qu'ils surveillent accorde aux décisions plus de légitimité, de puissance et de précision.     

Why do people vote? An experiment in rationality

The study presents the findings of an experiment conducted during the 1993 Canadian fedeal election campaign. Students in two universities were exposed to a ten-minute presentation about the rational model of voting and the ‘paradox’ that so many people vote when it is apparently irrational on a cost-benefit basis. Our data indicate that exposure to the presentation decreased turnout in the election by seven percentage points. This result contributes to the debate abut the effect of rational-choice models on real political behavior. More important, the experimental panel data permit the presentation's effect to be decomposed, and this helps explain why people do vote. In this study, turnout was reduced mainly because the presentation diminished the respondents' sense of duty, an effect that was indirect, because there was no reference in the presentation to such motives. Framing the voting act in rational-choice terms induced some students to reconsider whether they should feel obliged to vote.     

Prescriptive and Elicitive Approaches to Conflict Resolution: Examples from Papua New Guinea

Negotiation Journal -     

Psychological Injury and Law: Special Issue Epilogue

To conclude the special series in the issue, which marks the end of the first volume of the journal, Psychological Injury and Law, the epilogue highlights its major goals and contributions. The special issue takes the field in more diverse directions. It demonstrates the multiple research and practice foci that are emerging in the field and its interdisciplinarity, from the law and forensics to practice and treatment. The field needs to view the person in context and not from one side or the other of the adversarial divide.