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.     

The impurity characteristics of methamphetamine synthesized by Emde and Nagai method

Impurity profiling and classification of seized methamphetamine may play an important role in the interpretation of analytical results, the determination of the synthetic method employed, and the criminal investigations of drug traffic routes. Our study is focused on classifying seized methamphetamine samples according to the groups sorted by the types and quantities of impurities present in illicit methamphetamine samples. The samples (100 mg) were dissolved in 2 mL of potassium phosphate buffer (pH 7.0), extracted with 200 μL of ethyl acetate under basic condition, and then analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC–MS) with a DB-1 capillary column (30 m × 0.25 mm i.d., 0.25 μm). Five impurities are used as criteria for the classification of seized methamphetamine samples by Emde and Nagai method. A total of fifty-two samples of seized methamphetamine were analyzed by GC–MS and classified by five organic impurities, and then sorted into four groups, which are Nagai type, Emde Type, Undetermined I type, and Undetermined II type.     

Differing patterns of marriage between a city and villages in 18th century Korea: The case of Taegu Area

While the urban area was increasingly filled with middle- and low-status residents, the rural area was dominated by high-status settlers whose number increased because of migration from the city and natural growth. Remarkable differences existed between urban and rural marriage features such as marriage age and rate of remarriage. The more sincere adoption of the high-status marriage culture in the rural area may be attributed to its occupational homogeneity. In the rural agrarian settings, landlords, self-cultivators and tenants shared a similar living pattern and value system based on the agricultural cycle. The urban area, however, exhibited a variety of work patterns of local functionaries, artisans and merchants. Many middle- and low-status people might well have found the high-status culture of the rural area incompatible with their own.     

Construct validity,reliability and predictive validity of the dynamic risk assessment and management system (DRAMS) in offenders with intellectual disability

Background. There have been a number of developments in the assessment of dynamic risk in the criminological literature. The dynamic risk assessment and management system (DRAMS) has been developed to facilitate the measurement of dynamic factors of risk for offenders with intellectual disability. Method. The study was designed to assess the construct validity, reliability and predictive utility of the DRAMS in 23 male forensic patients in a high secure setting. Predictions were made against independently collected incident data. Concurrent validity was assessed against the Ward Anger Rating Scale (WARS). Results. A reformulation of the individual section variables according to convergent and discriminant correlational analysis revealed Cronbach's alpha levels of >.8 for all sections apart from mood (alpha .750) and items retained to facilitate clinical information (alpha ?.017). Two hundred pairs of WARS and DRAMS assessments revealed orderly sectional correlations. The sections of mood, antisocial behaviour, and intolerance/agreeableness predicted incidents with a medium effect size as did total DRAMS score. There were highly significant differences between assessments taken 1 or 2 days prior to an incident and control assessments conducted at least 7 days from an incident. Conclusions. The reformulated DRAMS has good construct and concurrent validity. It appears to be a reliable assessment tool and informs on risk levels relating to stable and acute proximal factors. It appears as an important addition to the utility of risk assessments for this population.     

A welfare simulation of mixed-member electoral systems

This paper considers welfare properties of mixed-member electoral systems. In a mixed system, voters may elect high-quality district representatives without excessive campaign fundraising. Simulation results reveal that the optimally mixed electoral system can be welfare-enhancing, but a poorly targeted electoral reform can do worse than a PR system or plurality rule.