DO NEIGHBORHOODS GENERATE FEAR OF CRIME? AN EMPIRICAL TEST USING THE BRITISH CRIME SURVEY*

For a long time, criminologists have contended that neighborhoods are important determinants of how individuals perceive their risk of criminal victimization. Yet, despite the theoretical importance and policy relevance of these claims, the empirical evidence base is surprisingly thin and inconsistent. Drawing on data from a national probability sample of individuals, linked to independent measures of neighborhood demographic characteristics, visual signs of physical disorder, and reported crime, we test four hypotheses about the mechanisms through which neighborhoods influence fear of crime. Our large sample size, analytical approach, and the independence of our empirical measures enable us to overcome some of the limitations that have hampered much previous research into this question. We find that neighborhood structural characteristics, visual signs of disorder, and recorded crime all have direct and independent effects on individual‐level fear of crime. Additionally, we demonstrate that individual differences in fear of crime are strongly moderated by neighborhood socioeconomic characteristics; between‐group differences in expressed fear of crime are both exacerbated and ameliorated by the characteristics of the areas in which people live.     

The analysis of substituted cathinones. Part 2: an investigation into the phenylacetone based isomers of 4-methylmethcathinone and N-ethylcathinone

During the analysis of "seized samples", suspected of containing 4-methylmethcathinone (mephedrone) and N-ethylcathinone (ethcathinone) additional compounds were observed in the GCMS chromatogram. These compounds were suspected to be the corresponding phenylacetone isomers of mephedrone and ethcathinone respectively. These isomers are referred to as iso-mephedrone and iso-ethcathinone, respectively. The identity of these compounds was verified by synthesising the isomers from known starting materials and comparing them with the compounds found in the seized samples. Analytical data, GCMS, NMR and IR on these compounds are provided. Possible explanations for the presence of these compounds in the seized samples are explored. Contaminated starting material is one suggestion. Rearrangement of the propiophenone based product to the phenylacetone based product is also suggested. The reaction of the α-bromopropiophenone with a primary amine can also lead to the phenylacetone based product. The presence of these isomeric compounds in seized samples could be used to compare different samples and attempt to establish a common origin.     

Entomotoxicology, experimental set-up and interpretation for forensic toxicologists

Forensic entomotoxicology studies the usefulness of insects as alternative toxicological samples. Use of insects as alternative matrix for drug detection is well documented and recommended when conventional matrices such as blood, urine or internal organs are no longer available. However, several limitations of entomotoxicology have been highlighted, especially concerning interpretation of the drug concentrations in insects on human forensic cases. In addition, the lack of knowledge in pharmacokinetic of drugs in insects, large variability of experimental set-up and toxicological analysis compromise the utility of this science. This review focuses on the current knowledge of factors influencing drug detection in insects. Reasons for the current limitations, but also recommendations for future research are discussed and proposed in this paper.     

The analysis of substituted cathinones. Part 1: chemical analysis of 2-, 3- and 4-methylmethcathinone

The ring substituted methyl isomers of methcathinone, 2-, 3- and 4-methylmethcathinone were analysed. The 2- and 3-isomers were synthesized. The 4-methylmethcathinone isomer is also known as mephedrone and has been widely studied. We present GCMS, NMR and IR data for the three isomers. We show that the three isomers can be separated by GCMS and that the IR spectra for the three compounds can be used to distinguish between them. A seized sample was analysed and it was found to contain 4-methylmethcathinone and benzocaine.     

Study of TATP: stability of TATP solutions

Stability of raw TATP (3,3,6,6,9,9-hexamethyl-1,2,4,5,7,8-hexoxonane) samples in solutions of common solvents was studied to highlight problems faced by forensic labs in identification and analysis of organic peroxide samples. The TATP samples were prepared by reaction of acetone and hydrogen peroxide (30%) with the aid of following catalysts: hydrochloric, sulfuric, nitric, perchloric and methanesulfonic acid. Acetone, acetonitrile, methanol and acetonitrile/water solutions of TATP samples were prepared and stored at 50°C. Various degrees of stability were observed for particular combination of catalyst and solvent ranging from totally unstable (catalyst-H(2)SO(4)/any solvent) to very stable (catalyst-HCl/solvent acetonitrile). Purification of crude TATP by re-crystallization results in product stable in all investigated solvents. Stability of solution prepared from re-crystallized DADP (3,3,6,6-tetramethyl-1,2,4,5-tetroxane) was found to be on the same level as the stability of solution of re-crystallized TATP.     

Whom do physicians work for? An analysis of dual practice in the health sector

This article presents a thorough analysis of dual practice among physicians who work in both the public and private sectors. A conceptual framework is presented to help the reader understand dual practice and the contexts where it takes place. The article reviews the existing theoretical and empirical literature on this form of dual practice among physicians. It analyzes the extent of this phenomenon, the underlying factors that motivate physicians to engage in dual practice, and the main implications of their decision to do so. It also examines and discusses current policies that address dual practice. In this regard, the article provides some qualified support for the use of "rewarding" policies to retain physicians in the public sectors of more developed countries, while "limiting" policies are recommended for developing countries - with the caveat that the policies should be accompanied by the strengthening of institutional and contracting environments. The article highlights the lack of quality evaluative evidence regarding the consequences of dual practice on the delivery of health care services. It concludes that the overall impact of dual practice remains an open question that warrants more attention from researchers and policy makers alike.     

Support Structures and Constitutional Change: Teles,Southworth, and the Conservative Legal Movement

This essay reviews two recent works in political science on the American conservative legal movement: Steven M. Teles's The Rise of the Conservative Legal Movement: The Battle for Control of the Law (2008) and Ann Southworth's Lawyers of the Right: Professionalizing the Conservative Coalition (2008). It examines these books in the context of a larger debate over the variables that best explain constitutional change in general and the recent “conservative counterrevolution” in Supreme Court jurisprudence in particular. It shows how these studies build on the scholarship of Charles Epp, who argued in The Rights Revolution (1998) that serious constitutional change requires not only the right cast of characters on the court, but also a strong “support structure” in the legal profession and civil society. Finally, it draws on the author's own research on the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy to illustrate some important avenues for further inquiry.     

Waste in the Sewer: The Collapse of Accountability and Transparency in Public Finance in Jefferson County,Alabama

Following failed auctions for sewer debt in April 2008, major bond rating companies downgraded Jefferson County, Alabama’s bond rating to D (default) triggering massive mandatory payments by the county to its creditors. At the time of writing, the county teeters on the brink of actual default and bankruptcy, unable to pay service on its $3.3 billion sewer debt portfolio. If the county defaults, it will be the largest municipal bankruptcy in United States history, eclipsing Orange County, California’s 1994 default. The intriguingly complex tale of the Jefferson County debt crisis is recounted here by identifying and examining failures of transparency and accountability by local bureaucratic and political actors, private financial institutions, as well as the larger regulatory framework governing public finance. Enhanced regulation of local government and the financial sector plus greater local government capacity to close accountability gaps and thus prevent future crises of similar scale in this or other jurisdictions are recommended.     

PBB in American Local Governments: It's More than a Management Tool

Despite academic findings that performance information seldom is used in appropriations decisions, many professional organizations and governments continue to press for integrating performance information into local public management, planning, and budgeting processes. Is it possible to reconcile such inconsistencies? Looking beyond the executive–legislative relationship and departmental appropriations, the author examines the budget implications of applying performance information at the subdepartmental program level. Case analysis of Indianapolis’s IndyStat initiative underscores that performance measurement application is positively related to intradepartmental program budget changes. Hence, performance‐based budgeting (PBB) can improve local budgeting despite severe political constraints. Still, successful use of PBB requires strong executive leadership, and its effects remain less visible at the departmental level or within the wider political arena of legislative bargaining. The author concludes by recommending some rethinking of the current analytical focus of PBB both in future research as well as recommended practice.