Nails of newborns in monitoring drug exposure during pregnancy

This project was developed to investigate the usefulness of newborn nails for monitoring in utero drug exposure. Cocaine, benzoylecgonine, morphine, methadone, caffeine, nicotine, and cotinine were determined in nail samples from the first 3 months of life of 25 newborns abandoned immediately after birth (group 1) and of 33 babies born at the local maternity hospital whose families were recruited on a voluntary basis (group 2). All substances were measured by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (detection limit: 0.025 ng/mg). Moreover, analytical results were compared with mothers' self-reported habits when the information was available. In group 1, 12 nails were found positive for caffeine and 13 for both nicotine and cotinine. Six samples tested cocaine- (range, median: 0.14-0.25, 0.175 ng/mg) and benzoylecgonine-positive (range, median: 0.12-0.20, 0.165 ng/mg). Both nicotine and cocaine were always retrieved together with their main metabolite. Morphine was found in four samples (range, median: 0.10-0.15, 0.125 ng/mg), methadone in five samples (range, median: 0.12-0.26, 0.170 ng/mg) that were found negative for all other compounds. In group 2, two samples tested positive for methadone (0.16, 0.17 ng/mg). The mothers self-report of the use of coffee always corresponded to caffeine positivity in the newborn nails (n=6), whereas six samples tested positive for nicotine and/or cotinine with a non-smoking mother. Sixteen out of the 33 samples of group 2 tested negative for all compounds. In conclusion, for the first time, results showed that, once that sample collection problems are solved, nails of the first period of life can be a very interesting indicator of in utero drug exposure.     

The Impact of Race on the Pretrial Decision

This study examined the effect of race on the pretrial release decision for drug offenders. Although this decision point has not been examined as extensively as the final sentencing decision, it is a critical discretion point which impacts defendants’ future sentencing outcomes. The results found that race had a significant impact on judges’ decisions to release a defendant on recognizance, with black defendants less likely to receive this release status. Race was not significant, however, in the decision of bail amount or in the likelihood to post bail. These results are consistent with the focal concerns perspective which suggests that black defendants are viewed by courts as more dangerous and blameworthy and thereby, less likely to be released on their own recognizance.     

The provenance of émigrés: the validity of measuring knowledge of places

Establishing the origin of those seeking asylum is essential but difficult as asylum seekers often cannot corroborate their origin claim with documents. The aim of the present study was to assess whether asking knowledge questions, sketch questions and impossible questions are valid methods to determine the veracity of an origin claim. Participants (N?=?105) from Tilburg (truth-tellers), Maastricht (partial liars) and Gothenburg (full liars) were asked to convince an interviewer that they originated from Tilburg. Half of them prepared and half of them did not prepare themselves for the interview. They were asked 10 knowledge questions typically asked to assess the credibility of origin claims, 4 impossible questions and 1 sketch question. Participants from Tilburg answered more questions correctly than participants from Maastricht and Gothenburg. Performance also improved with preparation. Even though the results did provide some support for the validity of assessing claims about origin by asking knowledge questions, the differences between the groups were modest, and it was impossible to correctly identify all truth-tellers and liars. Changing the output modality from verbal answering to sketching contributed to the credibility assessment of origin claims, whereas impossible questions were not discriminatory.     

Interventions with women offenders: a systematic review and meta-analysis of mental health gain

Currently, a conjunction of policy, legislative change in health and social care and the criminal justice system, combined with funding for innovative services make it opportune to assess the evidence base for interventions with women offenders. Women offenders have a distinctive criminological, health and social profile and a gender specific approach to their difficulties is advocated. This systematic review and meta-analysis focus on mental health gain in adult women offenders in forensic health settings, criminal justice institutions and in the community, following therapeutic interventions. Interventions were assessed in terms of specific outcome measures of depression, trauma symptomatology and global mental health status. Comprehensive search strategies yielded 3018 articles, from which we obtained 199 full text articles. Seventeen articles were included in the final review, of which six were excluded from the meta-analysis as there was no comparator group. There is a modest, but increasing, body of evidence for the utility of some interventions, notably those addressing the consequences of earlier trauma, including interventions which also address comorbid substance misuse. This does not amount, to date, to a robust evidence base. Limitations of these studies are discussed and include small sample sizes, their restriction mainly to prison populations and that they were substantially undertaken in the US. Variations in outcome measures follow-up and the difficulties inherent in measuring change in this complex population are also detailed. However, the review delineates definite avenues for further work. To achieve this, those responsible for policy, practice and purchase of services should both be mindful of existing evidence and promote additional, high quality research into interventions which are designed around a coherent, theoretical approach.     

A Long‐term Study of the Association between the Relative Poverty Rate and Suicide Rate in Japan

The annual number of suicides in Japan totaled around 23,000 in 1997 and abruptly increased to around 31,000 in 1998. This figure has remained high since then. This abrupt increase in the number of suicides was primarily due to an increase in suicides occasioned by economic concerns. The association between various economic factors and suicide must be studied in detail and over the long term in order to ascertain the association between economic concerns and suicide. This study examined the relative poverty rate and the suicide rate in Japan over 30 years and discussed the association between those two rates. The results suggest that the relative poverty rate may be associated with the suicide rate for both sexes. This association is true for men in particular. The organizations and professionals involved in implementing suicide prevention measures should be cognizant of the current findings and consider formulating additional specific measures.