A Pilot Study Evaluating the Effectiveness of a Mindfulness-Based Intervention on Cortisol Awakening Response and Health Outcomes among Law Enforcement Officers

As first responders who are frequently exposed to job-related trauma, police officers are at an elevated risk of adverse mental and physical health outcomes. Evidence-based approaches to stress reduction are sorely needed to address the complex variety of problems that police officers face. In this pilot study we examined the feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of a mindfulness-based intervention designed to address police officer stress. A total of 43 police officers completed an 8-week Mindfulness-Based Resilience Training (MBRT) program, which was designed to improve mindfulness, resilience, stress, health outcomes, and emotional functioning. Using multilevel models we found significant improvement in self-reported mindfulness, resilience, police and perceived stress, burnout, emotional intelligence, difficulties with emotion regulation, mental health, physical health, anger, fatigue, and sleep disturbance. Although there were no significant pre-to-post-MBRT changes in cortisol awakening response (CAR), while controlling for pre-MBRT increase area under the curve (AUC_I), change in mental health was a significant predictor of post-AUC_I. Implications of these findings and areas for future research are discussed.     

Lesbian and gay theory,sexuality and citizenship

David Evans, Sexual Citizenship: The Material Construction of Sexualities, (Routledge, London 1993). 352pp. ISBN 0–4150–058007

Didi Herman, Rights of Passage: Struggles for Lesbian and Gay Equality, (University of Toronto Press, London 1994). ix+198pp. ISBN 0–8020–7231–3.

Anthony Giddens, The Transformation of Intimacy, (Polity Press, Cambridge 1992). 212pp. ISBN 0–8047–2214–5.

Ken Plummer, Telling Sexual Stories: Power, Change and Social Worlds, (Routledge, London 1995). xii+244pp. ISBN 0–415–10296–0.

Jeffrey Weeks, Invented Moralities: Sexual Values in an Age of Uncertainty, (Polity Press, Cambridge 1995). xiii+209pp. ISBN 0–7456–1369–1.

Angelia R. Wilson (ed), A Simple Matter of Justice? Theorising Lesbian and Gay Politics, (Cassell, London 1995). xi+226pp. ISBN 0–304–32955‐X.     

Quangos—What's in a Name? Defining Quangos from a Comparative Perspective

Without definitional clarity the "quango debate" is inherently flawed and meaningful progress undermined. A possible solution to this problem is proposed in this article by way of a subsectional map which aims to clarify the quango topography. This accepts the diversity inherent in the quango debate while allowing for increased clarity and focused research. This, the authors believe, is the only way forward for practitioners, academics and policymakers working within the sphere of quasi-government. There is a need to address precise forms or subsections of the quango continuum as studies or reforms which focus on one type of quango would not necessarily work if applied to all quangos, or quangos in other countries.     

The Politics of Public–Private Partnerships

Since 1 May 1997 the Labour government in the United Kingdom has implemented a number of public–private partnerships (PPPs) as a central tool of governance within their wider modernisation agenda. To date, the introduction of PPPs has largely been evaluated through conceptual lenses that emphasise either the administrative, managerial, financial or technical dimensions of this reform strategy. This article seeks to complement this wider literature by arguing that PPPs raise a host of political issues and tensions that have largely been overlooked. Five specific themes are set out in order to provide a framework or organising perspective. These are: efficiency; risk; complexity; accountability; and governance and the future of state projects. The main conclusion of the article is that PPPs represent a Faustian bargain in that forms of PPP may deliver efficiency gains and service improvements in some policy areas but these benefits may involve substantial political and democratic costs.     

Talking the Vote: Why Presidential Candidates Hit the Talk Show Circuit

The 2000 presidential election found the major party presidential candidates chatting with Oprah Winfrey, Rosie O'Donnell, and Regis Philbin, trading one-liners with Jay Leno and David Letterman, and discussing rap music on MTV. This study investigates the impact of entertainment-oriented talk show interviews of presidential candidates, using the 2000 election as a case study. I consider why such shows cover presidential politics, why candidates choose to appear on them, and who is likely to be watching. This discussion yields a series of hypotheses concerning the effects of these interviews on public attitudes and voting behavior. I test my hypotheses through a content analysis of campaign coverage by entertainment-oriented talk shows, traditional political interview shows, and national news campaign coverage, as well as through a series of statistical investigations. I find that politically unengaged voters who watch entertainment-oriented TV talk shows are more likely to find the opposition party candidate likeable, as well as to cross party lines and vote for him, relative to their counterparts who are more politically aware or who do not watch such shows .     

Application of non-contact scanning to forensic podiatry: A feasibility study

Foot impression evidence recovered from crime scenes can be available in the form of barefoot prints, sock-clad footprints, or as impressions within footwear. In some cases, suspects leave their footwear at the scene of the crime, and the insoles from the footwear can be important in linking a person to the footwear. The application of 3D data-collecting technology is becoming more and more popular within forensic science and has been used to recover footwear impression evidence. The present study is a feasibility study to discover if 3D data capturing devices can be applied to insoles; to capture the footprint impression for measurement using the Gunn method (a method used in forensic podiatry casework). Three different methods of data capture were conducted; Adobe Photoshop, MeshLab, and calipers used directly on the insole. Paired t-tests and Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) were conducted for all three data capture methods. Seven measurements used in this study were significantly different across all three methods. ICC scores were moderate to excellent for the Photoshop method, poor to good for the 3D method, and moderate to excellent for the Direct method.     

SCOTUS in the time of COVID: The evolution of justice dynamics during Oral arguments

We assess changes in oral arguments at the US Supreme Court precipitated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the degree to which those changes persisted once the justices acclimated to the new procedures. To do this, we examine whether key attributes of these proceedings changed as the Court experimented with telephonic hearings and subsequently returned to in-person oral arguments. We demonstrate that the initial telephonic forum changed the dynamics of oral argument in a way that gave the chief justice new power and reconfigured justices' engagement during these proceedings. However, we also show that the associate justices adapted to this new institutional landscape by changing their behavior. The findings shed light on the consequences of significant, novel disruptions to institutional rules and norms in the government and legal system.