The Prohibition against Torture: Why the UK Government is Falling Short and the Risks that Remain

While the UK's official position is that it neither uses nor condones torture or cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment (CIDT), it is now a matter of public and parliamentary record that UK security services and military personnel colluded in rendition, torture, and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, both as part of the CIA's Rendition, Detention and Interrogation (RDI) programme, at military detention facilities in Afghanistan and Iraq, and through involvement in the detention and interrogation of prisoners by allied security forces. This paper will explain why the government is falling short of its obligations under international law, and why considerable risks remain that UK intelligence and security services will continue to collude in torture and CIDT .     

Department executives in the states: An examination of differences based on selection and work experience

State level department executives have an extraordinary influence over policy in their departments. Yet these executives receive neither public nor research attention in proportion to their importance in directing state policy. This study, based on a survey and resumes from state executives in all 50 states, examines the individual characteristics and professional experiences of state executives. The study found significant differences between elected and appointed executives. Also, most of the appointed department heads had experience in substantive area of the department. State government or partisan political experience was less common among the appointed executives. Finally, the professional experience of executives varied among the departments.     

Worlds in collision,worlds in collusion: The uneasy relationship between the counterterrorism policy community and the academic community∗

Abstract

This paper explores the tension and barriers to cooperation between the government and academic communities in policy‐relevant areas. In the field of political terrorism, the time urgency of dealing with violence or the threat of violence characterizes the government professional's approach, while the academic views terrorism with a long‐range perspective. Other differences in missions, role requirements, and attitudes within the two communities contribute to the gap between them. Exchanges of personnel, ongoing programs for the exchange of information, and increasing the number of academic advisors with security clearances are among the recommendations for narrowing the gap.     

European internal security as a public good

Abstract

This introduction argues for a new research agenda on European internal security cooperation from the perspective of public goods. We set out our case in three parts. First, we identify new empirical puzzles and demonstrate significant explanatory gaps in the existing internal security literature which public goods theory could help address. Second, we outline the building blocks of a public goods approach and provide an overview of its application, both existing and potentially, in various areas of regional security and European integration. Third, we present three complementary ways of using public goods theory to analyse internal security in the European Union, with the aim of spurring new research questions while accepting some limitations of this theoretical approach.     

EU cooperation on terrorism prevention and violent radicalization: frustrated ambitions or new forms of EU security governance?

This article questions the effectiveness of EU efforts to prevent terrorism and violent radicalization as well as the future prospects of such efforts. Driven by the pressure of attacks, member states have agreed on a comprehensive strategy to prevent radicalization and recruitment into terrorism, but simultaneously the strategy traces the limits of EU authority in member states in this regard. Meanwhile, the European Commission has focused on indirect measures, such as research support, for counter radicalization. However, over time, both flexible cooperation among a subset of member states and new EU initiatives have generated only few or biased policy outputs. The Stockholm Programme renewed the ambition to prevent terrorism at an early stage and underlined the EU's role in evaluation and knowledge exchange. This article questions the resulting proposal to create a network of local or subnational actors for best practice exchange. The article argues that preventive counterterrorism relies on contentious scientific evidence and that authoritative evaluations remain tied to national policy-making. Finally, the EU Commission cannot mobilize sufficient resources to ensure that ‘frontline’ organizations, such as police services, implement new practices. Taken together, this limits the potential for depoliticizing multilevel governance approaches to terrorism prevention. The conclusions of this article raise further research questions on the use of knowledge and complex governance patterns in EU internal security.     

Putting a Human and Historical Face on Intelligence Contracting

This history of intelligence contracting in the United States is in many ways the story of American intelligence itself. For all the current criticism of this “new post-9/11 industry,” intelligence contracting pre-existed the creation of formal intelligence bureaucracies and gradually developed from alliance-based intelligence sharing and ad-hoc individual agreements into the increasingly private and corporate companies of today. Most of the criticisms of the field are similarly rooted in history: over the ages, some have been legitimate and others less so. Ultimately, when viewed in context, however, intelligence contracting is not nearly as dark or nefarious as is typically portrayed, but rather has been and continues to be a pillar of American intelligence production.     

An attitude study of minority group adolescents toward mental health

The authors conducted an attitude study in a total sample of 103 high school students at the junior and senior levels. The study was conducted to ascertain the existence of any evident special attitudes as a result of black or Spanishspeaking minority membership. Although specific group characteristics were revealed that might be sociocultural, the overall conclusion is that attitudes relating to the mental health field and its personnel are parallel to the majority population. No evidence was found to support the contention that members of this population are not good insight patients, but rather it was found that insight is an individual capacity rather than a culturally determined one.Received M.D. from Howard University, College of Medicine, Washington, D.C. Currently a Child Psychiatry Fellow at Michael Reese Hospital. Main interest is in child and adolescent psychiatry.Received M.D. from University of Spain. Currently a Child Psychiatry Fellow at Michael Reese Hospital. Main interest is in child and adolescent psychiatry.     

Identity status in university women: A methodological note

Studies of correlates of identity status among university students indicate that males who have or are currently considering occupational and ideological alternatives exhibit characteristics superior to those who have not explored alternatives. Results with university women have suggested that females currently exploring alternatives do not show the positive characteristics associated with that status among males. An hypothesis is presented that differences in findings between sexes may be due to methodological procedures involving selection of differing aged samples. Evidence is presented to support the view that the exploration of alternatives has similar positive meaning for both males and females.Received B. Sc. in Psychology from Brooklyn College of the City University of New York; M. Sc. in Developmental Psychology from the New York State College at Cortland; Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto. Professional research interests are Piagetian and Eriksonian conceptions of adolescence and cognitive and personality development in children from a cognitivesocial learning perspective.