The world at their fingertips? The mental wellbeing of online distance-based law students

In recent years there has been an increased interest in student mental wellbeing within higher education. In terms of legal education, much of this has been focused upon the United States (US) and Australia, with a lack of United Kingdom (UK)-based empirical data available. Although there is now extensive provision of online distance learning options available to UK (and other) law students, there is a notable lack of research into the possible challenges which are specific to this form of tertiary offering. This paper seeks to contribute to the development of research in this area by reporting upon, and analysing, preliminary data gathered from an empirical study of the mental wellbeing of online distance learning law students.     

Animal abuse proclivity: behavioral,personality and regulatory factors associated with varying levels of severity

ABSTRACT

To date, research into adult-perpetrated animal abuse has consisted of studies using forensic and psychiatric samples. Given that animal abuse goes largely unreported, it is unclear whether the findings from the current literature are generalizable to unapprehended, undetected abusers in the community. However, the emergence of proclivity methodologies fills this gap by examining the relationships between animal abuse propensity and factors such as empathy, attitudes towards animals and antisocial behavior. The current study aimed to extend this literature by examining further individual-level variables (i.e. personality traits) and behavioral factors as correlates of animal abuse proclivity and as a function of varying levels of animal abuse severity (e.g. neglect versus severe violence). One hundred and fifty participants took part in this correlational study. We found low extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism, anger regulation, and illegal behavior to be significant factors related to animal abuse proclivity. We also found low extraversion, anger regulation, and illegal behavior to be significant factors across varying levels of animal abuse severity, but low neuroticism to be a unique factor related to less severe forms of animal abuse proclivity. These findings are further discussed in light of their theoretical and treatment implications.     

Fatal Complications of Aesthetic Techniques: The Gluteal Region

Cosmetic procedures are common and utilize many techniques to obtain aesthetically good outcomes for patient satisfaction with acceptable safety standards. Cosmetic procedures that involve the gluteal region are becoming increasingly popular as various procedures can target the gluteal region such as liposuction, tumescent liposuction, cosmetic filler injections, autologous fat transfer, depot drug delivery, and implants. Complications of cosmetic gluteal procedures can be localized or systemic with systemic complications being responsible for most deaths. These reported systemic complications include sepsis, thromboembolism, fat embolism with or without fat embolism syndrome, macroscopic fat embolism, anesthesia‐related and blood volume abnormalities. We herein report 10 deaths due to elective gluteal cosmetic procedures. Autologous fat transfer (fat grafting, lipoinjection) following liposuction resulted in 8 of 10 fatal outcomes of the gluteal aesthetic procedures. A comprehensive discussion of gluteal anatomy, gluteal contouring procedures, and the approach to such cases is presented along with the autopsy findings of the reported cases.     

Unexpected death as a result of infective endocarditis

Thirteen cases of infective endocarditis (IE) diagnosed for the first time at autopsy or, in those patients with a previous diagnosis of IE, not thought to be active at the time of death, are presented. Of the six patients who died within 24 h of the onset of symptoms, two died of obstruction of a valve orifice, two died of sepsis, one died of sepsis and alcoholic cardiomyopathy, and one died of a coronary artery embolus. Of the five patients with symptoms lasting more than 24 h, three died of sepsis and congestive heart failure. One died from sepsis alone and one died from congestive heart failure (CHF). In two patients whose duration of symptoms is unknown, one died of sepsis and CHF, and in the other the mechanism of death is unknown. Predisposing factors present in 11 of 13 patients included alcoholism (three), intravenous (IV) drug abuse (three), prosthetic valves (three), aortic stenosis (two), past rheumatic fever (one), and nonstenotic congenitally bicuspid valves (two). The reasons for no antemortem diagnosis were a missed or incorrect clinical diagnosis in three patients seen by a physician shortly before death, no signs or symptoms or found dead (four), non-specific signs and symptoms (three), refusal of medical treatment (one), and a solitary lifestyle (one); there was insufficient information about one patient. Individuals with needle tracks, generalized petechiae. Osler's nodes, splinter hemorrhages, intravenous catheters, pacemaker wires, and infected aortic-valve (A-V) shunts are at risk of IE. Blood and the vegetations should be cultured. The attending physician should be notified of the diagnosis in such cases.     

Why They Leave: An Analysis of Terrorist Disengagement Events from Eighty-seven Autobiographical Accounts

A deeper understanding of terrorist disengagement offers important insights for policymakers and practitioners seeking to persuade individuals to leave these groups. Current research highlights the importance of certain “push” and “pull” factors in explaining disengagement. However, such studies tell us very little about the relative frequencies at which these hypothesized factors are associated with leaving in the terrorist population. Using data collected from eighty-seven autobiographical accounts, we find that push, rather than pull, factors are more commonly cited as playing a large role in individuals' disengagement decisions and that the experience of certain push factors increases the probability an individual will choose to leave. Importantly, disillusionment with the group's strategy or actions, disagreements with group leaders or members, dissatisfaction with one's day-to-day tasks, and burnout are more often reported as driving disengagement decisions than de-radicalization. Finally, our results suggest that ideological commitment may moderate one's susceptibility to pull factors.     

Entangling carbon lock-in: India’s coal constituency

This article investigates how energy security in the Anthropocene is entangled in diffuse ways with materiality. In particular we examine the social-material entanglement of humans and coal in India and how coal manifests itself differently across social life in the country. Focusing on a single material allows us to study how the Anthropocene creates, and is created by, particular appropriations of the material world. It offers a corrective to some Anthropocene literature that avoids discussing the complex, “everyday,” social impacts that fossil fuels have, particularly in the developing world. These intertwined impacts add to the complexity and difficulty in the process of decarbonizing societies, or in transitioning to a sustainable energy future.     

A: Reviews: general

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THE PASHA'S PEASANTS: LAND, SOCIETY, AND ECONOMY IN LOWER EGYPT, 1740–1858. By Kenneth M. Cuno. (Cambridge Middle East Library, 27.) Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1992. 295 pp., tables, appendices, index. £35.00 (hb).

SOCIALISM AND NATIONALISM IN THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE. Edited by Mete Tunçay and Erik Jan Zürcher. London & New York, British Academic Press, in association with the International Institute of Social History, Amsterdam. 222 pp. £39.50.

INSIDE THE ARAB WORLD. By Michael Field. London, John Murray, 1994. 439 pp., maps. £25.

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THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF SYRIA UNDER ASAD. By Volker Perthes. London & New York, I. B. Tauris, 1995. 298 pp. £39.50.

THE ARAB MINORITY IN ISRAEL 1967–1991: POLITICAL ASPECTS. By Jacob M. Landau. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1993.

THE ARAB MINORITY IN ISRAEL'S ECONOMY: PATTERNS OF ETHNIC INEQUALITY. By Noah Lewin‐Epstein and Moshe Semyonov. (Social Inequality Series.) Oxford, Westview Press, 1993.

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THE GULF: ENERGY AND GLOBAL SECURITY. By Charles F. Doran and Stephen W. Buck. London, Lynne Rienner, 1991. 228 pp. £27.50.

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IRAN AND IRAQ: THE THREAT FROM THE NORTHERN GULF. By Anthony H. Cordesman. Oxford, Westview Press, 1994. x, 378 pp. £45.50 (hb), £16.95 (pb).

THE UNITED NATIONS, IRAN, AND IRAQ: HOW PEACEMAKING CHANGED. By Cameron R. Hume. Buckingham, Open University Press, 1994. xi, 269 pp. £27.50.

THE HISTORY OF THE BRITISH PETROLEUM COMPANY. Volume 2: THE ANGLO‐IRANIAN YEARS 1928–1954. By J. H. Bamberg. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1994. 639 pp. 55 tables, 5 maps, 20 graphs and diagrams, 88 illustrations, 3 appendices, index. £55.00 (hb).

POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC TRENDS IN CENTRAL ASIA. Edited by Shirin Akiner. London, British Academic Press, 1994. ix, 205 pp.

FAITH AND FREEDOM: WOMEN'S HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE MUSLIM WORLD. Edited by Mahnaz Afkhami. London, I. B. Tauris, 1995. xi, 244 pp: £12.95 (pb).

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ARABIC SOCIOLINGUISTICS: ISSUES AND PERSPECTIVES. Edited by Yasir Suleiman. Richmond, Curzon Press, 1994. xv, 273 pp.

DIE MAMLUKISCHE ARCHITEKTUR IN ÄGYPTEN UND SYRIEN. By Michael Meinecke. (Abhandlung des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts Kairos, Islamische Reihe, Band 5.) Gluckstadt, Verlag J. J. Augustin GmbH, 1994. 2 vols., 819 pp. 142 pis., 153 plans.     

Police use of force against drug suspects: Understanding the legal need for policy development

When confronted by the police, drug suspects sometimes attempt to destroy evidence by orally ingesting the contraband in their possession. Police officers have limited time to react before this evidence is destroyed. These conditions raise the question of exactly how much force officers may employ lawfully to prevent the imminent destruction of evidence. If an officer overreacts and uses more force than reasonably necessary to retrieve the drugs, the evidence may be ruled as inadmissible at trial. Furthermore, the application of excessive force may expose the officer and the agency to claims of civil liability for injury or damages. Given the myriad of legal questions arising within this unique context, this paper reviews relevant federal and state case law to assess the legality of various levels of force when resolving such situations. Law enforcement agencies need to develop appropriate policy statements to guide officer behavior during these types of field encounters.     

A cognitive model of firearms policing

The performance of police firearms teams must be efficient and accurate—anything else could result in the death of the officers or those they are tasked with protecting. However, there are a wide range of cognitive factors that impact the way in which these officers perform, many of which are not taken into account while planning tactical operations or during the investigations that follow. This paper considers the role of these cognitive factors in firearms policing, looking at their impacts on officer actions/reactions and the ways in which these effects may be counteracted. Author’s Note: Dr. Kavanagh is a psychology consultant specializing in the psychology of high risk policing operations. Her areas of interest include public order, hostage negotiation, and body recovery work; her primary focus is on the psychological components of the police use of firearms. She works with a number of police forces throughout the UK and provides training to officers and command staff on the psychological aspects of their role.