Women’s Role in Serial Killing Teams: Reconstructing a Radical Feminist Perspective

This article examines women’s roles in serial killing teams and reconsiders the traditional applications of radical feminist research on serial killers. These applications limit the utility of radical feminist theory for understanding female serial killers who kill in teams. An analysis of patriarchal power relations, which emphasizes the constitutive element of radical feminist theory, provides a useful framework to achieve insight into female serial killers who kill in teams. The advantage of this approach is demonstrated through three case studies of this type of female serial killer: Martha Beck, Myra Hindley, and Karla Homolka.     

Role of chemical tests and scene investigation in determination of range of fire

Forensic pathologists have historically found several characteristics of the entrance wound invaluable in determining range of fire in gunshot fatalities. Among these characteristics are the pattern and constituents of any deposited material such as soot and/or gun powder residues. We describe a case in which the application of previously described characteristics, in the absence of laboratory testing and examination of the crime scene, would have led to an erroneous conclusion with potentially grave consequences. We suggest that all attempts be made to use available laboratory tests and to perform detailed examination of crime scenes in determining the circumstances surrounding fatal gunshot injuries.     

Estonia caught between East and West: EU conditionality,Russia's activism and minority integration

This article takes a subjective approach to studying norm compliance in order to determine how EU conditionality and Russia's activism have affected elite attitudes toward minority policies, majority–minority relations, and language use in Estonian society in the post-accession period. The results of a Q method study and semi-structured interviews with integration elites in spring 2008 reveal four distinct viewpoints. The study casts doubt upon the success of EU conditionality in Estonia by demonstrating that European minority rights norms remain contested and have not been internalized by a substantial portion of elites. In addition, the study points to an important role for Russia's activism in the development of a more inclusive society. Russia's activism actually works against minority integration by reinforcing pre-existing domestic norms that are not compatible with European minority rights standards and by aggravating tensions over history and language, which frustrate integration efforts. This article ultimately contributes to studies on the effects of international pressure on minority integration by pointing to the need for greater attention to the ways in which multiple actors at both the international and domestic levels structure the influence of EU conditionality.     

Increased Hematocrit Due to Electrical‐Waveform Exposures in Splenectomized Sus scrofa,

In laboratory studies of the pig Sus scrofa, hematocrit has consistently increased after conducted‐electrical‐weapon (CEW) exposures, possibly due to contraction of the spleen. Splenectomized animals and intact sham control animals were exposed, each for 30 sec, to a benchtop‐produced electrical waveform of net charge levels similar to those of some CEWs. Changes in the blood were compared statistically. Hematocrit increased significantly in both splenectomized and sham animals. There were no significant main‐effect differences between values of hematocrit from the two groups. There were, however, significant interactive effects of time and splenectomy for hematocrit, red blood cell count, and hemoglobin. After peak values were reached for these variables, values returned toward baseline levels more slowly in splenectomized animals. This may have been due to the lack of a spleen to sequester red blood cells (thereby resulting in more cells remaining in the general circulation), unlike sham animals with intact spleens.     

Does childhood sexual abuse set in motion a cycle of violence against women?: what we know and what we need to learn

This article reviews evidence for the deleterious effects of childhood sexual abuse on female development in both the acute and long-term phases. Taken in aggregate, there is evidence to suggest a persistent cycle of violence perpetrated against women that begins in childhood in the form of sexual abuse, reemerges later in adolescence and early adulthood in the form of physical assault or sexual revictimization, and ultimately places the next generation at considerable risk for victimization. The differential effect of the characteristics of sexual abuse and the wide variation in the onset and developmental course of symptoms are underscored. The need for adequate models elucidating mechanisms behind this continued cycle of violence is discussed.     

Revictimization and self-harm in females who experienced childhood sexual abuse: results from a prospective study

Lifetime trauma histories were ascertained for females with confirmed histories of childhood sexual abuse and comparison females participating in a longitudinal, prospective study. Abused participants reported twice as many subsequent rapes or sexual assaults (p = .07), 1.6 times as many physical affronts including domestic violence (p = .01), almost four times as many incidences of self-inflicted harm (p = .002), and more than 20% more subsequent, significant lifetime traumas (p = .04) than did comparison participants. Sexual revictimization was positively correlated with posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms (PTSD), peritraumatic dissociation, and sexual preoccupation. Physical revictimization was positively correlated with PTSD symptoms, pathological dissociation, and sexually permissive attitudes. Self-harm was positively correlated with both peritraumatic and pathological dissociation. Competing theoretical explanations for revictimization and self-harm are discussed and evaluated.     

Getting a “Flexible Eye”: Round-the-World Travel and Scales of Cosmopolitan Citizenship

The “flexible eye” describes a particularly cosmopolitan perspective derived through mobility, detachment and multiplicity as opposed to rooted-ness or national affiliation. In this article, I explore the extent to which the “flexible eye” serves as an apt metaphor for the spatial and civic affiliations enacted by round-the-world travellers. The discussion here is based on research that examines the narratives travellers publish online while travelling around the world. Drawing on recent academic work on cosmopolitanism and global citizenship, I investigate the way a discourse of cosmopolitan citizenship circulates in these narratives. In particular, I examine the way travellers frame these related activities—moving around the world and sharing their experiences via the Internet—in terms of civic responsibility. Travellers respond to a sense of obligation to produce tolerance, interconnectedness and cultural understanding out of encounters with difference. This formulation of a round-the-world trip as a civic obligation entails movement not only around the world, but also between national and global scales of belonging. How is cosmopolitan belonging filtered through practices of national citizenship? How are travellers both detaching from and re-attaching to notions of national identity in their quest for the “flexible eye” of the cosmopolitan citizen?     

Compensation System Experience at 12 Months After Road or Workplace Injury in Victoria,Australia

Seeking or receiving compensation after injury is frequently associated with poor recovery. Previous research has shown that the stressful nature of compensation procedures and perceived injustice may cause secondary harm. This study examined compensation system experiences in compensation claimants in Victoria, Australia, and explored the relationship between these experiences and injury outcomes. One hundred and sixty compensable patients (120 male, 75.0 %) aged 18–67 years (M?=?43.01, SD?=?14.31), hospitalized for an injury in a motor vehicle crash (n?=?137) or at work (n?=?23), participated. Participants completed questionnaires about compensation system experience, pain, and psychological symptoms 12 months after injury. Principal component analysis (PCA) of the compensation system experience items revealed three components explaining 66.64 % of the variance in compensation experience: (1) “negative procedural experience” (47.29 %), (2) “compensation supported recovery” (10.43 %), and (3) “positive procedural experience” (8.92 %). Worse experience on all components was associated with worse pain (severity, interference, catastrophizing, disability) and psychological symptoms (anxiety, depression, PTSD, perceived injustice). Compensation system experience reflected both negative and positive procedural factors, and feeling supported through recovery. Most participants reported having positive experiences; however, those who were frustrated or stressed from compensation procedures had worse pain and psychological health outcomes. While this association is likely to be bidirectional with “non-recovery” also impacting on compensation experience appraisals, compensation schemes should nonetheless address modifiable sources of procedural injustice (e.g., arduous paperwork and approvals processes) and reinforce procedures that generate perceptions of support (e.g., timely and appropriate access to health services).