Risk assessment in offenders with intellectual disability: a comparison across three levels of security

In mainstream offender samples, several risk assessments have been evaluated for predictive validity. This study extends this work to male offenders with intellectual disabilities. Participants from high-, medium-, and low-security settings, as well as community settings, were compared on a range of risk assessments. The Violence Risk Appraisal Guide, HCR-20-Historical Scale, the Risk Matrix 2000-C (combined risk), and the Emotional Problems Scales-Internalising discriminated between groups, with participants from high security having higher scores than those in medium security, who had higher scores than those in the community. The Violence Risk Appraisal Guide, all HCR-20 scales, the Short Dynamic Risk Scale, and the Emotional Problems Scales (Internalising and Externalising) showed significant areas under the curve for the prediction of violence. The Static-99 showed a significant area under the curve for the prediction of sexual incidents. The discussion reviews the value of these various scales to intellectual disability services.     

The EU–South Africa Strategic Partnership: From bilateral to multilateral forums and the strategic value for South Africa

ABSTRACT

Strategic partnerships are seen as a means of elevating bilateral relations between two countries, or in the case of the European Union (EU), relations between an intergovernmental organisation and its 10 identified strategic partners. There is a growing body of analysis on the value of these strategic partnerships for the two partner states, yet just what role this partnership has within wider multilateral forums is an area for further discussion. This article explores the role that the EU–South Africa Strategic Partnership plays in shaping engagement between the bilateral partners in multilateral contexts. In reviewing the partnership over the course of its first decade, the article argues that South Africa has increasingly acknowledged its potential value. However, further interrogation on how to manage the complex intersection between bilateral and multilateral relations is called for if the strategic partnership is to be used to optimal effect as a tool of foreign policy.     

“I have never met the normal woman”: Stella Browne and the politics of womanhood

Abstract

F. W. Stella Browne (1880–1995) and her views on female sexuality have been much discussed of recent years. These discussions have tended to rely on a limited number of her copious (if often hard-to-find) writings, and have also failed to take into account where Stella, as an individual woman, was coming from. In the light of ongoing researches into her life and career, this article locates her writings in her life of activism in a wide variety of causes. It argues that her opinions about women's needs do not conform to a simplistic model of a ‘New’ feminism of difference, and that her relationship to the thought of contemporary male sexologists has been presented in a one-dimensional and misleading way. Her tripartite commitment to feminism, socialism, and individualism is illustrated, drawing on a wide range of her writings and statements between 1912 and 1937. In her crusade to celebrate and liberate the “variety and variability of women” Stella sought constantly to overthrow concepts of a monolithic female nature as well as to reject the Double Moral Standard: ‘normality’ to her was an instrument for the oppression of women. Consideration is also given to the wider influence of her ideas.     

Does victimization reduce self-control? A longitudinal analysis

Purpose

To examine the effect of victimization on self-control.

Method

Five waves of data from the GREAT survey are analyzed; the effect of prior victimization on subsequent self-control is estimated using the dynamic panel generalized-method of moments.

Results

Victimization reduces subsequent self-control in the near term.

Conclusions

The findings point to another source of low self-control, help to explain why prior victimization is linked to subsequent victimization, and provide support for general strain theory - which predicts that strains such as victimization will reduce self-control.     

Tool mark striations in pig skin produced by stabs from a serrated blade

Stab wounds produced by serrated blades are generally indistinguishable from stab wounds produced by non-serrated blades, except when visible tool mark striations are left on severed cartilage. Using a pig-skin experimental model, we explored the possibility that similar striations may be left in skin. Stabs into pig skin were made using a straight spine coarsely serrated blade (121), a drop point finely serrated blade (20), a clip point irregular coarsely serrated blade (20), a drop point coarsely serrated blade (15), and as controls 2 non-serrated blades (40). Tool mark striations could be seen on the skin wall of the stab canal in all stabs made using serrated blades but in none with non-serrated blades.The striation pattern, reflecting the class characteristics of the serrated blade, was the same as that described in cartilage but less well defined. Fixation of the specimen with Carnoy's solution best preserved visible striations, and fixation with formaldehyde after staining with 5% Neutral Red was also satisfactory. Casting with vinyl polysiloxane dental impression material greatly facilitated photo-documentation. Applying the technique to homicidal stabbings may help identify stab wounds produced with serrated blades.     

志愿者动机之社会和文化起源——六国大学生调查情况比较

虽然有关志愿者活动的参与以及志愿者动机(Motivationsto Volunteers,以下简称MTV)的研究已经受到许多国家(尤其是美国)的持续关注,但是,从文化和政治背景来解析的研究却鲜见。本文对志愿者活动的社会起源论和信息传递论这两种理论进行了比较,阐述了不同国家志愿者动机的差异,着重分析了来自6个国家具有不同文化背景的5,794名学生各自的反应。所得到的结果有力地支持了信息传递论,与此同时却淡化了社会起源论。文章得出结论:参与志愿者活动系个人的决定,更多地受个人影响,当然某种程度上也受到巨大的社会力量的影响。     

Comparing two analytical methods: minimal standards in forensic toxicology derived from information theory

Frequently, new instrumentation and techniques are being applied to casework without an adequate knowledge of how this new technology compares to acceptable analytical procedures. Information theory provides a mathematical method to estimate the identification power of various analytical procedures and predicts if the new method produces a better or poorer confidence in the analysis than an accepted method. This paper makes comparisons based on relative informational power and discusses methods to make those estimates. With the procedures outlined in this paper, an analyst can estimate if a novel technique has the opportunity of reaching the accepted analytical methodology and, if necessary, identify places where the greatest improvement can be made to reach this equilivalence. Even though relative information theory can dismiss some proposed techniques before any analysis starts, it cannot verify if a given technique is adequate for a particular task. For that purpose, a complete procedural verification must be undertaken.