Models of South-East Asian Organised Crime Drug Operations in Queensland

In 2002, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) issued a report entitled Results of a pilot survey of forty selected organized criminal groups in sixteen countries which established five models of organised crime. This paper reviews these and other common organised crime models and drug trafficking models, and applies them to cases of South East Asian drug trafficking in the Australian state of Queensland. The study tests the following hypotheses: (1) South-East Asian drug trafficking groups in Queensland will operate within a criminal network or core group; (2) Wholesale drug distributors in Queensland will not fit consistently under any particular UN organised crime model; and (3) Street dealers will have no organisational structure. The study concluded that drug trafficking or importation closely resembles a criminal network or core group structure. Wholesale dealers did not fit consistently into any UN organised crime model. Street dealers had no organisational structure as an organisational structure is typically found in mid- to high-level drug trafficking.     

Contract Budgeting

Contract budgeting attempts to reconfigure public budgeting as a system of purchase contracts between provider agencies and central government. It draws its inspiration from a simple model of contract in which the purchaser buys clearly specified outputs from a provider at a preagreed price. Contract budgeting thus represents a fusion of output-based budgeting schemas with the newer enthusiasm for placing the public sector on a 'market' footing. This paper reviews the problems which confront any form of output based budgeting, and then analyses the specific issues of contractualization. It concludes that contract budgeting does not well fit the realities of budgeting in a complex public sector.     

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.     

On intelligence and crime: a comparison of incarcerated sex offenders and serious non-sexual violent criminals

The impact of low IQ on crime has been a focus of debate for several decades now. Although sociologists have virtually removed it from the list of possible factors influencing crime, the impact of IQ on crime continues to generate a significant amount of scientific research and a substantial number of publications. The purpose of this study is to assess intellectual levels and to compare two groups of incarcerated criminals. Using MANCOVA and ANCOVA procedures, 261 sex offenders and 150 non-sexual violent criminals were compared on IQ subscales. The results show significant differences on vocabulary, comprehension, arithmetic, mental math computations, object assembly, letter-number sequencing, and perception subscales, as well as on performance IQ and total IQ. The impacts of penal filtering and sample composition are hypothesized to explain differences between the two subgroups. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

浅析党的第三代领导集体对中国特色民族理论的三大创新和发展

党的第三代领导集体创造性地发展了中国特色的民族理论。主要体现在:先后提出西部大开发战略构想和全面建设小康社会理论,为实现各民族共同发展勾画出美好蓝图;"三个代表"重要思想的提出,为新时期党的民族工作提供了理论指导和行动纲领;将民族工作纳入依法治国方略之中,强调要继续"坚持和完善民族区域自治制度"。     

Politische Institutionen und die Entwicklung generalisierten Vertrauens. Ein internationaler Vergleich

Trust functions as an instrument for establishing long-term and mutually beneficial cooperative relationships. In this paper we investigate the sources of generalized trust. The main focus of the research is the role of the political-institutional context in allowing trust-based relationships to form, controlling for the attributes and motives of individual agents. The central contention of the paper is that political institutions that support norms of fairness, universality, and the division of power contribute to the formation of inter-personal trust. Using data from the World Values Survey we run multi-level models to test for links between differences between the responses of individuals in various countries and the trust-supporting context, in terms of different institutional configurations. Alongside individual resources and attitudes, aspects of social integration and other sociodemographic characteristics, we test for significant effects of contextual factors — such as the influence of formal rule-of-law institutions, social inequality, and the division of power or pluralistic democratic procedures. The study comes to the conclusion that universalistic, impartial and power-sharing institutions increase the prospects for the development of generalized trust.     

Four major disasters in Aquitaine,France: use of odontologic techniques for identification

The 4 mass disasters that have affected the Aquitaine region (France) in the previous 15 years are related through the specificity and the efficiency of dental methodology in identifying the victims. The results point to the decisive influence and the efficiency of dental methodology for identification of bodies that are burned or disfigured after an accident or a prolonged period in water.