Juvenile Psychopathy from a Developmental Perspective: Implications for Construct Development and Use in Forensic Assessments

D. Seagrave and T. Grisso (2002) provide a review of the emerging research on the construct of juvenile psychopathy and make the important point that use of this construct in forensic decision-making could have serious consequences for juvenile offenders. Furthermore, the existing literature on the construct of psychopathy in youth is not sufficient to justify its use for most forensic purposes. These basic points are very important cautions on the use of measures of psychopathy in forensic settings. However, in this response, several issues related to the reasons given for why concern over the potential misuse of measures of psychopathy should be greater than that for measures of other psychopathological constructs used to make decisions with potentially serious consequences are discussed. Also, the rationale for some of the standards proposed to guide research on measures of juvenile psychopathy that focus on assumptions about the construct of psychopathy that are not clearly articulated and that are only peripherally related to validating their use in forensic assessments is questioned.     

Psychopathology and tattooing among prisoners

Tattooing has always been associated with criminals. Indeed, it is both an administrative and clinical problem in prisons. This article looks at the relationship between psychopathology and tattooing infractions within prison. Using a sample of 8,574 male inmates in the Colorado Department of Corrections, initial admission personality testing was compared to tattooing infractions within the next 2 years. Personality types more likely to engage in tattooing included Antisocial, Sadistic, Negativistic, and Borderline. Compulsive personality types engaged in relatively less tattooing. Clinical syndromes associated with more tattooing included Mania, Drug Abuse, Post-Traumatic Stress disorder, and Thought Disorder.     

Forensic odontology lessons: multishooting incident at Port Arthur,Tasmania

On Sunday 28 April 1996 a lone gunman killed and injured many people at the historic penal settlement ruins at Port Arthur in South Eastern Tasmania, Australia. Thirty-two victims were shot dead and 19 were injured in a short time inside a cafe and along the roadway leading to the site entrance. The gunman then took one hostage to a nearby guest house which was occupied by a married couple. Police stood siege during the night. Early the next day the cottage began to burn and a man suspected to be the gunman eventually ran unarmed from the building with his clothes alight and was arrested. The house burned to the ground. Three bodies were later located in the burnt ruins. Forensic odontology played a role in the retrieval of evidence and identification of the incinerated victims. Lack of antemortem dental records for one victim necessitated the reliance on a single CT scan radiograph for matching with the remains. Fire scene procedures, evidence collection and other issues were reviewed. The overwhelming scale of this tragedy and its adverse effects on the Tasmanian community, especially the victims' families and survivors, cannot be overestimated. While acknowledging this, it is important that lessons are learnt from tragedies such as these. This paper is presented with a view to assisting forensic odontologists in the investigation of complex incidents.     

Rapid determination of carbohydrates in heroin drug seizures using capillary electrophoresis with short-end injection

A simple and rapid method for the analysis of carbohydrates in heroin samples by capillary electrophoresis utilizing a borate complexation method is described. Separations were performed using an uncoated fused silica capillary, 50 cm x 50 micro I.D. x 360 microm O.D. with an effective separation length of 9 cm. The system was run at 60 degrees C with an applied voltage of -8 kilovolts. Injection of each sample was for 1 sec at -50 mbar. UV detection was employed with the wavelength set at 195 nm. The background electrolyte consisted of 65 mM borate, pH 12.0. Samples and standards were prepared in the run buffer containing 2 mg/mL of mannose as an internal standard. Under these conditions a test mixture containing glucose, sucrose, lactose, mannitol and mannose as an internal standard was resolved within 5 min. The method was used to determine the concentration of carbohydrates in heroin seizure samples and synthetic heroin samples. The results were in good agreement with the reported values.