A PROACTIVE RESPONSE TO FAMILY VIOLENCE: THE RESULTS OF A RANDOMIZED EXPERIMENT

Recent British work has focused attention on preventing repeat victimization as part of an overall crime prevention strategy. Because domestic violence victims are among those most likely to suffer multiple victimizations, they are logical candidates for programs targeted at reducing repeat victimization.
This article reports on a joint law enforcement-social services approach to reduce the incidence of repeat domestic violence. The research design randomly assigned households reporting domestic incidents within two public housing police service areas in New York to receive or not receive a follow-up to the initial patrol response. (The follow-up visit was conducted by a police officer and a social worker.) In addition, housing projects in the same area were randomly assigned to receive or not receive public education about domestic violence.
Neither treatment produced a reduction in violence. However, households in projects that had received public education and households that received the follow-up visits were both more likely to report new violence to the police than households that did not receive the treatments. Moreover, the effect of the follow-up visit was most pronounced among households with more serious histories of violence. The results suggest that the interventions increased citizens' confidence in the ability of the police to handle domestic situations.     

Responding to the global tobacco industry: Canada and the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control

Abstract: In a continuing quest to build and defend world markets for tobacco products, tobacco companies have long been involved in international cooperation and information‐sharing through their own international corporate networks, as well as through national and international industry trade associations. This is evidenced in tobacco industry corporate documents now freely available on the internet. In order to institute effective tobacco control policy, policy‐makers needed to become equally astute at sharing information across national boundaries and at considering the cross‐national implications of policy and legislation. The World Health Organization has been instrumental in developing the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), and Canada has played an important part in this effort. The FCTC contains both demand‐reduction provisions and supply‐side provisions intended to reduce tobacco use worldwide. As a signatory to the FCTC, Canada has pledged to adhere to these provisions, thereby providing Canadian public administrators with effective tools to reduce tobacco use and its associated health burden both nationally and internationally. Sommaire: En cherchant continuellement à développer et à défendre les marchés mondiaux pour les produits du tabac, les sociétés productrices de tabac sont impliquées depuis longtemps dans la coopération internationale et le partage d'informations par le biais de leurs propres réseaux de sociétés internationales et d'associations professionnelles nationales et internationales. C'est ce qui ressort des documents des sociétés productrices de tabac auxquels on peut accéder librement sur Internet. Afin d'instituer une politique efficace de contrôle du tabagisme, les décideurs politiques ont dù devenir astucieux quant au partage d'informations et à l'étude des répercussions transnationales des politiques et des lois. L'Organisation mondiale de la santé a fortement contribuéà l'élaboration de la Convention‐cadre sur la lutte contre le tabagisme (CCLCT), et le Canada a joué un rôle important sur ce plan. La CCLCT contient à la fois des dispositions relatives à la réduction de la demande et d'autres relatives à l'offre qui visent à réduire la consommation de tabac dans le monde entier. En tant que pays signataire de la CCLCT, le Canada s'est engagéà respecter ces dispositions, fournissant ainsi aux administrateurs publics canadiens des outils efficaces pour réduire la consommation de tabac et le fardeau sur la santé qui lui est associéà l'échelle nationale et internationale.     

Forensic psychiatry and malpractice

This paper concerning the last 87 malpractice cases referred to the Department of Psychiatry and Law, Menninger Clinic, includes 57 suits against mental health practitioners and/or institutions, and 30 nonpsychiatric suits against general hospitals, surgeons, obstetricians, etc. A patient was available for interview in only 12 percent of the psychiatric cases; in 88 percent we reviewed medical records and consulted with attorneys. In the psychiatric cases the crucial question was whether a generally accepted standard of care was breached. The inherent problems of applying appropriate criteria to standards of care by practitioners and institutions are discussed. In half the psychiatric cases we found no significant deviation from acceptable clinical performance; in half we concluded that negligent practice had occurred. We did see a litigant for evaluation in 90 percent of the nonpsychiatric cases. The main issue involving them concerned harm or disability related to presumed negligence by medical personnel. How we evaluate such cases and apply disability criteria is discussed.     

Effects of positional restraint on oxygen saturation and heart rate following exercise

This report assesses the effects on peripheral oxygen saturation and heart rate that positional restraint induces when a person is prone, handcuffed, and "hog-tied." Peripheral oxygen saturation and heart rate were monitored at rest, during exercise, and during recovery from exercise for 10 adult subjects. The effects of positional restraint produced a mean recovery time that was significantly prolonged. Consequently, the physiological effects produced by positional restraint should be recognized in deaths where such measures are used.     

Garcia and the Political Safeguards of Federalism: Is There a Better Solution to the Conundrum of the Tenth Amendment?

In Garcia v. San Antonio Metropolitan Transit Authority (1985),Justice Harry Blackmun held that the Tenth Amendment does notprevent the Congress from subjecting state and local governmentsto the provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act, concludingthat the "political safeguards offederalism" are generally adequateto protect state interests on the national scene. This articleexamines the intellectual foundations of the "political safeguardsof federalism" and finds them inadequate. It then surveys thepost-Garcia scholarship to ascertain whether an alternativetheory of the Tenth Amendment has emerged. Concluding that ithas not, the author suggests the need for afresh approach inview of the hints contained in Justice Sandra Day O'Connor'sopinion in Gregory v. Ashcroft (1991) that five justices maybe ready to reexamine the central thesis of Garcia.