Dancing in the dark: Ecstasy, the dance culture, and moral panic in post ceasefire Northern Ireland

The hiatus caused by the Republican and then Loyalist ceasefires of 1994 left Northern Ireland in a state of flux. The rhythm of ‘the Troubles’ had become constant, predictable, and familiar. Sudden peace usurped these old certainties for many people; not only members of the police and media but politicians, the legal and medical professions, and most certainly, the paramilitaries. Therefore, the cessation of conflict brought with it a respite from bombs and bullets, but also a feeling of inertia and often literal redundancy for many. The author argues that, along with the (temporary) truce, came a sense of unease, a vacuum which had once been filled by violence. In this climate, a moral panic over drug use within youth subculture may have served a variety of hidden agendas. The author is indebted to Kieran P. McEvoy, Assistant Director of the Institute of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Queen’s University Belfast. This article has benefited greatly from the assistance afforded me by the librarians and staff of the Queen’s University Law Library, Belfast Central Library, BBC Northern Ireland,The Irish Times, The Irish News, The News Letter, The Belfast Telegraph, andFortnight. The informative comments of Rob Phipps at the Health Promotion Agency, Kate McCullough at Dunlewey Substance Advice Centre, and Detective Superintendent Kevin Sheehy of the RUC Drug Squad were invaluable. A version of this article was awarded the Social Science Research Council Prize 1996 by the Royal Irish Academy, Dublin.     

The use of corruption by “Russian” organized crime in the United States

This paper exemplifies the research of the Organized Crime Study Center in Vladivostok, Russia. Using secondary sources, it examines Russian organized crime in the United States in recent years. Special attention is given to the study of cases of corruption by Russian criminal groups in the United States. The author analyzes corruption, crime, and the practices of U.S. law enforcement agencies to combat them.     

Bogus Publicity Items and the Contingency Between Awareness and Media-Induced Pretrial Prejudice

Venue surveys can be criticized because they do not attempt to control for response biases, such as the tendency to report having read about any story that seems plausible. Bogus items (fabricated publicity items) are a common way to control for this bias. In two studies we examined whether controlling for this bias changes the relation between exposure to media and prejudice. Based on two actual crimes with quite different media exposure rates, communities were surveyed about their exposure to media surrounding the case and their prejudice toward the defendants. A bogus item was included on each survey. In both studies the correlations between exposure to media and prejudice were significant and remained unchanged when data from respondents who indicated having read about the bogus item were excluded. These findings suggest that, in parallel to the social desirability literature, the response tendency to report awareness of media events does not threaten the validity of venue surveys.