The State of American Federalism, 2001-2002: Resilience in Response to Crisis

The past year has been one of repeated shocks to governmentand the larger society. Terrorist attacks in New York City andWashington, D. C., the burst of the dot.com bubble in the stockmarket, a wave of corporate scandals, and a slowdown in theeconomy posed severe problems for officials of all governmentsin the federal system. The combined effects of the war on terrorismand the economic turmoil forced federal policymakers to createnew agencies and to enact new policies. State and local governmentsalso responded to the multiple shocks with a variety of initiatives,often independent of Washington. Instead of a move toward centralizationthat might have been predicted as a consequence of the seriousshocks, all elements of the American federal system demonstrateda capacity and energy to marshal resources in a time of urgency.     

Correlations between the Offer Self-Image Questionnaire for Adolescents and the minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory in a psychiatric hospital population

In an attempt to learn more about the validity of the Offer Self-Image Questionnaire for Adolescents (OSQ), the 11 scale scores for 14 male and 26 female adolescent patients in a private psychiatric hospital were correlated with their scores on 13 of the 14 minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) Scales. Of the 144 correlations calculated, 27% were significant at least at the 0.05 level and 5% were significant at the 0.01 level. The OSQ seems to be measuring depression, anxiety, and self-devaluation as they affect emotional tone, mastery of external problems, psychopathology, and adjustment. Further work needs to be done with normal adolescents concerning the validity of the OSQ scales. Additional research on the Impulse Control and Social Relationship scales is especially needed to determine the exact meaning of these scales. A review of some of the pertinent literature shows that self-report methods are appropriate and efficient in clinical work and research with adolescents. A general comparison of the OSQ and the MMPI shows that the MMPI has the advantage of good validity scales and other statistical properties, while the OSQ appears more attractive because of its appropriateness for adolescents.Received Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Bonn in West Germany.     

Towards the Real Cross-examination Criminal Procedure in Hungary

Act of XIX/1998 on Criminal Procedure that had become known in theeyes of the public and the legal sciences as The New Code on CriminalProcedure was promulgated by the Hungarian Parliament on its sessionof 10th of March 1998. The reason for the creation of such an Act was theeagerness to finally get rid of the criminal procedure act of the socialistera, e.g. to get rid of its principle of equality of two main phases: theinvestigation and the procedure in front of the court. Also it was among thepurposes of the new act to adjust our rules of procedure to the regulationsof the Western European Countries. The legislator was took into considerationthe general principles and institutions of Act XXXIII of 1896 on CriminalProcedure, without reviving its surpassed parts. The practices of the Strasbourginstitutes were considered as well.     

Scanning electron microscopy analysis of experimental bone hacking trauma

The authors report on their macro- and microscopy study of bone lesions made by a sharp force instrument (a single blade knife), and a sharp-blunt instrument classified as a chopping weapon (a hatchet). The aim of this work was to attempt to identify the instrument by analyzing the general class characteristics of the cuts. Each weapon was used on human bones. The results indicate that macroscopic analysis is more problematic. The microscopic analysis assessed that characteristics examined were effective in distinguishing sharp from sharp-blunt injury to the bone. The microscope facilitates analysis unachievable with macroscopic methods, some three-dimensional characteristics not visible to the naked eye being clearly defined with its use. Emphasis has been placed on the value of SEM as an anthropologist's tool in bone lesion injuries.