Seeking for risk factors of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) in a Greek national sample: the role of self-esteem

The objective of this article is to gain a better understanding of the magnitude of intimate partner violence (IPV) in Greece and to explore factors associated with increased risk of IPV prevalence. A cross-sectional study was undertaken among 1,122 men and women, aged 18 to 65, who are residents of urban areas of Greece. The questionnaire used included 3 sections and 39 items that examined the sociodemographic characteristics of the participants, rate of IPV victimization and perpetration (physical, sexual, emotional), childhood experience of violence, and level of self-esteem. Statistical analysis showed self-esteem to be significantly associated with physical violence victimization and perpetration (odds ratio [OR] = .975, confidence interval [CI] = .955-.996; OR = .972, CI = .951-.993, respectively), whereas experience of abuse during childhood was shown to be a strong predictor in all six models of IPV victimization and perpetration (p < .001). Finally, gender, age and years of cohabitation were some sociodemographic and background characteristics found to increase the risk of specific forms of IPV. Conclusions drawn from the current study should be taken into account in attempts aiming at preventing or ameliorating the problem.     

British Trials of Irish Nationalist Defendants: The Quality of Justice Strained

In what came to be controversial cases in the 1970s, British courts convicted individuals involved with IRA bombing campaigns and sent them to prison. The Guildford Four, Maquire Seven, and Birmingham Six were all convicted with faulty evidence and/or coerced confessions. Obtaining convictions for the bombings was important for the British government and British public opinion, since the guilty persons were caught and punished. There are few indications, however, that the government as a matter of policy decided to convict and imprison innocent people in order to mollify the public and achieve other political objectives. The original convictions were miscarriages of justice but not government policy. The delay in rectifying the original convictions, however, displayed more concern about potential negative effects for the political system if judicial errors were admitted.     

The use of psychological interventions for adult male sex offenders with a learning disability: a systematic review†

ABSTRACT

There is a drive to attend to the specific treatment needs of sexual offenders with a learning disability (LD) and increasing recognition of treatment limitations in this group. Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)-based sex offender treatment programmes (SOTPs) are being increasingly adapted for the LD population. This review systematically considers the evidence base for LD adapted CBT-based SOTPs. Ten studies together comprising 358 participants were reviewed. LD adapted SOTPs were conducted in prisons, secure settings and in the community. Within-treatment findings generally indicated positive cognitive shift, improvements in victim empathy and increased sexual knowledge on psychometric measures. Whilst findings are encouraging, many of the studies have methodological limitations. In particular, all studies used pre-test post-test study designs lacking control groups therefore restricting the evaluation of treatment outcomes. The LD sex offender literature remains underdeveloped and there is a strong case for further research to establish a valid evidence base for treatment.     

The vulnerable atherosclerotic plaque: evaluation of the lipid core in human coronary arteries using morphometry

In Greece, mortality due to coronary artery disease has alarmingly increased during the past 3 decades, especially among younger adults between 30 and 40 years old. Many studies have been conducted over the years in an effort to interpret the presence of acute coronary phenomena-myocardial infarction, thrombosis, and sudden death-in early diagnosis and treatment. The current study focuses on postmortem data from individuals who had sudden coronary death. The coronary arteries of 100 individuals who were routinely subjected to autopsy at the Department of Forensic Sciences of the University of Crete were removed and examined, aiming at the evaluation of the degree of stenosis of the lumen and measurement of proportion of cholesterol in the plaque using Image Pro Plus 4.5. The average degree of stenosis was 79.01%, ranging from 11% to 99%. The cholesterol proportion was measured in 66 specimens, and the average was 25.05%, ranging between 5.3% and 66.3%, whereas 25 of them (37.8% overall) were found to contain cholesterol above the average. It resulted that the degree of stenosis was not of major importance in vulnerable plaques and that the amount of cholesterol followed an almost linear pattern of accumulation.     

The Legitimacy of Using the Harm Principle in Cases of Religious Freedom Within Education

John Stuart Mill’s famous “harm principle” has been popular in the limitation of freedoms within human rights jurisprudence. It has been used formally in court cases and also informally in legal argumentation and conversation. Shortly, it is described as a very simple principle that amounts to the notion that persons are at liberty to do what they want as long as their actions do not harm any other person or society in general. This article questions whether it is legitimate to use the harm principle in cases concerning the limitation of religious freedom within education. For example, can the exemption of a learner from sex education (based on religious objections) be denied based on the argument that such an exemption will cause harm? In order to answer this question, the meaning, origin and use of the harm principle are investigated. This article also discusses four main criticisms against the use of this principle in general and in cases of religious freedom of learners in education.     

Does (better) regulation really matter? Examining public financial management legislation in Greece

Greece is thought to suffer from weak implementation of the law, including weak legislative monitoring and enforcement, a situation that undermines confidence in the rule of law. In recent years, increasing importance has been given to better regulation, namely the improvement of the quality of legislation with regards to state functioning. The purpose of this article is to examine the contribution of better regulation in the compliance of public entities with budgetary laws and regulations. The survey was the first such study to be conducted in Greece, and distributed questionnaires to auditors of the Hellenic Court of Audit, which is the Supreme Audit Institution charged with the authority to conduct external auditing of public entities and their executives. The survey results have confirmed the sense of weakness mentioned above, as most respondents considered the existing legislative framework of public financial management to be unclear, a situation that deterred compliance. Improved law design is expected to ameliorate compliance by public sector bodies, which apparently violate the law more due to its ambiguity and complexity rather than to any deliberate intention. Therefore, non-compliance should be better addressed through simplification of regulations rather than coercive enforcement.     

Laughing with / at the national self: Greek television satire and the politics of self-disparagement

This study engages with the cultural consequences of the self-disparaging politics of television satire. It focuses on an emblematic program of Greek television fiction, Oi Afthairetoi (MEGA channel, 1989–1991) and the ways it both constructs and ridicules a particular version of the Greek self, the “Neoellinas”. By proposing a wider understanding of the political side-effects of television satire, which have so far been mainly addressed within the study of political satire, it turns the attention toward the role of satirical discourse in a public’s view on its national self in times of change or transition. More specifically, while it recognizes the contradictory impact that satire can have on society, it applies the concept of “satiric misfire” as a means to understand satirical endeavors which reinforce rather than counter the problematics they set out to fight against in the first place.     

Tax compliance behaviour during the crisis: the case of Greek SMEs

This paper presents the results of a novel survey of 550 small and micro enterprises in Greece regarding their tax compliance behaviour and drawing some useful policy implications for a country facing one of the largest tax gaps in the developed world. We explore the determinants of such behaviour, by integrating economic and psychological perspectives on tax compliance. Results suggest that respondents perceive a strong connection between the quality of political and of tax institutions, while trust seems to play the most significant role in increasing intended compliance and in deterring strategic tax evasion. We contrast the theoretical results with the actual reported compliance behaviour of entrepreneurs and analyse how this behaviour is influenced by factors like perceived nature of power of tax authorities (legitimate versus coercive), perceived fairness of the tax system, etc. The strategy currently followed, that is toughening the profile of tax authorities is a viable short-term response to increase enforced tax compliance. The present study, however, has provided evidence on the multifaceted nature of power and trust and their relation with tax compliance, and the link between power and trust in political regulatory strategies. Current policies seem to completely miss that link.     

Subtypes of female juvenile offenders: a cluster analysis of the Millon Adolescent Clinical Inventory

The current study sought to explore subtypes of adolescents within a sample of female juvenile offenders. Using the Millon Adolescent Clinical Inventory with 101 female juvenile offenders, a two-step cluster analysis was performed beginning with a Ward's method hierarchical cluster analysis followed by a K-Means iterative partitioning cluster analysis. The results suggest an optimal three-cluster solution, with cluster profiles leading to the following group labels: Externalizing Problems, Depressed/Interpersonally Ambivalent, and Anxious Prosocial. Analysis along the factors of age, race, offense typology and offense chronicity were conducted to further understand the nature of found clusters. Only the effect for race was significant with the Anxious Prosocial and Depressed Intepersonally Ambivalent clusters appearing disproportionately comprised of African American girls. To establish external validity, clusters were compared across scales of the Behavioral Assessment System for Children - Self Report of Personality, and corroborative distinctions between clusters were found here.