Risk,reconviction rates and pro-offending attitudes for child molesters in a complete geographical area of London

Abstract

The study reports on all convicted child molesters in an inner city area over seven years, half of whom received a community treatment package. The average time at risk in the community was three years. There were 17 ‘failures’: subjects who were either breached for non-compliance, or reconvicted for general, violent or sexual offences. Historical, rather than cognitive variables appeared to be associated with failure. Key factors were a history of being sexually victimised and previous sexual/violent convictions.     

Postmortem pink teeth.

A series of cases is reported in which pink teeth were observed during the postmortem period. Most cases were associated with decomposition in a moist environment. Experimental procedures led to the extraction of pink material from dentin and demonstration that hemoglobin and serum proteins were present. The pink-tooth phenomenon was duplicated in human teeth by instilling into the pulp chambers whole blood and blood with the red cells hemolyzed. The change was manifested in teeth of dogs after freezing, heating, and decomposition in a moist environment. The authors postulate that pink teeth occur as a result of breakdown of red blood cells in the pulp chamber of the tooth and diffusion of hemoglobin and other serum proteins into the dentin via the dential tubules. Histochemical studies show that the brown or gray material in some teeth subjected to postmortem aging is probably hemoglobin and serum proteins. Factors of age, vascularity of the pulp chamber, and postmortem conditions are discussed in relation to the postmortem development of pink teeth.     

Outsmarting the Liars: The Benefit of Asking Unanticipated Questions

We hypothesised that the responses of pairs of liars would correspond less with each other than would responses of pairs of truth tellers, but only when the responses are given to unanticipated questions. Liars and truth tellers were interviewed individually about having had lunch together in a restaurant. The interviewer asked typical opening questions which we expected the liars to anticipate, followed by questions about spatial and/or temporal information which we expected suspects not to anticipate, and also a request to draw the layout of the restaurant. The results supported the hypothesis, and based on correspondence in responses to the unanticipated questions, up to 80% of liars and truth tellers could be correctly classified, particularly when assessing drawings.

Crime-money,reputation and reporting

The emphasis of government legislation on money laundering has been based on the assumption that reporting institutions are able to spot deviant customer behaviour and that implicitly such behaviour is criminal. This paper looks at the drivers for reporting of suspicious or unusual activity, in particular, focusing on the principle of reputation. It considers the evidence over bank disclosure within annual published reports with respect to their money laundering compliance activity; particularly examining whether there was any change in disclosure and hence reputation management reporting by those banks fined by the regulator for lapses of compliance. An attempt is also made to apply the principles of legitimacy theory to evaluate the association between money laundering and reputation looking for evidence of a ‘virtuous cycle of compliance’. However, the findings point to limited public awareness of money laundering and to the adoption of a deficit rather than enhancement model of reputation management.

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Reflections on a course on ‘women and literature’

The authors outline the place of their course in a Polytechnic Humanities Degree and show how, concentrating primarily upon the novel and a line of women novelists from Jane Austen to Doris Lessing, new perspectives upon literary criticism and literary history in relation to society and culture are opened up. Teaching methods and attitudes are discussed in relation to the re-evaluation of the role of women as readers and critics, as well as authors. The success of the course, in terms of the interest it has aroused among students in women authors and feminist criticism is discussed, together with the effects of open recognition of differences of emphasis and point of view between the two tutors responsible for it. The authors express their confidence in the course as undermining a harmful acceptance of the idea of a single established literary tradition, which ‘happens’ to be dominated by white, male authors and critics, thus opening the way for students to appreciate how, as Adrienne Rich puts it, ‘there is another story to be told’.     

Making sense of the case law on Ombudsman schemes

This article analyses the case law on ombudsman schemes in the UK, with the purpose of identifying some of the key trends that underpin this branch of law pre-the first Supreme Court decision in this area, JR55 v Northern Ireland Commissioner for Complaints. While the law on ombudsman schemes remains based on legislation and the various grounds of administrative law available in judicial review, distinct bespoke principles have also been relied upon. These principles are beginning to provide consistent guidance on how the law should be used and interpreted in cases involving an ombudsman scheme. One task of the Supreme Court in JR55 will be to confirm these principles, or rationalize any departure from them.