Violent behaviors in drug addiction: differential profiles of drug-addicted patients with and without violence problems

This study explored the prevalence of violent behaviors in patients who are addicted to drugs. A sample of 252 addicted patients (203 male and 49 female) who sought outpatient treatment was assessed. Information on violent behaviors, sociodemographic factors, consumption factors (assessed by the European version of the Addiction Severity Index [EuropASI]), psychopathological factors (assessed by Symptom Checklist-90-Revised [SCL-90-R]), and personality variables (assessed by Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory [MCMI-II]) was collected. Drug-addicted patients who were associated with violent behaviors were compared on all variables with patients who were not associated with violent behaviors. The rate of drug-addicted patients with violent behaviors in this sample was 39.68% (n = 100). There were significant differences between the numbers of patients who did and did not demonstrate violence on some variables. Patients with violence problems were younger than those without violence problems and were more likely to report having been a victim of abuse. Moreover, they were significantly more likely to have experienced an overdose and showed a significantly higher score on several EuropASI, SCL-90-R and MCMI-II variables. According to these results, patients with violence control problems present with both a more severe addiction and several comorbid problems. The implications of these results for further research and clinical practice are discussed.     

Yu-Rock in the 1980s: Between Urban and Rural

Two main myths constitute the founding basis of popular Polish ethnic nationalism: first, that Poland-Lithuania was an early Poland, and second, that the partitioning powers at all times unwaveringly pursued policies of Germanization and Russification. In the former case, the myth appropriates a common past today shared by Belarus, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Ukraine. In the latter case, Polonization is written out of the picture entirely, as also are variations and changes in the polices of Germanization and Russification. Taken together, the two myths to a large degree obscure (and even falsify) the past, making comprehension of it difficult, if not impossible. This article seeks to disentangle the knots of anachronisms that underlie the Polish national master narrative, in order to present a clearer picture of the interplay between the policies of Germanization, Polonization, and Russification as they unfolded in the lands of the partitioned Poland-Lithuania during the long nineteenth century.     

State budget support to local government

The principle of self-government is essentially a new phenomena in the Czech Republic. Under the previous regime, almost everything was ruled by the central government. At the present time, the major constraint to local budget reform is primarily from the local authorities’ lack of experience. While on one hand, this gives the Czech Republic a challenge to avoid some of the mistakes made in several developed countries, it is, on the other hand, difficult to make estimates of the possible responses to any change. Next to the lack of experience, there is a strong feeling both at the local and the central levels of government that the self-government bodies should have almost no regulation from the central government. The current opinion is that their control should be left only to the respective electorate. There is also the belief that self-government units should become increasing financed by tax revenues derived from within their own area. An additional complication is the lack of common non-governmental institutions (different associations and others) which usually smooth the the relationship between local and central governments. The changes in the Czech Republic are not yet complete. After the changes in the legal framework, the complete reform of the tax and social systems were to follow. While the essentials of tax reform were introduced in January 1993, the changes in the social systems are still under consideration. In spite of the relatively short history of having true local authorities functioning in the Czech Republic, the establishment of an additional level of government is being proposed. This issue is reopening some already closed matters and will bring a change to the whole system. As in many other countries, the division of responsibilities between different levels of government will probably continue to be discussed until the end of time.     

On Political Terror during the Soviet Expansion into Lithuania, 1918–1919

This article deals with a noticeable anomaly of Bolshevik expansion in Lithuania during 1918–1919: the refusal of the Soviet authorities to resort to terror to subdue the local population in order to export the world revolution. The author argues that the Soviets avoided political terror in Lithuania because they did not treat the Lithuanians as a nation capable of sustaining their own state. In fact, anti-Bolshevik forces employed more terror than the Bolsheviks in their attempt to drive out the Reds and uproot Lithuanian support for the Communist regime. The Lithuanian left-wing government of Mykolas Sle?evi?ius sought to contain its radicalized military and to preserve a soft-handed relationship with the local Bolshevik government.     

Non-Traditional Overall National Security Outlook

The “New Security Concept” put forward by the Chinese authorities at the turn of the century, with “mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, and coordination” at its core, dealt mainly with non-traditional security approaches and measures in external security. However, it did not touch upon internal security or other traditional or non-traditional security issues in a broader sense. Therefore it is a low form of non-traditional security outlook and a low form of non-traditional national security outlook. When reviewing overall national security issues besides external security and international security, China has stuck to a traditional national security outlook. In comparison, taking “the people’s security as its aim,” the Overall National Security Outlook (ONSO) embodies non-traditional thinking and “attaches importance to both traditional and non-traditional security.” It is, therefore, an advanced non-traditional national security outlook. Though incorporating rich non-traditional national security issues, the ONSO deals with various traditional national security issues, as well. The ONSO is non-traditional in that it handles and highlights non-traditional national security issues; it is holistic because it pays dual attention to both traditional and nontraditional national security issues; it is advanced as it incorporates both traditional and non-traditional national security issues by means of non-traditional thinking.     

浅析“扶老困局”的消解路径

＂乐于助人＂、＂尊老爱幼＂是中华民族的传统美德,然而＂老人摔倒无人敢扶＂已经成为日常生活中的一个景象,这虽然是社会转型时期的社会失范导致的短暂社会现象,但也应该引起我们对社会公德和法律冲突的思考,积极探索＂扶老困局＂的消解路理十分必要。     

Methodological Clarity or the Substantial Purity of Law? Notes on the Discussion between Kelsen and Pitamic

Leonid Pitamic was convinced that law could not be understood and explored by a single method aiming at a pure object of enquiry. He argued that it was necessary to employ other methods besides the normative one (especially the sociological and axiological methods), which, however, should not be confounded. Methodological syncretism can be avoided by clearly distinguishing between different aspects of law and by allowing the methods to support each other. By following this guideline, and by arguing according to a clear method, we can also open up a space for dialogue and for the juxtaposition of contrasting points of view.