Psychiatric Morbidity Differences in Male and Female Adolescent Inpatients With Alcohol Use Disorders

Objective: To examine gender differences in demography, cooccurrence of Diagnostic Statistical Manual (third edition, revised; DSM-III-R) axis I disorders and axis II personality disorders, and self-reported psychological distress in adolescent psychiatric inpatients with alcohol use disorders. Method: A consecutive series of 61 adolescent inpatients (36 boys and 25 girls) with either alcohol abuse or dependence were reliably assessed with structured diagnostic interviews for DSM-III-R Axis I and Axis II personality disorders. Results: Boys and girls did not differ in age, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, global functioning, age at first psychiatric contact, or number of hospitalizations. Girls were more likely to meet criteria for oppositional defiant disorder, eating disorders, and additional drug use disorders. Girls were also more likely than boys to meet criteria for at least one personality disorder and borderline personality Contrary to gender patterns in the general population, the proportion of girls and boys with affective disorders and conduct disorders did not differ significantly. Conclusions: Relatively few gender differences were found in adolescent inpatient alcohol abusers even where they would be expected, based on non substance-abuse general population gender patterns. When observed, gender differences were in the direction of greater psychiatric disturbance among girls. Some of the gender patterns observed among alcohol abusing adolescents are at odds with gender differences observed in non substance-abuse samples.     

The Contentious American Debate: The First Amendment and Internet-based Hate Speech

This essay reviews the debate over what constitutes hate speech and whether or not such speech is protected by the American First Amendment. First, the concept of white racialism and white supremacy is defined and illustrated. Then after a brief discussion of the legal debate, the nature and problematic definition(s) of hate speech is presented. The unique speech environment of the internet is reviewed alongside attempts to limit and censor topics available on the internet. The arguments for and against restricting first amendment protection are discussed, with a focus on Michael Israel's five criteria for withdrawing first amendment protections. The work concludes with a discussion of the difficulty in constraining discourse on the internet.     

Photo identification: facial metrical and morphological features in South African males

Personal identification of individuals is very important in forensic sciences. Facial identification is becoming even more relevant with increasing crime rates, problems with access control and terrorist attacks. To make facial identification more accurate, an in depth knowledge of the common and rare facial characteristics seen in various populations is needed. This will be advantageous when comparing facial photographs. Currently very little data is available on the facial variation of South Africans. Therefore the aim of this study was to analyse the facial features of a group of South African Bantu-speaking men, to determine the common and rare facial features seen in the group. Facial photographs were taken for 200 volunteers from the Pretoria Police College, in the norma frontalis position. The subjects were between 20 and 40 years of age, with no facial deformities. Thirteen measurements were taken directly from the photographs and used in 12 indices. Eight morphological features were also analysed on each face. Each feature was divided into different categories, which described variants of that feature. The metrical and morphological data were then used to create various combinations of facial characteristics that described different regions of the face. The frequency of occurrence of these combinations was calculated for the study population. The most common features were oval or inverted trapezoid facial shapes, intermediate size noses with a down-turned septum tilt and intermediate size mouths with a flat V-shaped upper lip notch (cupid's bow). The eyes were mostly situated closely together. Some of the rare or absent features included round or square facial shapes and narrow noses with an upturned septum tilt. Matching these rare features on facial photographs will be useful during cases of disputed identification.     

The association of alcohol-induced blackouts and grayouts to blood alcohol concentrations

The primary aim of this study was to investigate the association between measured blood alcohol concentration (BAC) and the presence and degree of amnesia (no amnesia, grayout, or blackout) in actively drinking subjects. A secondary aim was to determine potential factors other than BAC that contribute to the alcohol-induced memory loss. An interview questionnaire was administered to subjects regarding a recent alcohol associated arrest with a documented BAC greater than 0.08 g/dL for either public intoxication, driving under the influence, or under age drinking was administered. Demographic variables collected included drinking history, family history of alcoholism, presence of previous alcohol-related memory loss during a drinking episode, and drinking behavior during the episode. Memory of the drinking episode was evaluated to determine if either an alcohol-induced grayout (partial anterograde amnesia) or blackout (complete anterograde amnesia) occurred. Differences in (1) mean total number of drinks ingested before arrest, (2) gulping of drinks, and (3) BAC at arrest were found for those having blackouts compared with no amnesia; while differences in drinking more than planned were found between the no amnesia and grayout groups. A strong linear relationship between BAC and predicted probability of memory loss, particularly for blackouts was obvious. This finding clinically concludes that subjects with BAC of 310 g/dL or greater have a 0.50 or greater probability of having an alcoholic blackout.