Concurrent cross-validation of the Self-Appraisal Questionnaire: a tool for assessing violent and nonviolent recidivism and institutional adjustment on a sample of North Carolina offenders

The aim of this study was to determine whether the Self-Appraisal Questionnaire (SAQ), a tool that was found to be reliable and valid for assessing violent and nonviolent recidivism and institutional adjustment for Canadian offenders, would also be valid for the same purposes with a demographically different population of North Carolina offenders. The internal consistency alphas and SAQ total and subscale scores' correlations were high. Offenders with high SAQ total scores had significantly more violent offenses, had more total number of past offenses, had higher numbers of past arrests, and had more institutional infractions than those with low SAQ scores. There were no significant differences between the responses of the African American and Caucasian offenders on the SAQ scales. These results support previous findings regarding the reliability and validity of the SAQ for assessing recidivism and institutional adjustment and suggest that the SAQ could be used with diverse populations.     

States and the politics of incrementalism: health policy in Wisconsin during the 1990s

Wisconsin officials during the 1990s seemed poised to enact innovative and comprehensive health care reform. During that era, an ambitious, popular, and reform-minded governor led the state. The state had an unusually professional legislature. The state's economy was strong. Even with these advantages, however, the report card on the state's efforts is mixed. The state enacted a fairly modest set of reforms that were financed largely by the federal government and subject to extensive federal oversight. The Wisconsin story thus seems to be about the politics of incrementalism. But while critics of incrementalist politics point out that the number of uninsured continues to grow, the catalytic federalism witnessed in Wisconsin in the 1990s may well be the best model for implementing health care reform.     

The designer drug situation in Ibiza

A total of 137 urine samples and 46 serum samples, corresponding to 154 self-confessed designer drugs consumers in Ibiza island, were analyzed for the presence of designer drugs: amphetamine and amphetamine derivatives (methamphetamine, methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), methylenedioxyethylamphetamine (MDEA), methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA), p-methoxymethylamphetamine (PMMA), p-methoxyamphetamine (PMA), etc.), ketamine and gamma-hydroxybutyric acid. Among this population, coming both from the forensic clinic and from the emergency room of a hospital, a total of 99 cases were found positive for some designer drug. This study shows the prevalence of methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) among designer drug users, sole or in association with other drugs. Also, the mixture of MDMA with other designer drugs, ethanol and/or cocaine is shown to be more likely to produce toxic symptoms requiring clinical attendance in a hospital emergency room. These findings along with the consumption history, the concentrations of drugs and metabolites in urine and serum and the toxicological significance for the interpretation of some MDMA metabolites such as 4-hydroxy-3-methoxymethamphetamine (HMMA) are discussed in this study.     

Value of fetal autopsy after medical termination of pregnancy

We carried out a retrospective study of 352 medical terminations of pregnancy (MTP) carried out in a large French administrative region over two consecutive years. We analysed the indications for MTP and then compared the prenatal ultrasound diagnosis with fetal autopsy findings in order to demonstrate the value of pathological examination of the fetus in prenatal diagnosis and genetic counselling as well as the need to check by autopsy the quality of ultrasound screening. Preliminary analysis of the indication for these MTP showed that in 69.9% ultrasound screening had been carried out, revealing mainly brain abnormalities (22.2%) and heart defects generally associated with chromosomal abnormalities (32.1%). Prenatal findings were in agreement with autopsy results, showing no false-positive prenatal diagnoses. However, in 7.9% of cases in which brain abnormalities were detected, confirmation was not possible at autopsy because of tissue autolysis, showing the need for optimal conditions of expulsion. In 35.8% of cases, confirmation of the diagnosis by autopsy was not useful for management but still added to medical knowledge and demonstrated to the mother the reality of the defects. In 50.9%, the autopsy findings were decisive for genetic counselling.     

Characterization and haplotype analysis of 10 novel Y-STR loci in Chinese Han population

In this study, we analyzed allelic sequences of 10 novel Y-specific STR loci, DYS454, DYS510, DYS513, DYS520, DYS542, DYS544, DYS552, DYS561, DYS587 and DYS593, surveyed the distribution of haplotypes in a Chinese Han population. Extracted DNA was amplified with PCR, followed by a horizontal non-denaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis with discontinuous buffer system. Purified alleles were sequenced on DNA sequencer (ABI Model 377) to verify the number of motif repeats. The number of alleles observed at each locus ranged from 3 to 8, yielding 102 haplotypes in 103 unrelated males samples. The allele diversity values for each locus ranged from 0.2099 (DYS544) to 0.7523 (DYS552). The haplotype diversity using all these loci was 0.9998. Our study revealed that they were valuable Y-specific markers for forensic applications.     

Homicide by blunt force in 2 Scandinavian capitals

In the Oslo and Copenhagen areas, 77 instances of blunt force homicides were committed from 1985-1994, accounting for 18% of all homicides in that 10-year period. Fifty-four (70%) of the victims were male, often killed by an acquaintance during a fight. Almost 70% of the female victims were killed in their own home, whereas that was the case for only 30% of the male victims. The majority of the victims (of both sexes) had been hit in more than 1 region of the body. A female offender was encountered in 4 instances; none of their victims were children. Of the 3 children in the blunt force victim group, 2 were battered children. Many of the victims with a blood alcohol level of 0 turned out to have lived for some time after the injury.     

Female repeat offenders negotiating identity

This study examines the process of identity negotiation for Israeli female ex-convicts who were separated for extensive periods of time from their children and eventually lost custody over them. The content analysis of in-depth interviews reveals that these women were able to reconstruct their biographies and retrospectively account for their crimes and drug addiction in terms of the sexual, physical, and economic abuse they had endured and by appeal to higher loyalties, their children who they had to provide for. However, when having to account for their fallings as mothers, all biographical reconstruction, external blame, and accusation collapsed. Looking at themselves through their children's eyes, female offenders were simply unable to renegotiate the imputed identity of incompetent mother. They could neither confront their children's anger nor explain to them why they had abandoned them. Permanently alienated from the center of motherhood, these women were doomed to an existential chaos.     

The Impact of Confidence on the Accuracy of Structured Professional and Actuarial Violence Risk Judgments in a Sample of Forensic Psychiatric Patients

Some previous research indicates that confidence affects the accuracy of probabilistic clinical ratings of risk for violence among civil psychiatric inpatients. The current study investigated the impact of confidence on actuarial and structured professional risk assessments, in a forensic psychiatric population, using community violence as the outcome criteria. Raters completed the HCR-20 violence risk assessment scheme for a sample of 100 forensic psychiatric patients. Results showed that accuracy of both actuarial judgments (HCR-20 total scores) and structured professional judgments (of low, moderate, and high risk) were substantially more accurate when raters were more confident about their judgments. Findings suggest that confidence of ratings should be studied as a potentially important mediator of structured professional and actuarial risk judgments.     

Infanticide in Malaysia: two case reports and a review of literature

In a strict and conservative society like Malaysia, the number of cases of infanticide has continued to occur. The authors present two typical cases of infanticide in Malaysia. Case 1 concerned a body of a fully mature newborn fetus disposed in a rubbish bin. The head was traumatically amputated by the rubbish truck's compactor. The umbilical cord was still attached to the body, with no reddening around the insertion. The severed neck showed features consistent with post-mortem amputation. The significant finding was expanded crepitant lungs, which floated in water. The histology of the lungs showed expanded alveoli. It was concluded that the baby had been born alive, but no cause of death could be elicited. Case 2 concerned a decomposed mature newborn found in a scrub forest. The internal organs showed advanced putrefaction, the lungs being collapsed, congested, and hemorrhagic, typical of decomposed lungs. No conclusion could be made about the state of birth or the cause of death because of the putrefied state of the body. The two cases illustrate the typical cases and problems faced by pathologists locally and probably elsewhere in the world. Most of the bodies are found in a putrefied state. Pathologists have to ascertain not only maturity and live birth but also the cause of death, which may be very subtle or masked by putrefaction. The problems of diagnosis of live birth are discussed.