Multiple Self‐Inflicted Stab Wounds to Neck,Chest and Abdomen as a Unique Manner of Suicide

Abstract: This is a case report of a 30‐year‐old man found dead in his flat lying on the floor with multiple stab wounds over the body, surrounded by an extensive volume of blood. Examination of the scene of death showed a secure flat, locked from inside. A blood‐stained knife was present close to the body and two unstained notes left on the sofa at the locus. A small plastic bag containing white powder (which following toxicological examinations appeared to be cocaine) and an almost full bottle of beer were present on a table. Autopsy revealed more than 40 stab wounds to neck, chest, and abdomen arranged in isolated groups within which the wounds showed similar directions and had a transverse orientation. Together with hesitation marks located on the neck and wrists these characteristics allowed to interpret this case as a suicide.     

Government-sponsored reinsurance

Many measures to reform health insurance markets include various types of government-sponsored reinsurance. This article explains the purposes and types of private and public reinsurance, and reviews available evidence about their performance. The author concludes that government-sponsored reinsurance inherently cannot reduce total costs, but it can shift costs from the private to the public sector. Also, reinsurance can help transition to a new government program or market structure that creates uncertain risks. Whether reinsurance is the best way to accomplish these goals depends greatly on the details.     

Atypical Accommodations for Employees with Psychiatric Disabilities

People with psychiatric disabilities often need atypical accommodations to participate in today's workforce. Some of these accommodations, including structural and social changes in the workplace, can address biases against people with psychiatric disabilities, while others ameliorate deficits that may affect performance or interaction with others. Many courts have denied requests for such accommodations based on employers' assumptions about performance or the direct threats purportedly posed by people with psychiatric disabilities. By challenging these assumptions, which can be influenced by stigma and stereotypes, and by enforcing an employer's duty to interact regarding potential accommodations, employees with psychiatric disabilities could benefit from structural and social accommodations. Courts should consider social science research in determining which nontraditional accommodations may be reasonable and whether the employer can establish that they impose any undue hardship. Such consideration will expand opportunities for people with psychiatric disabilities in the workplace without unduly interfering with employers' interests.     

Designing Programming and Interventions for Women in the Criminal Justice System

Women are the fastest growing segment of the criminal justice population, yet the majority of research on criminal justice populations has been focused on men. Programming and interventions that reduce women’s involvement in the criminal justice system and ameliorate the negative consequences associated with criminal justice involvement are urgently needed. The overall aim of this paper is to provide a comprehensive framework for developing evidence-based, gender-specific programming and interventions to reduce criminal justice involvement and its associated consequences among women in the criminal justice system. The first section of the paper offers a conceptually guided review of the three primary factors that facilitate and complicate women’s involvement in the criminal justice system: victimization; mental disorders; and substance use. In the second section of the paper, findings from focus groups conducted with women on probation or parole identify strategies to engage this population in psychosocial interventions. The third and final section of the paper provides comprehensive recommendations for designing programming and interventions for women in the criminal justice system.     

Gaze patterns to child figures reflect deviant sexual preference in child sex offenders—a first glance

Abstract

Research on non-offending heterosexual participants has indicated that men's gaze allocation reflects their sexual preference. In this exploratory pilot study we investigated whether naturalistic gaze behaviour is sensitive to deviant sexual preferences. We compared gaze patterns of convicted heterosexual child sex offenders (CSOs; n = 13) with female victims to heterosexual non-offending men (n = 13) in a task of free-viewing images of clothed male and female figures aged 10, 20 and 40 years. CSOs dedicated more fixations to the upper body of the female child than male child figures. The pattern was different for the control sample, whose gaze pattern to male and female figures could only be differentiated when viewing adult figures. CSOs showed significantly greater difference in their gaze towards the upper body of male and female children than non-offenders. Our findings provide preliminary evidence for eye-tracking as a potential method of assessing deviant sexual interest.