No borders: the case against immigration controls

This article presents the case against immigration controls. Nation states, which are giving up controls on the movement of goods and capital, nevertheless still try to control the movement of people. Like controls under apartheid, immigration controls will eventually become untenable. They are also a relatively recent phenomenon. The actions of the governments of the rich countries, their international agencies and corporations increase both the opportunities and the need for migration. Together with arms sales and support for right-wing repressive regimes, they bear much responsibility for the wars and persecution from which people are forced to flee. The strongest reason for abolishing immigration controls is the increasingly harsh suffering they impose on refugees and migrants, largely to deter others. In the process, they undermine many human rights, including potentially those of existing residents.     

The effects of microwave irradiation on occluded solvents in illicitly produced cocaine hydrochloride

The current clandestine methodology for the manufacture of illicit cocaine hydrochloride utilizes microwave heating in order to dry the finished product. This study addresses the effects this step has on the occluded solvents present in newly prepared cocaine hydrochloride. Nine 1-kilogram-sized batches of cocaine hydrochloride were prepared from cocaine base using a variety of solvents or solvent mixtures commonly utilized in clandestine laboratories, pressed into bricks, and submitted to microwave heating. Residual solvents were qualitatively and quantitatively monitored before, during, and following the microwaving step by static headspace-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. All solvents used in the conversion process were easily detected in the bricks even after extensive irradiation, confirming that occluded solvents are extremely resistant to removal by microwave heating. Qualitative and quantitative data corresponding to the residual solvents in the prepared cocaine hydrochloride bricks are presented.     

Italian Migration Policies in Times of Crisis: The Policy Gap Reconsidered

Abstract

Numerous studies have shown that there is a structural gap between restrictive migration policies and expansive inflows in democratic countries; yet scholars have not sufficiently reflected on how this gap is shaped in times of crisis. Focusing on the case of Italy in the decade between 2007 and 2017, this article assesses the extent to which the different challenges triggered by the economic and humanitarian crises have affected the structural gap, and which actors have mostly contributed to shape it. Our analysis of the Italian case shows how in the decade of the economic crisis the migration policy gap has not been the result of pressure by actors in the economic and liberal norm spheres, but rather reflects conflictual relationships within the political-institutional sphere between Italian governments and EU institutions.     

Linking peacebuilding,rule of law and security sector reform: the European Union’s experience

The rule of law and security sector reform have become central to peacebuilding initiatives in the past decade and a half, accompanying a surge in international interventions in the periphery. Considered of critical importance to the re-establishment of order and the promotion of peace and development, these two areas of reform have gained importance and, today, feature as priorities in the European Union’s external action beyond its immediate neighbourhood. Such policies, however, have often failed to achieve their stated goals. After reviewing the theoretical relationship between peacebuilding, rule of law reform and security sector reform, this article draws on the Union’s practice to argue that a narrow, formalistic approach to rule of law and security sector reform, one that prioritises the transplantation of a western liberal legal framework, has undermined the aims of curbing instability and fostering development.     

Examination of acetone findings in suspected drug-facilitated sexual assaults: A case series

Acetone presence in human biological specimens can result from exogenous administration or endogenous production, resulting from diabetes, dietary composition, alcoholism, and stress response. Victims of drug-facilitated sexual assaults (DFSA) are understood to experience enhanced stress. At the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences (HCIFS), DFSA drug testing includes analysis of volatile compounds, ethanol, methanol, isopropanol, and acetone, by headspace gas chromatography/flame ionization detection. The prevalence of acetone-positive specimens in DFSA casework has been observed to exceed that of other human performance case types. In this report, DFSA cases received between 2019 and 2021 (n = 393) were reviewed and 41 acetone-positive cases were detailed. Overall, nearly 11% of the DFSA cases had acetone-positive blood or urine specimens, where 3% identified acetone only, 6% identified acetone and other drug(s), and 2% identified acetone, ethanol, and other drug(s). Acetone concentrations ranged from 0.010 to 0.147 g/100 mL in urine. Other drugs such as nor-carboxy-Δ⁹-tetrahydrocannabinol, amphetamine, methamphetamine, ethanol, and benzoylecgonine were commonly detected. Elevated stress response encountered during DFSAs may facilitate the mechanism behind enhanced acetone production leading to increased identification. Limited availability of victim medical history precludes understanding the contribution of other disease states or physiological conditions. Nonetheless, the identification of acetone in DFSA specimens supports its potential as a biomarker of trauma in forensic toxicology casework and warrants future research within the community.     

Die Nationalisierung politischer Parteien und Parteiensysteme in asiatischen Neo-Demokratien

This article analyzes the nationalization of political parties and party systems in seven young Asian democracies in national, regional and interregional comparison. The article shows that the degree of territorial homogenization differs among these nations, but is predominantly low compared to other non-Asian party systems. Building on these findings, the article discusses potential explanations for the characteristics of the party systems described here. The empirical evidence suggests that the variance of nationalization among Asian party systems predominantly reflects the importance of territorial and non-territorial cleavage structures as well as of institutional and agency-related factors.     

Continuity and Change in Adolescent Victimization: Examining the Effects of Stable and Dynamic Influences

After decades of treatment as a fairly distinct topic, recent research on victimization has begun to draw on theoretical approaches previously directed at understanding criminal behavior. The current study expands this research by studying victimization and its relationship to key developmental influences with data from 3,976 adolescents. We first detail the longitudinal process that underlies continuity and change in victimization and then consider the impact of time-stable and time-varying covariates that reflect mechanisms within those explanations. Findings suggest that time-varying markers of risky lifestyle and attachment affect victimization, but also that victimization affects risky behaviors and prosocial ties.     

Explaining Bullying Victimization: Assessing the Generality of the Low Self-Control/Risky Lifestyle Model

ABSTRACT

The integrated low self-control/risky lifestyle theoretical framework has proven useful for explaining various types of victimization. Bullying victimization (i.e., verbal, social, or physical attacks), however, may not fit this explanation very well if youths who are bullied do not have to engage in risky behaviors to be singled out by their peers, but could instead be targeted for other reasons (e.g., physical vulnerabilities). In this context, the current paper examines the generality of the low self-control/risky lifestyle model by assessing whether it can effectively explain which youngsters are more likely to be bullied. Using a sample of 1,901 middle school students, the results indicate that, although low self-control significantly predicts whether youths will engage in risky lifestyles (e.g., displaying aggressive attitudes, committing delinquent acts, using illicit substances), participating in such behaviors does not elevate the likelihood of bullying victimization. Instead, the authors’ findings reveal that low self-control directly influences victimization. Further, physical vulnerability is significantly related to being bullied. These findings suggest that the low self-control/risky lifestyle model needs to be revised to accommodate potential age-graded consequences of self-control, and that physical limitations—not “traditional” risky lifestyles—are persistent sources of bullying victimization that should be further evaluated.     

Suicide and changing values and beliefs in Ireland

This paper addresses some of the generalized theories explaining rising suicide rates in Ireland. The conclusion here is that linking suicide patterns to changing beliefs and values is problematic. Church attendance as well as adherence to traditional values remain high in this country compared to European levels, and variations in beliefs and values, especially rural/urban differences, do not fit with general explanations. Moreover, attitudes to value areas fluctuate in that justification for suicide--which showed an upward trend in the 1980s--was reversed in the 1990s, and this may have resulted from increased public focus and debate. Generalized explanations are unlikely to decipher complex phenomena such as suicidal behavior. Religious belief, if protective in relation to suicide, is unlikely to act alone. Social transformations have a differential impact depending on one's socio-economic positioning, which translates ideas of a general male vulnerability to suicide into focused areas of male distress.