The Nocturnal Ovipositing Behavior of Carrion Flies in Cincinnati, Ohio

Abstract:  The behavioral patterns of nocturnal oviposition represent a window of time that potentially has a large impact on postmortem interval estimations. We investigated the behavioral patterns of carrion flies at night by exposing euthanized rats between sunset and sunrise to see if carrion flies oviposited upon the carrion over two consecutive summers. We investigated urban and rural locations, in both lit and unlit conditions with n  = 125. We found that nocturnal ovipositing did not occur in the Cincinnati metropolitan area. We conclude that nocturnal oviposition is an unlikely event in the Cincinnati metropolitan area.     

Reassessing ideological bias in campaign participation

Until 1964, ideological conservatives tended to participate in presidential campaign activities at higher rates than liberals. Since then, Beck and Jennings (1980, 1984) have shown the variable nature of the participation-ideology relationship, arguing that ideologically extreme candidates have successfully mobilized their followers in particular elections. In this paper, we explain the anomaly of the 1980 election in which strong liberals participated at higher rates despite a very strong conservative on the Republican side. Using data collected over time in 1980 by the University of Michigan's Center for Political Studies (CPS/NES), we broaden the Beck-Jennings model to include participation during the primary season and hypothesize that mobilization of ideological groups may result from ideological candidatesand the competitiveness or closeness of a nomination contest. We find that the ideological candidate model explains general election participation to a significant degree, while competitiveness considerations are more important for mobilization during the primaries.     

Learning from Uncle Sam? Exploring U.S. Influences on British Crime Control Policy

This paper examines the idea of "policy transfer" in the arena of crime control. More specifically, it examines the influence of the United States on recent criminal justice and penal policy developments in Britain. Three policy areas are discussed: privatized corrections, "zero-tolerance" policing, and "three-strikes" sentencing. Changes in these areas are widely perceived as being strongly influenced by developments in the U.S., although there has yet to be a systematic empirical study of how and why these policy developments occurred. Drawing on a review of literature, this paper examines the plausibility of the idea of policy transfer and highlights distinct routes through which policy transfer may occur between jurisdictions. It uses Bennett's (1991) model of "policy convergence" as a framework for exploring how "emulation,""elite-networking,""harmonization," and "penetration" might have been relevant to policy changes in these areas. Finally, the paper considers how the concept of policy transfer in criminal justice and penal policy might be further examined empirically.     

Building civic infrastructure: implementing community partnership grant programmes in South Africa

This article examines recent efforts to establish Community Partnership Grant Programmes (CPG) in six South African communities. CPG programmes provide the financial and organizational infrastructure to support citizen‐initiated neighbourhood projects. We review our efforts to disseminate the CPG programme model in three different environments in South Africa—a large metropolitan area, three smaller municipalities and two tribal villages—and analyse why preliminary implementation results were positive in some communities but not others. Our findings form the basis of a model of CPG programme implementation based on the mode of implementation and the breadth of stakeholder involvement. We use this model to make recommendations to increase the likelihood of implementation success for similar programmes. The article concludes with observations about the applicability of the CPG programme idea as a way to develop civic infrastructure, and on the political lessons learned from our implementation experience in South Africa. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Functional Neuroimaging of Symptom Validity Testing in Traumatic Brain Injury

The Word Memory Test (WMT) is a commonly used symptom validity test (SVT) that assesses recognition verbal memory. The task has been adapted for use within a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) paradigm so the neural correlates of WMT activation patterns can be studied. In the current investigation, performance on the delayed recognition subtest of the WMT was examined in two patients who sustained severe TBI and compared to ten healthy controls. The patients underwent comprehensive neuropsychological evaluations and structural MRI. All participants completed two versions of the WMT: full-effort and simulated poor effort conditions. Despite extensive structural brain damage, the fMRI activation patterns during full-effort WMT performance were somewhat similar in the two TBI patients and likewise, somewhat similar to controls. The fMRI activation pattern in both patients demonstrated intact activation of the basic neural structures necessary to perform the WMT. Dissimilar patterns of activation were obtained during the simulated poor effort condition of WMT performance suggesting that fMRI techniques may be sensitive in demonstrating non-credible cognitive performance. The results of our study represent the first fMRI investigation of normal and simulated poor effort SVT performance in individuals with documented brain damage. The implications of fMRI techniques in SVT research and their clinical application are discussed.     

The role of violence in street crime: a qualitative study of violent offenders

Studies on the motivation for violent street crime, such as robbery and assault, have tended to draw on either the rational choice or the subcultural perspective. This study explores the extent to which violence on the street can be explained by rational factors associated with the successful commission of the offence or social factors related to street culture. The study is based on qualitative interviews with 55 violent street offenders who were serving sentences for street robbery and assault in six prisons in the United Kingdom. The findings, based on accounts of 101 incidents of street violence, identified four main explanations for street violence: (a) successful offence enactment, (b) buzz and excitement, (c) status and honor, and (d) informal justice. The article concludes that there might be benefits in combining the insights of both perspectives by generating an integrated theory that would properly explain both the rational and the seemingly irrational components of street violence.     

Does neighborhood watch reduce crime? A systematic review and meta-analysis

Neighborhood watch grew out of a movement in the USA during the late 1960s that promoted greater involvement of citizens in the prevention of crime. Recent estimates suggest that over a quarter of the UK population and over 40% of the US population live in areas covered by neighborhood watch schemes. The current paper presents the results of a recent systematic review of evaluations of neighborhood watch. The main findings of the narrative review were that about half of the schemes evaluated showed that neighborhood watch was effective in reducing crime, with most of the other evaluations having uncertain effects. The main findings of the meta-analysis were that 15 of the 18 studies provided evidence that neighborhood watch reduced crime. While the results of the review are encouraging, it was concluded that more high-quality research needs to be done to help explain why study variations exist.