Use of drugs of abuse in less than 30-year-old drivers killed in a road crash in France: A spectacular increase for cannabis, cocaine and amphetamines

A collaborative study was conducted in France in order to determine the prevalence of cannabinoids, opiates, cocaine metabolites and amphetamines in blood samples from drivers killed in road accidents in 2003 and 2004 and to compare these values with those of a previous study performed during the period 2000–2001 involving 900 drivers. Blood samples were provided from 2003 under 30-year-old drivers, killed in a traffic accident. Drugs of abuse were determined by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry using the same analytical procedures in all the 12 laboratories.The most frequently observed compounds were by far cannabinoids, that tested positive in 39.6% of the total number of samples. Δ⁹ tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the most active of the principle constituents in marijuana (cannabis sativa), was detected in the blood of 28.9% drivers and was the single drug of abuse in 80.2% of the positive cases. It was associated with amphetamines in 7.4% and with opiates and cocaine in 1.9 and 4.8%, respectively. Amphetamines were present in 3.1% of the total number of samples, cocaine metabolites in 3.0% and opiates in 3.5%.When comparing these results with those of a previous study performed 3 years before, a significant increase is observed for THC (28.9% versus 16.9%), cocaine metabolites (3.0% versus 0.2%) and amphetamines (3.1% versus 1.4%).This study demonstrates the critical necessity of implementing in France as soon as possible systematical roadside testing for drugs of abuse.     

Common Variables Associated with the Development of Stockholm Syndrome: Some Case Examples

Stockholm Syndrome is a paradoxical psychological experience which both intrigues and often frustrates law enforcement and mental health professionals alike. Much attention has been directed toward understanding and defining the contextual variables associated with the development of Stockholm Syndrome. Since it appears that the formation of Stockholm Syndrome may increase the likelihood of hostage survival, discerning the factors that may encourage its occurrence is a priority for crisis negotiators. The purpose of this paper is to (1) analyze crisis situations using actual case examples in which evidence of Stockholm Syndrome has been reported and (2) examine the variables associated with the development of this phenomenon. Case information was obtained from the Hostage Barricade Database System (HOBAS) of the FBI's Crisis Negotiation Unit. Results of this analysis conclude that some, but not all, factors previously hypothesized as requisite to the development of Stockholm Syndrome find additional support from this case analysis.     

Patterns of entry,professional identity,and attitudes toward crime-related education: A study of criminal justice and criminology faculty

In the field of crime-related education, examination of the characteristics of teaching, research, and institutional differences has recently been a concern. This study examines full-time faculty (N=929) and their patterns of entry, including academic degree held, academic major, past academic and agency experience, and type of institution; and the extent to which differing methods of access are associated with attitudes toward research, scholarship, agency practice, academic collegiality, and orientation toward crime-related study. Dual paradigms seem to exist in crime-related education: one centering on teaching, field practice, and professionalism; the other on research, scholarship, and the more traditional values of academe.     

Accountability and global governance: The view from paternalism

A standard view is that global governance institutions require strong accountability mechanisms to perform effectively and legitimately. Yet these institutions are much better at preaching than practicing accountability. A standard explanation for this gap references interests. For various reasons, institutions and their creators would rather be less than more accountable, and they are quite content to live with the hypocrisy. This article points to an alternative possibility: the public interest. An article of faith is that modern governance should be staffed by relatively autonomous experts who use their specialized knowledge for the greater good; accordingly, they cannot be accountable to those who are affected by their decisions. Too much democracy, therefore, can be a source of dysfunction. Yet expert authority's virtues also can become vices; namely, insulation from those affected by their decisions can also be a source of dysfunction, most closely associated with the “iron cage.” Although the possibility that expertise is both a virtue (effectiveness) and a vice (dysfunction) is well known in the literature on domestic governance, it has been neglected in discussions of global governance. Indeed, the dangers of, and dysfunctions associated with the iron cage might be greater in global governance than in domestic governance precisely because of the absence of institutional checks that often are produced by a preexisting social contract between the rulers and the ruled. I probe this possibility in the area of humanitarian governance.