A newspaper surveillance study of homicide-suicide in the United States

The objective of this study was to identify the number and subtypes of homicide-suicides in the United States by age group and state over a 3-year period from 1997 through 1999. A total of 673 homicide-suicides, including 674 perpetrators and 779 victims, were identified from Internet searches of 191 national newspapers, and they were classified according to a modified Hanzlick-Koponen typology. One quarter of the homicide-suicides were perpetrated by persons 55 years or older, and 77% were spousal/consortial, higher than the 57% observed in the younger age group; 11% of the older homicide-suicides were familial, compared with 16% in the younger age group. Whereas only 3% of older homicide-suicides were infanticide/pedicide, 16% of the younger homicide-suicides involved parents killing their children. Forty-five states, including the District of Columbia, reported a homicide-suicide during the 3-year period, and they occurred most frequently in Florida (163), California (98), Texas (36), and New York (35). Newspaper surveillance is useful to identify where homicide-suicides are occurring most frequently, but they are underestimates of the true prevalence. However, the number of incidents detected is large enough that the cases detected may be a fairly representative sample.     

A Contest for Legitimacy: The Divestment Movement and the Fossil Fuel Industry

The divestment movement has sought to influence attitudes to fossil fuels by framing producer companies as pariahs and as unnecessary and redundant. In response, the fossil fuel industry has engaged in a direct and aggressive attack on the divestment movement. This article considers the relationship between the movement and the industry as a contest for legitimacy for both the organizations and the norms they advocate. Through a case study of the coal discourse in Australia from 2013 to 2016, it explores how each party has attempted to undermine the other's legitimacy and to build or defend its own. It concludes that the contest for legitimacy is complex, being conducted at multiple levels (pragmatic, moral, legal, and cognitive) and before multiple audiences. For the movement to “win” the contest, it will require more than a simple rebalancing of the legitimacy scales.     

Gorbachev,Mitterrand, and the Emergence of the Post-Cold War Order in Europe

More than two decades since the Cold War's end, the new ‘united’ Europe resembles the old divided one, without the ideological cleavage. Transferred farther east, the continent's re-division condemned Russia to Europe's fringes where it remains today. Some scholars trace the origins of this fault line to 1989–1990, blaming the United States, Germany and the USSR for failing to erect pan-European security foundations. Few, however, focus on the not insubstantial role of France in this story. Mikhail Gorbachev's close ties with his intellectual mentor François Mitterrand contributed to the failure in unexpected ways. This essay explains this element in the history of the pan-European idea while also shedding light on the politics behind the birth of the EU.     

The Eyeball Killer: Serial Killings with Postmortem Globe Enucleation

Although serial killings are relatively rare, they can be the cause of a great deal of anxiety while the killer remains at‐large. Despite the fact that the motivations for serial killings are typically quite complex, the psychological analysis of a serial killer can provide valuable insight into how and why certain individuals become serial killers. Such knowledge may be instrumental in preventing future serial killings or in solving ongoing cases. In certain serial killings, the various incidents have a variety of similar features. Identification of similarities between separate homicidal incidents is necessary to recognize that a serial killer may be actively killing. In this report, the authors present a group of serial killings involving three prostitutes who were shot to death over a 3‐month period. Scene and autopsy findings, including the unusual finding of postmortem enucleation of the eyes, led investigators to recognize the serial nature of the homicides.     

A Rare Case of an Intact Bone Plug Associated with a Gunshot Exit Wound

This case study presents an unusual manifestation of gunshot trauma in skeletal tissue from a post‐World War II human rights abuse sample uncovered in Vilnius, Lithuania. After briefly reviewing the typical wound appearance of projectile trauma in the cranium, we discuss the presence of an intact bone plug associated with a gunshot exit wound in an individual from the Tuskulenai Case. While this individual demonstrated typical gunshot entry and exit wounds to the cranium consistent with high‐velocity trauma, the bone plug indicates that the projectile likely lost much of its kinetic energy while traveling through the cranium resulting in a low‐velocity impact at the exit site. This study reviews a similar instance of a bone plug recovered from a bioarcheological sample in Peru and emphasizes the importance of thorough archeological excavations of mass graves.     

Oppositional symbolic values of language display,or the case of “English” drinking in France

This article examines the linguistic manifestations of the tension between notions of a healthy national drinking culture and the increasing homogenisation of problematic drinking practices in an era of globalised marketing and media influence. Taking the proliferation of English in France when it comes not only to alcohol advertising, but also public health discourses and mass media commentary as its object, this paper discerns patterns of and motivations for English language borrowings in French when discussing alcohol and immoderate drinking practices. Findings point to a double indexicality in these borrowings. On the one hand, the widespread use of English in alcohol advertising draws on and creates positive associations between English and Anglo-American culture and, on the other, the public health community's use of English terms like binge drinking designates problematic drinking behaviours as foreign and anathema to traditional modes of French alcohol consumption, and by extension to French cultural identity.