Suicide: a ten-year retrospective study

Suicide is a complex phenomenon associated with psychological, biological, and social factors, claiming approximately 30,000 lives each year in the United States. We retrospectively reviewed all cases referred to the Medical Examiners' Office/Forensic Pathology Section at the Medical University of South Carolina from January 1988 to December 1997. The cases of suicide totaled 678. All of the cases were analyzed as to age/race/sex, method of suicide, time of year, and toxicological results. Files were also reviewed to determine if the victim left behind a suicide note. The ages ranged from 12 to 94 years; males comprised 79.5% of the victims, and whites 78.3%. The male to female and white to black ratios were both 3.9:1. The most common methods were gunshot wounds, accounting for 64.6% of the cases. No correlation existed with time of year, and the number of cases was not increased around major holidays. The group of victims 65 years and older and the pediatric group under the age of 18 were also examined separately.     

Effects of face-to-face restorative justice on victims of crime in four randomized,controlled trials

The growing use of restorative justice provides a major opportunity for experimental criminology and evidence-based policy. Face-to-face meetings led by police officers between crime victims and their offenders are predicted to reduce the harm to victims caused by the crime. This prediction is derived not only from the social movement for restorative justice, but also from the microsociology of interaction rituals (Collins, 2004). Four randomized, controlled trials of this hypothesis in London and Canberra, with point estimates disaggregated by gender, tested the prediction with measures of both successful interaction ritual (apologies received and their perceived sincerity) and the hypothesized benefits of the ritual (on forgiveness of, and reduced desire for violent revenge against, offenders, and victim self-blame for the crime). The meta-analyses of the eight point estimates suggest success (as victims define it) of restorative justice as an interaction ritual, and as a policy for reducing harm to victims.     

Emotional Variables in Adolescence,and Their Stability and Contribution to the Mental Health of Adult Men: Implications for Early Intervention Strategies

This longitudinal study documented the stability of the emotional of a sample of males from adolescence (age 14) through young adulthood (age 19) and into middle adulthood (age 48). Using the Offer Self-image Questionnaire (OSIQ), the Hess and Henry Identity Test, and the Symptoms Checklist (SCL-90), distinct emotional traits were found in 67 adolescent males that were important in determining their mental health status in adult life (age 48). The results clearly demonstrated that certain adolescent emotional states tend to remain a problem in adulthood as well. Intervention work that could be done in order to change any adverse trajectories set by these variables was discussed.     

Identifying,explaining, and targeting burglary ‘hot spots’

Conclusion The data-gathering and crime analysis part of the Task Force programme (while not yet completed) has generated some useful information about burglary in Cambridge which might inform a crime prevention strategy. The research has shown that residential burglary is not evenly distributed across Cambridge, but tends to be clustered in the northwest of the City. It has also shown that even in these high-burglary areas there are hot spots and cold spots of crime. These hot spots account for a relatively large proportion of all burglary.One factor contributing to the high burglary counts in the hot spot area is the high number of repeat burglaries, with as many as 35 percent of all burglaries recorded in the area being one of a repeat series of burglaries. Another factor which might have contributed to the high burglary counts was the abundance of access and escape routes of the kind identified in the environmental survey. Perhaps the most important factor which explains the high number of burglaries was the closeness of the area to the place of residence of known offenders. The hot spot site thus provides a local source of easy and rewarding opportunities for offenders who live in these areas.In the second stage of its work, the Cambridge Burglary Task Force will collate the information that has been collected in the first stage and devise appropriate intervention strategies. We aim to continue to monitor crime and criminals in the area and to evaluate the effectiveness the programmes implemented.     

A. Reviews: general

THE CIVILIZATIONS OF ASIA AND THE MIDDLE EAST BEFORE THE EUROPEAN CHALLENGE. By JAROSLAV KREJCI. Basingstoke, Macmillan, 1990. 348 pp. .£37.50 (hb).

THE ORIGINS OF ARAB NATIONALISM. Edited by RASHID KHALIDI, LISA ANDERSON, MUHAMMAD MUSLIH, and REEVA S. SIMON. 288 pp. + glossary, bibliography, index. New York, Columbia University Press, 1991.

THE ARAB STATE. Edited by GIACOMO LUCIANI. London, Routledge, 1990. 454 pp., bibliography, index, tables.

STATE, POWER, AND POLITICS IN THE MAKING OF THE MODERN MIDDLE EAST. By ROGER OWEN. London, Routledge, 1992. xiv, 302 pp. £40.00 (hb), £12.99 (pb).

L'ÉCHEC DE L'ISLAM POLITIQUE. By OLIVIER ROY. Paris, Editions du Seuil, 1992. 247pp.

MOSCOW AND THE MIDDLE EAST. By ROBERT O. FREEDMAN. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1991. xii, 426 pp. $59.50 (hb), $16.95 (pb).

EURO‐ARAB RELATIONS: A STUDY IN COLLECTIVE DIPLOMACY. By HAIFAA A. JAWAD. Reading, Garnet Publishing, 1992. viii, 302 pp. £25.00

OIL ON TROUBLED WATERS: GULF WARS 1980–91. By JOHN CREIGHTON. London, Echoes, 1992. viii, 156 pp. £35.00.

ALL THAT REMAINS: THE PALESTINIAN VILLAGES OCCUPIED AND DEPOPULATED BY ISRAEL IN 1948. Edited by WALID KHALIDI. Washington, D.C., The Institute for Palestine Studies, 1992. li, 636 pp. Illustrations, maps, bibliography, index. $59.00 (hb).

PALESTINE REBORN. By WALID KHALIDI. London, I.B. Tauris, 1992. xxi, 234pp. £35.00(hb), £14.95 (pb).

WILDFIRE: GRASSROOTS REVOLT IN ISRAEL IN THE POST‐SOCIALIST ERA. By SAM N. LEHMAN‐WILZIG. New York, State University of New York Press, 1992. x, 198 pp. $12.95 (pb).

MODERN ALGERIA. By CHARLES‐ROBERT AGERON. London, Hurst, 1991. x, 166 pp. £16.50 (hb).

L'ALGERIE PAR SES ISLAMISTES. By M. AL‐AHNAF, BERNARD BOTIVEAU and FRANCK FREGOSI. Paris, Karthala, 1991. 328 pp.

TUNISIA: RURAL LABOUR AND STRUCTURAL TRANSFORMATION. By SAMIR RADWAN, JAMAL VALI and AJIT GHOSE. London, Routledge, 1991. xii, 122 pp, £30.00 (hb).

SUDAN AFTER NIMEIRI. Edited by PETER WOODWARD. (Routledge/ SOAS Contemporary Politics and Culture in the Middle East series.) London, Routledge, 1991, xii, 223pp. £35(hb).

TRADE AND EMPIRE IN MUSCAT AND ZANZIBAR: ROOTS OF BRITISH DOMINATION. By M[OHMED] REDA BHACKER. (Exeter Arabic & Islamic series.) London & New York, Routledge, 1992. 278pp. £40.00

THE KURDS: A CONTEMPORARY OVERVIEW. Edited by PHILIP K. KREYENBROEK AND STEFAN SPERL. London, Routledge, 1991. xii, 250 pp. £35.00 (hb).

ARABIC ADENI TEXTBOOK. By HABAKA J. FEGHALI. Edited by ALAN S. KAYE. (Arabic dialect series (Yemen).) Wheaton, MD, Dunwoody, 1991. xx, 233 pp.

MOROCCAN ARABIC READER. By HABAKA J. FEGHALI. Notes by Alan S. Kaye. Wheaton, MD, Dunwoody, 1989. xi, 143 pp.     

Government capacity to contract: health sector experience and lessons

Using case-study material of contracting for clinical and ancillary services in the health care sector of developing countries, this article examines the capacities required for successful contracting and the main constraints which developing country governments face in developing and implementing contractual arrangements. Required capacities differ according to the type of service being contracted and the nature of the contractor. Contracting for clinical as opposed to ancillary services poses considerably greater challenges in terms of the information required for monitoring and contract design. Yet, in some of the case-studies examined, problems arose owing to government's limited capacity to perform even very basic functions such as paying contractors in a timely manner and keeping records of contracts negotiated. The external environment within which contracting takes place is also critical; in particular, the case-studies indicate that contracts embedded in slow-moving, rule-ridden bureaucracies will face substantial constraints to successful implementation. The article suggests that governments need to assess required capacities on a service-by-service basis. For any successful contracting, basic administrative systems must be functioning. In addition, there should be development of guidelines for contracting, clear lines of communication between all agents involved in the contracting process, and regular evaluations of contractual arrangements. Finally, in cases where government has weak capacity, direct service provision may be a lower-risk delivery strategy. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

长爪沙鼠颌下腺免疫球蛋白A的定位分布

采用免疫组织化学方法对不同日龄的长爪沙鼠颌下腺IgA的定位分布进行了研究。结果表明,长爪沙鼠的颌下腺由导管部和分泌部构成,分泌部主要由浆液腺构成,导管部包括闰管、纹管、颗粒曲管和小叶间导管等。DAB显色结果表明,IgA阳性细胞主要分布于浆液性腺泡、闰管、纹管、颗粒曲管和小叶间导管,并可分布于腺泡和腺管间结缔组织,IgA阳性产物的分布具有不均一性,无明显随年龄变化的规律性。阳性产物分布于胞质中,胞核呈阴性,对照组阴性。提示从浆细胞产生或循环而来的IgA先经结缔组织进入颌下腺组织,进而定位分布于浆液腺泡和各级导管,导管部有较多的IgA分布。     

Commission Impossible? A New Approach To Workplace Relations in the PSMPC

This is a short story about turning commitment into action. It tells how the Public Service and Merit Protection Commission negotiated with its employees to create a certified agreement under the new Workplace Relations Act 1996. The authors conclude that a careful, consultative process has built greater trust within their organisation.     

Population,resources, and technology: political implications of the environmental crisis

An examination is made of the political and potentially conflicting implications of the current global predicament with regard to population growth, finite resources, and the negative environmental influence of technological development. The problem is borken down and discussed in the following manner: 1) the international implications of population dynamics, resource constraints and distribution, and technological developments; 2) the interdependencies and reverberating effects associated with efforts to cope with any one dimension singly; and 3) the ways by which the conduct of research in the academic community can address itself more clearly to environmental problems. A prime objective is to highlight the implications for the developed as well as the less developed world. Thus, the empirical analysis centers around Japan, the People's Republic of China, the Soviet Union, and the U.S.