Physical,Psychological, and Sexual Intimate Partner Aggression Among Newlywed Couples: Longitudinal Prediction of Marital Satisfaction

This study examined associations between physical, psychological, and sexual intimate partner aggression (IPA) perpetration during the first year of marriage (T1) and victim marital satisfaction one (T2) and two (T3) years later among a sample of 202 newlywed couples. Prevalence rates of all forms of IPA were consistent with those documented in prior research. Higher levels of all types of IPA generally were associated with lower victim marital satisfaction at all time points, when controlling for initial levels of satisfaction. Couples who reported severe bidirectional psychological IPA demonstrated lower husband and wife marital satisfaction at T2 and lower husband satisfaction at T3 than couples who reported husband-only, wife-only, or no psychological IPA. Analyses examining the relative predictive abilities of all forms of IPA perpetration showed that psychological IPA was the most consistent unique contributor of victim marital satisfaction. Study findings highlight the importance of psychological IPA, in addition to physical IPA, in examinations of correlates of marital satisfaction.     

Secondary Traumatic Stress and Burnout among Law Enforcement Investigators Exposed to Disturbing Media Images

This study examines the psychological impact of viewing disturbing media on investigators engaged in computer forensics work. Twenty-eight federal law enforcement personnel who investigate Internet child pornography cases completed measures of secondary traumatic stress disorder (STSD) and burnout. Substantial percentages of investigators reported poor psychological well-being. Greater exposure to disturbing media was related to higher levels of STSD and cynicism. STSD and burnout scores were related to increased protectiveness of family, reliance on co-workers, general distrust, and turnover intentions. On a positive note, investigators scored high in professional efficacy, indicating they feel their work makes a difference. Furthermore, personnel with supportive relationships scored lower on both STSD and burnout.     

The Concentration and Stability of Gun Violence at Micro Places in Boston, 1980–2008

Boston, like many other major U.S. cities, experienced an epidemic of gun violence during the late 1980s and early 1990s that was followed by a sudden large downturn in gun violence in the mid 1990s. The gun violence drop continued until the early part of the new millennium. Recent advances in criminological research suggest that there is significant clustering of crime in micro places, or “hot spots,” that generate a disproportionate amount of criminal events in a city. In this paper, we use growth curve regression models to uncover distinctive developmental trends in gun assault incidents at street segments and intersections in Boston over a 29-year period. We find that Boston gun violence is intensely concentrated at a small number of street segments and intersections rather than spread evenly across the urban landscape between 1980 and 2008. Gun violence trends at these high-activity micro places follow two general trajectories: stable concentrations of gun assaults incidents over time and volatile concentrations of gun assault incidents over time. Micro places with volatile trajectories represent less than 3% of street segments and intersections, generate more than half of all gun violence incidents, and seem to be the primary drivers of overall gun violence trends in Boston. Our findings suggest that the urban gun violence epidemic, and sudden downturn in urban gun violence in the late 1990s, may be best understood by examining highly volatile micro-level trends at a relatively small number of places in urban environments.     

Disobedience to Law – Debbie Purdy's Case

This case note examines the implications of the House of Lords decision to order the DPP to issue offence specific guidelines allowing those contemplating assisting terminally ill persons to commit suicide to know the risk they face of prosecution under section 2(1) of the Suicide Act 1961. On the assumption that these guidelines will be law, and binding upon the DPP as well as the CPS, does this represent a change in the law, or a situation in which it may be unlawful to enforce the law, or even generate a legal right of disobedience to law?     

Quantifying the Accuracy of Forensic Examiners in the Absence of a “Gold Standard”

This study asked whether latent class modeling methods and multiple ratings of the same cases might permit quantification of the accuracy of forensic assessments. Five evaluators examined 156 redacted court reports concerning criminal defendants who had undergone hospitalization for evaluation or restoration of their adjudicative competence. Evaluators rated each defendant’s Dusky-defined competence to stand trial on a five-point scale as well as each defendant’s understanding of, appreciation of, and reasoning about criminal proceedings. Having multiple ratings per defendant made it possible to estimate accuracy parameters using maximum likelihood and Bayesian approaches, despite the absence of any “gold standard” for the defendants’ true competence status. Evaluators appeared to be very accurate, though this finding should be viewed with caution.     

Major vascular neck injury from a handgun cartridge casing

We present a case from the Johannesburg General Hospital of a zone II low-velocity penetrating neck injury with involvement of the ipsilateral subclavian artery. When the "bullet" was retrieved, it was noted not to be an actual bullet but rather a cartridge casing. We speculate that this injury represents one of several possible misfiring scenarios from a homemade firearm. Injuries from homemade firearms are infrequent in the literature, and only one other similar case of a cartridge casing causing a penetrating injury was found. A brief review of homemade handheld firearms is offered.     

Punctuated equilibrium and path dependency in coexistence: the Israeli health system and theories of change

Israel's enactment of national health insurance was clearly a breakthrough. However, other aspects of reform that were supposed to be implemented simultaneously were stymied, in particular, the conversion of government hospitals to independent trusts and removing the Ministry of Health from the direct provision of services such as mental health and long-term care. This article explores how punctuated equilibrium and path dependency coexist in the Israeli case. In doing so, it examines the relevance of concepts provided by various theories of social and institutional change. Aside from path dependency and punctuated equilibrium, we discuss other notions derived from related theories, such as political leadership and the role of ideas. Applying these theories to the Israeli case helps better understand the coexistence of punctuated equilibrium and path dependency.     

The university technology transfer revolution in Saudi Arabia

This paper explains why and how a technology transfer revolution is taking place in Saudi Arabia to meet the mandate that Saudi Arabia become globally competitive as a knowledge-based innovative economy. The paper explains and identifies the new policies and institutions that have been introduced and developed to facilitate technology transfer and knowledge spillovers from the universities for commercialization and ultimately innovative activity and economic growth. The paper finds that a technology transfer revolution in Saudi Arabia is taking place, with the goal of leapfrogging from the factor-based stage of economic development to the innovation-based stage of economic development, while bypassing the intermediary efficiency-based stage of economic development.