Sociocultural causes of family violence: A theoretical comment

During the past decade, family violence has been increasingly reported and discussed by the mass media, as well as having become a subject of scholarly investigation in several academic disciplines. While there is an impressive number of empirical studies dealing with various aspects of family violence, they tend to focus on samples of the victims of such physical and sexual abuse. This paper seeks to supplement their findings by presenting a theoretical analysis of certain major sociocultural changes that have seriously weakened the moral standards that are the primary sociocultural deterrents of family and other interpersonal forms of violence. These changes include widespread residential mobility, the weakening of parental authority, and the impact of the themes of violence and sexuality that are emphasized by the mass media and popular culture.     

Posttraumatic stress disorder in murderers

Three case histories of men who suffered posttraumatic stress disorders after committing homicides are presented. These men were relatively young and had chaotic childhoods and minimal criminal histories. Each had killed a woman with whom he had a significant but intensely turbulent emotional relationship. The killings all occurred during altered mental states that were unrelated to the use of drugs or alcohol. The clinical significance and some of the medicolegal implications of this phenomenon are discussed.     

Priority of multiple gunshot injuries of the skull

In accordance with Puppe's rule, the analysis of skull fractures may provide evidence on the sequence in which multiple blunt injuries of the skull occurred. In cases of multiple gunshot wounds of the skull determination of the sequence in which the gunshot wounds took place is much more difficult. In some cases, however, analysis of the skull fractures here can also allow the order in which gunshot wounds occurred to be established.     

Measuring the severity of physical injury among assault and homicide victims

Criminologists seldom have attempted to measure the severity of physical injury to victims of aggravated assault and homicide, even though it is significant to many of their research efforts. Previous attempts have been neither medically accurate nor medically acceptable. In this paper the author discusses the shortcomings of these efforts and introduces an alternative method which is valid, reliable, and medically acceptable. In addition, the author discusses its applicability to research the impact of medical intervention on violent criminal assault, on factors which contribute to the severity of assaultive injury and the lethal outcome of violent assault, on specific questions regarding the patterns of offending and victimization, and on the administration of criminal justice.     

Emotional skills for entrepreneurial success: the promise of entrepreneurship education and policy

The Journal of Technology Transfer - Entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurship policies have a common goal—to spur entrepreneurial activity and its impact on individuals, organizations,...     

The changing forms of corruption in China

Crime, Law and Social Change - China’s famed growth has created a paradox of huge proportions that is associated with how this development could happen despite the well documented issue of...     

The History and Future Trends of ART Medicine and Law

The Assisted Reproductive Technologies (“ART”) have resulted in over eight million births to date, heralding remarkable advances in reproductive medicine with a transformational impact on both medicine and law. The effects have been acutely felt on the modern family, as well as on a myriad of areas of legal practice—including Family Law, Estate Planning, Contract, Health, Constitutional, Criminal, Discrimination, Tort Law and, for international arrangements, Immigration and Citizenship laws. This article examines the historical context, present impact, and future trends of ART and the Law. Its purpose is to help better understand these unique developments in order to help law and policy makers harness and craft the policies and frameworks that will be needed to monitor, shape and guide these remarkable possibilities for participants, professionals, law and society.     

Campbell Collaboration systematic reviews and the Journal of Experimental Criminology: Reflections on the last 20 years

Journal of Experimental Criminology -     

Printed artificial sweat as replacement for natural fingermarks: Qualitative and quantitative approach considering an amino acid reagent

The study presented in this paper aims at assessing how printed fingermarks can be used to generate realistic latent marks bearing varying quantities of materials to be detected. Considering dilution series of artificial sweat (eccrine secretion) and 1,2-indanedione/zinc as amino acid reagent, we assessed how printed marks behave in comparison to natural fingermarks provided by a set of 30 donors. The results were assessed in terms of relative intensity (contrast, luminescence) and expert grading (ridge details, overall quality). With regards to the set of 30 donors, this study brought a quantitative look to the influence of intra- and inter-variability on the relative intensity values observed when processing natural fingermarks. This provided new data to further understand the concept of “donorship”. With regards to the use of printed marks, it has been illustrated how dilution series of a concentrated solution allows covering a range of cases: unnatural marks (intensity values well above those obtained with donors), rich marks (corresponding to fingermarks left by good donors), and faint marks (associated with the kind of results observed with poor donors). Such a range of detection performance offers the possibility to generate fine-tuned detection exercises of varying difficulty levels. Printed items made of artificial sweat could hence constitute a valuable alternative to natural secretions in the context of education and proficiency testing.     

Advancing police use of force research and practice: urgent issues and prospects

Leading police scholars and practitioners were asked to reflect on the most urgent issues that need to be addressed on the topic of use of force. Four themes emerged from their contributions: use of force and de-escalation training needs to improve and be evaluated; new ways of conceptualizing use of force encounters and better use of force response models need to be developed; the inequitable application of force, and how to remediate biases, needs to be more fully understood; and misconceptions about police use of force need to be identified and corrected. The highlighted topics serve as an agenda for future research. Such research should provide greater insight into when, where, and why force is used by police officers, and how it can be applied appropriately. If implemented, the practical recommendations included in the contributions should have a positive impact on police performance, public trust and confidence in the police, and citizen and officer safety.