Editorial

Although a growing body of research has investigated gendered pathways to crime, this study is the first to investigate whether varying levels of family support may constitute a gendered pathway to recidivism. Logistic regression analyses were used to determine the effects of emotional and instrumental support on self-reported reoffending in the 3-, 3- to 9-, and 9- to 15-month postrelease periods. Interaction terms revealed that higher levels of emotional support significantly reduced recidivism for both genders but had a greater effect for females. Whereas higher levels of instrumental support reduced recidivism for females, higher levels increased the likelihood of recidivism for males in some time periods. Implications for correctional policy and practice are discussed.     

Konsequenzen von Staatsreformen für die demokratische Steuerungsfähigkeit. Vergleichende Analyse zu vier Schweizer Kantonen

In the last decade the public body has undergone changes along the lines of New Public Management concepts in the context of the reform of state structures and processes. The consequences of such reforms for democratic steering capacities have been discussed controversially. On the one hand, scholars argue that NPM strengthens democratic steering capacities while critics on the other warn that NPM reduces just such capacities. Our research analyses this question in the context of case studies about reform activities in four Swiss cantons. The results provide evidence of neither an improvement in nor a reduction of democratic steering capacities through NPM reforms. On the whole, the observed changes in democratic steering capacities proved to be marginal, in either direction.     

The living will: does an advance refusal of treatment made with capacity always survive any supervening incapacity?

There is a widespread consensus in law and medical ethics that living wills have to be obeyed by the physician if the patient was competent when the medical directive was signed and if, after the patient becomes incompetent, additional conditions occur which were considered by him. According to this viewpoint, the effectiveness of living wills is a direct consequence of the patient's right of self-determination. As the British Law Commission has recently put it: "An advance refusal made with capacity simply survives any supervening incapacity." However, this opinion does not take into account the empirical fact that the formerly competent person's critical interests (at t1) do not necessarily correspond wit his experiential interests after incompetency is established irreversibly (at t2). The author's goal is to answer the question of whether there can be cases which do not allow the formerly competent person's critical interests to prevail over the incompetent patient's experiential interests.     

Source Camera Identification for Heavily JPEG Compressed Low Resolution Still Images*

Abstract: In this research, we examined whether fixed pattern noise or more specifically Photo Response Non‐Uniformity (PRNU) can be used to identify the source camera of heavily JPEG compressed digital photographs of resolution 640 × 480 pixels. We extracted PRNU patterns from both reference and questioned images using a two‐dimensional Gaussian filter and compared these patterns by calculating the correlation coefficient between them. Both the closed and open‐set problems were addressed, leading the problems in the closed set to high accuracies for 83% for single images and 100% for around 20 simultaneously identified questioned images. The correct source camera was chosen from a set of 38 cameras of four different types. For the open‐set problem, decision levels were obtained for several numbers of simultaneously identified questioned images. The corresponding false rejection rates were unsatisfactory for single images but improved for simultaneous identification of multiple images.     

Erbunwürdigkeit als Folge versuchter passiver Sterbehilfe

Erbunwürdigkeit gem § 540 Fall 1 ABGB tritt nicht ein, wenn sich die Straftat nur "gegen den Erblasser", nicht aber auch "gegen dessen Willen" gerichtet hat. Ein T?ter, der eine gesetzlich verbotene Form von Sterbehilfe leistet, ist demzufolge nicht erbunwürdig, wenn die Straftat (bspw T?tung auf Verlangen, § 77 StGB) auf Ersuchen des Erblassers begangen worden ist. Die Straflosigkeit der passiven Sterbehilfe ergibt sich aus § 110 StGB. Unterl?sst der Arzt die medizinisch indizierte Heilbehandlung auf Wunsch des einwilligungsf?higen Patienten, ist bereits der Tatbestand eines vors?tzlichen T?tungsdelikts nicht erfüllt. Die Heilbehandlung darf in solchen F?llen auch dann nicht vorgenommen oder fortgeführt werden, wenn sie vital indiziert ist. Ist der Patient, etwa wegen fortgeschrittener Altersdemenz, nicht mehr einwilligungsf?hig, ist zu prüfen, ob er eine solche Willenserkl?rung zu Zeiten, in denen er einwilligungsf?hig war, abgegeben hat (Patientenverfügung, Vorsorgevollmacht). Liegt eine ausdrückliche Erkl?rung des im Zeitpunkt der Entscheidungsnotwendigkeit einwilligungsunf?higen und schwerkranken Patienten, der sich am Ende seines Lebens befindet, nicht vor, ist für die Behandlung dieses Patienten dessen mutma?licher Wille ma?gebend. Für die Einsch?tzung des mutma?lichen Willens sind prim?r mündliche oder schriftliche ?u?erungen des Patienten entscheidend; auf Wertvorstellungen der Gesellschaft oder anderer Personen kann und darf es nicht ankommen.     

Medical experimentation concerning chemical and biological weapons for mass destruction

This article is the text of a speech originally presented at the Second World Conference on Medical Ethics at Gijon, Spain, on 2 October 2002 under the title "Medical Experimentation Concerning Chemical and Biological Weapons for Mass Destruction: Clinical Design for New Smallpox Vaccines: Ethical and Legal Aspects." Experimentation on vaccines such as smallpox is subject to the usual ethical rules such as the need for informed consent. However, the participants will not often be at risk of catching the disease but expose themselves by taking part in the experimentation. Professor Deutsch explores the implications of this, including the position of vulnerable groups such as children, those with mental handicaps, and those acting under orders such as the miliary, the policy and fire officers.