Symptom Validity Testing in Claimants with Alleged Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Comparing the Morel Emotional Numbing Test, the Structured Inventory of Malingered Symptomatology, and the Word Memory Test

In independent medical examinations, unjustified claims of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are to be expected at an increased rate. In a prospective study, consecutive cases of patients claiming PTSD who underwent independent neuropsychiatric evaluation were analyzed. For 61 adult patients, results of three symptom validity tests (Morel Emotional Numbing Test, Structured Inventory of Malingered Symptomatology, and Word Memory Test) were available. Seventy percent of all claimants showed probable negative response bias in at least one of the three tests, 25% in all three tests. High probability of negative response bias was associated with symptom overreporting and demonstration of cognitive deficits in performance tests. The results indicate that high rates of uncooperativeness must be expected in civil forensic patients with claimed PTSD. A multi-method approach to the assessment of response distortion in PTSD claimants is indicated.     

Social Entrepreneurship,Entrepreneurship, Collectivism,and Everything in Between: Prototypes and Continuous Dimensions

This article uses prototypes and continuous dimensions to place social entrepreneurship in relation to other organizational forms. This approach is more fruitful than classical attempts to stipulate essential characteristics and establish boundaries. A prototype and continuous dimension approach allows consideration of the way social entrepreneurship functions similarly to and differently from related concepts, such as traditional entrepreneurship, public social services, and collectivism. These categories can be distinguished according to the degree to which control over the way value is created, allocated, and distributed occurs socially or entrepreneurially. This approach offers the additional advantage of making the concept more precise, as subdimensions clarify the relationship to practices such as volunteerism and theories such as antidevelopment. By mapping the network of organizational forms in which social entrepreneurship can be located, we can focus on the viability and advisability of different ways of solving social problems.     

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Das Tierschutzverbandsklagerecht im Land Berlin

Natur und Recht - Das Tierschutzverbandsklagerecht ist ein wichtiges Instrument, um das Ungleichgewicht zwischen Tiernutzern, zuständigen Behörden und Tieren abzumildern. Zudem kann es...     

The forensic radiographer: a new member in the medicolegal team

Multidetector computed tomography is becoming more widespread in forensic medicine. In most services, autopsy assistants perform the radiological examination. We introduced professional radiographers into the legal medicine service and hypothesized they would also be able to take over duties currently reserved for other specialists. The aims of this study were to evaluate if radiographers could be trained as "forensic radiographers" by (1) integrating graduated medical radiographers into the legal medicine service, (2) investigating the advantages of this collaboration, and (3) defining the duties of the forensic radiographers.The study was performed prospectively on a group of 8 recruited radiographers who underwent a testing period with special training. They learned the basics of medicolegal case treatment, the autonomous execution of postmortem computed tomography angiography, and postprocessing of data. Seven of 8 radiographers finished the training and were integrated into our service. Although all radiographers were able to fulfill the duties demanded after the training period, some radiographers could not enter or complete the program because they were unable to work with dead bodies.Our study presents the advantages of integrating radiographers into the medicolegal team and proposes how to train the forensic radiographers. In addition, the duties and responsibilities of these new specialists are defined.     

Set‐theoretic Multimethod Research: The Role of Test Corridors and Conjunctions for Case Selection

Set‐theoretic multimethod research (SMMR) using Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) formalizes the choice of cases based on a truth table analysis. We make three recommendations for improving SMMR. First, current standards can lead to faulty case selection if causal inference on a conjunction is the goal. Case selection needs to take into account that the non‐members of a conjunction might be empirically diverse and that only selected types of non‐members are ideal for causal inference. Second, we formally show that cases with similar fuzzy‐set memberships in a term and the outcome are the superior choice for process tracing. They minimize the expected membership in the mechanism and make it most difficult to pass a hypothesis test. Third, we propose formulas that comply with all SMMR principles and identify the best pairs of cases for analysis. We illustrate our arguments with a study of the effectiveness of sanctions against authoritarian regimes.     

比较犯罪学：目的、方法与结论

在以往的三十年内 ,比较犯罪学已经由一种经验性操作转变为一门理论学科。比较犯罪学的多项研究是在 2 0世纪八九十年代进行的 ,这些研究显示 ,犯罪形态上的差异在很大程度上取决于社会、经济、国家政治结构、宗教以及文化等方面的差异 ,而且 ,可以发现 ,社会经济发展与犯罪增长之间存在联系。由于许多国家 (尤其是亚洲国家 )目前正在由传统农业社会向工业社会转型 ,认识这一点显得至关重要。本文要讨论的是比较犯罪学的目的、方法及其理论 ,但对于拉美国家的“解放者犯罪学”运动特别给予了关注。