Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms,Relationship Adjustment,and Relationship Aggression in a Sample of Female Flood Victims

This study tested a model examining the interrelationships among posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, intimate relationship adjustment, and intimate relationship aggression in a sample of 205 adult female flood victims. At the bivariate level, higher PTSD symptoms were associated with higher physical and psychological aggression victimization, poorer relationship adjustment, and higher physical and psychological aggression perpetration. Results from structural equation modeling (SEM) analyses indicated that relationship aggression victimization influenced aggression perpetration directly, and in the case of physical aggression, indirectly through its relationship with PTSD symptoms and relationship adjustment. The influence of PTSD symptoms on physical aggression perpetration was fully explained by poorer relationship adjustment. These findings extend prior work from other traumatized populations documenting associations between variables reflecting PTSD symptomatology and indices of relationship functioning, and indicate a need for further investigation in this area of inquiry. This research was supported in part by a grant to Patricia A. Resick from the National Institute of Mental Health (1-R01-MH55542).     

Restricting loans of money to Hong Kong civil servants: social censure or violation of human rights?

Obtaining a loan is an individual’s private business and such a right should be free from interference. However, if Government officers obtain a loan from undesirable persons, they may be lured into committing an act which they would not otherwise have done but for the favours having been shown by the lenders. Section 3 of Hong Kong’s Prevention of Bribery Ordinance attempts to limit such behaviour of Government officers. Since the power of this provision is draconian, it may possibly violate human rights. This paper attempts to use a Social Censure perspective to explain why this provision was put in place in the 1970s and why it was not repealed in the 1990s in line with the rise of human rights standards in Hong Kong. It argues that the then British colonial government used a high-hand legal code to fight against corruption in the civil service to win its legitimacy in face of the rise of Red China in the 1970s. A review of twenty-one Section 3 cases suggests that most of the loans were not distributed for mere friendship but involved a wide range of culpability. Thus the coercion generated by Section 3 was approved by the masses, resulting in the reinforcement of a draconian but efficient legal provision in the service of the colonial administration.     

Mortgage fraud: A risk factor analysis of affected communities

Mortgage fraud is a fast-growing form of white-collar crime that has received much press coverage in the United States of America. Mortgage fraud has an adverse effect on individual homeowners, communities, and many indirect victims of the crime. While past research has focused on the personal motivating factors behind the commission of white-collar crime, this particular article reviews several facets of the crime itself and explores the potential neighbourhood risk factors that help attract the crime. From a national perspective, mortgage fraud seems to occur more frequently in neighbourhoods that have low socioeconomic indicators. These associations become even more pronounced when the degree of fraud occurrences within the community is factored in as a variable. Upon disaggregating the data according to region, the fraud indicator variables also display differing trend levels, perhaps indicating that as mortgage fraud practices begin to mature within an area, its community dynamics tend to change as well. The article concludes with recommendations for policymakers, community organizations, and law enforcement officials as to how to address mortgage fraud once it appears within a community, and also addresses future avenues of research for what is largely an untapped area of financial crime research.     

Bad guys: Why the public supports punishing white-collar offenders

Until the latter part of the 1960s, the American public was inattentive to the problem of crime in the upperworld. Due to a confluence of events (e.g., Watergate affair, Vietnam War, civil rights movement), concern about this lawlessness rose precipitously in the 1970s. Public attention toward and willingness to punish white-collar crime has persisted into the twenty-first century. We argue, however, that due to a series of recent scandals (e.g., Enron, WorldCom), public opinion about upperworld offenders has been transformed qualitatively. High-profile offenders are now seen not as respected community citizens but as “bad guys” whose crimes reflect inordinate greed and a disturbing lack of concern for victims. This typification is conducive to the prosecution of white-collar offenders but may have the unanticipated consequence of deflecting attention away from structural sources of corporate illegal enterprises.     

Gustav Shpet and the Semiotics of ‘Living Discourse’

Semioticians traditionally honor Russian linguistics of the early 20th century, and study Jakobson, Vinogradov, Vinokur or the early Trubetzkoy. They do, however, seldom consider Russian philosophers of the same period. Gustav Shpet is an important representative of Russian philosophers in discussion with Hegel, Neo-Kantian thinkers and contemporaries in Russia and abroad, among them Edmund Husserl, originator of transcendental phenomenology. Shpet introduced Husserl’s phenomenology in Russia and expanded those ideas in his 1914 Appearance and Sense. A triangle “Hegel—Husserl—semiotics” emerged where Shpet emphasized the concept of discourse in phenomenology: a philosophical challenge to modern semiotics. Significant portions of the material in this paper were originally prepared for publication in a chapter contributed to the volume A History of Russian Philosophy, 1830–1930, ed. Gary Hamburg and Randall Poole (Cambridge University Press, forthcoming), and are used here in a different context with the kind permission of that publisher.

---

Natural Resource Damages for Climate Change—An Idea Whose Time Is Not Yet Come,Part II: Climate Change NRD Claims—Get Coverage

Climate change litigation is in its infancy. As it matures, one type of suit that may emerge is a climate change-based natural resource damages (NRD) claim under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). While it is unlikely that climate change-based NRD claims could succeed under current law, a policyholder sued for such claims should be entitled to a defense under its liability insurance policies. Against the backdrop of some recent climate change lawsuits, this article anticipates insurance industry arguments against coverage for climate change NRD claims, and examines counter arguments in favor of coverage for such claims.     

Comparative analysis of 1-phenyl-2-propanone (P2P), an amphetamine-type stimulant precursor, using stable isotope ratio mass spectrometry: Presented in part as a poster at the 2nd meeting of the Joint European Stable Isotope User Meeting (JESIUM), Giens, France, September 2008

The isotope ratios of amphetamine type stimulants (ATS) depend as well on the precursor as the synthetic pathway. For clandestine production of amphetamine and methamphetamine, 1-phenyl-2-propanone (P2P, benzylmethylketone) is a commonly used precursor.Our aim was to determine the variation of the isotope ratios within precursor samples of one manufacturer and to compare seized samples of unknown sources to these values. δ¹³C_V-PDB, δ²H_V-SMOW and δ¹⁸O_V-SMOW isotope ratios were determined using elemental analysis (EA) and gas chromatography (GC) coupled to an isotope ratio mass spectrometer (IRMS). The comparison of all seized samples to the data of the samples of one manufacturer revealed considerable differences. The results show that IRMS provides a high potential in differentiating between precursors from different manufacturers for the clandestine production of ATS and identifying corresponding sources.     

Forensic analysis of explosives using isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS) — Preliminary study on TATP and PETN

The application of isotopic techniques to investigations requiring the provision of evidence to a Court is limited. The objective of this research was to investigate the application of light stable isotopes and isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS) to solve complex forensic cases by providing a level of discrimination not achievable utilising traditional forensic techniques.Due to the current threat of organic peroxide explosives, such as triacetone triperoxide (TATP), research was undertaken to determine the potential of IRMS to differentiate samples of TATP that had been manufactured utilising different starting materials and/or manufacturing processes. In addition, due to the prevalence of pentaerythritoltetranitrate (PETN) in detonators, detonating cord, and boosters, the potential of the IRMS technique to differentiate PETN samples from different sources was also investigated.Carbon isotope values were measured in fourteen TATP samples, with three definite groups appearing in the initial sample set based on the carbon data alone. Four additional TATP samples (in a second set of samples) were distinguishable utilising the carbon and hydrogen isotopic compositions individually, and also in combination with the oxygen isotope values. The 3D plot of the carbon, oxygen and hydrogen data demonstrated the clear discrimination of the four samples of TATP. The carbon and nitrogen isotope values measured from fifteen PETN samples, allowed samples from different sources to be readily discriminated.This paper demonstrates the successful application of IRMS to the analysis of explosives of forensic interest to assist in discriminating samples from different sources. This research represents a preliminary evaluation of the IRMS technique for the measurement of stable isotope values in TATP and PETN samples, and supports the dedication of resources for a full evaluation of this application in order to achieve Court reportable IRMS results.     

Forensic analysis of explosives using isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS) — Discrimination of ammonium nitrate sources

An evaluation was undertaken to determine if isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS) could assist in the investigation of complex forensic cases by providing a level of discrimination not achievable utilising traditional forensic techniques. The focus of the research was on ammonium nitrate (AN), a common oxidiser used in improvised explosive mixtures.The potential value of IRMS to attribute Australian AN samples to the manufacturing source was demonstrated through the development of a preliminary AN classification scheme based on nitrogen isotopes. Although the discrimination utilising nitrogen isotopes alone was limited and only relevant to samples from the three Australian manufacturers during the evaluated time period, the classification scheme has potential as an investigative aid.Combining oxygen and hydrogen stable isotope values permitted the differentiation of AN prills from three different Australian manufacturers. Samples from five different overseas sources could be differentiated utilising a combination of the nitrogen, oxygen and hydrogen isotope values. Limited differentiation between Australian and overseas prills was achieved for the samples analysed.The comparison of nitrogen isotope values from intact AN prill samples with those from post-blast AN prill residues highlighted that the nitrogen isotopic composition of the prills was not maintained post-blast; hence, limiting the technique to analysis of un-reacted explosive material.     

Can 14,737 women be wrong? A meta‐analysis of the LSI‐R and recidivism for female offenders*

Research Summary Over the past two decades, researchers have been increasingly interested in measuring the risk of offender recidivism as a means of advancing public safety and of directing treatment interventions. In this context, one instrument widely used in assessing offenders is the Level of Service Inventory‐Revised (LSI‐R). Recently, however, the LSI‐R has been criticized for being a male‐specific assessment instrument that is a weak predictor of criminal behavior in females. Through the use of meta‐analytic techniques, we assessed this assertion. A total of 27 effect sizes yielded an average r value of .35 ([confidence interval] CI = .34 to .36) for the relationship of the LSI‐R with recidivism for female offenders (N= 14,737). When available, we also made within‐sample comparisons based on gender. These comparisons produced effect sizes for males and females that were statistically similar. Policy Implications These results are consistent with those generated in previous research on the LSI‐R. They call into question prevailing critiques that the LSI‐R has predictive validity for male but not for female offenders. At this stage, it seems that corrections officials should be advised that the LSI‐R remains an important instrument for assessing all offenders as a prelude to the delivery of treatment services, especially those based on the principles of effective intervention. Critics should be encouraged, however, to construct and validate through research additional gender‐specific instruments that revise, if not rival, the LSI‐R.