The instituting of brute facts

An earlier version of this paper was submitted to a working group at the Conference of the International Association of Philosophy and Literature (Atlanta, 1989), and discussed with H.N. Casta~neda (Bloomington, 1989). I am grateful for the valuable criticism received on both occasions. My visit to the United States was supported by a grant from the Dutch Koninklijke Academie voor Wetenschappen and from my own Faculty of Philosophy at Tilburg University, which I acknowledge with sincere gratitude.     

Psychological aggression in dating relationships: The role of interpersonal control

This research examines the relatively unexplored area of psychological aggression in dating relationships. One causal factor of particular interest is interpersonal control, that is, the degree to which one person controls another in a relationship. Data are collected on men and women inflicting and sustaining psychological abuse in heterosexual college dating relationships. The results show that interpersonal control is an important predictor of psychological aggression.     

Public budgets and public capital in boom towns

Local governments are subject to severe stress in periods of rapid change such as boom town growth - a common problem of both rural and urban towns in the sunbelt. We quantify this stress by measuring, with an econometric model, the budget deficits and the inadequacy of public facilities resulting from growth. The model emphasizes capital adjustment costs and bureaucratic inertia which slow the response of government budgets to the changing demands of their citizens. The efficacy of existing intergovernmental aid programs and other policies in mitigating growth-related problems is evaluated.     

Demassified Mass Parties or Overloaded Cadre Parties? The Impact of Parties on Electoral Outcome in Finland*

This article examines the frequently cited hypothesis of the changes in modern party organizations towards the catch-all model, and of the attempt of political parties to counter threats of electoral failure by intensifying membership support. The results indicate that in Finland former mass parties have been demassified and cadre parties have been overloaded. However, there are differences in party alignments and in the internal organizational structure of the parties that make a strict application of the catch-all concept problematic The findings also give evidence of a threat of declining electoral success that has implications for the membership support in the parties in very special situations. The threat from other parties seems to have only little or no effect on the membership figures. But when this threat is combined with a steady erosion in the traditional social bases of the parties, then the party response can be strong for the purpose of widening the electoral market by personal influence, as was the case with the rural Center party in Finland.     

Eyewitnesses: A comparison of live,video, and photo line-ups

An experiment was conducted in which the effectiveness of three line-up methods (live, video, and photographs) was compared. Participants witnessed a staged event and were subsequently required, by one of the three methods, to identify the target. Both target-present and target-absent line-ups were used. The results showed that all methods led to an equal number of correct identifications (hits). In the target-absent line-ups, participants more often incorrectly identified a person in the video and photographs condition than in the live condition. Presenting photographs simultaneously or sequentially did not affect the number of correct judgments. Dynamic video images, showing locomotion and facial expression, had a marginal significant effect on the number of correct judgments as compared with the static video images. Practical implications are discussed.     

How Self-Relevant is Fair Treatment? Social Self-Esteem Moderates Interactional Justice Effects

An organizational field study examined the extent to which fair treatment influences organizational commitment was a function of employees levels of social self-esteem. Following recent research indicating that self-esteem acts as a moderator of procedural fairness effects, we suggested that to examine the relational assumption that self and procedures are related, one should assess the social dimension of self-esteem. In line with predictions, the results indeed showed that fair treatment (assessed by an interactional justice scale) positively influences affective commitment, but only when employees have low social self-esteem. These findings are discussed in light of research on relational models of justice and sociometer theory.     

Predictive Validity of the SVR-20 and Static-99 in a Dutch Sample of Treated Sex Offenders

In this retrospective study, the interrater reliability and predictive validity of 2 risk assessment instruments for sexual violence are presented. The SVR-20, an instrument for structured professional judgment, and the Static-99, an actuarial risk assessment instrument, were coded from file information of 122 sex offenders who were admitted to a Dutch forensic psychiatric hospital between 1974 and 1996 (average follow-up period 140 months). Recidivism data (reconvictions) from the Ministry of Justice were related to the risk assessments. The base rate for sexual recidivism was 39%, for nonsexual violent offenses 46%, and for general offenses 74%. Predictive validity of the SVR-20 was good (total score: r = .50, AUC = .80; final risk judgment: r = .60, AUC = .83), of the Static-99 moderate (total score: r = .38, AUC =.71; risk category: r = .30, AUC = .66). The SVR-20 final risk judgment was a significantly better predictor of sexual recidivism than the Static-99 risk category.     

An inherited metabolic disorder presenting as ethylene glycol intoxication in a young adult

Despite the abundance of reports emerging in the literature on metabolic disorders, some disorders remain undiagnosed or misdiagnosed, not only in clinical pathology but also in forensic pathology. The authors report a patient who had recurrent episodes characterized by nausea, vomiting, and signs of dehydration necessitating admission to the hospital. At each admission, he was found to have lactic acidosis. On the first admission, glycolic acid was detected in his blood and he was diagnosed as having ethylene glycol intoxication. Only at the third admission, 2 years after the first, was the possibility of an underlying metabolic disorder considered. Laboratory investigations showed a deficiency of complex I in the mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation. Possible medicolegal implications are discussed.