Societal transformation,public opinion and Saudi youth: views from an academic elite

Saudi socio-politics is being affected by societal transformation; one that is being driven by a potent combination of demographics, improved education, wider access to the Internet and burgeoning new media usage. Whilst Saudi government decision-making remains ‘top-down’, the dynamic within this approach has shifted as the top-down system incorporates a consultation process that includes newly established civil society institutions. Nonetheless, of particular significance in Saudi Arabia is growing public awareness, particularly amongst young educated Saudis, of the need for government accountability, transparency and best-practices.

This paper discusses the views of a group of young men who represent an academic elite. Saudi-related literature frequently centers on the status of Saudi women, but the perspective of young Saudi men is generally overlooked even though this constituency is going to be of critical importance to the Kingdom's future social and political stability. The author recognizes that this elite sample does not represent Saudi youth in its entirety, but the diversity of student backgrounds and access to their extended networks can act as a barometer of educated youth opinion regarding many of the pressing politico-economic and socio-cultural issues facing Saudi Arabia today.     

Violent Victimization and Perpetration: Joint and Distinctive Implications for Adolescent Development

To date few reports have provided direct comparison of psychosocial vulnerability and resources among youth with victimization and perpetration histories. Within a racially diverse, high-risk adolescent sample (n = 849), this study undertakes MANCOVA tests on a multidimensional set of risk and protective factors contrasting youth with histories of 1) neither violent victimization nor perpetration, 2) victimization only , 3) both perpetration only, and 4) both victimization and perpetration. All three violence-affected groups reported elevated risk and diminished protection, with perpetrating victims demonstrating the greatest psychosocial impairment. Detailed contrasts among the youth group profiles provide insights regarding overlapping and distinct developmental etiologies and implications for preventive and remedial intervention.     

Procedural justice training for police recruits: results of a randomized controlled trial

Journal of Experimental Criminology - Procedural justice training for police officers is designed to improve officers’ interactions with the public. Aside from the fact that it is a given...     

“Good moral characters”: how drug felons are impacted under state marijuana legalization laws

This article examines how drug felons will be impacted by marijuana legalization in the United States. What will happen to drug felons whose charges would be legal under current law? Can drug felons work in the newly developing legal marijuana industries? In this article we will overview the statistics on arrests and convictions with their high rates of racial disparities. The war on drugs has inspired the development of more repressive criminal justice tactics such as asset forfeiture, high rates of re-incarceration during parole for marijuana violations, drug courts and their further reach into lifestyles, and the difficulties of prisoner reentry, especially for drug felons, who are barred from many jobs and social services. We will look at the regulations of felony offenders working in the cannabis industry. And we will consider the outcomes of retroactive ameliorative relief for this case of marijuana possession felonies under legalization.     

Implementation of the Americans with Disabilities Act in State Police and Highway Patrol Agencies: Results of a National Survey

This article provides an empirical analysis of Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) implementation within the law enforcement profession. Specifically, the study reports results from a national survey of state police/highway patrol agencies regarding practical implementation of the ADA. The data is analyzed in terms of population size and collective bargaining status. Results of this endeavor indicate that implementation of the ADA within law enforcement is difficult, especially as applied to the work of sworn personnel. These challenges are somewhat diminished when applied to non-sworn personnel such as dispatchers, administrators, and clerical personnel. The most substantial obstacles to implementation of the ADA within law enforcement is not associated with political officials or administrators. Instead, most arise from the lack of training and vague legislative language and regulatory standards. Smaller states and those without collective bargaining report lower levels of accommodation; however, there are few statistically significant differences in terms of population and collective bargaining.     

Scanning Electron Microscopy–Energy‐Dispersive X‐Ray (SEM/EDX): A Rapid Diagnostic Tool to Aid the Identification of Burnt Bone and Contested Cremains

This study investigates the use of Scanning electron microscopy–energy‐dispersive X‐ray (SEM‐EDX) as a diagnostic tool for the determination of the osseous origin of samples subjected to different temperatures. Sheep (Ovis aries) ribs of two experimental groups (fleshed and defleshed) were burned at temperatures of between 100°C and 1100°C in 100°C increments and subsequently analyzed with the SEM‐EDX to determine the atomic percentage of present elements. Three‐factor ANOVA analysis showed that neither the exposure temperature, nor whether the burning occurred with or without soft tissue present had any significant influence on the bone's overall elemental makeup (p > 0.05). The Ca/P ratio remained in the osseous typical range of between 1.6 and 2.58 in all analyzed samples. This demonstrates that even faced with high temperatures, the overall gross elemental content and atomic percentage of elements in bone remain stable, creating a unique “fingerprint” for osseous material, even after exposure to extreme conditions.