Returning to Delinquency: Factors Effecting the Survivorship of Juvenile Shoplifters

This article examines a program designed to provide a family court with a means of lessening the probability that youths on probation for shoplifting will return to criminal behavior. A single staff member within the family court screened possible participants, all of whom were defined as first-time shoplifting offenders and had been assigned to formal or informal probation. Each individual was invited to participate in a four-hour clinic, during which time the realities and possible consequences of shoplifting were explained. If they were able to successfully complete six months of supervised probation, then only the administrative record remained; the conviction itself was expunged. Over a period of nine months, a total of 154 juveniles were invited; however, only 100 actually took part in all facets of the program. A total of 30 clinic attendees and 14 nonparticipants were excluded from the present analysis, owing to missing data, or the fact that at the time of follow-up, they were legally classified as adults. The prior and subsequent court contacts of 110 subjects are reviewed. While less than 3% of either group had subsequent shoplifting arrests, nearly 26% of the program group and 35% of the nonparticipants were rearrested. Factors associated with long-term success and failure are examined. Possible reasons for these observations are discussed, with specific grounding in the shoplifting literature and the concepts of juvenile diversion and “net-widening.”     

The development of an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for 19-OH PG F1 alpha/F2 alpha

An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) has been developed for the detection of semen-specific 19-OH prostaglandin F1 alpha/F2 alpha (PGF). The assay can reliably and reproducibly detect as little as 2 pg 19-OH PGF/100 microliters and allows for the rapid analysis of large numbers of swab and stain extracts for the presence of semen.     

Will the law come running? The potential role of "brain fingerprinting" in crime investigation and adjudication in Australia

A major feature of the Australian criminal justice system is that jurors assess witness credibility and are the ultimate finders of fact. Recognising the occasional fallibility of humans in detecting truth and deception, the jury's function may be assisted by highly regulated expert evidence about a variety of scientific techniques. A recent scientific development has been the invention of "brain fingerprinting" (BF) by Dr Larry Farwell in the United States. Brain fingerprinting measures brainwave functioning to detect awareness of crime-relevant information in order to distinguish between guilty and innocent suspects. This article considers whether BF could be used for crime investigation and adjudication in Australia. By examining the rules of expert evidence and the principles relating to "novel scientific evidence", the admissibility of BF in the various Australian jurisdictions is evaluated. The utility of BF in criminal investigations and counter-terrorism initiatives is also canvassed. The authors conclude that, at the present time, it is unlikely that expert testimony on BF will be admitted in Australian criminal trials. However, the technique potentially offers other benefits to the criminal justice system, thereby warranting its consideration as a "criminal and investigative tool of the future".     

Appearance of chemical burns resulting from the washing of a deceased body with bleach

The authors report on a case of postmortem washing of a body with bleach. An adult female victim was found nude in an alleyway with both hands removed in the City of Westminster, CO. Cause of death was attributed to severe blunt force trauma to the head. The victim had been dumped in the alleyway within 7 h of discovery. Evidence discovered at the crime scene and autopsy indicated that the murder and subsequent washing of the body with bleach occurred at a secondary location(s). The victim was wet to the touch, presenting a strong odor of bleach. Several "ribbon"-like burn patterns were observed on the victim's back and upper thighs. These burn marks were replicated by dowsing a deceased pig with an over-the-counter concentration of bleach.     

Trace detection of meglumine and diatrizoate from Bacillus spore samples using liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry

Following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, letters containing Bacillus anthracis were distributed through the United States postal system killing five people. A complex forensic investigation commenced to identify the perpetrator of these mailings. A novel liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry protocol for the qualitative detection of trace levels of meglumine and diatrizoate in dried spore preparations of B. anthracis was developed. Meglumine and diatrizoate are components of radiographic imaging products that have been used to purify bacterial spores. Two separate chromatographic assays using multiple mass spectrometric analyses were developed for the detection of meglumine and diatrizoate. The assays achieved limits of detection for meglumine and diatrizoate of 1.00 and 10.0 ng/mL, respectively. Bacillus cereus T strain spores were effectively used as a surrogate for B. anthracis spores during method development and validation. This protocol was successfully applied to limited evidentiary B. anthracis spore material, providing probative information to the investigators.     

The effect of sodium fluoride preservative and storage temperature on the stability of 6-acetylmorphine in horse blood, sheep vitreous and deer muscle

This study examined the in vitro stability of 6-acetylmorphine (6AM) in horse blood, sheep vitreous humour (VH) and homogenised deer muscle stored under different storage conditions. The stability of 6AM in horse blood is of interest because many toxicological laboratories utilise this matrix for the preparation of blood calibration and check standards and the latter are typically stored during routine use. Data on the storage stability of 6AM in human VH is extremely limited and no data has been reported in muscle. In the absence of human samples, 6AM stability was demonstrated in sheep vitreous and deer muscle. Blood and VH were stored with and without NaF at room temperature (RT), 4 and -18°C for 84 days. Muscle tissue homogenates were prepared in water with and without NaF and also in phosphate buffer (pH 6.0) containing NaF. Homogenates were stored for 31 days at RT, 4 and -18°C. Morphine and 6AM were extracted using SPE and quantified by GC-ion trap-MS/MS. In the absence of NaF, 6AM could not be detected after 7 and 14 days in blood stored at RT and 4°C, respectively. Although at -18°C 6AM was stable for 7 days (12% loss), only 54% was detected by day 84. The addition of NaF to horse blood increased 6AM stability substantially at every temperature. Further, the rate of degradation was found to be significantly slower in blood preserved with 2% NaF compared with 1% NaF (p=.05). 6AM was stable for the study period in preserved blood (1 and 2% NaF) stored at -18°C. For laboratories utilising horse blood in the preparation of standards, preservation with 1% NaF (minimum) and storage at -18°C is recommended. The addition of NaF to VH was essential for 6AM stability. Irrespective of temperature substantial losses (≥ 42%) were observed in unpreserved sheep VH by day 7. In preserved VH the concentration declined by only 22% on day 7 following storage at RT and no loss observed in VH stored at 4 and -18°C at the same time. In muscle, 6AM was stable for 7 days in preserved samples stored at RT and in all samples stored at 4°C and below. The addition of NaF increased the stability of 6AM substantially in muscle. The increased stability of 6AM in VH and muscle preserved with fluoride was attributed to inhibition of bacterial action and the subsequent reduction in the rate of putrefaction of these tissues.     

Beveridge at Eighty: Learning the Right Lessons

The eightieth anniversary of the Beveridge inquiry is a timely moment to consider how the landmark report is used within contemporary UK politics. Calls for a ‘new Beveridge’ reflect a desire for a rupture with the past and the creation of a radical new welfare consensus. But this reflects a misunderstanding: Beveridge's approach was organic in nature, building on decades of experimentation, politically contested rather than consensual, and intellectually pluralist rather than moored to a single ideological worldview. The real insight Beveridge offers us today flows not from his substantive agenda—which was rooted in a particular set of historic circumstances—but as an approach to securing social reform. Successful welfare advances over the last generation have drawn on these ‘Beveridgean instincts’. Rather than calling for a new twenty-first century blueprint to be handed down from above, reformers should build on experimentation and successful incremental change, from within the UK and abroad.     

The development and pilot testing of a family treatment court best practices assessment: The model standards implementation scale

In 2019, the family treatment court (FTC) best practice standards (the Standards) were published to clarify attributes of FTC programs associated with superior child, parent, and family outcomes. The Standards cover the breadth of FTC operations including program structure and leadership, substance use treatment and complementary services, and behavioral responses to participants. This study aimed to develop an instrument (the Model Standards Implementation Scale; “MSIS”) that stakeholders can use to assess implementation of the Standards by individual FTCs. The MSIS balances usability with scientific validity. Interrater reliability (IRR), internal consistency, and several types of validity were assessed. Results indicated moderate to strong IRR, high internal consistency, mixed known groups validity depending on Standard, and high convergent and divergent validity. Initial findings suggest good validity and usability of the MSIS for evaluating FTC Standards' implementation. Notably, the process of using the tool functioned to educate FTC team members on the Standards. Although implementation of the MSIS is a resource-intensive process, the opportunity to receive constructive feedback proved to be an effective incentive for initial and subsequent participation in the evaluation among FTCs. Future research is needed to examine predictive validity, including association between Standards' implementation and family outcomes in FTCs.