Perspectives on Regional Differences and Intimate Partner Violence in Canada: A Qualitative Examination

Few studies have examined the impact of intimate partner violence (IPV) within rural and northern communities. The current study addressed gaps within the literature by gathering perspectives from community service providers and academic researchers in order to increase understanding about the unique needs of IPV survivors within geographically diverse regions. Interviews were conducted with ten participants from Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Alberta, and Northwest Territories. Interviews focused on the unique needs of IPV survivors within each region, gaps that exist in meeting those needs, as well as questions pertaining to a larger research study entitled, Rural and Northern Community Response to Intimate Partner Violence. Results revealed several core themes relating to the unique challenges faced by IPV survivors within each region, as well as barriers to accessing services within rural and remote communities. Results also highlighted important considerations for future researchers, such as challenges that can arise when conducting research within geographically remote locations. Findings may help inform future development and implementation of services for IPV survivors residing in geographically diverse locations across Canada.     

More than meets the eye: the role of psychopathic traits in attention to distress

ABSTRACT

Although psychopathic traits have long been associated with predation and violence, it is unclear how individuals high in psychopathic traits choose victims. Victim selection and violence perpetration may be facilitated by attention to, or unawareness of, distressful facial expressions. Using a novel eye-tracking paradigm, the present study aimed to identify whether psychopathic traits are associated with unconscious attentional biases to expressions of distress. A sample of 138 undergraduates (23 males, 115 females, M_age?=?20.4) viewed 80 paired images portraying a neutral, and authentic expression of either fear, pain, embarrassment, startle, or sadness. Psychopathic traits did not predict initial orientation to distressing over neutral expressions. However, callous-affective traits negatively predicted attentional maintenance to expressions of embarrassment and pain, whereas criminal tendencies and erratic lifestyle positively predicted attentional maintenance to embarrassment and pain, respectively. Findings offer insight into perceptual processing of others’ distress, with implications for violence and victim selection.     

Media development in Syria: the Janus-faced nature of foreign aid assistance

This article intends to provide responses to some of the many unanswered questions about the making and the transformation of the uprising in Syria by exploring a new avenue of research: media development aid. Most academic interest has been oriented towards the role that the new media played at the time of the uprising; insufficient interest, by contrast, has been directed to the development of the sector in the years predating it. What emerges from this article is that the Syrian media landscape was strongly supported by international development aid during the years prior to the outbreak of the uprising of 2011. By looking at the complex structure of media aid architecture and investigating the practices and programmes implemented by some representative organisations, this article reflects on the field of media development as a new modus operandi of the West (the EU and US especially), to promote democracy through alternative and non-collateral, bottom-up support.     

Translating Behavioral Science into Practice: A Framework to Determine Science Quality and Applicability for Police Organizations

Policy on officer‐involved shootings is critically reviewed and errors in applying scientific knowledge identified. Identifying and evaluating the most relevant science to a field‐based problem is challenging. Law enforcement administrators with a clear understanding of valid science and application are in a better position to utilize scientific knowledge for the benefit of their organizations and officers. A recommended framework is proposed for considering the validity of science and its application. Valid science emerges via hypothesis testing, replication, extension and marked by peer review, known error rates, and general acceptance in its field of origin. Valid application of behavioral science requires an understanding of the methodology employed, measures used, and participants recruited to determine whether the science is ready for application. Fostering a science–practitioner partnership and an organizational culture that embraces quality, empirically based policy, and practices improves science‐to‐practice translation.     

Postmortem atropine concentrations in resuscitation cases

The medications used during resuscitation are often in and of themselves toxic. Several reports have been published regarding toxicities of these drugs, including lidocaine, procainamide, and atropine. But how does a forensic pathologist or toxicologist differentiate a possible intoxication from therapeutic or resuscitory use especially given that the concentrations of such drugs, when used in the setting of resuscitation, have not been studied? Concentrations of a well-known resuscitation medication, atropine, were assessed in cases where it was administered before death during attempted resuscitation in an effort to address this deficiency. A review of deaths occurring in 2009 was undertaken to identify cases where drugs known to be used during resuscitation were present on toxicological analysis. Autopsy reports and medical records were examined to determine how much atropine was administered, the timing and route of administration, the time the sample was drawn (antemortem and postmortem), the source of the sample, and the ultimate cause of death. Eighty-nine cases were identified in which atropine was given before death during attempted resuscitation and was detected in the blood on postmortem toxicological screening; 11 cases were identified in which atropine was administered before death yet was not detected on the postmortem toxicological screening. Mean age was 41 years, and there were 65 males and 35 females. The overall median dose of atropine given was 3 mg, the median difference between the time of last administration of the atropine to the time of death (or draw for antemortem samples) was 15 minutes, and the median atropine concentration was 0.1 mg/L. Analysis failed to reveal significant differences in the atropine concentration based on the route of administration (intravenous or intraosseus), the cause of death, or the time since administration (within the first 2 hours). Analysis did reveal a difference between the atropine concentrations in peripheral versus central blood sources and with prolonged postmortem interval (>24 hours) suggesting postmortem redistribution.     

Providing Public Servants What They Need: Revealing the “Unseen” through Data Visualization

Electronic media has enabled new forms of communication with the potential to provide more effective means of conveying evidence to public servants. This article explores what is known about the use of these new capacities in public affairs to visualize the results of research. The authors first explore the value of visual engagement for increasing comprehension. Then, they examine what is known of studies of the effectiveness of visualization and offer basic design principles that underpin effective visualization. Finally, two original public affairs examples are presented to illustrate what is possible.     

Unrequited Moderation: Credible Commitments and State Repression in Egypt

In strategic accounts of democratization, credible commitments by the opposition shape whether incumbents will relinquish power. Revisiting Kalyvas’s study of Algeria and Belgium, this article introduces evidence from Egypt that shows the structural readiness of incumbents remains as consequential as commitment credibility. During the period 1990–2008 the credibility of democratic commitments by the Egyptian opposition improved along the lines identified by Kalyvas. Unlike its Algerian counterpart, the Islamic movement in Egypt was able to “silence the radicals” and, after 1998, emit a non-dissonant message of electoral participation without militia violence. This improvement in commitment credibility was not reciprocated by Egyptian elites, who enjoyed western support and a sturdy repressive apparatus. Similar factors obstructed the Algerian opposition and they indicate a more disciplined, less dissonant Islamic party would have been unlikely to effect a democratic transition. Transitions are most likely when a credibly committed opposition faces an elite ready to rotate power. The second factor helps explain the success of the Catholic party in Belgium and the failure of comparable Islamic movements in North Africa.     

Fatal cocaine interactions: a review of cocaine-related deaths in Bexar County, Texas

Although cocaine is a widely abused illicit substance that is known to cause death, deaths due to its use appear to occur in a minority of those who use it. This report was designed to review drug-related deaths due to cocaine, and the concomitant use of other drugs/medications. A retrospective review of drug deaths at the Bexar County Medical Examiner's Office in San Antonio, Texas, was undertaken for cases where cocaine was one of the drugs implicated in causing death. Analysis was performed comparing the concentrations of cocaine and benzoylecgonine present and the absence or presence of other drugs. The data obtained showed that cocaine was toxic over a large range with deaths occurring at concentrations ranging from 0.01 to 78 mg/L. Analyses also indicated an increased lethality when cocaine is used in combination with ethanol, heroin, opiates, and antidepressant/antipsychotic medications, which is consistent with previous reports and research. Antihistamine data showed that there may be relationship between increased toxicity and co-ingestion, although more research is necessary.