Fatal child abuse (caused by physical violence) in Germany during 1 January 1985 to 2 October 1990. Results of a multicenter study]

No reliable data are available on cases of lethal child abuse (by active force) in the area of Federal Republic of Germany prior to reunification (the former West Germany). In a multicenter study we therefore examined the police and court records for such cases occurring in the period 1 January 1985 to 2 October 1990 in nearly the entire area of Federal Republic of Germany. RESULTS: The study center received information on 58 cases of lethal child abuse. Extrapolated to all institutes of legal medicine, this corresponds to 62 cases in all of West Germany in the period studied. An approximately equal number of unreported cases should be added to this figure. Including unreported cases, at least 20 cases of lethal child abuse occurred per year; thus only one in every two cases ever came to light. Almost two thirds of the victims were younger than one year old. At autopsy 59% exhibited signs of repeated abuse at autopsy. By far the most common cause of death was direct impact from a blunt object, usually to the head. Mostly, the male person to whom the victim relates most closely (father, stepfather, partner of the mother) has killed the child. Twenty-one of the 74 persons charged saw the charges against them dropped or were acquitted due to lack of evidence; 51 received sentences ranging from one year probation to life. In the remaining two cases the outcome of the trial was unknown. Signs of abuse were readily apparent at autopsy in almost all cases. The high number of unreported cases underscores the need to educate medical students and practicing physicians to be on the look-out for signs of abuse and argues for an increase in the rate of autopsy.     

Lethal poisoning with ethyl alcohol and its surrogates in various regions of the Russian Federation

The index of lethal poisoning with ethyl alcohol and its surrogates in Russia remains one of the highest in the world. It is explained by high alcohol consumption in Russia (about 15 liters of pure alcohol per capita annually), consumption of mainly strong beverages (about 80%), extensive sales of adulterated strong alcoholic beverages (more than 25%), virtually no preventive work in the population, and other causes. The index of lethal poisoning with alcohol and its surrogates in the country and its regions is one of the most important parameters in evaluation of the socioeconomic well-being of the population.     

The characteristics of the macro- and trace element composition of the hair in the peoples of Asia, Africa and Latin America

Macro- and trace element composition of hairs on the head, chest, in the armpits, and on the pubis in the population of Asia, Africa, and Latin America adapted and not to the climate, geographic and ecological conditions of the Russian Federation (Moscow) is studied by spectrography (DPS-13 spectrograph). Element composition of residents of 16 countries is analyzed by variation statistics methods using PC: Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Bahrain, India, Sierra Leone, C?te d'Ivoire, Rwanda, Kenya, Sudan, Mexico, Ecuador, Bolivia, Brasilia, Columbia, and Chile. Hairs from residents of East Europe (Russians, Byelorussians, Ukrainians) living in Moscow for 6-8 years (adapted) were the reference for comparison. A total of 371 specimens of hairs were examined. Hairs from adapted and not adapted residents of the above-listed countries and continents differ significantly from each other and from the hairs of Russians, Byelorussians, and Ukrainians living in Moscow.     

Estimating mortgage prepayments and defaults in older federally assisted rental housing and the possible costs of preventing them

Abstract

An issue now facing the federal government is whether and, if so, how to intervene to prevent mortgage prepayments and defaults on federally assisted low‐income rental units. This paper presents the preliminary estimates of the potential scope of the problem in terms of the possible incidence and timing of these actions, and the costs of preventing them. The estimates are based on modified versions of the model developed for the National Low Income Housing Preservation Commission's study, Preventing the Disappearance of Low Income Housing.

An intermediate version of the modified model predicts 45 percent fewer defaults, 154,000 versus 280,000 units, and 45 percent lower total costs for preventing defaults, $4.6 billion versus $8.4 billion. On the other hand, 16 percent more prepayments are predicted, 283,000 versus 243,000 units. Estimated total costs for preventing prepayments are 17 percent lower, however — $8.5 billion versus $10.3 billion.     

当前俄罗斯的有组织犯罪

有组织犯罪是俄罗斯社会的最大顽疾,近年来呈迅猛发展之势。有组织犯罪集团与政府官员相勾结,在政治、经济上与黑社会势力高度融合,并且广泛向世界各地渗透,呈现出国际化趋势,对国际社会造成严重威胁。     

Assessing Readiness to Change among Perpetrators of Intimate Partner Violence: Analysis of Two Self-report Measures

Recent interest in the construct of motivation to change among male perpetrators of intimate partner violence (IPV) has led to development of two self-report measures of this construct: the University of Rhode Island Change Assessment for Domestic Violence (URICA-DV; Levesque et al. 2000) and the Safe at Home Inventory (SAH; Begun et al. 2003). We examined the internal structure of these instruments using confirmatory and exploratory factor analyses in a sample of 199 male IPV perpetrators waiting to begin court-mandated batterer intervention programs. Results indicated that the scales had adequate internal consistency. However, using confirmatory factor analyses, the hypothesized structural models of each instrument fit the data poorly. Subsequent models suggested by a series of exploratory factor analyses failed to improve model fit substantially for both scales. For the URICA-DV, a 3-factor model including items from the Precontemplation, Contemplation, and Action subscales fit the data adequately. No acceptable model fit could be found for the SAH. Intercorrelations among similar subscales across the two inventories suggested only a modest degree of intercorrelation (r’s = 0.16–0.52), and a factor structure more dependent on scale of origin than item latent content, suggesting that the scales assess different facets of the readiness to change construct. These results suggest that before the stages of change construct can be fully applied to the IPV area, more research and evaluation are needed on how to accurately assess abuser readiness to change.