New findings on the transfer of computing applications among cities

This paper presents a study of the concepts of transferring computer technology among city governments. A sample of cities from a domestic population and an international population are used as the basis of the research. Contrary to expectation, and for both populations, the survey indicated the level of computer applications transfer among cities was found to be low compared to the amount of total application development. It was determined that an important source of transfer information was from “centers” such as the federal government, vendors, and transfer agencies, rather than city to city. International cities that were studied seem to experience a propensity toward centralized control at the national level. These controls often include the transfer of technical information. Further, the types of transfer may vary widely between the domestic vs the international cities. That is, domestic city transfers tend to be operations-oriented, while transfers from national centers tend to be management oriented. In general the study supported prior conclusions concerning the difficulties of transfer. The problem of mismatch and difficulties in modification make transfers very risky. Even so, there are many persons willing to take the risks in order to try to achieve lower costs and to realize the opportunity to obtain sophisticated applications.     

FRAGMENTED COURTS AND CHILD PROTECTION CASES

This article discusses the proposed implementation of a model court project that can serve as an alternative approach to adjudicating child abuse and neglect cases. The model project allows criminal child abuse cases to be processed with related civil proceeding in one court before one judge. This integrated approach can ensure more efficient case processing, more informed judicial decision making, and more effective delivery of services to children and families.     

Work-related psychological health and psychological type among lead elders within the Newfrontiers network of churches in the United Kingdom

Building on a series of recent studies concerned with assessing work-related psychological health and psychological type among various groups of church leaders, this study reports new data provided by 134 Lead Elders within the Newfrontiers network of churches in the United Kingdom who completed the Francis Psychological Type Scales (FPTS) together with the two scales of the Francis Burnout Inventory (FBI) concerned with emotional exhaustion and satisfaction in ministry. Compared with other groups of church leaders, Lead Elders within the Newfrontiers network of churches reported lower levels of emotional exhaustion and higher levels of satisfaction in ministry. Compared with other groups of church leaders, there was a higher proportion of extraverts among Lead Elders within the Newfrontiers network of churches. There was only a weak association between psychological type and burnout.     

Multiple stable isotope characterization as a forensic tool to distinguish acid scavenger samples

Acid scavengers are frequently used as stabilizer compounds in a variety of applications. When used to stabilize volatile compounds such as nerve agents, the lower volatility and higher stability of acid scavengers make them more persistent in a post-event forensic setting. Compound-specific isotope analysis of carbon, nitrogen, and hydrogen in three acid-scavenging compounds (N,N-diethylaniline, tributylamine, and triethylamine) were used as a tool for distinguishing between different samples. Combined analysis of multiple isotopes improved sample resolution, for instance differentiation between triethylamine samples improved from 80% based on carbon alone to 96% when combining with additional isotope data. The compound-specific methods developed here can be applied to instances where these compounds are not pure, such as when mixed with an agent or when found as a residue. Effective sample matching can be crucial for linking compounds at multiple event sites or linking a supply inventory to an event.     

Revisiting the role of communication in adolescent intimate partner violence

A growing literature suggests that communication strategies can promote or inhibit intimate partner violence (IPV). Research on communication is still needed on a group ripe for early IPV intervention: high school-aged adolescents. This article revisits our previous analyses of young female reproductive clinic patients (Messinger, Davidson, & Rickert, 2011) by examining how the adolescent and young adult respondents differ. To explore replicability of the adolescent results across populations, they are compared to 487 adolescent female students sampled from four urban high schools. Across samples, all communication strategies were used more frequently within violent relationships. Multivariate analysis identified escalating strategies used and received as being positively associated with physical violence used and received in all three samples. Regarding verbal reasoning and temporary conflict avoidance, substantial differences appeared between the young adult and adolescent clinic samples, and results from the adolescent clinic sample were largely replicated with the adolescent school sample, suggesting that young adult samples in this literature are not adequate proxies for adolescents.     

Criminalizing Health-Related Behaviors Dangerous to Others? Disease Transmission, Transmission-Facilitation, and the Importance of Trust

Statutes criminalizing behavior that risks transmission of HIV/AIDS exemplify use of the criminal law against individuals who are victims of infectious disease. These statutes, despite their frequency, are misguided in terms of the goals of the criminal law and the public health aim of reducing overall burdens of disease, for at least three important reasons. First, they identify individual offenders for punishment, a paradigm that is misplaced in the most typical contexts of transmission of infectious disease and even for HIV/AIDS, despite claims of AIDS exceptionalism. Second, although there are examples of individuals who transmit infectious disease in a manner that fits the criminal law paradigm of identification of individual offenders for deterrence or retribution, these examples are limited and can be accommodated by existing criminal laws not devoted specifically to infectious disease. Third, and most importantly, the current criminal laws regarding HIV/AIDS, like many other criminal laws applied to infectious disease transmission, have been misguided in focusing on punishment of the diseased individual as a wrongful transmitter. Instead of individual offenders, activities that enhance the scale of disease transmission—behaviors that might be characterized as ‘transmission facilitation’—are a more appropriate target for the criminal law. Examples are trafficking in human beings (including sex trafficking, organ trafficking, and labor trafficking), suppression of information about the emergence of infection in circumstances in which there is a legally established obligation to disclose, and intentional or reckless activities to discourage disease treatment or prevention. Difficulties remain with justifications for criminalizing even these behaviors, however, most importantly the need for trust in reducing overall burdens of disease, problems in identifying individual responsible offenders, and potential misalignment between static criminal law and the changing nature of infectious disease.     

Mental disorder and criminality in Canada

This article examines the relationship between mental disorder and criminality in Canada from the colonial period to the landmark 1992 Mental Disorder Amendments that followed the passing of Bill C-30. The history of this relationship has been shaped by longstanding formal and informal systems of social regulation, by the contests of federal–provincial jurisdiction, by changing trends in the legal and psychiatric professions, and by amendments to the federal Criminal Code. A study of these longer-term features demonstrates that there has been no linear path of progress in Canada's response to mentally unwell offenders. Those caught in the web of crime and mental disorder have been cast and recast over the past 150 years by the changing dynamics of criminal law, psychiatry, and politics. A long historical perspective suggests how earlier and more contemporary struggles over mental disorder and criminality are connected, how these struggles are bound by historical circumstance, and how a few relatively progressive historical moments emerging from these struggles might be recovered, and theorized to advantage.     

Analyzing the Influence of Micro-Level Factors on CCTV Camera Effect

Objectives

Despite the popularity of closed circuit television (CCTV), evidence of its crime prevention capabilities is inconclusive. Research has largely reported CCTV effect as “mixed” without explaining this variance. The current study contributes to the literature by testing the influence of several micro-level factors on changes in crime levels within CCTV areas of Newark, NJ.

Methods

Viewsheds, denoting the line-of-sight of CCTV cameras, were units of analysis (N = 117). Location quotients, controlling for viewshed size and control-area crime incidence, measured changes in the levels of six crime categories, from the pre-installation period to the post-installation period. Ordinary least squares regression models tested the influence of specific micro-level factors—environmental features, camera line-of-sight, enforcement activity, and camera design—on each crime category.

Results

First, the influence of environmental features differed across crime categories, with specific environs being related to the reduction of certain crimes and the increase of others. Second, CCTV-generated enforcement was related to the reduction of overall crime, violent crime and theft-from-auto. Third, obstructions to CCTV line-of-sight caused by immovable objects were related to increased levels of auto theft and decreased levels of violent crime, theft from auto and robbery.

Conclusions

The findings suggest that CCTV operations should be designed in a manner that heightens their deterrent effect. Specifically, police should account for the presence of crime generators/attractors and ground-level obstructions when selecting camera sites, and design the operational strategy in a manner that generates maximum levels of enforcement.