Drug and alcohol use,delinquency, and vandalism among upper middle class pre- and post-adolescents

This article analyzes data from a survey research study of students in the fifth through twelfth grades of an upper middle class Chicago suburban community. The findings indicate the use of alcohol and drugs among both prepubertal and teenage students, and the involvement of both groups in theft and vandalism. The level of community affluence and quality of community institutions and services rule out the explanations (the tangle of pathology) usually offered in studies of delinquency in lower class and low-income communities. Peer group pressures and psychogenic factors appear to influence these kinds of acting-out behavior. And since considerable numbers of students noted that their parents had not established certain important regulations for them, the view advanced by this study is that deficient socialization and inadequate parenting also appear to be causes of these behavioral problems. However, since the study did not categorize the data in a way to permit cross-tabulations either supporting or invalidating this argument, this conclusion is a tentative one. It is suggested that future research dealing with these problems among this social stratum investigate the influence of parenting on acting-out behavior.Received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. Main interests are emotional problems and acting-out behavior.Received his M. A. from Loyola University.     

A cross-cultural review of sudden mass assault by a single individual in the oriental and occidental cultures

A nonrandom sample of North American cases of sudden mass assault by a single individual (SMASI, n = 30) is compared with a nonrandom sample of Laotian amok cases (n = 18) and other amok studies. Perpetrators in both studies show evidence of social isolation, loss, depression, anger, pathological narcissism, and paranoia, often to a psychotic degree. The term "innovative perpetrator" is reintroduced and expanded upon. Similarities among samples far outweigh differences, leading the authors to conclude that SMASI and its appearance in different cultures is not a culture-bound syndrome.     

A hydromorphone and ethanol fatality

A case report is presented of a fatality where death is attributed to the combined central nervous system-depressing effects of ethanol and hydromorphone. Blood and tissue levels of hydromorphone are reported and the concentrations are compared to previously reported data.     

Mixed drug intoxication involving zaleplon ("Sonata")

Zaleplon ("Sonata") is a pyrazolopyrimidine derivative approved for use in the United States for the treatment of insomnia. To date, there has been little data in the toxicological literature where zaleplon has been implicated as causing a fatal intoxication, either alone or in combination with other drugs. This report documents a case where zaleplon was identified in a suicide by multiple drug ingestion. The following zaleplon concentrations were found: heart blood 2.2mg/l; bile 8.6mg/l and urine 1.4mg/l. Zaleplon was also detected but not quantitated in the kidney and liver.     

Election Campaigns,Social Communication,and the Accessibility of Perceived Discussant Preference

This paper examines the communication of political preferences between citizens during the course of an election campaign. We are particularly concerned with the ability of individuals to make judgments regarding the likely votes of others within their networks of relationships. To this end, we employ the concept of accessibility and its measurement device—response latency or response time—in the context of a computer-assisted telephone interview. We argue that the accessibility of respondent perceptions regarding the voting preferences of their associates depends on a range of individual and contextual factors, and the analysis focuses on variation across individuals, across relationships, and across the temporal contexts of election campaigns.     

Touching stones to cross the river: Evolving telecommunication policy priorities in contemporary China

This article, drawing on fieldwork in China, charts the ascendancy of Lian Tong (China Unicom), the first competitor to the incumbent Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications. Commencing with an historical overview of Chinese telecommunications, it suggests that Lian Tong's formation has been contingent upon support from key constituencies within China's political elite. The company's emergence mirrors technological trends and user pressure evident globally. It embodies the drive towards market liberalisation now evident within the Peoples’ Republic. While the Chinese policy community is sensible of the need to make haste slowly toward the goal of telecommunications competition — ‘touching stones to cross the river’ in the contemporary aphorism — the success of this ‘policy experiment’ depends both on the subtleties of Chinese politics and the construction of bold new regulatory frameworks. Lian Tong's genesis is symbolic of developments in the telecommunications sector, and maybe also more generally in the Chinese economy.     

Everyday Life and Legal Values: A Concept Paper

This concept paper emerged from a Law and Human Behavior (LHB) Workshop, that was called by the journal's Editor, Richard Wiener, and held at St. Louis University on March 19–21, 1999. This workshop, which brought together 22 scholars and researchers in legal psychology, was part of James Ogloff's Presidential Initiative Project for the American Psychology/Law Society, and was supported by St. Louis University and an NSF grant. Prior to our arrival, each participant answered queries from the Editor about LHB and the field of psychology and law, and each was asked to offer five topics that were underrepresented in the journal or that we would like to see addressed in future issues. At the workshop, we were assigned to small groups, and the authors of this paper constituted one such group. The charge for all groups was to develop plans for encouraging submissions in areas of psycholegal scholarship that continue to be infrequent topics of investigation, and then to develop a concept paper. The direction our group took is captured by our title, Everyday Life and Legal Values, and within this paper we explicate the topic, identify a number of underrepresented research areas, suggest some research paradigms for investigating them, and present this within a perspectival directions frame that ties established lines of research to the newer ones we propose.