Terrorism Preparation by Michigan Law Enforcement Agencies

The terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, compelled most Americans to imagine the unimaginable. Increased interest was focused on lessons learned, specifically if local law enforcement agencies had made appropriate organizational changes to manage potential terrorism events. The purpose of this study was to assess perceptions of law enforcement officers in the state of Michigan regarding organizational changes post 9/11. A total of 247 law enforcement officers participated in the study by completing three instruments, the Police Unit Assessment of Terrorism (PAT) Scale, Domestic Unit Assessment of Terrorism (DAT) Scale, and a short demographic survey. The officers who perceived their work load had increased since 9/11 were more likely to have more positive perceptions on both the PAT and DAT.     

Female versus male perpetrated femicide: an exploratory analysis of whether offender gender matters

Femicide, the murder of females (most often at the hands of males), is an understudied area in homicide research. Furthermore, femicide perpetrated by females has been all but ignored. One reason this may be is because of the rarity of homicide victimization perpetrated by females. Rather, most homicide incidents consist of a male offender and a male victim. When a homicide does involve a female, either as a victim or as an offender, the other party implicated is generally a male. The primary goal of the proposed study is to provide an in-depth, albeit exploratory, examination of female-perpetrated femicide. Using homicide data taken from the Dallas Homicide Unit, 403 cases of femicide will be analyzed, with special attention devoted to comparing female-perpetrated femicide incidents (n = 39) against male-perpetrated femicide incidents (n = 364). Specifically, the current study will explore the similarities and differences in sociodemographic characteristics of victims and suspects, offense characteristics, and offense circumstances. Contrary to what was expected, results, at first glance, seem to suggest an overwhelming similarity between femicide suspects and victims, irrespective of gender. However, when the relationship between victim and suspect is considered, distinct differences appear. Implications from these findings as well as limitations and suggestions for further research are discussed.     

The Ambiguous Host-Citizen Contract: An Evolving Notion of Duty in the U.S. Military Quest for Local Legitimacy

The article explores how the recent quest for local legitimacy in Iraq and Afghanistan has shaped the U.S. military notion of duty toward host citizens. It argues that military duty is conceptualized as a “host-citizen contract.” Based on a qualitative comparison of the 2006 and 2014 versions of FM3-24, the U.S. counterinsurgency field manual, it finds that U.S. forces are obligated to suppress insurgents, build host-nation agency, and protect the host population in exchange for legitimacy. The article's main finding is that the notion of legitimacy has changed in ways that fundamentally limit the scope of duty and justify a breach of contract should the host nation fail to comply.     

Time,labour, and the household: measuring “time poverty” through a gender lens

This article applies functional time use (FTU) analysis towards understanding inequalities in developing countries and the relevant relationships among the use of time, gendered divisions of labour, and the household economy. In so doing, it proposes one way of approaching the development concept of “time poverty”. The findings from an empirical study of an indigenous village in the Bolivian Amazon illustrate a heavier overall labour burden of the female population across all age groups. The paper also argues for FTU analysis as an analytic tool for gender-sensitive analysis with a potential to inform the work of development practitioners.     

Creating the Perfect Human Race: How Far Will We Go for Designer Families?

Genetic modifications in humans is a fast‐advancing field of science, with very little legal regulation. Scientists recently have developed a technique, clustered regularly interspaced palindromic repeat (CRISPR), which will forever change this field. Before CRISPR, all methods were too expensive and time consuming to facilitate editing human genes. CRISPR is faster and cheaper, making it a very real possibility for all. Since the discovery of CRISPR, research on human embryos has begun, with a success rate showing that creating a genetically perfect family is very real. In 2015, all federal funding for human genome modifications was banned, leaving little federal control. This Note proposes a model statute that allows for research while providing restrictions to prevent harm.     

Exploring the Disclosure of Forensic Evidence in Police Interviews with Suspects

Despite many years of empirical research focusing on investigative interviewing and detecting deception, very little research attention has been paid to the various types of evidence which feature in police interviews with suspects. In particular, the use of forensic evidence in the context of police interviews has not been previously considered, although in recent years the availability of various types of forensic analyses has dramatically increased. In the current study 398 experienced police interviewers from various countries completed a questionnaire about their experience of using various types of forensic evidence in interviews with suspects, as well as their perceptions regarding the strength of various sources of forensic information and how this may affect their interviewing strategy. The results indicated that although the participants have forensic evidence available in a large proportion of their interviews with suspects, the vast majority of police interviewers have received no training about how to interpret or use such forensic information. However, the perceived strength of forensic evidence was reported by some participants to affect their interview strategy and specifically the timing of the disclosure of such evidence during an interview. These findings are discussed with reference to police training and interview techniques, and suggestions for further research are offered.     

Advancing institutional anomie theory: a microlevel examination connecting culture, institutions, and deviance

Institutional anomie theory (IAT) contends that crime can be explained by an examination of American society, particularly the exaggerated emphasis on economic success inherent in American culture, which has created a "cheating orientation" that permeates structural institutions, including academia. Consistent with its macrosocial perspective, previous tests of IAT have examined IAT variables at the structural level only. The current study tests the robustness of IAT by operationalizing IAT variables at the individual level and looking at a minor form of deviance, student cheating. The author also examines the role statistical modeling has in testing the theory at the microlevel. Undergraduates, 122 American born and 48 international, were surveyed about their cheating behaviors and adherence to economic goal orientations. Results related to the hypothesis that American students, relative to foreign-born students, will have an increased adherence to economic goal orientations that increase cheating behaviors are presented, as are suggestions for future studies.