A case of extreme agitation and death after the use of mephedrone in The Netherlands

A 36-year old man, having injured himself severely by smashing windows in a rage of fury, was arrested by the police. He died despite resuscitation attempts. The forensic autopsy showed many superficial skin lacerations, bruises and minor brain swelling, but there was no definitive cause of death. Toxicological analysis showed a high concentration of mephedrone in femoral blood (5.1mg/L) and traces of cocaine, MDMA and oxazepam. The remaining dose of mephedrone in the stomach contents was estimated at 113 mg. Tablets that were found in the house of the deceased also contained mephedrone. We attribute this man's death to a fatal oral intake of mephedrone, which probably led to a state of excited delirium. This was aggravated by blood loss from multiple wounds.     

Guidelines for the identification of unknown samples for laboratories performing forensic analyses for chemical terrorism

Since the early 1990s, the FBI Laboratory has sponsored Scientific Working Groups to improve discipline practices and build consensus among the forensic community. The Scientific Working Group on the Forensic Analysis of Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Terrorism developed guidance, contained in this document, on issues forensic laboratories encounter when accepting and analyzing unknown samples associated with chemical terrorism, including laboratory capabilities and analytical testing plans. In the context of forensic analysis of chemical terrorism, this guidance defines an unknown sample and addresses what constitutes definitive and tentative identification. Laboratory safety, reporting issues, and postreporting considerations are also discussed. Utilization of these guidelines, as part of planning for forensic analysis related to a chemical terrorism incident, may help avoid unfortunate consequences not only to the public but also to the laboratory personnel.     

Estimating Country-Level Terrorism Trends Using Group-Based Trajectory Analyses: Latent Class Growth Analysis and General Mixture Modeling

Recent criminological research has used latent class growth analysis (LCGA), a form of group-based trajectory analysis, to identify distinct terrorism trends and areas of high terrorism activity at the country-level. The current study contributes to the literature by assessing the robustness of recent findings generated by one type of group-based analysis, LCGA, to changes in measurement and statistical methodology. Using data from the Global Terrorism Database (GTD), we consider the challenges and advantages of applying group-based analysis to macro-level terrorism data. We summarize and classify country-level patterns of domestic and transnational terrorism using two types of group-based analyses, LCGA and an alternative yet similar modeling approach, general mixture modeling (GMM). We evaluate the results from each approach using both substantive and empirical criteria, highlighting the similarities and differences provided by both techniques. We conclude that both group-based models have utility for terrorism research, yet for the purposes of identifying hot spots of terrorist activity, LCGA results provide greater policy utility.     

Psychiatric correlates of medical care costs among veterans receiving mental health care

Research on increased medical care costs associated with posttraumatic sequelae has focused on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, the provisional diagnosis of Disorders of Extreme Stress Not Otherwise Specified (DESNOS) encompasses broader trauma-related difficulties and may be uniquely related to medical costs. We investigated whether DESNOS severity was associated with greater nonmental health medical care costs in veterans receiving mental health care. Participants were 106 men and 105 women receiving VA outpatient mental health treatment. A standardized interview assessed DESNOS severity. The dependent variables consisted of primary and specialty medical treatment costs. Sequential zero-inflated negative binomial regression was used to evaluate the variance in medical costs accounted for by DESNOS severity, controlling for PTSD severity and established predisposing, enabling, and need-based health care factors. Contrary to our hypothesis, in fully adjusted models, DESNOS severity independently added a significant amount of variance to lower specialty medical care costs, whereas PTSD did not consistently account for significant variance in medical care costs. Greater DESNOS severity appears to be associated with lower specialty medical care costs but not primary care costs. These findings may indicate that patients with DESNOS symptoms are at risk for being underreferred for specialty care.     

“Not Gods But Animals”: Human Dignity and Vulnerable Subjecthood

Drawing on earlier work on the conceptual structure of dignity, this paper will suggest a particular type of connectedness between vulnerability and human dignity; namely, that the “organizing idea” of human dignity is the idea of a particular sort of ethical response to universal human vulnerability. It is common ground among many, if not all, approaches to ethics that vulnerability requires us to respond ethically. Here, I argue that human dignity is distinctive among ethical values in that it values us because of, rather than in spite of, or regardless of, our universal vulnerability. The term “dignity” is used synonymously with “human dignity” here, since an investigation of the dignity of non-human entities forms no part of the present examination.     

Creating an art therapy anger management protocol for male inmates through a collaborative relationship

A training partnership was established with the Florida Department of Corrections in 2003, and over the ensuing years, art therapy graduate student interns from Florida State University's Graduate Art Therapy Program have been placed in local prisons at different times. Recently, the art therapy interns worked closely with the supervising psychologist in one prison to alleviate and redirect aggression by integrating cognitive-behavioral techniques with art therapy directives. The art therapy interns and the psychologist developed a curriculum using a combination of workbook exercises and art tasks to develop and increase the participants' anger management skills, the Art Therapy Anger Management Protocol. This article provides an overview of art therapy in prison, the cognitive-behavioral approach to anger management with prison inmates, and how art therapy was used to support this approach. Examples of completed art tasks designed to correspond with the workbook curriculum are presented. Overall, this article presents the successful collaboration between the psychologist and art therapists and demonstrates how they facilitated improvement in the participants' anger management skills through this program.     

Youth violence at school and the intersection of gender, race, and ethnicity

Purpose

Research has revealed that school-based activities are related to youth violence at school; however, the intersection of gender, race, and ethnicity in this relationship remains uncertain.

Methods

This study utilizes data from the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 and incorporates multilevel modeling techniques to examine the intersectionality of gender, race, and ethnicity in the relationship between school-based activities and youth victimization at school.

Results

Racial and ethnic minority male involvement in school sports is linked to an increase in school-based victimization, while White American male involvement in school sports is associated with a decrease in school-based victimization. On the other hand, school sports appears to be an insulating factor against victimization for girls regardless of their race or ethnicity.

Conclusions

This research underscores the importance of understanding the intersection of gender, race, and ethnicity when examining youth violence.     

Police Impersonation: Pretenses and Predators

Empirical research on police impersonation is rare. This research employs quantitative and qualitative methodologies on 2002?C2010 police case files describing impersonation incidents from three police agencies to provide an understanding of the individual and situational constructs associated with police impersonation. Research objectives included: exploring incident characteristics, comparing incidents to national violent crime statistics; and identifying common themes. Results show that police impersonation incidents, offenders, and victims are unique, particularly when compared to national data. Qualitative analysis identified three major themes related to tactics, motivations, and typology. The research offers a framework for establishing policy recommendations.