The association between specific competence-related abilities and competence restoration treatment

Inpatient competence restoration treatment comes with enormous costs in terms of civil liberties, but also significant financial costs to the state/institution responsible for providing the treatment. The present investigation was designed to evaluate the utility of a commonly used competence assessment instrument, the MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool – Criminal Adjudication (MacCAT-CA), in identifying individuals who may require more tailored, lengthier, and/or more intensive treatment. The sample included 93 men and women who were administered the MacCAT-CA during an inpatient hospitalization for competence restoration treatment in the United States. All of the patients were restored to competence within the study period, ranging from 3 to 32 months of inpatient hospitalization. Results suggest that performance on the MacCAT-CA was associated with hospitalization length, with total scores as the greatest predictor of response to treatment. Sensitivity and specificity estimates are discussed in terms of their utility in identifying patients most at-risk for extended hospitalization, with the authors arguing that instruments like the MacCAT-CA can be used in a practical manner of identifying patients who might require greater or more intensive treatment.     

A systematic review of effective therapeutic interventions and management strategies for challenging behaviour in women in forensic mental health settings

Women in secure forensic mental health care require therapy and care that is responsive to their specific needs. Despite the policy recognition that women require a distinct service, evidence based practice is not available for this population. This review was undertaken in response to a clinical need within a medium secure unit in Glasgow that was experiencing high levels of challenging behaviour, in a female ward. The review aimed to identify effective strategies or interventions for the management of challenging behaviour in women in secure services and, therefore, improve practice and patient care. A synthesis of the findings from the 11 identified studies revealed variability in the approaches used to support women in forensic services, including: behavioural programmes; organisational change with a focus on staff training and support; medication; ECT and mechanical restraint. The challenging behaviours assessed included self-harm; physical and verbal aggression; suicide attempts and arson/fire setting. The majority of articles suggested some improvement in aspects of challenging behaviour, however this was limited by the lack of control groups and small sample sizes. Further investigation is required to find out whether interventions identified in this review can sustain a reduction in challenging behaviours in the long-term.     

Market Demand for Civic Affairs News

This paper uses time series methods to test the relationship between civic affairs content and audience share for the ABC, CBS, and NBC evening news in the mid-1990s. Because these programs competed in the same market, but varied the amount of their civic affairs coverage, they present an excellent opportunity to analyze this relationship. The study uses hand-coded news abstracts and O.J. Simpson murder trial coverage as separate measures of news content. The study finds that lower levels of civic affairs content and higher levels of O.J. news are associated with greater audience share.     

Federal laboratories: Economic development and intellectual property constraints

The United States is increasingly looking at ways to link public-sector investments in science and technology with national economic-development goals. The federal laboratories are a reflection of this trend and much has been done to make them a more attractive source for innovative ideas in the private sector. One significant change that has resulted in making the laboratories more interactive with US industry has been the easing of government patent policy for both government-and contractor-operated national laboratories. However, there still are intellectual-property constraints, especially in the areas of technical data and software, that need immediate attention if the full intent of technology-transfer legislation is to be met. Previously he was a science policy analyst in the US General Accounting Office's Resource, Community and Economic Development Division.     

Book notes

Freedom in the World: Political Rights and Civil Liberties 1991–1992 by Freedom House Survey Team. New York: Freedom House, 1992. Pp.570; tables; ratings. £58.50 (hardback); £22.50 (paperback). ISBN 0 932 088 75 9 and 74 0

The Middle East and Problems of Democracy by Heather Deagan. Buckingham and Philadelphia, PA: Open University Press, 1993. Pp.152; index; bibliography. £37.50 (hardback); £12.99 (paperback). ISBN 0 335 and 15686 X

Nation‐building and Democratisation in Thailand: A Political History by Prudhisan Jumbala. Bangkok: Chulalongkorn University Social Research Institute, 1992. Pp.144; index; bibliography; appendices. ISBN 974 582 219 1

Economic Reforms in New Democracies: A Social‐Democratic Approach by Luiz Carlos Bresser Pereira, José María Maravall and Adam Przeworski. Cambridge: University Press 1993. Pp.227; index. £30 (hardback); £10.95 (paperback). ISBN 0 521 43259 6 and 43845 4

Post‐Socialist World Orders: Russia, China and the UN System by Robert Boardman. Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1994. Pp.200; index. £35 (hardback). ISBN 0 312 10671 8

Regime Transitions, Elites and Bureaucracies in Eastern Europe by Hans‐Ulrich Derlien and George J. Szablowski. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1993. Pp.150; index; bibliography; appendices. £10.99 (paperback). ISBN 1 55786 522 1

Political Dissent and Opposition in Poland: The Workers’ Defence Committee ‘KOR‘ by Robert Zuzowski. Westport, CT: Praeger, 1992. Pp.295; index; bibliography; appendices. £58.95 (hardback). ISBN 0 275 94138 8

Debating the Constitution: New Perspectives on Constitutional Reform edited by Anthony Barnett, Caroline Ellis and Paul Hirst. Cambridge: Polity Press, 1993. Pp.183. £39.95 (hardback); £11.95 (paperback). ISBN 0 7456 1199 0 and 1081 1

Quelling the People: the Military Suppression of the Beijing Democracy Movement by Timothy Brook. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992. Pp.x + 222; notes; bibliography, appendix. $27.50. ISBN 0 19 507457 2     

Environmental Impact Assessments in International Law

The purpose of this article is to assess what the current state of play with regard to environmental impact assessments (EIAs) is in international law. This question is posed because of the casual use of the term, and the often fundamental misunderstandings of what EIAs can and cannot do. This paper aims to clarify the current strength of EIAs in the international context, and provide guidance on how they may be applied.     

Intergenerational Transmission of Violence,Threatened Egoism,and Reciprocity: A Test of Multiple Psychosocial Factors Affecting Intimate Partner Violence

A myriad of factors have been advanced to explain intimate violence. This study was undertaken to investigate the effects on intimate violence of three specific concepts: threatened egoism, violence in the family of origin, and reciprocity. Self-report questionnaires were administered to a randomly selected cluster sample of 423 participants, 147 males and 276 females. While no support was found for threatened egoism, both violence witnessed in the family of origin and reciprocity were found to significantly influence intimate violence. Analyses conducted separately for males and females indicated that these factors operate differently based on gender.