The Place of Religious Arguments in Civic Discussion

I shall consider whether morality requires citizens of democratic societies to advance secular reasons in public debates on political questions. Is it wrong to give purely religious reasons in political discussion? I shall argue that the moral acceptability of public religious arguments that are not supported with secular reasons depends on the political context we are discussing, and that often there is nothing wrong with using religious considerations. I shall also discuss the so‐called shared premises requirement in political argumentation. The overall aim of the paper is to clarify intuitions concerning the ideals of public reason on the one hand, and the commitment to religious liberty on the other.     

Forensic osteological investigations in Kosovo

A team of Finnish forensic experts performed investigations of alleged mass graves in Kosovo under the mandate of the European Union (EU). Human skeletal remains from two locations were examined. The remains contained three almost complete skeletons, and individual bones and bone fragments, part of which were burned. Injuries, pathological changes, and findings for identification purposes were examined and documented using standard methods of forensic pathology and osteology. Gunshot injuries were found in some cases, but reliable determination of the cause and manner of death was not possible. A discrepancy arose between the number of victims reported in information received from the presiding district court, and results of the investigations. The estimation of the minimum number of victims was mostly acquired by DNA analysis.     

The promise of the geoeconomic Arctic: a critical analysis

Due to global climate change, the Arctic is losing its ice cover with two expected economic consequences: new accessible natural resource reserves and opening maritime routes are anticipated to become accessible. As a result, the Arctic is expected to transform into a globally important geoeconomic space. The article approaches the geoeconomic Arctic by asking whether this transformation is plausible and forthcoming. In particular, the article analyzes critically practical challenges for Arctic economic development as well as geopolitical challenges to the region as a favourable investment and operating environment. The article concludes that while the Arctic will develop economically, the pace and scope of developments are likely to remain moderate due to complex challenges, and that the geoeconomic importance of the region may be exaggerated. Furthermore, external geopolitical dynamics can hinder the realization of the geoeconomic potential of the Arctic. Due to various spill-over effects, illustrated by the crisis in Ukraine, the Arctic is not necessarily as stable an investment and operating environment as often assumed.     

Longitudinal Pathways from Cumulative Contextual Risk at Birth to School Functioning in Adolescence: Analysis of Mediation Effects and Gender Moderation

Children and adolescents exposed to multiple contextual risks are more likely to have academic difficulties and externalizing behavior problems than those who experience fewer risks. This study used data from the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1986 (a population-based study; N?=?6961; 51?% female) to investigate (a) the impact of cumulative contextual risk at birth on adolescents’ academic performance and misbehavior in school, (b) learning difficulties and/or externalizing behavior problems in childhood as intervening mechanisms in the association of cumulative contextual risk with functioning in adolescence, and (c) potential gender differences in the predictive associations of cumulative contextual risk at birth with functioning in childhood or adolescence. The results of the structural equation modeling analysis suggested that exposure to cumulative contextual risk at birth had negative associations with functioning 16 years later, and academic difficulties and externalizing behavior problems in childhood mediated some of the predictive relations. Gender, however, did not moderate any of the associations. Therefore, the findings of this study have implications for the prevention of learning and conduct problems in youth and future research on the impact of cumulative risk exposure.     

Expenditure Inflexibility in the State Budget: The Fiscal Policy Latitude of the Council of State in Finland

This paper deals with expenditure inflexibility, which has a crucial bearing on the fiscal latitude which the government has in the preparation of the Finnish state budget. The government’s fiscal latitude, i.e. the possibilities available to the government to increase, decrease or change state expenditures is restricted by vari‐ous mechanisms. The source material used in this study consists of budget documents and interviews with officials involved in preparing the budget; use was also made of earlier studies relating to this subject. Our major findings fall into three groups. (i) If the degree of inflexibility is used as a basis for classification, four classes of expenditure can be identified in the Finnish state budget: expenditure controlled by statute, expenditure controlled by agree‐ment, expenditure controlled by authorization and expenditure without formal con‐trol. (ii) In the budget for 1996, 92 per cent of expenditure was controlled in various ways, leaving only 8 per cent that was flexible. The conclusion can be drawn from this that without changing the mechanisms that bind expenditures, the govermment’s ability to alter fiscal policy in the budget of a single year is very limited. In the 1990s the proportion of statute‐controlled expenditures has decreased and the proportion of agreement‐controlled and authorization‐controlled expenditures has increased. Nevertheless fiscal latitude has grown. (iii) The material used for comparison showed that there is a similar problem in other countries, but that the mechanisms governing expenditure inflexibility and the fiscal latitude that governments may enjoy can vary.     

The ‘Code of Silence’: Are Self‐Report Surveys a Viable Means for Studying Police Misconducts?

Police misconducts have very rarely been studied by the self‐report method because it is assumed that the ‘code of silence’ is too hard to break even in an anonymous survey research situation. In this study a self‐report method was carried out in a police unit in Finland. Respondents were shown a list of 16 possible conducts. They were asked whether they knew a police officer who had been engaged in misconduct mentioned in the list or whether they themselves had engaged in one or more of the misconducts mentioned in the list. The analysis results indicated that, in an anonymous self‐report survey context, police officers are clearly willing to report on service misconducts, both their own and those of their fellow officers. Thus, the assumed ‘code of silence’ does not seem as strong as the literature suggests.     

Enforced democratization in Japan: lessons for Iraq and Afghanistan

Reconstruction of a society through foreign intervention has been a topical issue during recent years mainly because of the events that have taken place in Afghanistan and Iraq. These countries are facing an extrinsic pressure to undergo a series of social, political and economic reforms. While the prevailing interest is derived from ongoing occupations, notable attention has also been paid to corresponding experiences of the past. This has especially placed the Allied occupation of Japan under the spotlight. Despite the unique internal and external characteristics of the process that took place in Japan from 1945 to 1952, the political reconstruction of Japan can be utilized as a frame of reference against which the lessons drawn from the recent democratization processes can be reflected. This not only reveals the challenges and possibilities of the political reconstruction processes aiming at democracy, but also leads to the question as to whether the process of democratization can ever meet the demands of democracy if it is enforced by foreign occupiers. The experiences in Japan suggest that the utilization of nondemocratic practices and the period of pseudo-democracy do not rule out the possibility of the emergence of a genuine democracy.     

Somatic morbidity and criminality: the Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort Study

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the association between adverse physical disorders and violent/non-violent criminal behaviour. DESIGN: The study material consisted of the large, prospectively followed, unselected and genetically homogeneous Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort, the Finnish Hospital Discharge Registers and the National Crime Register (n=10934). MAIN RESULTS: The results of the logistic regression analyses showed that male offenders had statistically significantly more injuries (adj. OR=1.81, 95% CI=1.51-2.17), when compared with males without a criminal history. Violent male offenders exhibited greater morbidity to the diseases of the respiratory system (adj. OR=1.64, 95% CI=1.03-2.60) when compared with non-violent criminals. Female offenders suffered more commonly from poisonings (adj. OR=3.84, 95% CI=1.69-8.72), injuries (adj. OR=2.79, 95% CI=1.67-4.66), infections (adj. OR=1.87, 95% CI=1.16-2.99) and indefinite symptoms (adj. OR=2.02, 95% CI=1.20-3.40) than non-offending females. CONCLUSIONS: At epidemiological level, criminal behaviour seems to be associated especially with an increased risk of injuries for both sexes. The observed increase of the diseases of the respiratory system among violent but not among non-violent males calls for further investigations.     

Bear attack--A unique fatality in Finland

Fatalities due to animal bites, the vast majority of which are associated with dogs and big cats, are relatively uncommon and rarely described in the literature. Especially rare are fatal bear attacks on humans. We herein present a forensic investigation of a fatal assault, involving numerous bites on a 42-year-old man in Finland by an European brown bear (Ursus arctos arctos).     

Recording of offences on police domestic violence call outs

ABSTRACT

Due to new legislation passed in 2011, Finnish police have been legally obligated to record and investigate all assaults, including petty assaults, occurring in close relationships. Referred to as domestic violence (DV), these assaults can be prosecuted even without victim consent. Much like pro- and mandatory arrest policies, this reform was aimed at decreasing victim and police discretion, based on the assumption that recording and preliminary investigation of every DV incident would help prevent further violence. Comparison between police call outs and the number of offences indicate that in reality not every DV incident is recorded. Using Police and Emergency Call Database data merged with 410 police officer survey responses, the current study presents the first empirical results on legal and extra-legal factors associated with recording DV as an offence in Finland. Factors explaining non-recording are discussed based on police officers’ free-text comments, and implications for policy and practice are presented.