The use of pornography during the commission of sexual offenses

The goal of this study was to examine the use of pornographic materials by sex offenders during the commission of their crimes. A sample of 561 sex offenders was examined. There were 181 offenders against children, 144 offenders against adults, 223 incest offenders, 8 exhibitionists, and 5 miscellaneous cases. All but four cases were men. A total of 96 (17%) offenders had used pornography at the time of their offenses. More offenders against children than against adults used pornography in the offenses. Of the users, 55% showed pornographic materials to their victims and 36% took pictures, mostly of child victims. Nine cases were involved in the distribution of pornography. Results showed that pornography plays only a minor role in the commission of sexual offenses, however the current findings raise a major concern that pornography use in the commission of sexual crimes primarily involved child victims.     

Another UK General Election: More Books!

Kavanagh, D. and Butler, D. (2005 ) The British General Election of 2005. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Bartle, J. and King, A. (eds) (2005 ) Britain at the Polls 2005. Washington DC: CQ Press.
Geddes, A. and Tonge, J. (eds) (2005 ) Britain Decides: The UK General Election 2005. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Worcester, R., Mortimer, R. and Baines, P. (2005 ) Explaining Labour's Landslip: The 2005 General Election. London: Methuen.     

A study of the psychosexual characteristics of sex killers: can we identify them before it is too late?

Thirty-three sex killers were compared to 80 sexual aggressives, 23 sadists, and 611 general sex offenders on sexual history and preferences, substance abuse crime, violence, mental illness, personality, neurological and endocrine abnormalities. Compared to other groups, sex killers started their criminal careers earlier, more often had been to reform school, were members of criminal gangs, set fires, and were cruel to animals. They tended so show more sadism, fetishism, and voyeurism. They more often collected pornography, but they did not use it in their offenses. They more often abused drugs and some suffered from drug induced psychoses. Their most common diagnosis was antisocial personality disorder, but only 15.2% met criteria for psychopathy. Sex killers showed most signs of neuropsychological impairment, grades failure, and learning disabilities. Results suggest that greater emphasis be placed on studying adolescent sex offenders and conduct disordered children which may help identify potential sex killers.     

Competition, Marketisation, Public Services and Public Ethics

The topic I address provides an embarrassment of scope. At the same time, it allows the development of a theme that is worthwhile discussing. When in the public sector is it worthwhile to import private sector concepts, principles and practices and when would the adoption of a private sector model be injurious to the state's constituents? The theme is worthwhile discussing, in part because some of Australia's jurisdictions appear to be adopting what they consider to be private sector practices, without an adequate framework to guide them. Because there is no proper framework, mistakes are made which could have been avoided. There is also some evidence that the public is uneasy about the loss of ‘public’ from the term public services. It would not be in the public’s own interests to resist, for no good reason, the adoption of private sector principles where that would allow more cost-effective services. The topic also allows a discussion on the influence on public sector ethics of the trend to place senior public servants on contracts that can be disposed of without a reason or prospect of appeal.     

To PPB or Not PPB – Budgeting in Victorian Local Government

Budgeting is an important element in a public sector organisation's accounting control system. There are a number of budgetary methods that could be used, each with an explicitly different focus. This article investigates possible reasons for Victorian local government selecting line item budgeting, planning programming budgeting (PPB) or a combination of the two. While program budgeting arguably failed in the USA, research shows it was adopted by local government. Australian researchers report similar findings, yet the introduction of program budgeting into local government has not been explored. Four reasons are postulated: (1) PPB will be adopted because of the complexity of the organisation; (2) PPB will be adopted because it is perceived as an aid to planning; (3) line item budgeting will continue to be used because users are familiar with this type of budgeting; and (4) management's support for the adoption of PPB will be a significant factor in its introduction. A questionnaire was distributed to all the local governments in Victoria and 60 percent were returned. The findings reported in this article confirm the reasons postulated.     

The effect of luminol on presumptive tests and DNA analysis using the polymerase chain reaction.

This study was designed to test the following factors involved with processing luminol treated bloodstained evidence: 1) The reactivity of other presumptive chemical color tests, phenolphthalin (PT) and tetramethylbenzidine (TMB), following the application of the light emitting luminol presumptive test. 2) The effect of different cleanings of various bloody substrates on the luminol test. 3) The effect of different cleanings of various bloody substrates on the ability to obtain DNA suitable for PCR testing. 4) The ability to extract DNA from luminol treated bloodstained substrates using three extraction techniques. 5) The effect of spraying washed and unwashed bloodstains on various substrates with luminol on the ability to correctly type the DNA using PCR. Our findings indicated that luminol did not adversely effect the PCR testing and did not interfere with the PT and TMB presumptive tests for blood. It was determined that the substrate and the method of cleaning were the major factors affecting DNA yield and the ability to type the bloodstains using PCR based technologies.     

Protective Orders and Domestic Violence: Risk Factors for Re-Abuse

One of the few legal tools for protecting victims of domestic violence is the civil Protection Order (PO). How effective they were in preventing re-abuse was analyzed by examining court and police records from 210 couples in which female victims (or applicants) filed POs against their violent partners. Police records for 2 years prior and two years following the issuance of a PO were reviewed. Results indicated a significant decline in the probability of abuse following a PO. Prior to filing a PO, 68% of the women reported physical violence. After filing, only 23% reported physical violence. Several risk factors were assessed and it was found that very low SES women were more likely to report re-abuse as were African-Americans.     

FEDERAL-STATE RELATIONS IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF SURFACE MINING POLICY

The federal Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 not only established national performance standards and permitting procedures for the coal industry, but also provided for stateprimacy. The principle of state primary is both simple and intuitively appealing: Because states do not have adequate resources to develop effective regulatory programs, the federal government would set up comprehensive procedures and criteria to guide the states in preparing their own plans. The obvious advantage of state primacy is that i t provides for flexibility in implementation.
Ultimately, state primacy is an experiment in cooperative federalism, a sharing of authority and responsibility between the states and the federal government to insure both the general welfare and sensitivity to local conditions. The history of surface mining regulation is instructive because i t points out the pitfalls and promise of cooperative federalism as well as the critical role of the courts in making state primacy work.     

Female adolescents of alcohol misusers 1: Sexual behaviors

Studies show that children of alcoholics constitute an at-risk population. This study attempted to understand the impact of parental alcohol misuse on sexual behaviors of female adolescents, based on a sample of 1134 teenagers from alcohol misusing parents in Minnesota. Index adolescents were more likely to report having sexual intercourse as well as greater frequency of intercourse, history of pregnancy and greater overall pregnancy risk based on current patterns of sexual behavior and contraceptive utilization. Bivariate analysis revealed that gender of the drinking parent was also associated with the above variables. However, in multivariate assessment of protective and risk factors for adolescent pregnancy in the at-risk sample, maternal vs. paternal vs. both parents drinking was no longer salient. Pregnancy avoidance was associated in the index group with two-parent family structure and higher maternal education, while pregnancy history was associated with a history of physical abuse and perception of high levels of vandalism in the school setting.The study reported in this article did not utilize clinically diagnostic indicators of alcoholism. Hence the authors have deliberately avoided using the word alcoholics when referring to parents of study participants. The terms alcohol misusers and alcohol abusers have been substituted and are used interchangeably.Received Ph.D. from University of Minnesota. Research interests include identifying resilience factors in populations that are considered at risk and the usefulness of these factors in planning social welfare programs.Received Ph.D. from University of Minnesota.Received Ph.D. from University of Minnesota. Research interests include children with chronic illness and disabilities, adolescent sexual decision making and international adolescent health care issues.Received Ph.D. from University of Minnesota. Research focuses on adolescent high-risk behaviors and resiliency, and interested in the translation of social research into social action, programs, and policy.