Investigation of Italy's deadliest building collapse: forensic aspects of a mass disaster

We describe the investigation of the 1999 collapse of an apartment building in Foggia, Italy. Sixty-one victims were recovered in the rubble of the building, and five people were unaccounted for. All the bodies were well preserved except for two who had been burned. The majority of the victims were identified visually or by comparing body features, clothing, or personal effects with information collected from relatives or friends. Positive identifications of the two victims who were burned were obtained by dental comparison and DNA analysis. Approximately half of the victims (51.6%) sustained fatal injuires, while the remainder died from asphyxia. The injuries were characterized using the Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) and the New Injury Severity Score (NISS) systems. Injury severity associated with the location of victims inside the apartment may provide useful information for those involved in building design and/or search and rescue operations. Engineers determined that the collapse was the result of the use of inappropriate foundation material.     

A study on ten short tandem repeat systems: African immigrant and Spanish population data

This work presents the results obtained from a genetic-population study for the D1S1656 system in the population of Southwest Spain (Huelva, Cádiz and Sevilla), Spaniards of Caucasian origin from North Africa (Ceuta), as well as in the black Central West African and Moroccan immigrant populations in Spain. The results of a study of the autochtonous population of the Canary Islands (n=138), and immigrant Central West African populations in Spain (n=132), obtained for nine short tandem repeat (STR) loci (D3S1358, VWA, FGA, D8S1179, D21S11, D18S51, D5S818, D13S317, D7S820), as well as the amelogenin locus, all contained in Profiler Plus (Perkin-Elmer) PCR amplification kits, are also presented. Except for the FGA and VWA data on immigrant Central West African populations in Spain, no deviations from the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium were detected.     

A meta-analysis update on the effects of early family/parent training programs on antisocial behavior and delinquency

Objective

To update Piquero et al.’s meta-analysis on early family/parent training programs.

Methods

Screening of eligible studies was carried out for the period between January 2008 and August 2015. An additional 23 studies were identified, which were added to the original database of 55 studies, totaling an overall sample of 78 eligible studies. A random-effects model was used to obtain an overall mean effect size estimate. Additional analyses were performed to assess publication bias and moderation.

Results

An overall average, positive, and significant effect size of 0.37 was calculated, which corresponds to 32 out of 100 in a treated group versus 50 out of 100 in a control group who offended. There was some evidence of publication bias and moderation.

Conclusions

Early family/parent training programs are an effective evidence-based strategy for preventing antisocial behavior and delinquency.

     

A meta-analysis update on the effectiveness of early self-control improvement programs to improve self-control and reduce delinquency

Objective

To update Piquero et al.’s (Justice Quarterly 27:803–834, 2010) meta-analysis on early self-control improvement programs.

Methods

Screening of eligible studies was carried out for the period between January 2010 and September 2015. An additional seven studies were identified, which were added to the original database of 34 studies, totaling an overall sample of 41 eligible studies. A random effects model was used to obtain an overall mean effect size estimate. Additional analyses were performed to assess publication bias and moderation.

Results

Overall average, positive, and significant effect sizes were observed for improving self-control (0.32) and reducing delinquency (0.27). There was evidence of publication bias for the self-control improvement outcomes, as well as some evidence of moderation for both self-control improvement and delinquency outcomes.

Conclusions

Early self-control improvement programs are an effective evidence-based strategy for improving self-control and reducing delinquency.

     

Illicit pharmaceutical networks in Europe: organising the illicit medicine market in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands

It has been widely suggested that the global market in counterfeit, falsified and illegally traded medicines has expanded at a tremendous rate in recent years, offering lucrative opportunities for criminal entrepreneurs with little legal risk. However, with a few exceptions, there has been little criminological research conducted on the trade’s actors and organisation. Of the few studies that are available, most position the supply of these products in the context of ‘transnational organised crime’, often presupposing the overwhelming presence of large-scale, hierarchical structures in the trade. This article, based on two extensive research projects in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, offers an account of the illicit supply of medicines in two European jurisdictions. The research outlines the nature and dynamics of the trade including the roles played by each national context as nodes in the global supply chain. The focus then shifts to the modus operandi, actors, online trade and social organisation in both countries. In contradistinction to the ‘transnational organised crime’ narrative, the empirical data outlined in this paper demonstrates that actors and networks involved in the trade are highly flexible and complex structures that straddle the categories of licit and illicit, online and offline, and global and local. This suggests that operations supplying illicit medicines vary largely in terms of size, reach, organisation and legality.     

Criminal Justice System Involvement Among Homeless Adults

This study characterized the specific offenses for which homeless individuals are arrested and incarcerated. Data were gathered from 581 homeless adults across 6 Oklahoma City shelters. Participants were asked to self-report incarceration history, nights spent in jails and prisons, and the offenses for which they were arrested. Overall, 76% of the sample had ever been arrested. Fifty-seven percent of the sample had been to jail more than 3 times in their lifetime and 13% had ever intentionally been arrested. The most prevalent type of arrest was drug possession (35%), followed by driving under the influence (31%) and disorderly conduct or public drunkenness (28%). Violent arrests, such as assault, robbery, domestic violence, murder, and rape, were the least prevalent type of arrest. In summary, offenses were largely drug and status offenses. These offenses may be prevented through increased substance use treatment accessibility and availability of housing. Policies to increase employment and housing for homeless adults regardless of criminal history should be expanded to reduce the occurrence of justice involvement.     

Distribution of 6-monoacetylmorphine and morphine in head and pubic hair from heroin-related deaths

There is limited published data to aid interpretation of analytical findings from hair analysis. The aim of the study was to collate 6-monoacetylmorphine (6-AM) and morphine concentrations in head and pubic hair from heroin users and to propose reference ranges and relate these to the amount of heroin used. The ratio of morphine-to-6-AM was also investigated. A total of 82 head hair samples divided into 173 segments of various lengths and 15 pubic hair samples were collected at postmortem from heroin users. The hair was analysed using a previously published method. A statistical evaluation demonstrated that in head hair, the lower, middle and upper concentration ranges of 6-AM were 0.1–0.9, 0.9–12.5 and 12.5–154.1 ng/mg and those of morphine were 0.1–0.8, 0.8–6.0 and 6.0–36.3 ng/mg. In pubic hair, the lower, middle and upper concentration ranges of 6-AM were 0.2–0.5, 0.5–2.3 and 2.3–18.2 ng/mg and those of morphine were 0.2–0.4, 0.4–2.4 and 2.4–13.3 ng/mg. The morphine-to-6-AM ratio showed a large variation. The ratio tended to decrease from proximal to distal segments. The statistical results suggest low, middle and high concentration ranges which we propose can be used for estimating the amount of heroin consumed into corresponding low or occasional, regular or habitual and heavy or excessive drug use. The ratio of morphine-to-6-AM showed great variation and did not support the proposal that a ratio less than 0.77 is needed to prove ingestion of heroin.     

The Impact of Incarceration in State Prison on the Employment Prospects of Women

This paper uses a unique data set constructed from two sets of administrative records to examine the relationship between incarceration and employment rates for former female state prisoners from Illinois. Our analysis indicates that although prison is associated with declining employment rates during the quarters leading up to women’s incarcerations, it does not appear to harm their employment prospects later on. In the short-term, we estimate that women’s post-prison employment rates are about 4 percentage points above expected levels. However, these employment gains do not persist and gradually fall back to pre-prison levels. These results indicate that time out of the work force is not a cost associated with incarcerating women.

The convergent bribe

This essay is an analysis of drawing up a social menu based entirely on goods provided by the state. We make the unavoidable assumption that all voters vote for a specific menu combination on the argument used by J. K. Arrow to prove the voting paradox or voting impossibility. However, what is possible, though not inevitable, is to obtain a maximum or a second-best by allowing some groups to bribe others into accepting a given combination. This will lead to successive sequences of voting until the desired number of sub-combinations is reached. The bribes are thus purposeful, constituting a convergent ordinal chain.     

Raíces Del Sur: Cultivating Ecofeminist Visions in Urban New Jersey

ABSTRACT

Significant research has been devoted to analyzing community gardens, including their benefits and problems. This article contributes to debates about community gardens by using concepts from feminist geography and food justice research to reflect upon the challenges and possibilities of community gardening in small, peripheral cities with large immigrant populations. We argue that these concepts provide a useful framework to enact ecofeminist visions through community gardens, especially in places dominated by immigrant populations that are particularly marginalized in the present political era. Our case study garden, Raíces Del Sur, was located in the City of Passaic, a low-income, post-industrial urban center surrounded by suburbs in Passaic County, New Jersey. As activists involved in the making of the Raíces Del Sur community garden to different degrees, and as researchers committed to an ecofeminist vision, we draw attention to the need for greater ecofeminist engagement with community gardening initiatives in cities throughout New Jersey.