Police response to domestic violence: making decisions about risk and risk management

Assessing and responding to risk are key elements in how police respond to domestic violence. However, relatively little is known about the way police make judgments about the risks associated with domestic violence and how these judgments influence their actions. This study examines police decisions about risk in domestic violence incidents when using a risk assessment instrument. Based on a sample of 501 risk assessments completed by police in Australia, this study shows that a limited number of items on the risk assessment instrument are important in police officers' decisions about risk. Statistical analyses show that the victim's level of fear contributes to police officers' judgment on the level of risk and their decisions on which risk management strategy should be used. These findings suggest that research on police responses to domestic violence needs to pay greater attention to situational dynamics and the task requirements of risk-based decision making.     

Incidence of auditory ossicle luxation and petrous bone fractures detected in post-mortem multislice computed tomography (MSCT)

As the auditory ossicles are difficult to display without harming them in conventional autopsies, lesions of these minute bones and the ossicular chain are regularly missed. In this study, the method of choice in clinical medicine for the examination of such lesions, namely multislice computed tomography, was applied to 100 corpses.The hereby obtained results regarding ossicle luxation and petrous bone fracture indicated that the lesions were not dependant on the amount, but rather on the type of energy inflicted to the head.     

The Impact of Freezing on Bone Mineral Density: Implications for Forensic Research

It is common for researchers using animal or human remains for scientific study to freeze samples prior to use. However, effects of freezing on bone macro‐ or microstructure are relatively unknown. The research objective of this study was to determine whether freezing could potentially bias experimental results by analyzing changes in bone mineral density (BMD) with the freezing of remains over time. Eight fetal pigs were scanned to determine their initial BMD before freezing. Three piglets underwent a freeze‐thaw cycle to assess the effects of the freezing process. Four piglets were frozen and scanned weekly for 20 weeks to assess freezing over time. The overall average between the fresh initial scan and final frozen scan was significantly different (p < 0.001). Per contra, the final thawed BMD scans did not differ from the initial fresh scan (p = 0.418). Thus, completely thawed remains are recommended for experimental studies.     

A ‘double edged sword’: discretion and compulsion in policing domestic violence

Policing domestic violence is a complex area in which there are divergent views about the extent to which front line police action should be mandated by legislation and guidance. This study set in Victoria, Australia raised questions about the balance between discretion and compulsion in policing domestic violence through researching the implementation of the Code of Practice used to respond to domestic violence incidents. The project team interrogated aggregate data from the police database on family violence and also interviewed 125 police members (60 sergeants and 65 constables) to explore the attitudes to the Code of Practice and policing domestic violence. The findings reveal that discretion within a range of options is circumscribed. Variable understandings of the nature of domestic violence and the role of risk assessment and management suggest that constrained and guided discretion may be required to achieve optimum effectiveness in policing responses to domestic violence.     

A Policy for the Retention and Extended Examination of Organs at Autopsy*

Abstract: Recent organ retention scandals and law suits have created a focus on the practice of saving postmortem tissues for extended examination or research purposes. The New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator (OMI) established a policy to notify families about organ retention and the subsequent disposition of the tissue. The OMI examined the success of this policy in regards to the retention of brains for extended examination by analyzing data abstracted from verbal consent forms from 2003 to 2006. During this time, 715 cases were identified as needing an extended examination of the brain. The percentages of brains saved in any given year, as a percent of the total number of autopsies performed that year, were: 2003 6.5%, 2004 10.4%, and 2005 11.8%. The disposition was cremation in 79% of cases, release with the body after a determined period of time in 14%, and cut fresh in 4%. In conclusion, the instigation of a policy on the verbal notification of the next of kin when organs are retained can be successfully implemented.     

Fake Claims of Fake News: Political Misinformation,Warnings, and the Tainted Truth Effect

Political Behavior - Fact-checking and warnings of misinformation are increasingly salient and prevalent components of modern news media and political communications. While many warnings about...     

Persistence and renewal: the German Left Party's journey from outcast to opposition

This article examines electoral support for the German Left Party (Die Linke) at the 2013 Federal election. It focuses on two substantive issues. The first is that whilst studies have commonly linked the party's support to political culture, the party has modernised and it is unclear how this has influenced its support. The second is that the election was held amidst the fallout of the global financial crisis and thus enables us to test if the party benefitted from economic adversity. Using multivariate logistic regression models, these issues are investigated at the individual-level using data from the German Longitudinal Election Study. The results demonstrate that the party's support is steeped in political culture, but with important east–west variation. Further, there is no evidence that the party attracted support from economically anxious voters. These findings present a basis for broader reflections on the party's influence on the contemporary political landscape.     

Joined‐Up for What? Response to Carey and Harris on Adaptive Collaboration

Carey and Harris present the concept of adaptive management as a practice for supporting effective collaboration, suggesting that performance information be used to modify actions. They observe that end‐outcome performance information is less useful because of long delays between actions and effects, and recommend instead that the performance information should concern the collaborative process itself. The New Zealand government has followed a similar path to the Australian journey described by Carey and Harris. First, New Zealand tried using end outcomes to drive collaboration. Then, New Zealand tried using process measures, but found that the resulting collaboration lacked purpose and urgency. More recently, New Zealand has found great success in using intermediate‐outcome measures to drive adaptive collaboration: measures with intrinsic value, but short delay between action and effect. We echo Carey and Harris’ call for adaptive collaboration, but write to suggest that intermediate outcomes, rather than process measures, may drive more purposive management.