‘You will be responsible to the GOC’. Stovepiping and the problem of divergent intelligence gathering networks in Northern Ireland, 1969–1975

From the beginning of Northern Ireland’s Troubles, two different strands of British intelligence were developed in Northern Ireland that failed to effectively cooperate or coordinate their efforts with one another. Though central government was aware (and often opposed) the lack of singular control over intelligence in the province, they were unable to wrest control of security intelligence from the hands of the Army and Special Branch. This problem, meant that a Security intelligence ‘stovepipe’ emerged and that this stovepipe operated without reference (and at times in opposition) to policy initiatives also being pursued by the UK government at the time.     

Examining the Mediating Effect of Self-Efficacy on Approval of Aggression and Proactive Aggression

Proactive aggression (PA) is goal-directed, hostile social behavior that has been linked to detrimental outcomes. It has been theorized that adolescents who believe aggression is a normal and acceptable social response (approval of aggression) are more likely to show PA. Confidence in one’s ability to behave aggressively (self-efficacy about aggression) is understood to mediate this relationship. A mixed-gender sample of 860 Australian, 12–14 year old adolescents was used to investigate gender differences and the mediating effect of self-efficacy for aggression on the relationship between approval of aggression and PA. As hypothesized, approval of aggression, self-efficacy, and PA demonstrated significant positive relationships, with males also scoring significantly higher on these three variables than females. Furthermore, self-efficacy was found to significantly and partially mediate the relationship between approval of aggression and proactive aggression for both genders. Implications for the understanding and prevention of aggressive behavior in adolescents are discussed.     

Intellectual disability in a prison population with anger problems in Trinidad

This paper describes the characteristics of groups of prisoners selected to take part in an anger management programme in prisons in Trinidad. Participants completed demographic measures, an IQ assessment, mental health measures and anger rating scales. Fifty-six inmates were screened with the WASI-2 and characteristics of this group are explored in this paper. The mean IQ for the group was 72.34 and 22 had a recorded IQ below 70 (37.5%). All of the respondents reported high levels of mental health problems with their mean ratings on the SCL-90 being closer to those of inpatient psychiatric group norms than non-clinical groups. A score of less than 70 on the WASI-2 is not sufficient for a diagnosis of an Intellectual Disability. Nevertheless, the results suggest that a significant number of individuals in these prisons may have an Intellectual Disability. More research is needed to help identify these individuals and provide support.     

The Role of DNA‐Stained Currency in Gang Robberies within the United Kingdom

Cash‐and‐valuables‐in‐transit (CViT) robberies have become a substantial problem—especially in the current global economy. Over £19.4 million were stolen in 2008 and £17.1 million in 2009 in the United Kingdom alone. The transportation of cash and valuable items between financial institutions has long been a target of robberies in the U.K. After a robbery has occurred, police collect evidence in the form of ink‐stained currency. These stained notes are submitted for analysis. Samples are subjected to polymerase chain reaction in order to amplify any possible botanically derived DNA markers present on the notes. After amplification, capillary electrophoresis allows for the deciphering of the “DNA profile.” The DNA profile is then linked to a particular cash box, and this information is compared with records of whether or not that box had been stolen. The cases below are three such instances where botanically marked currency was used to help solve robberies.     

Experts, Juries, and Witch-hunts: From Fitzjames Stephen to Angela Cannings

Angela Cannings's successful appeal against her convictions for murder has revived an old controversy about the competence of juries to evaluate expert evidence. In response to criticisms of the jury system in the wake of a series of controversial poisoning trials, the Victorian jurist J.F. Stephen argued that juries were well equipped to decide on behalf of the community which experts should be treated as authorities, whose opinions the lay public could accept for practical purposes as 'beyond reasonable doubt'. Such practical decisions did not, Stephen argued, require that juries fully understand the experts' reasons for their conclusions. This article draws on recent work in social epistemology to argue that Stephen's view of the jury remains tenable, and that his authoritarian arguments can be recast in more democratic terms. It also concurs in Stephen's blunt recognition that the courts' need to make decisions despite the uncertainties of science renders some convictions of the innocent inevitable.     

Convention as Intention – The Institution in All of Us

International Journal for the Semiotics of Law - Revue internationale de Sémiotique juridique -     

Editorial

The changes to the UK tax rules on residence and domicile havebeen well publicized. Amongst other things, the new legislationremoves the shelter from capital gains tax which was previouslyprovided to UK non-domiciled individuals who benefited froman offshore trust. Some of the harsher (and more retrospective) aspects of thedraft legislation published in January have since been tempered.Offshore trusts will still have a role in planning for non-domiciliaries,not least because significant inheritance tax advantages remain.However, the way in which the process has been managed by theGovernment and HM Revenue & Customs leaves trustees andadvisers (still getting to grips with the 2006 changes to thetaxation of trusts) with little confidence that