Hostage-Taking in the Context of Domestic Violence: Some Case Examples

Initial reports of domestic violence are generally made to law enforcement officers who must respond and intervene. A subset of these episodes involves cases in which the victim, and, in many instances her child(ren), have been taken hostage by her husband or partner. Moreover, there are indications that the number of such incidents is growing. The purpose of this project was twofold: (1) to provide one of the first reports on the prevalence and characteristics of these events, and (2) to more closely analyze domestic crisis (hostage) situations using actual case examples. All information was obtained from the Hostage Barricade Database System (HOBAS) of the FBIs Crisis Negotiation Unit. HOBAS is a postincident information collection tool which stores historical data from law enforcement agencies across the nation on hostage/barricade incidents. An examination of this database yielded different types of domestic hostage-taking acts and outcomes (e.g., tactical vs. negotiated resolutions, survival vs. death/injury of perpetrator and/or victim[s]). Implications of the findings, for future crisis negotiation efforts directed toward nonviolent resolution of these high-risk critical incidents, are discussed.     

Dutch cocaine trade: The perspective of Rotterdam cocaine retail dealers

This article based, on 38 in-depth interviews with Rotterdam cocaine retail dealers, aims to present a clearer picture of how cocaine supply lines in the Netherlands are organized in order to fine-tune policy with respect to crime, public order and safety on the different trade levels. On the retail level the market for cocaine is strictly separated in a market for crack cocaine versus a market for powder cocaine. The crack dealers are often hard drug users themselves living in relatively poor circumstances. Although dealing cocaine is their main activity, they tend to be involved in other activities related to the drug scene, e.g. smuggling cocaine via Amsterdam airport. The cocaine distribution line for supply on the local market is seldom more than two steps. Because the supply for the Rotterdam cocaine retailers comes mainly from small-scale imports, successful police operations against large-scale imports of cocaine will have little influence on the local cocaine supply in the Netherlands.     

Allocating responsibility among controllers,processors, and “everything in between”: the definition of actors and roles in Directive 95/46/EC

In Opinion 1/2010, the Article 29 Data Protection Working Party has provided additional guidance concerning the concepts of ‘controller’ and ‘processor’ contained in Directive 95/46/EC. This guidance aims to assist practitioners in their determination of whether an entity is acting as a controller or as a processor towards a particular data processing operation. Despite the fact that this opinion is informative, the existing framework still appears to leave room for a considerable amount of legal uncertainty. This uncertainty is attributable in part to the nature of the existing concepts, but also (and perhaps to a larger extent) to their apparent misalignment with current processing realities. In this paper, the author seeks to articulate why the existing concepts often remain difficult to apply in practice, in order to enable a constructive reflection on how these issues might be addressed in the future.     

Insights from Ted Palmer: experimental criminology in a different era

Objectives  

Report insights from the career of the noted evaluation researcher, Ted Palmer, on emerging issues in correctional research and correctional treatment.     

Yield and turnover of illicit indoor cannabis (Cannabis spp.) plantations in Belgium

In prosecution, Belgian judiciary currently uses outdated yield figures (28.1g per plant, sold at € 3/g at grower level) for fining illicit indoor cannabis plantations. Using state-of-the-art cultivation techniques, our growth experiments showed that yield is better expressed in g/m(2) cultivated surface area rather than in g per plant, and that yield varies significantly between different cannabis strains. It was found that the lower-bound of the one-sided 95% confidence interval of the yield of an indoor cannabis plantation can be set at 575 g/m(2). Prices and pricing mechanisms were investigated using interviews with respondents selected through snowball sampling. Results reveal that (i) the Belgian cannabis market chain is highly complex; (ii) unit prices are predominantly determined by transaction sizes; but also (iii) a set of product- and socially-related price-fixing mechanisms have an equally important role. At grower level, respondents reported prices for 1 g of dry cannabis buds to range € 3.00-4.25.     

Raman spectroscopy and microspectrophotometry of reactive dyes on cotton fibres: Analysis and detection limits

A collaborative study on Raman spectroscopy and microspectrophotometry (MSP) was carried out by members of the ENFSI (European Network of Forensic Science Institutes) European Fibres Group (EFG) on different dyed cotton fabrics. The detection limits of the two methods were tested on two cotton sets with a dye concentration ranging from 0.5 to 0.005% (w/w). This survey shows that it is possible to detect the presence of dye in fibres with concentrations below that detectable by the traditional methods of light microscopy and microspectrophotometry (MSP). The MSP detection limit for the dyes used in this study was found to be a concentration of 0.5% (w/w). At this concentration, the fibres appear colourless with light microscopy. Raman spectroscopy clearly shows a higher potential to detect concentrations of dyes as low as 0.05% for the yellow dye RY145 and 0.005% for the blue dye RB221. This detection limit was found to depend both on the chemical composition of the dye itself and on the analytical conditions, particularly the laser wavelength. Furthermore, analysis of binary mixtures of dyes showed that while the minor dye was detected at 1.5% (w/w) (30% of the total dye concentration) using microspectrophotometry, it was detected at a level as low as 0.05% (w/w) (10% of the total dye concentration) using Raman spectroscopy. This work also highlights the importance of a flexible Raman instrument equipped with several lasers at different wavelengths for the analysis of dyed fibres. The operator and the set up of the analytical conditions are also of prime importance in order to obtain high quality spectra. Changing the laser wavelength is important to detect different dyes in a mixture.     

Victims' influence on intimate partner violence revictimization: an empirical test of dynamic victim-related risk factors

Research has reported that not only characteristics of the perpetrator but also characteristics of the victim influence risk for intimate partner violence (IPV). This would suggest that prevention of repeat abuse could benefit from a focus on both perpetrator and victim characteristics. Knowledge on factors that are within victims' sphere of influence is important because a focus on victim characteristics can help victims to take control of their situations and can thereby empower them. Dynamic victim-related factors are most relevant here as these are factors that can be changed or improved, in contrast to unchangeable static factors. Surprisingly, however, little is known about how victim-related factors affect risk for revictimization of IPV. The current study was conducted among a Dutch sample of 156 female, help-seeking IPV victims. The aim was to examine to what extent prior IPV and, in particular, dynamic victim-related factors influence risk for future IPV. In accordance with the models articulated by Foa, Cascardi, Zoellner and Feeny, we studied how the three key factors from their models-partner violence, victims' psychological difficulties, and victims' resilience-related to risk for IPV revictimization. Results provide support for several key factors (partner violence and victims' psychological difficulties) and, moreover, show which victim-related factors contribute to revictimization risk above and beyond the influence of prior violence committed by a partner against the victim (i.e., victims' prior IPV victimizations). Findings are discussed in terms of recommendations for practice and future research.     

Crashing the Party? Elites,Outsiders, and Elections

We consider an election between two parties that nominate candidates for office. The parties are polarized along a traditional cleavage, but they are also internally divided along a second issue dimension. We introduce a threat of entry from Outsider candidates, who have the prominence and resources to bypass party elites. We consider when voters will turn to Outsiders, and identify the conditions under which Outsiders will enter the election through an established party's nomination process, as opposed to circumventing established parties via a third-party challenge. We further explore when the elites will fail to respond to the threat of Outsider candidates. Our framework highlights how established parties will be especially vulnerable to Outsider primary entry in periods of intense ideological polarization between the parties, and that this vulnerability is especially heightened for the majority party.     

The Effect of Family Violence on Sexual Victimization among Young Women

Young people who grow up in a violent family context are more vulnerable to become victims of sexual aggression outside the family context. The present study contributes to the understanding of the mechanisms that explain this link among young women by looking at the mediating role of sexual exposure behavior and target vulnerability. Data were used from an online survey among 237 young women aged 16 to 26 (M?=?21.0 years, SD?=?2.75). Experiencing violence from (one of) the parents and to a lesser extent witnessing interparental violence were related to an elevated risk for sexual victimization. Witnessing interparental violence was related to increased target vulnerability but this factor did not mediate the link with sexual victimization. Experiencing parental violence was related to both increased sexual exposure behavior and increased target vulnerability and these factors did mediate the link with sexual victimization.