Situating Exclusion of Evidence Analysis in its Socio-Legal Place: A Tale of Judicial Populism

In the 2009 case of R. v. Grant, the Supreme Court of Canada reformulated the exclusion of evidence framework in the context of Charter breaches. The case was something of a revolution for those who study evidence law and the Charter. Thus far, the case has been the subject of much debate and even empirical study. Few academic papers have explored the philosophical predilections of the Court in the decision. In this paper, the authors briefly review the history of the exclusion of evidence test, explain the new framework and discuss the academic and legal responses to the case. The authors place the reasoning of the Court in a broader socio-legal context arguing that the test articulated by the Court is informed by a type of populism that combined with recent Charter cases in the police powers context allows for flexible potentials, ones that could, on occasion, encroach on due process protections. The authors call for scholars and activists to keep a close eye on the emerging jurisprudence in this critical area of Charter adjudication.     

The Role of Peer Contacts in the Relationship Between Parental Knowledge and Adolescents' Externalizing Behaviors: A Latent Growth Curve Modeling Approach

The purpose of the present study was to examine the direct and indirect effects (through peer contacts) of parental knowledge on adolescents’ delinquent and aggressive problem behavior, using latent growth curve modeling. A sample of 457 13- to 14-year old adolescents at first measurement wave (M=13.27; SD=0.45 years) filled out questionnaires about their parents, peers, and problem behavior three times with 1-year intervals in between. Regarding initial levels of behavior, both direct and indirect effects of parental knowledge were found on aggressive as well as on delinquent behavior. When the rate of change in behaviors was considered, only direct effects were found for both types of problem behavior, whereas indirect effects were absent. Gender differences were also found, with stronger effects of parenting on both aggressive and delinquent problem behavior for boys and stronger effects of peer contacts on aggressive behavior for girls. The present study shows that different behaviors of the externalizing spectrum have different trajectories and diverse relations with parenting and should not be treated as identical.

Why They Join: Pathways into Indonesian Jihadist Organizations

ABSTRACT

Why do Indonesian Muslims join Islamist extremist groups? This article explores four pathways to entry into Indonesian militant groups: study sessions, local conflict, kinship, and schools. It argues that within all four of these pathways, social bonds and relationships are the common thread in encouraging entry as well as in fostering commitment. Specifically, these relationships contribute to the formation and eventual consolidation of one’s identity as a member of the jihadi group through regular participation in activities, attending meetings, narrowing the circle of friends to those within the group, and participating in increasingly risky and possibly violent activities together. Drawing on original fieldwork including 49 interviews with current and former members of Jemaah Islamiyah, Mujahidin KOMPAK, Darul Islam, Mujahidin Tanah Runtuh, Indonesia’s pro-ISIS network, and other jihadist groups as well as 57 depositions and court documents, this article explores the development and evolution of these pathways and how relational ties play a role in each.     

An examination of current psychometric assessments of child molesters' offense-supportive beliefs using Ward's implicit theories

Are current questionnaire methods fit for the task of assessing offense-related schemas? Six published and unpublished questionnaire measures that assess child molesters' offense-related beliefs are evaluated and examined for evidence of the five implicit schemas proposed by Ward: children as sexual beings, nature of harm, uncontrollability, entitlement, and dangerous world. Current treatment approaches assume that child molesters hold some, if not all, of these implicit schemas-an assumption demonstrated through the use of appropriately modified schema-based treatment techniques. Coding the six questionnaires revealed that nonsexual offense-specific implicit theories are underrepresented on existing measures (i.e., uncontrollability, entitlement, and dangerous world) and that many questionnaire items could not be classified as tapping any implicit theories. Suggestions are made for the future design and revision of questionnaire assessments .     

Family negativity and delinquent behavior in adolescence: a predictive multivariate latent growth analysis

ABSTRACT

The current study had three aims: (1) to explore whether there is over-time change in adolescent delinquency and negativity in the parent–adolescent, sibling and marital relationships during adolescence; (2) to examine the interactions of negativity across subsystems; and (3) to examine whether levels and changes in adolescent delinquency are predicted by levels and changes in negativity in all family subsystems. Data of 497 families participating in the RADAR-young study were used. Ratings of all family members were used to measure negativity in family relationships, and adolescent self-report was used for delinquency. Multivariate latent growth curve models showed over-time increases in mother-adolescent negativity and over-time decreases in sibling negativity, as well as significant individual differences in these changes. Second, evidence for both social contagion and compensatory processes in family negativity was found. Third, initial levels of parent–adolescent negativity were related to initial levels but not over-time changes of adolescent delinquency, whereas initial levels of sibling negativity were related to over-time changes but not initial levels of adolescent delinquency. Finally, increases in parent–adolescent negativity were related to faster increases in adolescent delinquency, and decreases in sibling negativity were related to slower increases in adolescent delinquency. Implications of these results are discussed.     

Gaining Access to the “World's Largest Men's Club”: Women Leading UN Agencies

Following the establishment of UN Women in 2010 and the appointment of Christine Lagarde to the position of International Monetary Fund Managing Director in 2011, it appears that today the United Nations (UN) takes gender equality seriously, even within its own leadership ranks. Yet, while research on Women in Politics has paid little attention to women in international organisations, research on leadership in international organisations ignores the question of gender. This is despite an inherent connection between women's political careers domestically and internationally. Evidence suggests that although women have broken through the glass ceiling in international organisations and thus gained access to what has been termed the “world's largest men's club”, women continue to be systematically constrained in a way that enables them to gain access to leadership positions only in specific ways and under specific circumstances. Analysing the role of quotas and the nature of organisations in enabling access through the “glass ceiling”, the limitations of “glass walls” that channel women into gender-specific portfolios, situational dimensions such organisational crisis and instability, and the role of kinship in facilitating access, this paper shows that despite its potential to model and incentivise gender equality, the UN merely replicates domestic patterns of gender inequality.     

What attracts men who batter to their partners? An exploratory study

Men who batter, because of particular personality traits and sense of entitlement, may select partners whom they perceive will be dependent on them, meet their emotional needs, or be "objects" of physical attractiveness. During treatment intake, 181 offenders responded to the question, "What attracted you to her (your partner)?" We explored whether men who mentioned their own needs or her physical traits would engage in more frequent and severe violence and would have specific forms of personality disorder dimensions or personality traits. Six categories of attraction, including "her physical traits" and "his needs," were derived from the men's responses. The results showed that men who focused on their partners' physical attractiveness were more likely to be violent after treatment. Men who cited their own needs for their attraction had higher scores on borderline personality, alcohol abuse, and psychotic thinking and lower scores on compulsive-conforming.     

The dynamic prediction of antisocial behavior among forensic psychiatric patients: a prospective field study

Staff ratings of 595 supervised forensic psychiatric patients on the Proximal Risk Factor Scale and the Problem Identification Checklist were completed monthly for an average of 33 months. During the follow-up, there were 265 incidents, 86 of which were violent. The average ratings, excluding those from the index month, differentiated patients who had incidents from those who did not. As well, the average ratings distinguished between individuals with and without incidents of a violent or sexual nature. There were significant increases in staff ratings in the months preceding the index incident month. Within-patient analyses showed that changes in dynamic risk scales comprising the best items for predicting incidents of any kind and violent or sexual incidents were strongly related to their respective outcomes and were significantly related to outcome in an independent sample. Changes in monthly staff ratings predict the imminent occurrence of antisocial and violent behaviors.     

Representation of cerebral bridging veins in infants by postmortem computed tomography

The postmortem diagnosis of shaken baby syndrome, a severe form of child abuse, may be difficult, especially when no other visible signs of significant trauma are obvious. An important finding in shaken baby syndrome is subdural haemorrhage, typically originating from ruptured cerebral bridging veins. Since these are difficult to detect at autopsy, we have developed a special postmortem computed tomographic (PMCT) method to demonstrate the intracranial vein system in infants. This method is minimally invasive and can be carried out conveniently and quickly on clinical computed tomography (CT) systems. Firstly, a precontrast CT is made of the infant's head, to document the original state. Secondly, contrast fluid is injected manually via fontanel puncture into the superior sagittal sinus, followed by a repeat CT scan. This allows the depiction of even very small vessels of the deep and superficial cerebral veins, especially the bridging veins, without damaging them. Ruptures appear as extravasation of contrast medium, which helps to locate them at autopsy and examine them histologically, whenever necessary.