Development of Latent Fingermarks from Rocks and Stones

Since the beginning of recorded history, stones have been used in the commission of crimes due to their widespread availability. Stones can be used as a lethal weapon that sometimes might be the only evidence in a serious case. The common perception, even in professional fingermark circles, is that stones do not yield identifiable latent fingermarks. The authors of this research paper examined the feasibility of developing fingermarks from seven types of stones using three latent fingermark techniques: magnetic powder, cyanoacrylate fuming, and ninhydrin. The paper will demonstrate that by classifying stones and rocks according to their natural properties (porosity, permeability, and the nature of surface area), even application of the simplest development techniques can produce good results. In conclusion, chert and limestone yielded the most qualitative and quantitative results using magnetic powder. The time factor is also important in recovering latent fingermarks on stones and rocks.     

Combining historic preservation and income class integration: A case study of the butchers hill neighborhood of Baltimore

Abstract

For the past several decades in the United States, a tension has existed between the goals of historic preservation, the provision of affordable housing, and the creation of mixed‐income neighborhoods. Historic restoration for residential uses has often been associated with gentrification and the displacement of low‐income residents. This article examines the public and private sector support system for combining historic preservation with the creation of affordable and mixed‐income housing and neighborhoods and analyzes the strategies and experiences of the Baltimore neighborhood of Butchers Hill in taking this approach to community re‐vitalization.

Using historic preservation as a catalyst for community revitalization requires a comprehensive approach to prevent displacement of low‐income residents. In Butchers Hill, the mixed‐income community that was created was an outgrowth of conflict between two community‐based organizations. The case eludes simple typologies of gentrification and indicates the need for additional study of the dynamics and benefits of mixed‐income neighborhoods.     

Russian Studies Without Russia

A distinguished American specialist on Soviet and Russian politics addresses the lessons of the seven years leading to Russia's crash of 1998 for how US scholars, journalists, and politicians have analyzed Russia under Yeltsin. Citing a wide range of academic and journalistic sources, including materials published from October 1998 to January 1999, the article surveys and criticizes the mainstream concepts employed for comprehending social, political, and economic life in that country. It proposes both an alternative vocabulary and different comparative references for explaining and predicting developmental trends in Russia.     

A Review of: “Media and Conflict: Framing Issues,Making Policy,Shaping Opinions,edited by Eytan Gilboa”

Using survey data from statewide political party convention delegates in four states, I investigate whether and how gender stereotypes influence nomination choice. I examine whether gaining candidate information from different sources differentially influences gender stereotypes and the likelihood of supporting both a female and a male nominee. I argue that information sources outside a candidate's control—delegates' discussions with other delegates—versus sources candidates can control (e.g., campaign contacts and personal contact with the candidate) work against female candidates' nomination. Specifically, when delegates learn about candidates via the most controlled sources, they will be more likely to view the candidates as possessing both masculine and feminine traits and issue competencies. As a result, they should be more likely to support the candidate. In contrast, information from sources outside candidate control functions differently for male and female candidates: These sources confirm delegates' stereotype expectations, negatively affecting perceptions of a female candidate's masculine strengths, which then negatively relate to supporting her nomination. The results generally support these ideas: Delegates receiving information from the most controlled sources form balanced views of the female candidate, but the positive effects of information from these sources on nomination choice are not mediated by stereotypes. In contrast, delegates gaining information from other delegates confirm their stereotypes of the candidate and are then less likely to support her. More broadly, gender stereotypes, particularly those regarding female candidates' masculine traits and feminine issue competencies relative to the candidate's male opponent, directly and positively relate to delegates' likelihood of supporting her.     

Who is most at risk for intimate partner violence? A Canadian population-based study

Whole population studies on intimate partner violence (IPV) have given contradictory information about prevalence and risk factors, especially concerning gender. The authors examined the 1999 Canadian General Social Survey data for gender patterns of physical, sexual, emotional, or financial IPV from a current or ex-partner. More women (8.6%) than men (7.0%, p = .001) reported partner physical abuse in general, physical IPV causing physical injury (p < .0001), sexual abuse (1.7% vs. 0.2%, p < .0001), and financial abuse (4.1% vs. 1.6%, p < .0001). There were no gender differences for partner emotional abuse. Significant risk factors after multivariate modeling for physical/sexual IPV were younger age, being divorced/separated or single, having children in the household, and poor self-rated physical health. These findings from a large, randomly generated data set further refine our understanding of the risk profile for IPV in the developed world.     

Who Fears the HPV Vaccine,Who Doesn’t,and Why? An Experimental Study of the Mechanisms of Cultural Cognition

The cultural cognition thesis holds that individuals form risk perceptions that reflect their commitments to contested views of the good society. We conducted a study that used the dispute over mandatory HPV vaccination to test the cultural cognition thesis. Although public health officials have recommended that all girls aged 11 or 12 be vaccinated for HPV—a sexually transmitted virus that causes cervical cancer—political controversy has blocked adoption of mandatory school-enrollment vaccination programs in all but one state. An experimental study of a large sample of American adults (N = 1,538) found that cultural cognition generates disagreement about the risks and benefits of the vaccine through two mechanisms: biased assimilation, and the credibility heuristic. We discuss theoretical and practical implications.     

The relevance of the evolution of experimental studies for the interpretation and evaluation of some trace physical evidence

In order for trace evidence to have a high evidential value, experimental studies which mimic the forensic reality are of fundamental importance. Such primary level experimentation is crucial to establish a coherent body of theory concerning the generation, transfer and persistence of different forms of trace physical evidence. We contend that the forensic context, at whatever scale, will be specific to each individual forensic case and this context in which a crime takes place will influence the properties of trace evidence. It will, therefore, be necessary in many forensic cases to undertake secondary level experimental studies that incorporate specific variables pertinent to a particular case and supplement the established theory presented in the published literature. Such studies enable a better understanding of the specific forensic context and thus allow more accurate collection, analysis and interpretation of the trace physical evidence to be achieved.This paper presents two cases where the findings of secondary level experimental studies undertaken to address specific issues particular to two forensic investigations proved to be important. Specific pre-, syn- and post-forensic event factors were incorporated into the experimental design and proved to be invaluable in the recovery, analysis and in achieving accurate interpretations of both soil evidence from footwear and glass trace evidence from a broken window.These studies demonstrate that a fuller understanding of the specific context within which trace physical evidence is generated and subsequently collected, as well as an understanding of the behaviour of certain forms of trace physical evidence under specific conditions, can add evidentiary weight to the analysis and interpretation of that evidence and thus help a court with greater certainty where resources (time and cost) permit.     

Examining Procedural Justice and Legitimacy in Corporate Offending and Beyond‐Compliance Behavior: The Efficacy of Direct and Indirect Regulatory Interactions

Tom Tyler's Procedural Justice Theory has received support in a variety of studies using criminal justice authorities as the research focus. To date, the theory has not been empirically tested using corporate malfeasance as an outcome, despite evidence that procedural justice is important in achieving regulatory compliance. This study uses factorial survey methods to examine whether corporate behavior is predicted by professionals' perceptions of procedural justice and legal legitimacy. We find that procedural justice and legitimacy considerations are salient only when managers have direct contact with regulatory authorities. This supports John Braithwaite's argument that effective regulation is enhanced by microlevel interactions in which procedural justice can be effectively leveraged to promote compliance.     

Neoliberalism and Academia in Morocco

This article analyses the impact of international aid flows and the process of global market integration in Morocco on the role of academia—meaning research, teaching and intellectual debate conducted largely, but not solely, through publications and conferences—in social and political change. Drawing upon interviews and analysis of secondary sources, the article suggests that international development agencies working in Morocco and national policy strategies to further globalisation have had consequences for academic research and outputs as well as on intellectual debate in general. The first effect is to support the cultivation of an academic elite in the social sciences and humanities whose research agenda is often connected to national and international policy agendas and, likewise, to limit the evolution of a broader-based national or regional academic debate based on independent research. The second is to raise the importance of private higher education, which is focused for the most part on teaching and not on independent research. The impact of both has been to undermine the status of the academic profession and the role of higher education in pushing forward public debate on critical issues beyond programmatic concerns, for instance illiteracy or migration; and to address more fundamental questions, such as adherence to neoliberal policies or the pervasiveness of political and social alienation in Morocco. More importantly, the decline of public higher education has symbolic significance in that it reflects disassociation of the state from supporting a connection between craft, identity and citizenship. Taking into account the consequences of the impoverishment of higher education for training, research and critical analysis, the article ends by calling on aid agencies to regard academic research and public universities as means to reinvigorate public debate and new thinking around national and local development issues.