Homicide‐Suicide in Konya,Turkey Between 2000 and 2007*

Abstract: Homicide followed by the suicide of the murderer is a relatively rare lethal incident in which an individual kills another person and subsequently dies by suicide. Cases involving a homicide and a suicide in which death examinations and autopsies were performed at The Konya Branch of the Forensic Medicine Council between 2000 and 2007 were retrospectively investigated. During the studied time period, there were 10 homicide‐suicide cases identified with 10 perpetrators killing 12 victims. Nine of the perpetrators were men and eight of the victims were women. The precipitating motive was an impending divorce in four of the cases. Two perpetrators were described as severely depressed, one had a diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder, and one was a pedophile who had reactive depression. Firearms were used in eight of the homicide cases and seven of the suicides. Constricting the use of firearms may reduce/prevent future homicide‐suicide cases, as it is the most commonly used method to carry out homicide‐suicides.     

Y-chromosome and autosomal STR diversity in four proximate settlements in Central Anatolia

Due to the longstanding human presence in the region and the influence of social traditions, the genetic make-up of populations currently inhabiting Turkey (Anatolia) is quite complex. To characterize the patterns of genetic diversity in rural Central Anatolian villages, we analyzed samples collected at four local settlements for variation at 17 Y-chromosome STR and 15 autosomal STR loci. The resulting data reveal considerable diversity within these settlements, as well as some structure in the paternal genetic variation, with a limited number of haplotypes being shared between the communities. These findings have important implications for forensic studies of Turkish populations.     

France in ten slices: An analysis of aggregate data

Many causal relationships cannot be detected by national averages, whether based on regression analysis of aggregate data or on survey data, because the local social context explains an important part of the variance. An analysis by deciles of aggregate data shows the great territorial diversity of social contexts in France. The unit of analysis is the French canton. The 2,450 cantons are distributed by deciles of such variables as religious practice, social structure, and vote. In the second part, six extreme deciles are analysed: the most leftist part of France, the most rightist, the most industrialized, the most agricultural, the most devout, and the most irreligious. For a country with such a territorial diversity, generating a polymorphism of parties, the national averages based on aggregate data or on survey data are largely fallacious, particularly those concerning the causal relationships. Slicing in deciles is the most efficient method for analysing aggregate data     

Erosion of confidence in advanced democracies

The data from a host of cross-national surveys document the sociological finding that citizens increasingly mistrust the principal institutions and organizations of pluralist democracies. Paradoxically, this coincides with the exportation and spread of democratic regimes. Available documentation shows four major characteristics of distrust, which are manifest in many European nations. Many sociological features cross national frontiers and permeate all social strata. These lead to further consideration of legitimacy. Analysis also supports the lesson that electoral procedures alone are no longer sufficient for building confidence in representative democracy, for decisions must be continually taken, and cannot insure the harmonious and full legitimacy of democratic regimes in the most developed countries. Mattei Dogan is Senior Research Director at the French National Centre of Scientific Research, Paris. The author of numerous books and articles, he is also Chair of the Research Committee on Comparative Sociology, International Sociological Association.     

Sexual Behavioral Disinhibition Associated with Nucleus Lentiformis Lesion: A Forensic Neuroscience Perspective Through a Case

Organic brain disturbances particularly related to frontal cortex structures and subcortical areas including the basal ganglia may play a role in behavioral disinhibition disorders. Kluver–Bucy syndrome (KBS), which is one of the better knowns of these syndromes, includes hyperorality, visual agnosia, and hypersexuality, has been reported to occur after temporal lobe and amygdala lesions; however, several patients who had focal lesions in areas other than the temporal cortex and amygdala have been reported to present partial KBS symptoms. Nucleus lentiformis refers to a large portion of the basal ganglia including the putamen and globus pallidus, and specific structures within this broad area are known to be important for reward and value-based decision making. To date, KBS symptoms including hypersexual behavior associated with nucleus lentiformis lesions have never been reported. Here, we present a 38-year-old male patient who developed increased sexual interest and hyperorality after infarctions in the right lenticular nucleus and right occipitotemporal region and committed a first-degree sexual assault. He was sent to our institution for the assessment of criminal responsibility to the index sexual crime. According to a comprehensive and thorough forensic psychiatric evaluation, he was diagnosed as having an organic personality disorder with partial KBS symptoms. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported case of deviant sexual behavior and hyperorality developing after nucleus lentiformis infarction. We aimed to discuss possible neurobiologic explanations of late-onset deviant sexual behavior, which resulted in sexual criminal behavior following a cerebrovascular infarction.     

Fragmentation and recombination of the social sciences

Studies in Comparative International Development -     

Analyzing Global Governance Failure: A Philosophical Framework

This article seeks to make a contribution to theory development by explicating the competing approaches (explanatory frameworks and research methods) that can be used in the analysis of episodes of global governance failures—undesirable events (such as war, or incidents of international terrorism) and behaviors (such as rogue political leaders accumulating weapons of mass destruction or supporting international terrorist groups) that are a consequence of the ineffectiveness of a global governance process. It does so by constructing a methodological taxonomy, which enables the identification of the competing philosophical methodologies that underpin contending perspectives on the causation of, and solutions to, episodes of global governance failures, by reference to contesting understandings of what knowledge is (an epistemological issue) and what exists that is capable of giving rise to consequences (an ontological issue). It then identifies the epistemological and ontological challenges facing policy analysts seeking to analyze and address global governance failure. Meeting these challenges requires the adoption of a methodology that draws insights from the epistemological and ontological syntheses that have emerged within contemporary social theory.     

Decapitation and Dismemberment of the Corpse: A Matricide Case*

Abstract: Dismemberment of a corpse has always been viewed by society to be a more hideous crime than the homicide itself. In this study, we present a case of a 57‐year‐old woman who was decapitated and her right arm and both hands were dismembered. It was determined that the victim was murdered and dismembered by her 33‐year‐old daughter, who had been receiving treatment for schizophrenia for 15 years. On the victim’s head and back there were 71 incised and stab wounds in total. They were superficial, except the five stab wounds which were connected to the right chest cavity and which incapacitated the victim. Although there is not a regulation for the act of dismembering the corpse in the Turkish Penal Code, since this type of case is rare, the crime scene and the autopsy findings were evaluated together with other pertinent data available in the literature.     

Accidental Hanging Deaths in Children in Konya,Turkey Between 1998 and 2007*

Abstract: In general, hanging cases are the result of suicide, and accidental and homicidal hanging cases are rarely seen. This study retrospectively investigated 4571 death examinations and autopsies that were performed at The Konya Branch of the Forensic Medicine Council (Turkey) between 1998 and 2007; hanging was involved in 201 (6.5%) of the cases. There were a total of 13 accidental hanging cases, where 12 of these involved children. In seven of the cases, the accidental hanging involved a scarf that wraps around swing‐like cradles and is intended to prevent infants from falling down. It was concluded that accidental hanging deaths can be reduced by replacing swing‐like cradles with cribs that are designed for children, removing ropes in and around the house, and preventing children from reaching and/or playing with rope‐like objects.