Negotiating the EU–U.S. Open Aviation Area Agreement 2007 in the Context of Transatlantic Airline Regimes Since 1944

Between 1944 and 2002, the United States sought to create a competitive and commercially driven international civil aviation regime. It tried to peel away politically inspired regulations, which fragmented the marketplace, and deliver efficiencies and consumer benefits. In contrast with the American liberal tradition—albeit with limitations—the industry in Europe was over-regulated and largely based on subsidised state-owned carriers with international market quotas. Thus for many years Europe and the U.S. followed different paths; but political and economic dynamics conspired together in the 1980s and early 1990s to produce remarkable change in the European Community and, by 1997, there were the makings of a competitive and lightly regulated single market, which brought it close to U.S. practice. Since 2002, the United States has been less liberal in its airline policies; the EU has been more liberal. It would be an irony indeed if the great regime liberaliser since 1944 were now to become a force of regulatory conservatism that denied consummation to the vision of a transatlantic open aviation area that could be a magnet to draw in the rest of the world into a truly global commercial airline market.     

Forensic Performance Analysis of Load‐Limiting Devices in Automotive Seat Belt Retractors

The introduction of frontal airbags and seatbelt pretensioners for front seat occupants provided an opportunity to address injuries caused by seatbelt loading by introducing load‐limiters, which were intended to reduce belt loading while maintaining proper restraint. Investigation and forensic analysis of real‐world crashes identified that the implementation of these devices, in some circumstances, increased the potential of injury. This paper focuses on the trade‐offs of load‐limiters, that is, the reduction loading to the occupant versus the corresponding increase in seatbelt webbing and occupant movement. If the additional webbing introduced is not controlled, the risk of injury to the occupant is increased and could result in more frequent and severe injuries rather than a reduction. This paper quantifies the webbing introduced by load‐limiter activation through forensic analysis of the seatbelt involved in real‐world crashes and testing and assesses its effect on the injuries sustained by the occupant.     

A Randomized Trial of Probation Case Management for Drug-Involved Women Offenders

This paper reports findings from a clinical trial of a probation case management (PCM) intervention for drug-involved women offenders. Participants were randomly assigned to either PCM (n=92) or standard probation (n=91), and followed for 12 months using measures of substance abuse, psychiatric symptoms, social support and service utilization. Arrest data were collected from administrative datasets. The sample (N=183) included mostly African American (57%) and White (20%) women, with a mean age of 34.7 (SD = 9.2) and mean education of 11.6 years (SD = 2.1). Cocaine and heroin were the most frequently reported drugs of abuse, 86% reported prior history of incarceration, and 74% had children. Women assigned to both PCM and standard probation showed change over time in the direction of clinical improvement on 7 of 10 outcomes measured. However, changes observed for the PCM group were no different than those observed for the standard probation group. Higher levels of case management, drug abuse treatment, and probationary supervision may be required to achieve improved outcomes in this population.     

The "untreatability" of psychopathy and hospital commitment in the USA

One argument in support of a public policy of not subjecting persons with psychopathic disorders to civil or criminal commitment is that these disorders do not improve with treatment. This article examines the relationship between the assumption of untreatability of psychopathic disorders and outpatient civil commitment, inpatient civil commitment, and insanity acquittee commitment. Research on the treatability of psychopathy is reviewed and the treatment of conditions co-morbid with psychopathy is considered. Research evidence is insufficient to support the conclusion that psychopathy is improved, worsened or not affected by treatment. Evidence does support effective treatments for conditions that can be co-morbid with psychopathic disorders including impulsive aggression which can be interpreted as a manifestation of psychopathic disorder.The absence of evidence based treatment efficacy for psychopathic disorders is a logical reason for not subjecting individuals with only a psychopathic disorder to involuntary hospitalization. This assumption should not becloud the possibility of treatable co-morbid conditions which may or may not qualify for involuntary hospitalization. Where the primary mental disorder, for which an individual is involuntarily hospitalized, results in behavioral improvement, the continued presence of a psychopathic disorder itself, should not be sufficient reason to continue coerced confinement. Even so, where the primary disorder is incompletely treated, psychopathy can be considered a risk factor when deciding upon the appropriate time for discharge and when formulating a safe and effective after care plan.     

Inside the prison black box: toward a life course importation model of inmate behavior

The importation model is a venerable theoretical explanation for inmate misconduct but it has not been extended in nearly 50 years. The current study advances a life course importation model of inmate behavior where life events in childhood cascade to predict antisocial behavior during adolescence and misconduct occurring during periods of confinement. Based on data from 2,520 institutionalized male delinquents, ordinary least squares, logistic, and negative binomial regression models indicated that family background variables were largely predictive of multiple facets of delinquent careers. Negative binomial regression models of institutional misconduct indicated that proximal delinquent career variables were more consistently associated with misconduct than distal family background factors. Because institutional behavior can be understood as the importing of family deprivation experiences and chronic delinquency, the life course importation model is a useful conceptual framework to study crime over the life course, even including periods of confinement.