Localism in Practice: Investigating Citizen Participation and Good Governance in Local Government Standards of Conduct

This article examines how, against a background of localism endorsed by the 2010 coalition government in the United Kingdom, a key component of local integrity and governance was fundamentally altered. The Localism Act 2011 abolished the English local integrity framework, which relied on the participation of local citizens in the policy making and implementation of local government standards of conduct. The article utilizes Henrik Bang's concepts of “expert citizen” and “everyday maker” to explore citizen participation in local standards committees. Using a case study approach, the article demonstrates how standards committees shaped processes and practices in the local governance of integrity. The authors argue that standards committees were crucial in promoting local participation and enhancing good governance.     

Online protection of the child within Europe

This article discusses the online protection available to children and young people within Europe. Children and young people are significant users of information technology and they must be able and comfortable to safely use this technology. The European Union and the Council of Europe have been at the vanguard of attempts to regulate the information society in order to protect young netizens.     

Differentiating Between Generally and Partner-Only Violent Subgroups: Lifetime Antisocial Behavior,Family of Origin Violence,and Impulsivity

The present study examined self-reported lifetime antisocial behavior, family of origin violence, and impulsivity/behavioral disinhibition of 73 men entering treatment for partner violence. Participants were designated as generally violent (GV) (n = 46) or partner only violent (n = 27), based on self-reported violence against non-intimate individuals during the year prior to intake. As hypothesized, GV men reported more conduct disorder/delinquent behaviors, lifetime antisocial behaviors, and family of origin violence. The GV men also reported more behavioral disinhibition, however, group differences on impulsivity only approached statistical significance. In addition, as hypothesized, GV men reported they were more psychologically abusive toward their intimate partners. However, contrary to expectations, the subgroups did not differ on reports of physical violence toward their partners. This study employed a fairly simple technique of dividing men into groups based on self-reports of violence over the past year, thereby producing subgroups that differed on a number of important characteristics that may have implications for treatment. An advantage of this technique is that it would be relatively easy for other treatment programs to apply.

Effects of Perpetrator and Victim Gender on Negative Outcomes of Family Violence

Growing up in a violent home predisposes children to a host of behavioral and emotional difficulties. This study examined whether perpetrator and victim gender have an impact on depressive symptoms and aggressive behavior for victims of child physical abuse (CPA) and also with regard to witnessing interparental violence (IPV). This study also examined whether witnessing siblings being abused would elicit high levels of depressive symptoms and aggressive behavior. College students (n = 675) were assessed for both exposure to IPV and child physical abuse prior to age 18. Participants completed measures of depression and aggression. With regard to victims of CPA, participants victimized by both parents and those victimized by mothers only had significantly higher levels of aggression. For depressive symptoms, females having both parents as perpetrators or fathers only had significantly higher depressive symptoms. With regard to witnessing IPV, being abused by both parents was associated with endorsement of more aggression and depressive symptoms. With regard to witnessing sibling violence, the results were similar to those found for victims of CPA.

Joint match probabilities for Y chromosomal and autosomal markers

Empirical tests of association between Y chromosome and autosomal markers are presented and a theoretical framework for determining a joint match probability is recommended. Statistical analyses of association were performed in 16 US populations between the autosomal genotypes from loci CSF1PO, FGA, THO1, TPOX, vWA, D3S1358, D5S818, D7S820, D8S1179, D13S317, D16S539, D18S512, D21S11 and Y chromosome haplotypes from loci DYS19, DYS385ab, DYS389I, DYS389II, DYS390, DYS391, DYS392, DYS393, DYS438, and DYS439. The sample populations include individuals of European-, African-, Hispanic-, Native-, and Asian-American ancestry. The results are consistent with independence of Y and autosomal markers, although small amounts of dependence would likely have escaped our tests. Given the data in hand, we suggest it is appropriate to compute joint match probabilities by multiplying the Y haplotype frequency with the appropriately corrected autosomal frequency. In addition to correcting for autosomal frequency differences between groups, a further correction may be required. Since two individuals sharing the same Y haplotype are likely to be more recently related than two randomly chosen individuals, the autosomal frequencies have to be adjusted to account for this, akin to the theta correction used to account for population substructure. The structure imposed on the autosomal frequencies conditioned in a Y match is a function of the number of markers scored and their mutation rate. However, in most settings theta<0.01. When population structure is already present in the autosomes, the additional effect due to conditioning on the Y is small. For example, if the amount of structure in the population is theta=0.01 or 0.03 (the NRCII range), then the effect of conditioning on the Y results in only a trivial increase in theta to 0.02-0.04, respectively.     

Do drug users use less alcohol than non-drug users? A comparison of ethyl glucuronide concentrations in hair between the two groups in medico-legal cases

Two groups were selected from the remainder of hair samples that had been tested for drugs at TrichoTech for medico-legal cases: samples that tested negative (drug-negative group; N=42, age 33.4+/-7.2 years) and samples that tested positive for drugs (drug-positive group; N=57, age 32.5+/-8.8 years). A rapid, simple method to detect the ethanol metabolite, ethyl glucuronide (EtG) in hair has been developed. The hair samples were sectioned, and then submitted to overnight sonication in water. Samples then underwent SPE using anion exchange cartridges, followed by derivatisation with N,O-bis[trimethylsilyl]trifluoroacetamide (BSTFA), before confirmation by GC-MS/MS. The assay produced excellent linearity and sensitivity over the calibration range 0.02-1.0 ng/mg, assuming a 10 mg hair sample. The mean age of the two groups was not statistically different (p=0.575, Student t-test), indicating a homogeneous group. Twelve of the 57 (21.0%) hair samples of the drug-positive group tested positive for EtG, and 17 of the 42 (40.5%) hair samples of the drug-negative group tested positive for EtG. The mean concentration of EtG in the drug-positive group was 0.011 ng/mg compared to 0.107 ng/mg in the drug-negative group. When the full results of this study were subjected to statistical analysis it was shown that EtG levels in the drug-negative group were statistically higher than those found in the drug-positive group (p<0.05). This preliminary finding may be of use in the study of addiction and adds valuable data to previous studies regarding the use of EtG as a valuable marker for alcohol levels in hair.     

Intoxicated Consent To Sexual Relations

Law and Philosophy -