Who are the people in your neighborhood? A descriptive analysis of individuals on public sex offender registries

Despite growing focus on registration and notification systems as central elements of national sex offender management practice, there has been remarkably little systematic analysis of the content of these registries and the diversity of individuals contained within them. Specifically, little research attention has been paid to examining the heterogeneity of the population of registered sex offenders — a circumstance that may obscure important distinctions within the population and, in turn, may undermine the ostensible purpose of SORN to prevent sexual victimization. Addressing this significant gap in our current knowledge, this article sets forth a national profile of the registered sex offender (RSO) population, drawn from an analysis of data on 445,127 RSOs obtained from the public registries of 49 states, Washington, DC, Puerto Rico and Guam. In contrast with the homogenized perception about registered sex offenders that permeates much public discourse, the analysis illuminates the wide diversity of registrants across a range of demographic, offense-related, registry status, and risk-oriented variables. Policy and practice implications concerning risk, prevention, and the public safety utility of sex offender registries are discussed.     

Coase’s world and Coase’s blackboard

In this contribution I focus on a particular characteristic of Ronald Coase’s work, as exhibited in “The Problem of Social Cost”: his ability to force upon his audience a clearer grasp of reality than they previously held. More specifically, I aim to consider to what extent the “blackboard economics” that Coase himself derided have been avoided in a Coasean world, taking that expression to refer in some sense to a world where Coasean insights can flourish, and as such to be a world not simply of Coase’s own making but a world that has been developed by others in applying the Coase Theorem. My strategy is to interrogate the nature of a Coasean world through developing a framework that can look more closely at different approaches to theoretical modelling, the different worlds involved in these models, and the different positive and normative applications that can be derived from them. I shall further consider whether the understanding of the law that inhabits a Coasean world reflects a “real-world” legal environment. Finally, I shall seek to assess the impact of Coase’s work on our understanding of the relationship between law and economics, in our world.     

The evaluation of climate policy: theory and emerging practice in Europe

Climate policy is a relatively young and dynamic area of public policy making. However, its development has attracted far more attention than the results it delivers in practice, which of course are the concern of policy evaluators. This article attempts to provide the first systematic cataloging of the emerging patterns of policy evaluation undertaken in different parts of the European Union. Theories of policy evaluation suggest that these evaluation practices should acknowledge the inherent complexity of climate policy making, be reflexive by questioning official policy goals, and be participatory. A meta-analysis of 259 climate policy evaluations suggests that current practice engages with some but not all of these issues. This article concludes by analyzing the implications of this finding for those in the academic and practitioner community who are keen to understand the extent to which climate policy evaluation is delivering on its promises.     

Fingermark detection on non-porous and semi-porous surfaces using NaYF4:Er,Yb up-converter particles

This article describes the first use of an anti-Stokes material, or up-converter, for the development of latent fingermarks on a range of non-porous surfaces. Anti-Stokes materials can absorb long-wavelength light and emit light at a shorter wavelength. This property is unusual in both natural and artificial materials and so fingermark detection techniques based on anti-Stokes luminescence are potentially sensitive and selective. Latent fingermarks on luminescent and non-luminescent substrates, including Australian polymer banknotes (a well-known 'difficult' surface), were developed with sodium yttrium tetrafluoride doped with erbium and ytterbium (NaYF(4):Er,Yb) by dry powder, wet powder, and cyanoacrylate staining techniques. This study illustrates the potential of up-converter phosphors for the detection of latent fingermarks.     

Defending the sanctity of life principle: a reply to John Keown

This article is a response to Professor John Keown's criticism of my article "Finding a Way Through the Ethical and Legal Maze: Withdrawal of Medical Treatment and Euthanasia" (2005) 13(3) Medical Law Review 357. The article takes up and responds to a number of criticisms raised by Keown in an attempt to further the debate concerning the moral and legal status of withdrawing life-sustaining measures, its distinction from euthanasia, and the implications of the lawfulness of withdrawal for the principle of the sanctity of life.     

Methods for the enhancement of fingermarks in blood

Fingermarks formed in or by blood often require specific development techniques. This review examines techniques and materials that may be used to enhance and record fingermarks deposited in blood or fingermarks generated by blood-contaminated papillary ridges. A large number of techniques are presented here and are discussed from a chemical as well as practical perspective. It is concluded that an optimized sequence of techniques targeting both latent (non-bloody) and bloody fingermarks must be applied to detect and enhance the maximum number of marks, and therefore optimize the information content from exhibits that may bear marks in blood.     

Styryl dye coated metal oxide powders for the detection of latent fingermarks on non-porous surfaces

Conventional fingermark powders rely on contrast induced by absorption/reflection (e.g. black powder) or luminescence in the visible region (e.g. Blitz Green(?)). In most cases, these powders provide sufficient contrast; however, in some circumstances surface characteristics can interfere with the visualisation of powdered fingermarks. Visualisation in the near infra-red (NIR) region, however, has been shown to eliminate interferences commonly encountered in the visible region. In this study, a mixture of rhodamine 6G and the NIR laser dye styryl 11 (STaR 11) was coated onto an aluminium oxide nanopowder and then mixed with silver magnetic powder to develop and visualise fingermarks in the NIR. When compared to Blitz Green(?), it was determined that the STaR 11 magnetic powder was better suited for marks deposited on textured surfaces and for older marks, whereas Blitz Green(?) performed better on smooth glossy surfaces. The ability of the STaR 11 mixed dye formulation to be visualised in both the visible and NIR regions also provides a significant advantage over conventional luminescent fingermark powders.     

The Moving Home Effect: A Quasi Experiment Assessing Effect of Home Location on the Offence Location

Objectives

This study aims to test whether the home location has a causal effect on the crime location. To accomplish this the study capitalizes on the natural experiment that occurs when offender??s move, and uses a unique metric, the distance between sequential offenses, to determine if when an offender moves the offense location changes.

Methods

Using a sample of over 40,000 custodial arrests from Syracuse, NY between 2003 and 2008, this quasi-experimental design uses t test??s of mean differences, and fixed effects regression modeling to determine if moving has a significant effect on the distance between sequential offenses.

Results

This study finds that when offenders move they tend to commit crimes in locations farther away from past offences than would be expected without moving. The effect is rather small though, both in absolute terms (an elasticity coefficient of 0.02), and in relation to the effect of other independent variables (such as the time in between offenses).

Conclusions

This finding suggests that the home has an impact on where an offender will choose to commit a crime, independent of offence, neighborhood, or offender characteristics. The effect is small though, suggesting other factors may play a larger role in influencing where offenders choose to commit crime.     

Implications for the prevention of aggressive behavior within psychiatric hospitals drawn from interpersonal communication theory

Although interpersonal style is a defining feature of personality and personality disorder and is commonly identified as an important influence on aggressive behavior, treatment completion, and the development of an effective therapeutic alliance, it is rarely considered in practice guidelines for preventing, engaging, and managing patients at risk of aggression. In this article, the authors consider three potential applications of interpersonal theory to the care and management of patients at risk of aggression during hospitalization: (a) preventing aggression through theoretically grounded limit setting and de-escalation techniques, (b) developing and using interventions to alter problematic interpersonal styles, and (c) understanding therapeutic ruptures and difficulties establishing a therapeutic alliance. Interpersonal theory is proposed to offer a unifying framework that may assist development of intervention and management strategies that can help to reduce the occurrence of aggression in institutional settings.