An unusual case of sudden unexpected death: postmortem investigation and biomechanical analysis of the cervical spine

A naked man died under peculiar circumstances and the postmortem examination revealed unexpected lesions in the cervical spine. Investigations of the cervical spine (computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and histological examination) showed that a piece of bone was torn of the anterior part of vertebra C6 and that there was fresh bleeding in the surrounding tissue. The cause of death remained unclear but was most likely cardiac arrhythmia initiated by beta-2 agonist inhalation due to an acute asthmatic attack. Data from biomechanical investigation using finite element analysis supported the conclusion that the cervical spine injury was secondary to impact during falling as a consequence of the cardiac arrhythmia.     

Quality of criminal responsibility reports submitted to the Hawaii judiciary

This paper is the third in a series of research reports on quality of forensic mental health evaluations submitted to the Hawaii judiciary. Previous studies examined quality of reports assessing competency to stand trial (CST) and post-acquittal conditional release, in felony defendants undergoing court-ordered examinations. Utilizing a 44-item quality coding instrument, this study examined quality of criminal responsibility reports in a sample of 150 forensic mental health evaluations conducted between 2006 and 2010 by court-appointed panels. Raters attained high levels of agreement in training and quality coding. Similar to the previous studies, overall quality of reports was mediocre, falling below the .80 quality criterion score for report elements, regardless of evaluator professional identification or employment status. Level of agreement between evaluators and judicial sanity determinations was “fair” using Cicchetti's (1994) standards for interpretation of intra-class correlations. Level of agreement was lower than previously published findings for CST reports and better than conditional release reports. Reasons for mediocre report quality and “fair” inter-rater agreement are discussed, including the fact that criminal responsibility evaluations are complex, retrospective in nature, and involve significant degrees of inference. In contrast to CST evaluations, assessment of criminal responsibility involves a mental state at the time of the offense evaluation. Threats to reliability in forensic reports are discussed. Suggestions for improvement of report quality are proffered, including standardization of procedures and report format and use of forensic assessment instruments.     

HMP/YOI Holloway: a lament but also a call to arms

Abstract

London’s oldest women’s prison is to close in 2016. The unexpected speed of the UK Government’s closure plans and the lack of alternatives for London women are a cause for concern but also an opportunity. Ironically, this announcement came at a time when both the prison and its health care were evaluated as better than ever before. Staff constitute a vital source of knowledge and expertise. Good care for women who offend relies on these ingredients. Learning from the last decade should be salvaged and further developed.     

The body-worn camera perspective bias

Objectives

Footage from body-worn cameras (BWCs) is sometimes used to assess the quality of police interventions. This study investigates whether there is a “body-worn camera perspective bias,” in which the point of view provided by the footage influences perception of an intervention.

Methods

Participants with different backgrounds (undergraduate students and police candidates) were randomly allocated to a group that looked at one of two videos showing a fictional police intervention during which lethal force was used against a subject; both videos showed exactly the same intervention, but one had been filmed with a BWC and the other with a surveillance camera installed in a top corner of the room. Participants were then asked to rate the appropriateness of the intervention.

Results

No camera perspective bias was found among university respondents. However a significant camera perspective bias was found among police candidates: respondents’ opinions on the appropriateness of the intervention were significantly different when the film was from the body-worn camera than when it was seen from the surveillance camera. This result may be explained by the finding that viewers of the BWC footage reported that the subject was further from the officer.

Conclusions

Results suggest that the more training individuals have in analyzing police interventions, the more affected they will be by the camera perspective in these interventions. One implication of these results is that the perspective of people assigned and trained to evaluate the appropriateness of an intervention (e.g., members of a committee monitoring police misconduct) might be biased if only video footage from a BWC is presented.

     

Food crises, food regimes and food movements: rumblings of reform or tides of transformation?

This article addresses the potential for food movements to bring about substantive changes to the current global food system. After describing the current corporate food regime, we apply Karl Polanyi's 'double-movement' thesis on capitalism to explain the regime's trends of neoliberalism and reform. Using the global food crisis as a point of departure, we introduce a comparative analytical framework for different political and social trends within the corporate food regime and global food movements, characterizing them as 'Neoliberal', 'Reformist', 'Progressive', and 'Radical', respectively, and describe each trend based on its discourse, model, and key actors, approach to the food crisis, and key documents. After a discussion of class, political permeability, and tensions within the food movements, we suggest that the current food crisis offers opportunities for strategic alliances between Progressive and Radical trends within the food movement. We conclude that while the food crisis has brought a retrenchment of neoliberalization and weak calls for reform, the worldwide growth of food movements directly and indirectly challenge the legitimacy and hegemony of the corporate food regime. Regime change will require sustained pressure from a strong global food movement, built on durable alliances between Progressive and Radical trends.     

Freedom in paradise: quality of conditional release reports submitted to the Hawaii judiciary

Annually thousands of insanity acquitees are released from mental hospitals when they are no longer determined to be dangerous. This research examined quality of post-acquittal Conditional Release (CR) reports submitted to the Hawaii Judiciary. Hawaii utilizes a “three panel” system for assessing trial felony competency, criminal responsibility, and conditional release, where typically two psychologists (one Department of Health and one community-based) and one community-based psychiatrist submit independent reports to the Court. One hundred fifty CR reports were rated using a 44-item report quality measure. Interrater reliability trials indicated good to excellent agreement between quality ratings. Overall level of report quality was poor regardless of examiners' professional discipline, employer, or board certification status. Concordance rates for CR opinions were poor. Level of agreement between the judicial determination and majority recommendations was also poor. Reasons for the poor quality and level of agreement are discussed with recommendations for report quality improvement, including standardization of procedures and use of forensic risk assessment instruments.     

Patterns of violence and self-harm in women prisoners: characteristics,co-incidence and clinical significance

Self-harm and violence in women’s prisons in England are common and occurring with increasing frequency. We aimed to describe the characteristics and patterns of violent and/or self-harming behaviours in women in prison by conducting a retrospective analysis of routine data about self-harm incidents and adjudications. Incidence rates of self-harm and violence were calculated and associated factors explored using logistic regression. We found that only 6.7% of 5486 women prisoners self-harmed and 7.9% had been violent. Eighty per cent of all self-harm incidents related to 70 women. Almost 4 in 10 women prisoners who self-harmed were also violent. Multiple incarcerations and court movements are associated with incidents of self-harm and violence. Women with high-frequency self-harm (≥6) began self-harming early in their custodial period. We conclude that women prisoners who are very behaviourally disturbed can and should be identified early. They warrant clinical formulation and multi-agency responses to risk. Those with high-frequency self-harm should be cared for by external health services.     

Interorganizational Mobility within the U.S. Federal Government: Examining the Effect of Individual and Organizational Factors

Interorganizational mobility can make a positive contribution both organizationally and government‐wide. Using data from the U.S. Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey, this article seeks to provide a better empirical understanding of the determinants of interorganizational mobility within the U.S. federal government. A specific analytical framework is used, as the intention to take another job within the federal government is nested in the intention to leave the current organization. The results highlight that gender, minority status, length of service, and promotion are determinants of interorganizational mobility within the U.S. federal government.     

Shadow boxing in family politics: reply to Martin Durham

In his writings on government foucault commonly uses term ‘political’ as if it were equivalant to a certain understanding of governmental. Thus, in the title of his cotribution to the Tanner Lectures on Human Values, ‘Omnes et Singulatim, towards a criticism of ”political reason“, the object of Foucault's usage of the term ‘political’ to refer to a kind of govrmetal reason. Second, I argue that the practice of what Foucault understands by political reason in fact creates coditions for the emergence of a politics and a political reason of a very different kind. The appearance of this latter political reason poses a range of problems which must be addressed by any political (in the sense of governmental) reason but which play little part in Foucault's discussion. It Suggests, in particular, that Foucault's account of the liberal rationality of government is seriously incomplete. Third, I consider the grounds for Foucault's counterposition of political reason to liberation, noting that his critique of political reason as a principle of subjectivation raises a more general issue, which he describes as ‘the politics of ourselves’ (Foucault 1993: 223). I conclude by noting that Foucault's discussions of political reason lead in two very different directions: towards a powerful analysis of the practices and rationalities of government in the modern West or towards a radical critique of most forms of government, including the modern government of oneself.     

Walking and talking chester I. Barnard

The influence of Chester Barnard in contemporary management and organization theorising is substantial but often barely acknowledged. Contemporary authors sometimes ‘borrow’ a fragment to support their case but his was a fundamentally holistic work which sought to interweave and integrate rather than dissect and disintegrate. The research data reported in this paper were not generated to test Barnard's work but in the process of analysis, it emerged that Barnard spoke in a voice which echoed closely the comments of senior executives. Indeed, he is the only theorist to do so in such a comprehensive way. On further reflection, it was found that his work embraces a breadth and depth of conceptual thought which remains unequalled in our vast literature. His intellectual foundations were quite radical for his time, again in a way which does not find contemporary parallel. In what remains a rare gestalt analysis of organization, he manages to blend the contradictions and conflicts of individual and organization and inherent fickleness and ambiguity of social life together with a dexterity and integrity which resembles the practitioners of executive arts rather more than contemporary theorists. This paper seeks to highlight some of the areas in which his work still exposes our current lack of conceptual imagination and ability.