Entomological and Cardiologic Evidence of Time Since Death in Short Postmortem Intervals

Estimating the time since death of the deceased is a main goal in forensic investigations, but this can be challenging due to contradictory results derived from different investigations at the scene of death. We present a case of a 78‐year‐old woman, found dead in a small forest with broad‐leaved trees, whose husband had a history of domestic violence. Routinely performed investigations, such as postmortem rectal temperature and lividity, yielded inconsistent time since death results between only a few and longer than 20 h. This difficulty was most likely caused by high ambient temperatures of up to 38.0°C, which negatively influenced the informative value of the applied nomogram method. Additionally, performed entomological investigation of fly maggots (Lucilia illustris) recovered from the corpse and the assessment of heart pacemaker data revealed consistent and incontrovertible results. The presented case highlights the benefits of information provided by entomological investigations and data evaluation of cardiac implantable electronic devices and the combined use of the two techniques.     

Investigating the demographic and attitudinal predictors of rape myth acceptance in U.K. Police officers: developing an evidence-base for training and professional development

Efforts to understand rape myth acceptance (RMA) as a cognitive framework in police, unifying key cognitive/attitudinal and demographic factors into one coherent model, are lacking. Using a cross-sectional survey design, predictors of RMA were assessed by linear hierarchical regression, including demographic (age, length of service, gender, experience of specialist rape investigation training) and attitudinal factors (hostility towards women, sexist attitudes, and explicit power/sex beliefs) among officers from a large U.K. police force (N = 912). The final model explained 44% of variance in RMA. Gender and previous specialist training significantly predicted RMA, but to a much lesser extent than attitudinal variables, which explain 42% of RMA variance. Only specialist rape investigation training remained significant when attitudinal variables were added. The greater contribution from attitudinal variables suggests that efforts to address RMA in officers must consider the broader attitudinal structures underpinning RMA. Findings highlight implications for evidence-based training for rape investigators.     

Punishment within Prison: An Examination of the Influences of Prison Officials’ Decisions to Remove Sentencing Credits

Despite considerable research directed toward understanding the factors that affect punishment decision‐making leading to imprisonment, few studies have examined the influences of punishment decisions within prisons. Punishment decisions made within prisons can affect an individual's liberty during their imprisonment and/or the timing of their release from prison if the punishment results in the loss of sentencing credits or influences parole decision‐making. Moreover, if punishment disparities result from these decisions, then some offender groups may endure a greater loss of liberty relative to others. In this study, we examine the factors that influence prison officials’ decisions to remove sentencing credits in response to prison rule violations. Analysis of collected data from a Midwestern state prison system reveal that prison officials are primarily influenced by the seriousness and type of the rule violation, along with an inmate's violation history. Other relevant factors include those proximately connected to an inmate's risk of subsequent misbehavior such as gang membership and those that are linked to practical consequences and constraints associated with the organizational environment and particular inmates such as the proportion of their sentence an inmate has served and whether an inmate has mental health problems.     

Emotion Regulation Mediates the Relationship between a History of Child Abuse and Current PTSD/Depression Severity in Adolescent Females

Although experiencing child abuse (i.e., physical abuse, sexual abuse, exposure to violence) is associated with a variety of mental health difficulties, simple exposure to abuse does not produce symptoms in every individual. The current study explored emotion regulation as a mediator in the relationship between a history of child abuse and symptoms of posttraumatic stress and depression. Adolescent females (ages 11–17 years) were asked to retrospectively report on their exposure to child abuse, current symptoms of PTSD/depression, and emotion regulation abilities. Caregiver report of adolescent emotional difficulties was also obtained. Analyses revealed that child abuse-exposed females, when compared to females without a trauma history, had worse emotion regulation abilities and increased mental health difficulties. Moreover, emotion regulation significantly mediated the relationship between child abuse and all assessed mental health symptoms. These findings extend previous work from adult samples, underscoring the importance of assessing emotion regulation abilities in abuse-exposed youth.     

Beyond deterrent enforcement styles: Behavioural intuitions of Chinese environmental law enforcement agents in a context of challenging inspections

This article extends the study of regulatory enforcement on three levels. First, it separates enforcement style elements during inspections and sanction decision‐making work, creating a more realistic measurement. Second, it focuses on how these elements function in a context where it is hard in practice to achieve deterrence. Third, it assesses how agents view the effectiveness of combinations of style elements in such a context. To do so, it uses survey and interview data with street‐level environmental officials in Guangzhou, China. It finds that the agents studied practise enforcement that goes beyond deterrence and uses education and persuasion more effectively. It finds that the behavioural assumptions of these agents are to a large extent in line with the available regulatory literature, although agents are very unlikely to have consulted such studies. Therefore, the article concludes that law enforcement agents can develop nuanced and appropriate behavioural intuitions through their everyday work experiences.     

Center of Gravity: Domestic Institutions and the Victory of Liberal Strategy in Cold War Europe

Cold War strategy in Western Europe almost exclusively followed the US policy of containment. Conventional explanations for this continuity, however, fail to account for both the strategic rationale and the scale of domestic support behind attempts to disengage from the Cold War. This article seeks to explain why containment won out over disengagement in European strategy. By highlighting the underlying liberal tenets of containment, it argues this victory owed more to the advantages afforded the political center by the political institutions of Western Europe than to the logic of containment strategy itself. The occupation of the center-ground by advocates of containment afforded them distinct institutional advantages, including an increased likelihood of representation in government, greater bargaining strength relative to other parties, and limited sources of viable opposition. The dependence of containment strategy on centrist strength is demonstrated through a discussion of the politics of strategy in the French Fourth Republic.     

Racial and ethnic differences in the consequences of school suspension for arrest

A growing body of literature has demonstrated that when schools suspend students, the suspension acts not as a deterrent but as an amplifier of future punishment. Labeling theory has emerged as the predominant explanation for this phenomenon, suggesting that the symbolic label conferred along with a suspension shapes how other people perceive and respond to labeled students. Few studies, however, have attended to racial/ethnic differences in this process even though critical race theory suggests the consequences of suspension likely differ across racial/ethnic groups due to prevailing racial/ethnic stereotypes. This study uses six waves of data from the National Longitudinal Study of Youth 1997 (N = 8,634) to examine how the relationship between suspension and subsequent arrest differs for White, Black, and Hispanic students. Using a series of within-person analyses that control for time-stable personal characteristics, this study finds that suspension amplifies Black and Hispanic students’ risk of arrest relative to that of White students. White students’ risk of arrest was not amplified by suspension and, in some models, was diminished. This study's findings underscore the importance of understanding the labeling process as different by race/ethnicity and indicate that suspension is particularly harmful for Black and Hispanic relative to White students.