The role and effectiveness of intelligence in Northern Ireland

This article examines the role and effectiveness of counter-terrorist intelligence operations in Northern Ireland. Specifically, it examines the methods of gathering intelligence as well as how the information was used, while also addressing some of the wider moral and legal implications of intelligence activities for a liberal democratic society. It argues that British intelligence was ultimately very effective but at the price of employing some highly dubious methods.

‘Today we were unlucky, but remember we only have to be lucky once’. 1 1 Quoted in Stewart Tendler and Richard Ford, ‘Seaside Blast May Signal Mainland Bombing Campaign’, The Times, 13 October 1984, p.2. View all notes

Statement by the Provisional Irish Republican Army

     

Partner Violence in Women's Prison: The Social Consequences of Girlfriend Fights

In this article, we use qualitative interviews with female inmates to examine how these women describe the consequences of girlfriend fights in prison. We find that they describe these fights as both social and pervasive. We also find that those who were counseled by staff members describe being empowered by the event. We argue that prison officials must use better methods of identifying and addressing partner violence in prison. We also recommend the use of widespread programs aimed at reducing partner violence.     

Temperance Culture and the Repression of Scientific Inquiry Into Illegal Drug‐Altered States of Consciousness

American scientific inquiry into the understandings of drug‐altered states of consciousness is underdeveloped primarily because government regulations embedded within a temperance culture has repressed it. Despite preliminary evidence of the therapeutic value of altered states of consciousness associated with the use of illegal drugs to both physical and mental health, science has been able to do little to understand this potential. Within this essay, we examine the influence of this temperance culture on government regulations and its impingement on scientific practice in the study of illegal drug‐altered states of consciousness as the explanation for much of the failure of science to adequately explore these lines of inquiry. Much of our analysis is based upon examples from research in the area of alcohol studies, as the temperance movement arose primarily in response to this particular drug.     

Encryption and the first amendment

Recently, only secret government agencies were concerned about cryptography. It now is an important matter for many individuals and businesses who use the Internet. That has led to an intense effort on the part of several governmental agencies to control cryptography. This article provides an explanation of the evolution of cryptography, a synopsis of the evolving cryptography debate, an examination of the different interests represented within the debate and a framework for analyzing the First Amendment issues that are involved. The paper applies the framework to the Clinton administration's initiatives and finds them unconstitutional.     

Motivated to Adapt? The Role of Public Service Motivation as Employees Face Organizational Change

Researchers concerned with organizational change have consistently emphasized the role that the work environment plays in employee acceptance of change. Underexamined in the public management literature, however, is the role that employee values, particularly public service motivation (PSM), may play in employee acceptance of change. Some scholars have noted a positive correlation between employee PSM and organizational change efforts; this article extends this work by attempting to isolate the mechanisms that explain this relationship. Using data from a survey of employees in a city undergoing a reorganization and reduction in workforce, the authors find that only employees who scored high on a single dimension of PSM—self‐sacrifice—were more likely than others to support organizational change. Rather than support changes for their potential to improve public service, this finding suggests that employees with higher PSM may simply be less likely to resist changes that might disadvantage them personally.     

An inter-laboratory study of DNA-based identity,parentage and species testing in animal forensic genetics

The probative value of animal forensic genetic evidence relies on laboratory accuracy and reliability. Inter-laboratory comparisons allow laboratories to evaluate their performance on specific tests and analyses and to continue to monitor their output. The International Society for Animal Genetics (ISAG) administered animal forensic comparison tests (AFCTs) in 2016 and 2018 to assess the limitations and capabilities of laboratories offering forensic identification, parentage and species determination services. The AFCTs revealed that analyses of low DNA template concentrations (≤300 pg/µL) constitute a significant challenge that has prevented many laboratories from reporting correct identification and parentage results. Moreover, a lack of familiarity with species testing protocols, interpretation guidelines and representative databases prevented over a quarter of the participating laboratories from submitting correct species determination results. Several laboratories showed improvement in their genotyping accuracy over time. However, the use of forensically validated standards, such as a standard forensic short tandem repeat (STR) kit, preferably with an allelic ladder, and stricter guidelines for STR typing, may have prevented some common issues from occurring, such as genotyping inaccuracies, missing data, elevated stutter products and loading errors. The AFCTs underscore the importance of conducting routine forensic comparison tests to allow laboratories to compare results from each other. Laboratories should keep improving their scientific and technical capabilities and continuously evaluate their personnel’s proficiency in critical techniques such as low copy number (LCN) analysis and species testing. Although this is the first time that the ISAG has conducted comparison tests for forensic testing, findings from these AFCTs may serve as the foundation for continuous improvements of the overall quality of animal forensic genetic testing.