The Relationship Between Deprivation and Forensic Opportunities with Stolen Vehicles

Abstract:  Collection and interpretation of forensic intelligence (primarily through DNA and fingerprint identifications) is an integral part of the investigation of criminal offenses ranging from burglary and vehicle crime to major crime. The forensic contribution depends not only on the successful recovery of material, but also the ability to identify potential offenders and apply this intelligence to solve the crime. This study examines burglary and vehicle crimes investigated by Northamptonshire Police (U.K.) by analyzing relationships between deprivation of a crime location and the recovery and identification of DNA and fingerprint material. The results show that, for stolen vehicles, although significantly more forensic material (both DNA and fingerprints) is recovered and identified in more deprived neighborhoods, this does not lead to a corresponding increase in solved cases. These findings are considered in relation to previous studies, which have advocated the prioritization of resources at crime scenes most likely to yield forensic material.     

Development and Initial Validation of the Miranda Vocabulary Scale

Miranda vocabulary forms the essential foundation for Miranda comprehension and subsequent decisions to exercise or waive Miranda rights. The purpose of the current study is the development of the Miranda Vocabulary Scale (MVS), designed to evaluate key vocabulary words found in Miranda warnings and waivers across American jurisdictions. A preliminary list of MVS words was refined by expert ratings and by each word’s discriminability between failed and good Miranda comprehension. Miranda and other measures were collected at multiple sites on 376 pretrial defendants. With further refinements, the MVS is composed of 36 words with excellent scale homogeneity and interrater reliability (r = .99). It also demonstrated good convergent and discriminant validity for cognitive abilities and psychological impairment.     

Bidirectional partner violence among homeless young adults: risk factors and outcomes

One of the most prevalent forms of violence in contemporary society is the victimization of intimate partners. Although it has been established that homeless young people experience high levels of victimization on the street, little is known about partner violence (PV) experiences among this group, especially bidirectional violence. As such, the purpose of this study is to examine the prevalence of PV and bidirectional violence and to investigate risk factors and outcomes of this form of violence using a sample of homeless young adults. Overall, 59% of the sample experienced bidirectional violence. Multivariate results reveal that sexual abuse and neglect are significant correlates of PV. In addition, being either a victim or perpetrator of PV is associated with more severe substance use and higher levels of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Finally, there is support for bidirectional violence among homeless young adults even after controlling for early histories of maltreatment.     

Intergenerational Transmission of Violence: the Influence of Self-Appraisals,Mental Disorders and Substance Abuse

Although research has demonstrated connections between experiencing abuse as a child and being in a violent relationship as an adult, the specific mechanisms through which this transmission occurs are unclear. The purpose of this study was to identify the relationship between certain personal factors (self-appraisals and mental/substance use disorders) and experiencing violence as an adult. Data from the National Comorbidity Survey (NCS) 1990–1992 were utilized. Respondents who reported experiencing childhood abuse or victimization and were in a current intimate partnership (N = 590) were selected for analysis. Multivariate logistic regression indicated that low self-esteem, past year PTSD, and past year alcohol dependence were significantly associated with intimate partner violence after controlling for other self-appraisals and mental disorders.     

Regulated and unregulated insider trading around earnings announcements

This paper analyses insider trading behaviour around annual and interim earnings announcements during changing legislative environments in Sweden from 1980 to 2003. Using a unique data set, we are able to explore the nature of insider trading patterns from unregulated to strongly regulated insider trading markets. We find limited evidence of opportunistic insider trading. Insiders seem to be reluctant to sell stocks before positive earnings announcements. They also tend to time their trades in conjunction with an immediate post-announcement period, i.e. “safety trading”, which becomes more evident within stronger legislation environments. Some support for contrarian trading behaviour is also found.

Comparing regulatory processes in genome editing and autonomous vehicles: How institutional environments shape sociotechnical imaginaries

This study compares the regulation of two emerging technologies, the CRISPR genome-editing system and Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CAV) in the United States. The study draws on 33 in-depth interviews with innovation and governance experts to study the relationship between their regulatory environments and developing beliefs about these technologies. Using sociotechnical imaginaries as a framework, we explore how social actors envision technologically driven futures and the social order that enables them. These imaginaries are essential to emerging technologies, where experts build a framework of potentialities for innovation still underway. While scholarship has documented how sociotechnical imaginaries arise among policymakers, groups of scientists, state and local stakeholders, and public actors in different countries, less has been said about how regulatory organizations and their actors shape expectations around technologies that are in the early and middle stages of development. This article finds that regulatory institutions shape emerging imaginaries along three related axes: the distribution of authority, technological novelty, and risk. Interviewees negotiate these three contingencies differently based on relevant extant regulatory structures and ideologies, resulting in distinct imaginaries around each technology. CRISPR actors envision genome editing as largely diminishing biomedical harm and eventually suitable for health markets, while CAV actors diverge on whether self-driving cars alleviate or exacerbate risk and how they may enter roads. That organizational structures and practices of regulation inform broadly held sociotechnical imaginaries bears significance for studies of innovation trajectories, suggesting regulators can take an active role in shaping how risks and benefits of emerging technology are defined.     

Australian Democracy and Priveleged Parliamentary Speech

This article responds to recent cases of parliamentary speech which reflect the ascendancy of a totalising 'mainstream' approach to public discourse and a political leadership that may, at times, be overly attentive to the majority-rule dimension of democracy. These developments spark a more general discussion of the phenomenology of privileged parliamentary speech, the role of speech freedoms in liberal democratic orders and the duties of parliamentary representatives within them. I make two general conclusions. First, the ways in which we normally argue and think about free speech will not generally apply to the speech of parliamentarians because their speech rights cannot be universalised. Secondly, even if parliamentary speech could be treated as standard speech there would be no legitimate defence (from a liberal democratic point of view) for a strictly populist approach to its use since this could undermine the deliberative function of parliament and lead to the violation of other important liberal democratic principles.     

The significance of signs

In Camera Lucida, Barthes makes a distinction between a semiological approach and a phenomenological approach to the sign. While semiotic theory has usually focused on signs that work through mediation and representation, in this article we investigate the possibility of a sign that is immediate, experienced as a presence. This is not a sign of, or even the impossibility of a sign of; rather, it is a sign that just is, without an elsewhere to refer or defer to. This form of sign means nothing and is gratuitous, yet it has significance ? or, more accurately, it is significance. We investigate these ideas through Buber's account of the religious sign.     

Maximising small party potential: The effects of electoral system rules on the far right in German sub‐national elections

Drawing on a data base of election results at national, regional and sub‐national level, this paper examines the impact of the German electoral system on the representation of far right parties. While the electoral threshold of five per cent is a hindrance to small parties at all levels, low district magnitude at sub‐national level tends to exacerbate under‐representation and the minority status of small parties while high district magnitude may result in over‐representation, in particular if a party secures around ten per cent. The paper concludes that electoral representation of small parties with limited resources is affected by votes gained, district magnitude and seat distribution at a given electoral level. Depending on the combination of these factors, the system of translating votes into seats may favour or disadvantage small parties.