Occupational exposure to traumatic evidence and posttraumatic stress symptoms in forensic science professionals: Prevalence and patterns

Forensic science professionals are routinely exposed to potentially traumatizing evidence. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of occupational posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among forensic science professionals, identify job-related correlates of PTSD symptoms, and examine the role of social support in mitigating PTSD symptomology. In response to recruitment through the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors, and Evidence Technology Magazine, 449 forensic science professionals participated in the current study. Results found that 73.5% (n = 330) of the overall sample experienced at least one work-related traumatic event consistent with meeting Criterion A for PTSD, and these rates were higher for field-based respondents (n = 203, 87.9%). The prevalence of past-month provisional PTSD was 21.6% for the full sample. Disaggregated PTSD rates were 29.0% and 14.5% for field-based and non-field-based respondents, respectively. These rates were 6- to 8-fold higher than the past-year prevalence of PTSD in the general US population, estimated to be 3.5%, and were found to be at least as high as those observed in prior epidemiological research with non-treatment seeking members of the US military deployed to war zones in Iraq and Afghanistan. Results further showed that social support was protective against PTSD symptomology. The high rates of occupational exposure to trauma and consequent PTSD symptomology observed in this large sample of forensic science professionals highlight the under-acknowledged psychological risks of these occupations and the need for enhanced attention to mental health resources for these professionals.     

Should Banks Change Their Environmental Due Diligence Policies to Reflect the Revised USEPA Rule on All Appropriate Inquiry?

This article raises questions about the environmental due diligence programs common among lenders and suggests changes. The article describes the statutory, regulatory, and case law changes that have largely eliminated the liability risk that caused lenders to institute due diligence programs, and questions whether lenders have an interest in requiring borrowers to follow the new ASTM standard. The article examines the differences between environmental liabilities and environmental costs and explains why those differences should be taken into account. Finally, the article recommends a case-by-case approach to dealing with environmental issues rather than the simplistic view that looks at environmental due diligence as a yes or no question.     

The State of Nature and Laws of Seinfeld: Not That There’s Anything Wrong With That

Seinfeld (1989–1998) and it’s co-creator’s Curb Your Enthusiasm (2000–present), are each considered groundbreaking television. Critics regard their humor and intellectual comedy as Twain-like and creative. While both shows have been criticized for their character’s indifference and apolitical attitude, the programs resonate with those in society who more subtly consider law and politics. This project argues that Seinfeld and Curb present a unique theory of justice. These two shows constitute a common and current image of what is just in society. While critics have argued that Seinfeld and Curb are not shows about nothing, I argue that these comedians offer us a legal philosophy. For those who view these characters as merely “self-absorbed, superficial, and immature,” I posit that they represent the obscure area between what John Locke termed “the state of nature” and what legal scholars call “legal culture.” I propose that these sitcoms demonstrate a way of speaking about law that provides a constitutive theory of law and justice.     

How Economic Stress Impacts Risky Sex among African American Adolescents

Journal of Youth and Adolescence - Given the potential for unintended pregnancy and exposure to sexually transmitted infections, both of which can have long-term deleterious health consequences,...     

A cultural theory of budgeting

My aim is to bring together various strands of thought about the relationship between cultures and budgets into a single essay. Cultural theory is a way to bring what different people want and why they want it into budgeting. If cultures are conqruent with budgetary processes, this symmetry should show up in the standard topics of the subject. Thus I shall deal with the form of budgeting, auditing, budgetary balance, and deficits. I shall also examine the place of the budgetary base—agreed understandings on totals and items—among the political cultures. Finally, I shall provide a cultural explanation for the growth of government.     

When Terrorism as Strategy Fails: Dissident Irish Republicans and the Threat to British Security

The use of terrorism as a strategy for obtaining political goals by non-state actors persists in the international system, despite attempts by states to counter the phenomenon. This article explores the resurgent threat posed to British security by dissident Irish republicans in order to illustrate the limited utility of terrorism as a strategy in the current sociopolitical context. Therefore, it has three objectives: First, it explains how strategic theory can aid in constructing a conceptual framework for explaining the persistence of terrorism, in general, and dissident republican violence, in particular. Second, it examines the dissident threat in light of the general failure of “armed struggle” to achieve republican goals in Irish politics. It is argued here that dissident republicans have confused “means” with “ends” and that this, ultimately, demonstrates the futility of their violence. Finally, the article suggests ways of tackling the dissident republican variant of terrorism.     

Coup Risk,Counterbalancing, and International Conflict

Contrary to the literature on rallies-around-the-flag, this article argues that, in some circumstances, leaders may use international conflict to promote domestic divisiveness. More specifically, the threat of a military coup generally prompts leaders to divide their militaries (a practice known as counterbalancing), and even to engage in international conflict to ensure that various branches of their own armed forces remain distrustful of one another. Two empirical tests of these claims are offered: a large-N statistical analysis that examines whether coup risk leads to counterbalancing, and whether counterbalanced nations engage in more low-level military conflict (controlling for other causes of conflict); and a case study of Georgia shortly after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Both empirical studies support the arguments advanced by the authors.

     

The dictators’ domino theory: a Caribbean Basin anti-communist network, 1947–1952

This article uncovers a Caribbean Basin anti-communist intelligence network independent of the U.S. government and the international Cold War. Nicaraguan dictator Anastasio Somoza, Honduran dictator Tiburcio Carías, and Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo characterized local democratic developments as communist threats to their regimes’ national security. With the 1947 Cayo Confites expedition and the 1948 Costa Rican Civil War, the military dictators coalesced into an informal network that increasingly shared intelligence. Joined by the Venezuelan military junta and Fulgencio Batista’s Cuban dictatorship, members nurtured a Caribbean Basin anti-communist domino theory characterising threats to one regime as a transnational danger to regional stability.     

Responding to fiscal stress: Fiscal institutions and fiscal adjustment in four Brazilian states

Despite similar external shocks and pressures, Brazilian state leaders varied in the timing and the manner in which they adjusted to fiscal stress. Some state leaders rapidly switched to market-oriented strategies that cut public intervention in the economy. Other state leaders delayed adjustment, and when they finally put their accounts in order it was through market-governing strategies that preserved government activism. In part, these different fiscal policy regimes were products of the decision-making process in which chief executives operated. In states where budgeting obeyed a more open and democratic pattern, chief executives lacked autonomy and were forced to build coalitions to adjust. This meant that they adjusted more slowly and their adjustment strategies included appeals to broad interests, including those seeking protection from market pressures. In states where budgeting was more autocratic, chief executives could act quickly and without building a coalition. The current project uses structured comparison to contrast adjustment patterns in two democratic-budgeting states and two autocratic-budgeting states. The link between budget institutions and adjustment strategy appears to hold regardless of the socioeconomic condition of the states and the political hue of the state leaders.