Child murder committed by severely mentally III mothers: an examination of mothers found not guilty by reason of insanity. 2005 Honorable Mention/Richard Rosner Award for the best paper by a fellow in forensic psychiatry or forensic psychology

Forensic hospital records of 39 severely mentally ill mothers adjudicated Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity for filicide (child murder by parents) were analyzed to describe characteristics preceding this tragedy and to suggest prevention strategies. Almost three-quarters of the mothers (72%) had previous mental health treatment. Over two thirds (69%) of the mothers were experiencing auditory hallucinations, most frequently command hallucinations, and half (49%) were depressed at the time of the offense. Over one third (38%) of the filicides occurred during pregnancy or the postpartum period, and many had a history of postpartum psychosis. Almost three-quarters (72%) of the mothers had experienced considerable developmental stressors, such as death of their own mother or incest. Maternal motives for filicide were predominantly "altruistic" (meaning murder out of love) or "acutely psychotic" (occurring in the throes of psychosis, without rational motive). Psychiatrists should perform careful risk assessments for filicide in mothers with mental illnesses.     

Extraction of basic metabolites of monomethyloxybenzene isomers from aqueous solutions

The results are presented of extraction of 1-methyl-3,4-dioxybenzene, 1-methyl-2,5-dioxybenzene and 4-oxybenzene acid from aqueous solutions with hydrophobic and hydrophilic organic soluvants. It is shown that the degree of extraction depends on the nature of the extragents and pH of the aqueous phase medium. Extraction multiplicity for obtaining necessary quantities of the compounds is calculated.     

Personal identification by complex study of characteristics of the teeth and dentition structures

A multimodality dental examination was made and anatomomorphological features of teeth and tooth sequences were studied in 200 policemen using clinical examination, morphological investigation of plaster jaw models, analysis of x-rays and statistics, intraoral videocamera pictures, computer processing. The scheme of creation of dental data bank applicable in personal identification is offered.     

A coffee can, factor analysis, and prediction of antisocial behavior: the structure of criminal risk

The predictive accuracy of the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised, Level of Service Inventory-Revised, Violence Risk Appraisal Guide, and the General Statistical Information on Recidivism were compared to four instruments randomly generated from the total pool of original items. None of the four original instruments better predicted post-release failure than the four randomly generated instruments. These results suggest two conclusions: (a) the instruments are only measuring criminal risk, and (b) no single instrument has captured sufficient risk assessment theory to result in better prediction than randomly derived instruments measuring criminal risk. A two-stage factor analysis was completed on 1614 cases. This analysis of the risk items indicated a 4-factor solution and all 4 factors were equal to the original instruments in predicting post-release failure. Thus, the original instruments did not improve prediction over randomly structured scales, nor did the restructuring of items improve risk assessment, suggesting substantial deficiencies in the conceptualization of risk assessment and instrumentation. We argue that developing a risk-based construct, which involves hypothesis testing and an explanation of behavior, is the optimal method to advance risk assessment within the criminal justice and mental health systems. Such an approach would provide targeted areas for clinical intervention that are salient to risk.     

The effects of cognitive-behavioral treatment for forensic inpatients

The effects of an intramural cognitive-behavioral treatment for forensic inpatients with personality disorders in a high-security hospital were examined. Treatment was aimed at modifying maladaptive coping and social skills, at enhancing social awareness, at reducing egoistic and oppositional behaviors, and at reducing psychological complaints. The patients, who all had committed serious crimes (violence, arson, sexual offences), participated voluntarily in the study. A total of 39 patients started the study, but during the course of the study, several patients dropped out because of several reasons. Patients as a group showed significant improvements over time on psychopathological symptoms, personality traits, and coping. A significant decrease of oppositional behaviors was reported by the staff. Though the patients improved well at the group level, only a minority of patients showed reliable change over time at the individual level. The meaning of the results in relation to treatment are discussed.     

The role of moral disengagement in the execution process

The present study tested the proposition that disengagement of moral self-sanctions enables prison personnel to carry out the death penalty. Three subgroups of personnel in penitentiaries located in three Southern states were assessed in terms of eight mechanisms of moral disengagement. The personnel included the execution teams that carry out the executions; the support teams that provide solace and emotional support to the families of the victims and the condemned inmate; and prison guards who have no involvement in the execution process. The executioners exhibited the highest level of moral, social, and economic justifications, disavowal of personal responsibility, and dehumanization. The support teams that provide the more humane services disavowed moral disengagement, as did the noninvolved guards but to a lesser degree than the support teams.     

The who, what, and why of risk adjustment: a technology on the cusp of adoption

Risk adjustment (RA) consists of a series of techniques that account for the health status of patients when predicting or explaining costs of health care for defined populations or for evaluating retrospectively the performance of providers who care for them. Although the federal government seems to have settled on an approach to RA for Medicare Advantage programs, adoption and implementation of RA techniques elsewhere have proceeded much more slowly than was anticipated. This article examines factors affecting the adoption and use of RA outside the Medicare program using case studies in six U.S. health care markets (Baltimore, Seattle, Denver, Cleveland, Phoenix, and Atlanta) as of 2001. We found that for purchasing decisions, RA was used exclusively by public agencies. In the private sector, use of risk adjustment was uncommon and scattered and assumed informal and unexpected forms. The most common private sector use of RA was by health plans, which occasionally employed RA in negotiations with purchasers or to allocate resources internally among providers. The article uses classic technology diffusion theory to explain the adoption and use of RA in these six markets and derives lessons for health policy generally and for the future of RA in particular. For health policy generally, the differing experiences of public and private actors with RA serve as markers of the divergent paths that public and private health care sectors are pursuing with respect to managed care and risk sharing. For the future of RA in particular, its history suggests the need for health service researchers to consider barriers to use adoption and new analytic technologies as they develop them.     

The effect of the ageing of crime scene objects on the results of scent identification line-ups using trained dogs

In a scent identification line-up, a trained dog matches the scent trace left by a perpetrator at the crime scene to the odour of a suspect in a line-up of different odours. The procedures are strictly defined and the results are routinely used by the police and as evidence in court in a number of European countries. This paper describes the effect of ageing of the odour trace collected at the crime scene on the performance of the dogs in recognising the perpetrator in a line-up. The results show that whilst the dogs perform faultlessly in matching odours collected on the same day, the results drop to a lower level and become more variable in the period studied (2 weeks to 6 months). However, the results do not show a systematic decrease in performance. A possible explanation is the development of a steady state in the glass jars containing the perpetrator odour trace after initial differential evaporation of components of the residue or break down of unsaturated components into saturated ones. Prevention of this initial change may prevent the drop in performance observed in this study, thus increasing the reliability of these scent identifications.