Effect of the broadcast of a television documentary about a teenager's suicide in Israel on suicidal behavior and methods

Portrayals of suicide in the media are controversial because they may impact on suicide rates and methods. The aim of this study was to analyze the effect of the broadcast of a television documentary wherein an adolescent girl is interviewed about her suicide plan and subsequently dies by suicide. National suicide rates during the 8 weeks prior to the program and the 4 weeks following it were compared to the same periods in the previous year. There was no significant difference in the rates of completed and attempted suicides before and after the program. There was a shift toward the method used in the film after the broadcast, but it was found to be nonspecific to that year. A significant decrease was noted in the mean age of suicide attempters in the last promotional week prior to the broadcast compared to the previous year (p = .032). These preliminary findings suggest that the repeated televised promotion of a documentary on suicide may raise the risk of suicide in vulnerable populations. Further investigations in bigger populations are needed.     

PowerPlex 16 HS: Internal validation of a new tool for genetic analysis of forensic and parentage testing

Forensic human identification requires powerful and efficient tools to obtain useful results in a minimum timeframe. In this study several forensic and parentage samples that could not be analyzed with others kits were studied using the recently available PowerPlex^® 16 HS kit (Promega). DNA was extracted using four different methods, depending upon the particular sample, and the PCR products were run on an ABI 3130XL Sequencer. The resultant DNA profiles were analyzed using Gene Mapper ID v 3.2 Analysis Software (ABI). Of 30 samples processed with the PowerPlex^® 16 HS system, genetic analysis was successful in 18 (60%). The results obtained show that the PowerPlex^® 16 HS is a valuable tool for forensic identification and parentage testing that is particularly useful for difficult samples that have not yielded adequate results with other methods.     

Examining Changes in Settlement Policies for Immigrants: The Israeli Case

Settlement policies for immigrants seek to provide services for the needs of the newcomers during their initial stay in their new country. These services can be differentiated by the degree of discretion clients have over the manner in which the services are provided, i.e., in the form of in-kind or cash benefits, and by the conditions linked to receipt of these services. In recent years, the Israeli government has implemented an unusually liberal and relatively generous settlement policy that provides virtually unconditional cash benefits to immigrants. An examination of the decision-making process surrounding the adoption of this unique policy indicates that it can be linked to the need to deal with the mass influx of Soviet Jews during the early 1990s, power struggles between the agencies charged with immigrant integration, and the dominant Zionist and free market values of the decision-makers. This study of the settlement policy adopted in Israel during the 1990s not only can contribute to a better understanding of the decision-making process involved in social policy formulation but, on a more practical level, can serve as a model of dealing with immigrants that may be of relevance to other welfare states.     

The Israeli defense forces and unconventional warfare: The Palestinian factor and Israeli national security doctrine

The basic premises of the Israeli national security doctrine were laid down by the first Prime Minister, David Ben‐Gurion, who emphasized the decisive role of the neighboring sovereign states as the crucial enemy. This view continues to guide the architects of Israeli strategic thought despite the growing importance of a non‐state actor, that is, the Palestinian national liberation movement.     

‘The conflict is ours’: community involvement in restorative justice

Restorative justice (RJ) has attracted extended research relating to its potential to reduce crime, achieve fairness, and promote victims’ well-being, but there is only limited discussion about the involvement of the community in RJ processes. This study employs grounded theory approach to analyze 26 documented files handled by a RJ program in Jerusalem, Israel. It proposes a multilayered construction of community involvement in RJ referring to four modes of community involvement: facilitators, community representatives, social networks, and the direct stakeholders. The analysis uncovers the unique characteristics of each entity, their potential contribution in promoting community interests, and the challenges in fulfilling their potential contribution. The Article further offers a responsive definition for community representation. Practical implications for RJ programs are discussed.     

From the State of Nature to Evolution in John Stuart Mill

John Stuart Mill's familiar ideas, such as the harm principle, the emphasis on the liberty of thought and discussion, and the extension of politics into the family and education, are all linked to a developmental and open–ended view of nature. To ground this perception of nature, Mill makes use of contemporary notions of evolution. For Mill, nature encompasses human civilisation and its higher products such as morality and justice. However, Mill recognises no benevolent guiding hand in the physical world, which the idea of evolution enables him to understand as self–propelled. Destruction and pain are part of the overall developmental movement, so that human lives always stand the danger of being crushed by nature. To minimise such risks, humans should use the distinctive features of their species, such as reason and morality, thus continuing nature while transforming it.