Participation in Prison Activities: An Analysis of the Determinants of Participation

The positive associations of participation in prison activities (e.g. socio-cultural activities, educational courses, sports activities, vocational training, etc.), including reduction of recidivism, improvement of wellbeing and contributions to self-worth, are increasingly recognized. However, little is known about the characteristics by which participants differ from non-participants. In response to this research gap, this study aims to examine the determinants of inmate participation in prison activities. The determinants are categorized as outlined by the importation (individual characteristics) and deprivation (prison life characteristics) frameworks. Survey data derived from a research project in a remand prison in Belgium (N?=?486) provided the empirical evidence for the multiple linear regression analyses. The findings indicate that individual deprivation variables are more likely to predict participation. However, our findings also highlight that the combined effects of importation and deprivation characteristics are more powerful in explaining activity participation. The article concludes by discussing some paths for future prison research and implications for theory and practice. It provides impetus to organize and increase participation in prison activities, taking into account the diverse characteristics, needs and competences of the prison population.     

Pulmonary Cement Embolism After Kyphoplasty

Pulmonary polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) cement embolism after kyphoplasty (KP) surgery is a quite frequent event as well as the pulmonary embolization of central venous catheter fragment. This report shows the case of a subject who, after KP, developed pulmonary embolism and who underwent thoracic surgery. After hospital discharge, the subject advanced a claim for damages toward the hospital where he was operated, complaining sensation of tenderness at the chest surgical scar and esthetic damage. To understand the nature of the embolism (either central venous catheter fragment or cement), chemical investigations were then ordered. Spectrometry identified the PMMA cement used for KP. When doubts rise about the origin of the embolized material, chemical investigations may reveal important data not only for clinical but also for forensic purposes.     

Latent Fingermark Aging Patterns (Part I): Minutiae Count as One Indicator of Degradation

The authors are exploring degradation patterns of latent fingermarks over time which can be quantitatively determined in a predictable manner by visual means. Several physical degradation parameters for assessing this hypothesis are evaluated. This article analyzes the parameter “minutiae count” as a function of time. Experiment variables included were secretion type (sebaceous‐rich and eccrine‐rich), substrate (glass and plastic), and exposure to light (dark, shade, and direct light). Depositions were sequentially visualized with Titanium Dioxide powder over a period of 6 months, photographed, and number of minutiae recorded. Results revealed a significant decrease of minutiae for eccrine‐rich marks on glass but insignificant for sebaceous‐rich marks on the same surface. However, significant degradation was observed for both types of secretions on plastic. The authors conclude that the distinctive prevalence of minutiae changes over time indicates with a high degree of certainty the hypothesis is valid and deserves additional exploration.     

A historian's view on the right to be forgotten

This essay explores the consequences for historians of the ‘right to be forgotten', a new concept proposed by the European Commission in 2012. I first explain that the right to be forgotten is a radical variant of the right to privacy and clarify the consequences of the concept for the historical study of public and private figures. I then treat the hard cases of spent and amnestied convictions and of internet archives. I further discuss the applicability of the right to be forgotten to dead persons as part of the problem of posthumous privacy, and finally point to the ambiguity of the impact of the passage of time. While I propose some compromise solutions, I also conclude that a generalized right to be forgotten would lead to the rewriting of history in ways that impoverish our insights not only into anecdotal lives but also into the larger trends of history.     

The future of privacy certification in Europe: an exploration of options under article 42 of the GDPR

The EU faces substantive legislative reform in data protection, specifically in the form of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). One of the new elements in the GDPR is its call to establish data protection certification mechanisms, data protection seals and marks to help enhance transparency and compliance with the Regulation and allow data subjects to quickly assess the level of data protection of relevant products and services. To this effect, it is necessary to review privacy and data protection seals afresh and determine how data protection certification mechanisms, seals or marks might work given the role they will be called to play, particularly in Europe, in facilitating data protection. This article reviews the current state of play of privacy seals, the EU policy and regulatory thrusts for privacy and data protection certification, and the GDPR provisions on certification of the processing of personal data. The GDPR leaves substantial room for various options on data protection certification, which might play out in various ways, some of which are explored in this article.     

First Things First: R2P Starts with Direct Negotiations

Abstract

Public debates on R2P one-sidedly focus on its forcible aspects. They should, however, also focus on R2P’s non-coercive aspects, which include the legal obligations to cooperate and to pursue peaceful conflict resolution, notably the obligation to undertake meaningful attempts at negotiation before coercive means are taken into consideration. After the Arab Spring erupted in Libya and Syria, other countries did not exhaust reasonable efforts to deal and negotiate with the incumbent powers, and to assist and encourage them to meet their obligations under R2P, even though negotiations are part and parcel of the R2P framework and constitute the very first step to be taken whenever a state seems to ignore its obligations under that framework.     

The Philippines Discovers its Maritime Domain: The Aquino Administration’s Shift in Strategic Focus from Internal to Maritime Security

With China’s naval expansion in the South China Sea, the Philippine government has eased up its counter-insurgency/counter-terrorism campaign and has vigorously pursued instead the modernization of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) particularly in developing the deterrence capability of the Philippine Navy (PN). However, slow-paced and hampered by scant resources, the naval build-up will hardly deter China’s encroachment on the Philippine maritime territory. Faced with this predicament, the Philippines has resorted to forging new security partnerships with the United States and Japan, two major naval powers in East Asia. The paper concludes that maritime security will remain the Philippines’ priority concern way into the third decade of the 21st century.     

Reliability of Craniofacial Superimposition Using Three‐Dimension Skull Model

Craniofacial superimposition is a technique potentially useful for the identification of unidentified human remains if a photo of the missing person is available. We have tested the reliability of the 2D‐3D computer‐aided nonautomatic superimposition techniques. Three‐dimension laser scans of five skulls and ten photographs were overlaid with an imaging software. The resulting superimpositions were evaluated using three methods: craniofacial landmarks, morphological features, and a combination of the two. A 3D model of each skull without its mandible was tested for superimposition; we also evaluated whether separating skulls by sex would increase correct identifications. Results show that the landmark method employing the entire skull is the more reliable one (5/5 correct identifications, 40% false positives [FP]), regardless of sex. However, the persistence of a high percentage of FP in all the methods evaluated indicates that these methods are unreliable for positive identification although the landmark‐only method could be useful for exclusion.     

Evidence Based EU Criminal Policy Making: In Search of Matching Data

EU criminal policy making is a relatively new policy domain and its credibility is said to be undermined by the lack of an evidence base. Because the EU claims to pursue evidence based policy making, this justifies reviewing the mechanisms put in place to that end. To properly evaluate the evidence base in EU criminal policy making, an assessment is made of the availability of comparable crime statistics. Crime statistics, a vital data source for criminal policy making, are considered highly problematic at EU level due to (amongst other reasons) the differences in the definition of the offences. In spite of the good intentions that can be read into the repeated acknowledgement of the importance of crime statistics and the efforts to commonly define EU worthy offences, a thorough empirical analysis leads to the conclusion that we are still in search of valid EU level data with respect to the EU level offences. The EU as a policy maker does not take its responsibility to ensure the availability of the necessary comparable crime statistical data serious enough.