Surveillance of environmental movements in Canada: critical infrastructure protection and the petro-security apparatus

A convergence of post-9/11 security governance practices and a dependence on extractive economies has resulted in changes to the way Canadian policing agencies classify environmental movements. We detail how the category of ‘critical infrastructure protection’ (CIP) now enables surveillance of environmentalists under the banner of national security. We examine the growth of CIP as a security category, its changing character from the Cold War to the present, and the role of threat entrepreneurs. We demonstrate that CIP networks have institutionalized collaborations between national security agencies and energy corporations, creating a petro-security apparatus that aims to suppress dissent. We conclude with reflections on what surveillance regimes driven by the petro-security apparatus mean for debates about national security and social movements.     

Rational choice attitudinalism?

This essay reviews Epstein, Landes, and Posner’s The Behavior of Federal Judges: A Theoretical and Empirical Study of Rational Choice. Their book systematically asks how the role of ideology varies across the tiers of the federal judicial hierarchy. A major finding is that the impact of ideology increases from the bottom to the top of the judicial hierarchy. Their typical methodology formulates an ex ante measure of judicial ideology such as the political party of the appointing president, and demonstrates that this measure correlates with later judicial behavior, often voting on case dispositions. Along the way, they investigate a multitude of topics, including some quite under‐explored ones. We argue that ELP’s theory is only weakly connected to their empirical practice, for the latter focuses on the role of ideology in judging while the former says almost nothing about that relationship. In fact, though, their empirical practice does embed a theory of law and ideology, but one quite different from that suggested by the book’s rhetoric. In the penultimate section of the essay, we explore this disconnection between ELP’s theory, practice, and interpretation. Its origin (we argue) lies in an extremely thin conceptualization of law. We conclude with the issue posed in ELP’s final chapter, “The Way Forward,” but suggest a rather different path.     

The Sexual Violence Risk-20: factor structure and psychometric properties

Although the Sexual Violence Risk-20 (SVR-20) is widely used, its psychometric properties have only been investigated in a limited number of studies. This study explored the factor structure of the SVR-20 and examined its psychometric properties. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to examine the fit of the original three-domain model of the SVR-20. The CFA showed that the original structure was not satisfactory. Exploratory principal components analysis (PCA) was conducted in search of a more optimal factor structure. Psychometric properties (i.e., internal consistency, predictive value, and convergent validity) of both the original domains and alternative factors were investigated. The PCA and subsequent CFAs pointed in the direction of an alternative, more optimal three-factor solution. The three alternative factors were labeled as Antisociality, Sexual deviance, and Problematic thinking and produced better internal consistency coefficients than the original domains. However, the validity of the SVR-20 was modest and no evidence was found indicating that the alternative factors were better in this regard as compared to the original domains. Despite the overall superiority of actuarial measures in predicting recidivism, the structured professional judgment of the SVR-20 proved to be more predictive of sexual, violent, and general recidivism than its actuarial scoring method.     

Moving beyond the socialization hypothesis: The effects of maternal smoking during pregnancy on the development of self-control

Purpose

Gottfredson and Hirschi, in A General Theory of Crime, argue that the primary source of self-control is parental socialization. Specifically, parents who fail to supervise their children, to recognize their child's deviant behavior, and to punish such behavior are more likely to raise children with lower levels of self-control. Recent empirical research, however, has broadened the explanatory factors to include sources within schools, neighborhoods, and individual factors as significant contributors to the development of self-control. This study proposes that maternal smoking during pregnancy places additional limits on the development of self-control.

Methods

Using a subsample of the National Longitudinal Study of Youth (N = 542), we provide a comprehensive investigation of the variety of sources of self-control to include both individual and environmental covariates.

Results

Results indicate that maternal smoking during pregnancy significantly impacts the development of self-control net of parental, neighborhood, and school socialization. We also found that individual sources of self-control significantly vary across race and neighborhood context.

Conclusions

The sources of self-control are more complex than socialization from parents, schools, and within neighborhoods occurring in childhood and adolescence.     

Chemical enhancement of footwear impressions in blood on fabric – Part 1: Protein stains

A range of protein stains were utilised for the enhancement of footwear impressions on a variety of fabric types of different colours with blood as a contaminant. A semi-automated stamping device was used to deliver test impressions at a set force to minimise the variability between impressions; multiple impressions were produced and enhanced by each reagent to determine the repeatability of the enhancement. Results indicated that while most protein stains used in this study successfully enhanced impressions in blood on light coloured fabrics, background staining caused interference on natural fabrics. Enhancement on dark coloured fabrics was only achieved using fluorescent protein stains, as non-fluorescent protein stains provided poor contrast.A further comparison was performed with commercially available protein staining solutions and solutions prepared within the laboratory from the appropriate chemicals. Both solutions performed equally well, though it is recommended to use freshly prepared solutions whenever possible.     

Investigation of a typology of alcohol‐related violence defined by ultimate goals

Purpose. Alcohol‐related violence is a serious problem and treatments for high‐risk individuals need to be developed. Classification helps to route people into appropriate treatments. Drawing on animal research, we define alcohol‐related violence in relation to ultimate goals. We propose three types of violence: (1) violence in the pursuit of material goals, (2) violence in pursuit of social dominance goals, and (3) violence as defence in response to threat. The aim is to explore factors that we expect to relate to this tripartite typology, with the aim of providing a preliminary validation. Method. Participants were 149 young male prisoners who had committed an offence of violence that was alcohol related. Semi‐structured interviews elicited information about the offence that enabled classification into one of the three types. Differences between groups were examined at the event level – level of violence during the offence and alcohol consumption before the offence – and at group level – trait aggression, trait anxiety, anger control, and alcohol–aggression outcome expectancies. Results. No differences were found in levels of violence or alcohol consumption. Those whose violence was in the pursuit of material goals were high on trait aggression, trait anger, trait anxiety, and anger suppression. Those who used violence in the pursuit of social dominance showed high trait aggression and trait anger. Those whose violence was a defence in response to threat showed lower trait aggression and trait anger. Conclusion. The findings are discussed in relation to differential group profiles and treatment needs.     

Substance use among African American adolescents in the Midwest

The purpose of this article is to examine the attitudes and substance use behaviors of African American adolescents living in the Midwest. A baseline survey was administered to 463 African American teens between the ages of 11-19. The article examines the relationship between attitudes toward drugs and drug-using behavior in this African American sample. Drug use will be compared to national drug use norms established by the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey. Overall participants had fairly negative attitudes toward drugs. Sixty percent of the sample reported that they were committed to a drug-free life, 74% had made a decision to stay away from marijuana, 79% reported making a decision not to smoke cigarettes, and 71% reported they would not get drunk in the next year. Females were more likely to stay away from marijuana than males. In this current study there is cause for alarm; participants reported higher percentages of ever smoking cigarettes and marijuana than the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey. This study shows there is a need to provide substance abuse prevention programs for African American adolescents. Limitations and future directions are also discussed.     

Analysis of Pigmented Inkjet Printer Inks and Printed Documents by Laser Desorption/Mass Spectrometry*,†

Abstract: Anyone with a computer, scanner, and color printer has the capability for creating documents such as identification cards, passports, and counterfeit currency. Laser desorption mass spectrometry (LDMS) has been demonstrated as a powerful tool for colorant analysis. Inkjet printers are now moving largely toward the use of pigments as colorants; their insolubility makes analysis by simpler methods such as thin‐layer chromatography no longer an option. Recent developments in pigmented inkjet printer inks, such as gloss optimizers that coat pigment particles, may prohibit colorant analysis by LDMS. We demonstrate here that pigments used in inks from two Epson printers can be detected and analyzed by LDMS. Also, LDMS spectra of various colors created using a 4‐cartridge (cyan/magenta/yellow/black, CMYK) inkset are evaluated, to begin to develop an approach for unraveling LDMS data from real samples, to determine the number of inks used by a printer, and the chemical composition of the colorants.