They Were Getting High on What? Evaluating Novel Psychoactive Drug Knowledge Among Practitioners

Novel psychoactive drugs (NPDs) such as synthetic marijuana, bath salts, and salvia have increasingly entered into the American drug landscape. As law enforcement, researchers, and policy makers attempt to better understand, regulate, and detect these novel substances, other practitioners invested in drug abuse prevention and treatment may lack the knowledge to adequately handle patients and adolescents abusing NPDs. The current study employs interviews with 64 practitioners employed in positions that interact with potential recreational substance users in southeast Georgia in order to assess NPD knowledge, placing particular emphasis on those 22 respondents employed in public health, healthcare, or educational roles. Findings indicate that knowledge about NPDs among medical and educational practitioners is lacking, much of the information they ‘know’ is inaccurate, and that practitioners clearly recognize a need for NPD training. We discuss these findings relative to their broader impact on treatment and prevention programs.     

Giving credit when credit is due: credit giving to the president in the United States Congress

How do members of the US Congress give credit when credit is due for political achievements? Focusing on an important credit giving scenario – credit giving to the president of the United States – this research suggests that credit giving is a form of non-roll call position taking and members give credit in a way that is reflective of individual, institutional, and constituency factors. Using an original data set composed of the official congressional statements concerning the death of Osama bin Laden, findings suggest the proximate decision to issue a statement is related to individual and institutional factors. Within the issued statements, however, credit giving is primarily driven by presidential popularity in the constituency. In addition to being less predictable in their credit giving behaviour, members of the Senate are less likely to give credit than their colleagues in the House of Representatives. Finally, Republican women in the House of Representatives are less likely to give the president credit than other members.     

Massachusetts Youth Screening Instrument for mental health needs of youths in residential welfare/justice institutions: identifying gender differences across countries and settings

This study examines the use of the Massachusetts Youth Screening Instrument-Second Version (MAYSI-2) for mental health needs among 1643 youngsters in residential welfare/justice institutions in Europe and the USA, identifying gender differences across countries and settings. Overall, the MAYSI-2 appeared to be a reliable instrument among these youngsters, with only some scales falling (slightly) below the threshold of acceptable internal consistency. Girls (vs. boys) in Belgian/USA justice institutions and Swiss mixed welfare/justice institutions displayed higher scores for the angry–irritable, depressed–anxious, somatic complaints, suicide ideation scales. Also, detained girls from Belgium and Switzerland reported higher scores for traumatic experiences. No gender differences were revealed among adolescents in German welfare institutions. Our findings suggest that the MAYSI-2 may serve as a useful mental health screening instrument among youngsters in welfare/justice institutions and that girls in justice institutions and mixed welfare/justice institutions form a particularly vulnerable population with regard to mental health problems.     

Book Reviews

Abstract

Stalkers and their Victims. By Paul E. Mullen, Michele Pathé and Rosemary Purcell. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000. 310 pp. ISBN 0 521 66950 2 (pb).

Violence: Reflections on Our Deadliest Epidemic. By James Gilligan. London: Jessica Kingsley, 2000. 320 pp. ISBN: 1-85302-842-8 (paperback), €12.95.

Violence, Crime and Mentally Disordered Offenders: Concepts and Methods for Effective Treatment and Prevention. By S. Hodgins and R. Müller-Isberner (Eds.). Chichester, England: John Wiley & Sons Ltd, 2000. ISBN 0-471-97727-6.     

The Rituals of Public Meetings

Public meetings are often referred to as “rituals” to denote a largely symbolic activity with little concrete meaning. This essay explores how public meeting rituals may produce very real impacts on participants and pragmatic outcomes. Whereas tangible outputs of rituals are not always evident, ritual theory suggests that participants can derive latent meaning and significant comfort from their application. Although rituals serve to reify certain norms or control behaviors, they may also reaffirm civic values and encourage group cohesion. A deeper appreciation of public meeting rituals will enable participants and officials to respond more effectively to restructured or nontraditional formats as well as better deal with the challenges of maintaining participation when rituals lose their meaning.     

The Presence of Sofía Imber

Sofía Imber has been a journalist and commentator, a museum founder and director. She condemns and deplores anti-Semitism in present-day Venezuela and the political use of artistic space.     

Russia’s Climate Policy: International Bargaining and Domestic Modernisation

This article accounts for the gap between Russia’s weak initial implementation of the Kyoto Protocol and its more active engagement in climate policy during the Medvedev presidency. We examine the intersection of climate policy and broader efforts to modernise Russia’s economy, drawing attention to synergies between domestic and international politics. We argue that international factors alone do not explain the change in climate policy as they have remained relatively constant. Instead, greater attention toward climate policy results from efforts to introduce new technologies and increase energy efficiency, spurred by the recent financial crisis and a shift in domestic policy priorities associated with the Medvedev presidency.