Correlates of adolescent fire setting: examining the role of fire interest,fire-related attentional bias,impulsivity, empathy and callous–unemotional traits

Little is known about potential correlates of problematic fire setting that could guide risk assessments and intervention. The current study measured aspects of fire-setting behaviour, fire interest, attentional bias towards fire-related words on a modified Stroop task, impulsivity, cognitive and affective empathy and callous–unemotional traits among adolescent fire setters, non-fire-setting antisocial adolescents and age-matched school controls. Results showed that current fire setting was associated with earlier onset of lighter/match play and unsanctioned fire setting. Fire-setting adolescents were also characterised by high impulsivity, callousness, uncaring traits and low cognitive empathy. Fire-setting frequency was best predicted by high impulsivity. Fire interest correlated negatively with accuracy on fire-related words on the fire Stroop task. These findings suggest that impulsivity may be important in the assessment and treatment of problematic fire setting, and encourage further research on modified Stroop tasks as a novel means to assess fire interest.     

Senate voting patterns on the 1991 extension of the fast-track trade procedures: Prelude to NAFTA

In 1991 then-President George Bush requested an extension of fast-track procedures from Congress for the primary purpose of negotiating a North American Free Trade Agreement. This paper uses an econometric model to test the importance of three themes related to NAFTA that surfaced during Senate debates over whether to approve the request, that of employment effects, environmental effects and the impact on immigration from Mexico. The empirical results show that expected job gains and losses were significant in explaining Senate voting patterns on fast-track extension. Immigration was found to be somewhat important, but environmental issues were not found to statistically significant. In addition, the impact of organized labor and political ideology as proxied by political party were found to be important factors that shaped Senate voting patterns on fast-track.     

Media habits of media tycoons

Leo Bogart is author of Preserving the Press, The Age of Televisionand other books on the media. This essay is adapted from a book he is completing on the subject of commercial culture.     

Asia’s Security Triangles: Maritime Minilateralism in the Indo-Pacific

Since the early years of the twenty-first century, a number of key regional governments have consciously chosen to alter the way they talk about the region, and have now largely shifted from using the ‘Asia-Pacific’ to the ‘Indo-Pacific’ construct. But after three decades of utilising the ‘Asia-Pacific’ concept, why has this been the case and how might this shift in geographical conceptualisation alter the strategic framework of the region? This paper argues that the ‘Indo-Pacific’ is a regional reconceptualisation utilised by Japan, Australia, India and the USA to address deficiencies in Asia’s maritime security and institutional architecture, which are being simultaneously influenced by a more assertive Chinese posture and waning U.S. influence. Additionally, the Indo-Pacific concept has developed in tandem with a transformation in the regional security architecture. The utilisation of maritime minilateralism between Japan, India, Australia and the USA supplements Asia’s bilateral American alliances, with an array of trilateral security dialogues or ‘security triangles’. The Asia-Pacific to Indo-Pacific shift is really an instance of an emerging minilateral security regionalism, rather than the predominant forms of bilateral and multilateral security and economic regionalism that have dominated Asia in recent decades.     

Assessing effective participation in vulnerable juvenile defendants

Effective participation in trial is outlined under article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights and refers to the ability to understand and engage in trial. Juvenile defendants are often referred to psychologists or psychiatrists by their solicitors to establish ‘effective participation’ capacity. In the USA, key components to participate effectively are defined and standardised assessments available. In the UK, no formal measures exist. A consecutive series of 20 adolescents aged 12–20 years, referred by their solicitors to our service, were assessed using a standardised battery and a semi-structured interview designed to assess effective participation. Fifty-five per cent had at least one neurodevelopmental disorder. Low IQ was common and 50% had age-equivalent language scores below 10 years. Rates of depression, anxiety and PTSD were high. Knowledge about trial was poor. These findings have implications for Criminal Justice System professionals and to ensure fair trials for young defendants.     

Of Normal Human Sympathies and Clear Consciences: Comments on Hyman Gross’s <Emphasis Type="Italic">Crime and Punishment: A Concise Moral Critique</Emphasis>

Contemporary criminal justice systems are extraordinarily unfair. Focusing on Hyman Gross’s Crimes and Punishment: A Concise Moral Critique, however, I identify ways in which scholarly criticisms of these criminal justice systems tend to miss their target. In particular, I argue against the assumption that in order to criticize these criminal justice systems we need to cast doubt on the very practice of blaming people and on the notion of desert, or that we need to reject wholesale retributive rationales for punishment. Quite the contrary: an important reason why contemporary criminal justice systems are unfair is that they punish many people undeservedly.