Death from minor head trauma and alcohol

Sudden death in association with minor or otherwise insignificant head injury is increasingly being recognised in the forensic medical literature. While the exact mechanism of the cardiorespiratory arrest that appears to occur in these cases is unclear, a number of mechanisms have been postulated. Animal studies have provided evidence that alcohol can be associated with an increased period of apnoea following minor physical brain injury and cardiac changes have also been identified. The limited information in the community about the risk of alcohol in association with minor head injury causing death may be relevant in homicide cases where this issue is raised.     

New families,new governance and old habits

In December 2011, the UK Government formally launched its ‘troubled families’ initiative. This is a focused programme of interventions, coordinated at local level and paid for by results. It has been described by the Prime Minister as a part of the ‘social recovery’ that has to be set alongside the economic recovery that is his government's priority. It is illustrative of a decisive shift in the nature of the welfare state as it reflects the neo-liberal political project. It also reflects a purposed shift in social attitudes towards troubled and troublesome families, driven to a considerable degree by a vicious popular press. It is indicative of a marked shift in the pendulum from ‘rehabilitation’ to ‘rescue’ as the focus of welfare practice with children and families. Recent developments in the promotion of adoption of children in the UK should be viewed in this light. This paper considers how those families with tense or divergent relationships with the state are to be governed in the context of a state and a set of social attitudes that represents a decisive break with the post-war welfare consensus.     

Radiographic age estimation based on degenerative changes of vertebrae

Age estimation is an important component of decedent identification. When assessing adult remains, anthropologists frequently use gross examination of skeletal elements, such as clavicles, ribs, and pubic symphyses. For fleshed bodies, this requires the removal of these elements and maceration prior to analysis. A new method was developed using radiographic imaging to estimate age from degenerative changes of the lower thoracic and upper lumbar vertebrae. This technique will complement anthropological age estimation methods in young and middle-aged adults and may serve as a stand-alone method for older individuals. Digital radiographs from 240 medical examiner cases were evaluated. The sample included 120 females and 120 males between the ages of 18 and 101 years. A 3-phased scoring system was used for the target vertebrae. Transition analysis was conducted on binned average scores and a Bayesian approach was used to assign age intervals. At the 90% credible interval, individuals in Bin 1 were under 36 years of age while those in Bin 3 were over 47 years of age. Individuals in Bin 2 showed too much age variation to be informative. No significant differences were found between males and females. These findings will be especially useful in the age estimation of older adults and may eliminate the need for skeletal sampling in medicolegal cases where advanced degenerative changes are radiographically observed in the lower thoracic and/or upper lumbar vertebrae. This method was developed for use on fleshed individuals but may also be applicable to skeletonized remains.     

Predicting public support for the use of license plate recognition technology by police

The use of license plate recognition technology (LPR) by police is becoming increasingly common. LPR may be used for many purposes, ranging from stolen vehicle enforcement to more complex surveillance and predictive functions. Existing research does not examine community support for this technology, despite its potential to impact police legitimacy. Results from the first community LPR survey are presented and multinomial logistic regression models of citizen support for the technology are developed. Regression results suggest that a number of factors significantly predict citizen support for LPR use, including increased trust in police and the belief that LPR information is public information.     

Guidelines for Brief Focused Assessment: AFCC Task Force on Brief Focused Assessments.

The Association of Family and Conciliations Courts (AFCC) Task on Brief Focused Assessment was convened in 2007 to study the issues inherent in the use of brief focused assessment models in family courts. The resultant “Guidelines for Brief Focused Assessment” were approved by the AFCC Board of Directors in 2009 and are presented here to prompt discussion and further dialogue about this clearly needed practice.

Key Points for the Family Court Community
• Issue‐specific assessments are increasingly requested by family court judges
• Practice guidelines for clinicians conducting brief focused assessments (BFAs)
• Types of issues/questions appropriate for BFAs
• Advantages and pitfalls of BFAs
• Comparison of BFAs and comprehensive child custody evaluations

     

THE COMMON AGRICULTURAL POLICY AND WORLD FOOD TRADE

Despite i t s internal differences, the European Economic Community seems to be moving toward an established and permanent position as agricultural exporter. European nations have moved irreversibly from being an import market to bejng a self-sufficient and large-scale producer. An established and politically entrenched agriculture in the European Economic Community has widespread support and their general economic needs elevate agriculture to promirience in attacking trade deficits.     

Psychological abuse of women: Six distinct clusters

This study was designed to identify patterns of psychological abuse (abuse) and determine whether different patterns mediate the effects of violence and sexual aggression. Interviews were completed with 578 (80.3%) of 720 women who volunteered for a study of “bad” or “stressful” heterosexual relationships. Cluster analysis with 51 items assessing many types of subtle and overt psychological abuse identified six groups. Cluster 1 sustained the most serious abuse, violence, and sexual aggression, but partners did not denigrate women or control finances. Cluster 2 sustained serious abuse which was more subtle than the dominating-controlling abuse discussed by others and had moderate violence and sexual aggression scores. Cluster 3 scored relatively low on abuse but reported controlling types (e.g., isolation, enforced secrecy) and relatively little violence and sexual aggression. Cluster 4 sustained the least abuse, violence, and sexual aggression but the abuse was overt (e.g., criticism, several types of control). Clusters 5 and 6 were similar with high abuse and moderate violence and sexual aggression scores but they experienced very different types of abuse. Total psychological abuse, threats of violence, acts of violence, and sexual aggression scores made different contributions to women's health, help seeking, and relationship perceptions depending on the pattern of abuse they sustained. Results for each type of harmful act are discussed separately.     

The Political Theory of Reinvention

In this article, we examine the implications of the reinvention movement for democratic governance, broadly defined. The most basic premise of the reinvention movement is a belief that the accumulation of the narrowly defined self-interests of many individuals can adequately approximate the public interest. By "narrowly defined," we mean the interests of individuals as they privately apprehend them, unmediated by participation in a process of civic discourse. To illustrate the centrality of this assumption to the implicit theory of reinvention, we consider three of its elements—its use of the market model, its emphasis on customers rather than citizens, and its glorification of entrepreneurial management. We then examine the implications of the self-interest assumption, which entails a rejection of democratic citizenship, civic engagement, and the public interest, broadly conceived.