Suicides in the young people of Geneva, Switzerland, from 1993 to 2002

Suicides in Geneva in those less than 25 years old, from 1993 to 2002, were reviewed. Scenes investigations, autopsy findings, toxicology results, and psychiatric history (when available) were examined. There were 65 cases. The average annual suicide rate was 11/100,000. Seventy-seven percent were male, and 23% were female. The youngest was 12 years old and most of the victims were 18 years old and over (89%). For men, the use of firearms was the most common method (38%), followed by fall from height (16%) and drowning (10%). For women, fall from height was the most frequent (40%), followed by firearms and medication overdoses (20% each), hanging (13%), and drowning (7%). Toxicological analysis was performed in 41% of the cases and showed that alcohol was present in 26% and other drugs in 67% of these cases. The most common drugs present were benzodiazepines, cannabis, and cocaine.     

Development of a GC-MS method for the simultaneous analysis of latent fingerprint components

Latent fingerprint residue is a complex mixture of organic and inorganic compounds. A full understanding of the composition of this mixture and how it changes after deposition is lacking. Three solvent systems were compared for the simultaneous extraction and derivatization with ethyl chloroformate of selected amino and fatty acids from a nonporous substrate (Mylar for subsequent analysis by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. A solvent system comprised of sodium hydroxide, ethanol, and pyridine was found to be the most effective. This method was applied to the analysis of latent fingerprint residue deposited on Mylar and preliminary data are presented. Twelve amino acids (e.g., serine, glycine, and aspartic acid) and 10 fatty acids (e.g., tetradecanoic, hexadecanoic, and octadecanoic acids) were identified. The potential application of this method to further the understanding of latent fingerprint chemistry has been demonstrated.     

Probable causes for police corruption: Some theories

Theories and explanations of police corruption presented in recent social science literature are reviewed to develop a conceptual framework for future study of the problem. Theories of corruption due to individual failings, organizational deviance, cynicism, lack of deterrence, and the lack of consensus on victimless crimes and their effects, are discussed.     

Preliminary evidence for an automatic link between sex and power among men who molest children

Understanding critical motivational processes of sexual offenders may ultimately provide important clues to more effective treatments. Implicit, automatic cognitive processes have received minimal attention; however, a lexical decision experiment revealed automatic links between the concepts of power and sex among participants who self-reported attraction to sexual aggression. The current study replicates this experiment with a group of male child molesters and forensic and analogue controls. Subliminally presented sex words elicited a facilitation effect for power words among child molesters only; that is, sex to power associations were evident, as well as a trend for the reverse. These results provide preliminary evidence for an automatic sex-power association in child molesters and may point to a crucial pathological link in the cognitive schemata of sex offenders. As well, the current study suggests that paradigms from cognitive psychology may contribute to multimodal (risk) assessment of sexual offenders.