Female serial killers in the United States: means,motives, and makings

Most studies that have focused on female serial killers (FSKs), although informative, have examined limited sample sizes. We consulted mass media reports of demographics, motives, methods, mental health, and victim characteristics of 64 FSKs who committed their crimes in the US from 1821 to 2008. Consistent with other studies, our data showed that FSKs were typically White, educated, have been married, and held a caregiving role (e.g. mother, health care worker). Nearly 40% of FSKs in this sample experienced some form of mental illness. Their most common motive for murder was financial gain, and their most common method of killing was poisoning. FSKs knew all or most of their victims, and most were related to their victims. In all cases, FSKs targeted at least one victim who was a child, elderly, or infirm – those who had little chance of fighting back. We interpret these killers’ behaviors from clinical and evolutionary angles.     

Similar Facts in Civil Cases

This essay evaluates the recent restatement in O’Brienv Chief Constable of South Wales Police of the law on similarfacts in civil proceedings. The two-stage approach propoundedin O’Brien contains a number of conceptual problems. Apparentsimplicity was achieved by avoiding fundamental issues underlyingthis area. Prior to the Criminal Justice Act 2003, judges recognizedthat the common law similar facts rule had a role to play inboth civil and criminal trials; but they gave the rule a widerexclusionary scope in criminal than in civil cases. Adoptionof a moral perspective helps to explain this state of affairs.The rule, so it will be argued, protects the legitimacy of trialdeliberation by forbidding reliance on an assumption that disrespectsthe moral autonomy of the person whose conduct is being judged.This moral objection can arise in civil cases; but it arisesmore frequently and usually with greater force in criminal proceedings.Hence, while there is a need to reserve some judicial powerto disallow proof of similar incidents in the civil context,there is usually less reason for the exercise of that powerin civil cases than at criminal trials.     

网络犯罪分析:用户及系统的多视图分析方法

近年来网络犯罪数量呈快速上升的势头,但是却缺乏一种有效的取证方法来处理这些案件.调查人员通常依靠调查大量繁琐的源代码来了解犯罪模型及提取证据,但这种方式需要很多的人力与时间,并可能导致人为错误.为了克服调查人员可能出现的这些潜在错误,我们在本文中提出了一种半自动的方法来解决这些问题.该方法集成了用户视图(基于取证调查人员的高级别研究)和系统视图(基于对源代码的自动分析),来帮助调查人员精确调查的范围.本文应用此方法分析了一个真实案件,证明了方法的可行性,同时帮助调查人员高效地确定了调查范围和犯罪模型.可见这种半自动方法可以对大量有多个来源的电子证据进行有效分析,提高了网络犯罪案件取证的效率和可靠性.     

Police Psychology in Singapore: The Red Dot Experience

Despite developments in police psychology in North America and Europe, little is known about developments in other parts of the world. Yet, this knowledge will reinforce the development of the field of police psychology internationally and strengthen its scientific theories, practices and programs. This paper therefore traces the development of police psychology in Singapore for over two decades across four waves of development. This paper also describes the developments in three areas of police psychology (services to police officers, police operations and the police organization) and details the various police psychological services programs and services in Singapore. The paper concludes with a discussion on strategic concerns for police psychologists worldwide, arguing that there is a need to discuss the ‘what works, when and where?’ in police psychology, when it is applied across the world.     

Forensic integrity verification of video recordings based on MTS files

Digital video is used in criminal trials as evidence with legal responsibility because video content vividly depicts events occurring at a crime scene. However, using sophisticated video editing software, assailants can easily manipulate visible clues for their own benefit. Therefore, the integrity of digital video files acquired or submitted as evidence must be ensured. Forensic analysis of digital video is key to ensuring the integrity of links with individual cameras. In this study, we analyzed whether it is possible to ensure the integrity of MTS video files. Herein, we propose a method to verify the integrity of MTS files encoded by advanced video coding high definition (AVCHD), which is frequently used for video recording. To verify MTS file integrity, we propose five features. Codec information, picture timing, and camera manufacture/model are modified AVI and MP4-like format video verification features. Group of pictures and Universally Unique Identifier patterns were specifically developed for MTS streams. We analyzed the features of 44 standard files recorded using all recording options of seven cameras. We checked whether integrity can be validated on unmanipulated videos recorded in various environments. In addition, we considered whether manipulated MTS files edited in video editing software could be validated. Experimental results show that all unmanipulated and manipulated MTS files with known recording devices were discriminated only when all five features were checked. These results show that the proposed method verifies the integrity of MTS files, strengthening the validity of MTS file-based evidence in trials.     

Management and safety of a medical mission: occupational hazards of volunteering

Medical aid missions involve travel to conflict or danger zones, posing safety risks in addition to the usual occupational risks arising from daily medical work. The note reports on a volunteer mission, using personal reports, anecdotal experiences, and the formal annual report to undertake an assessment similar to worksite assessments for hazards and control measures. Hazards were found to be prevalent, including physical noise and heat, infectious exposure from patients and local vectors, poor water sanitation, and psychosocial stress from unfamiliar environments and large patient numbers with limited means. Implementable preventative measures include increasing awareness with appropriate protective equipment usage and safety guidelines. Mission planning and management should also involve occupational health input.     

The Criminal Trial,the Rule of Law and the Exclusion of Unlawfully Obtained Evidence

If the criminal trial is aimed simply at ascertaining the truth of a criminal charge, it is inherently problematic to prevent the prosecution from adducing relevant evidence on the ground of its unlawful provenance. This article challenges the starting premise by replacing the epistemic focus with a political perspective. It offers a normative justification for the exclusion of unlawfully obtained evidence that is rooted in a theory of the criminal trial as a process of holding the executive to the rule of law. On this theory, it is the admission rather than exclusion of such evidence that is inherently problematic. The differences between this theory and others that are in currency will be noted, as will its implications and limitations.     

Vietnamese ethnicity networks maintenance process in the urban context Case study in Tainan Park,Taiwan

In Taiwan, the initiated policy for receiving foreign workers from the early 1990s has created prerequisite for workers and migrants from the Southeast Asian countries to access Taiwan labour market, including a great quantity of migrants from Vietnam. The appearance of new wave of immigrants over the past decade has created new ethnoscapes in Taiwan society. This paper considers the formation and characteristics of Vietnam ethnoscape in the urban context. The author adopts Tainan Park as public space--an ethnoscape with big concentration of Vietnamese in Tainan city for analysis. Based on geographical advantage factors and traffic convenience, Tainan Park became an important sociospatial pattern of Vietnam immigrants gathering. The paper then analyzes the locations and roles of immigrant gathering places as sites of ethnicity networks maintenance. The author studies the way to maintain directly opposite relationships in Tainan Park context. This park is an important space pattern for Vietnamese ethnicity networks maintenance.     

浅谈文学翻译中的审美认识

文中从文艺美学的角度探讨了文学翻译中美的认识、挖掘和再现,翻译工作者应具备强烈的文学审美意识,提高翻译的质量。