Crisis intervention models in the French-speaking countries

The article presents the crisis intervention model devised by Andreoli (Geneva) which is currently being developed in most crisis units and emergency services in the French-speaking countries of Europe. Two clinical examples are presented: the Short Therapy Centre (Geneva, Switzerland) and the crisis unit of the Saint-Luc Clinic (Brussels, Belgium). The following aspects of these approaches are discussed: (a) the need for crisis intervention rather than a simple answer to emergency, (b) the need for crisis intervention in all acute psychiatric disorders and not only in psychosocial problems, (c) the need to integrate psychiatric hospitalization into a coherent mental health policy, (d) the need for well-trained and round-the-clock teams, (e) the need for continuity of care.     

The Implications of Childhood Sexual Abuse on Adult Social Behavior

Research indicates that childhood sexual abuse creates many long-term psychological difficulties, which may impair social behavior. These problems include anxiety, fear, depression, self-hatred, alienation, and suicidal tendencies. It was hypothesized that childhood sexual abuse would produce impaired social behavior in adults sexually abused as children. Two hundred and twenty-two male and female introductory psychology students from the University of Manitoba completed the Rand Corporation's Social Health Battery amplpar1978amprpar;, Linn's Social Dysfunction Rating Scale (1969), and a shortened version of Finkelhor's Sexual Victimization Survey (1979). Participants who experienced childhood sexual abuse exhibited impaired social behavior, which included fewer friends and social contacts, and more social adjustment problems. The importance of early intervention for children who experienced sexual abuse was discussed.     

An unusual case of suicide by means of a pneumatic hammer.

We describe an extraordinary case of a 49-year-old man who committed suicide by using a pneumatic hammer. As an industrial accident was initially assumed, difficulties in determining the manner of death are discussed. In addition, the ability to perform activity and evidence of a protracted agony in a situation of extensive cerebral destruction are considered. To our knowledge, no such case of suicide has ever been reported.     

Sweat testing in addicts under methadone treatment: an Italian experience

In determining the possibility that a specific weapon was responsible for a specific injury it is often valuable to examine the damage marks left on any clothing worn by a victim. Correlating this damage both to the skin and clothing with the dimensions of the suspect weapon (if available) may help in determining these possibilities. In this work four different types of knives were used to produce damage marks on various different fabrics both stretched and loose over skin. Statistically significant differences were found between the length of wound on the skin and the corresponding damage to the fabrics when the fabric was stretched over the skin while no statistically significant differences were observed when the fabric was loose over the skin. This was true for all of the knives examined.     

Reconstruction of ripped-up documents using fragment stack analysis procedures

Reconstruction of ripped-up documents can be a very time-consuming task for forensic experts. Currently, this task is often carried out using various homespun or loosely defined procedures. Under the main assumption that a (partially) ordered set of fragments can be recovered, we propose and discuss a more formal analysis methodology for this type of reconstruction problem. We discuss several complications that can occur in real-life problems and illustrate the efficiency of the proposed methods. Although several avenues for further research remain, we show that the proposed approach offers both a better understanding of the problem, as well as important strategies for devising very fast manual and semi-automatic fragment reassembly procedures.     

城市、社团和法律--从中世纪城市兴起看西方近代宪政制度

本文考察西方中世纪中晚期城市、社团及其城市法律制度。城市共同体的兴起促进了西欧范围的市场贸易活动的广泛复兴,并对中世纪欧洲封建地方体制给予了有力冲击;同时,城市共同体作为社团组织的独特发展形式,形成特有的城市等级会议制度,动摇和破坏封建社会的内部关系并为新社会结构的形成奠定了基础。这是导致历史上早期宪政观念产生的最为关键的因素。由于城市共同体自身的缺陷,统一市场的变革要求被民族国家所替代。     

Exploring Identity Dynamics from a Combined Social Exchange and Social Identity Perspective

The aim of this article is to explore identity dynamics of unit and department leaders in a healthcare setting using both social identity and social exchange theories. In particular, we developed a mediational moderated model in which supervisor trust indirectly influences identification with a subordinate level (i.e., the clinical unit) through its effect on identification with a superordinate level (i.e., the organization as a whole). Furthermore, we predicted and found that this relation is moderated by organizational tenure, contract breach, and the clinical-manager's role (heads of clinical units vs. chairs of departments). We tested our hypotheses with doctors of a large public hospital in northern Italy. A total of 370 doctors completed questionnaires measuring organizational and unit identification, supervisor trust, and contract breach. Results supported our hypotheses: supervisor trust was related to unit identification through its effect on organizational identification. As expected, this relation was stronger for more tenured department chairs, and for those doctors who perceived less contract breach.     

Merging self-driving cars with the law

Self-driving cars are gradually being introduced in the United States and in several Member States of the European Union. Policymakers will thus have to make important choices regarding the application of the law. One important aspect relates to the question who should be held liable for the damage caused by such vehicles. Arguably, product liability schemes will gain importance considering that the driver's fault as a cause of damage will become less likely with the increase of autonomous systems. The application of existing product liability legislation, however, is not always straightforward. Without a proper and effective liability framework, other legal or policy initiatives concerning technical and safety matters related to self-driving cars might be in vain. The article illustrates this conclusion by analysing the limitation periods for filing a claim included in the European Union Product Liability Directive, which are inherently incompatible with the concept of autonomous vehicles. On a micro-level, we argue that every aspect of the Directive should be carefully considered in the light of the autonomisation of our society. On the macro-level, we believe that ongoing technological evolutions might be the perfect moment to bring the European Union closer to its citizens.