Age at first sexual assault and current substance use and depression

This article explores how the association between sexual violence and substance use and mental health differs by race and life course stage. Analyses are based on data (n = 8,000) from the Violence and Threats of Violence against Women and Men in the United States Survey, 1994-1996 (NVAWS). Although sexual violence does not heighten the risk of problem drinking for White women, minority women victimized in adulthood are significantly more likely to engage in problem drinking and use illicit drugs. This suggests that for minority women the effects of recent victimization experiences result in immediate and potentially long-lasting consequences. The findings with respect to the association between sexual violence and depression are consistent with the child and adolescent development literature. It is Hispanic women who are more likely to suffer depression as a consequence of child sexual assault.     

Die naturschutzrechtlichen Voraussetzungen zur Erteilung der immissionsschutzrechtlichen Genehmigung

Zusammenfassung  Als “andere ?ffentlich-rechtliche Vorschriften” im Sinne von §6 Abs. 1 Nr. 2 BImSchG geh?ren auch naturschutzrechtliche Bestimmungen zu den Vorschriften, die beachtet sein müssen, damit eine immissionsschutzrechtliche Genehmigung erteilt werden kann. Nachfolgend sollen die wichtigsten dieser Vorschriften aus der Perspektive des Anlagenzulassungsrechts er?rtert werden. Berücksichtigt wird dabei auch das Erste Gesetz zur ?nderung des Bundesnaturschutzgesetzes vom 12.12.2007, das vor allem im Bereich des besonderen Artenschutzrechts grundlegende ?nderungen mit sich brachte.     

Review of the Evidence Supporting the Medical and Legal Use of NeuroQuant® in Patients with Traumatic Brain Injury

Decades of research have shown that the brain atrophies after traumatic brain injury (TBI). However, multiple practical issues made it difficult to detect brain atrophy in individual patients with mild to moderate TBI. This situation improved by 2007 with the FDA approval of NeuroQuant®, a commercially available, computer-automated software program for measuring MRI brain volume in human subjects. Several peer-reviewed scientific studies have supported the reliability and validity of NeuroQuant®. This review addresses whether NeuroQuant® meets the Daubert standard for admissibility in court cases involving persons with TBI. The review finds that NeuroQuant® is an objective, reliable, and practical means of measuring brain volume and therefore can be an important tool for measuring the effects of TBI on brain volume in clinical or medicolegal settings.     

Objective intelligence or plausible denial: An open source review of intelligence method and process since 9/11

Since 9/11 there have been a series of reports criticizing the American Intelligence Community for its lack of foresight and inaccurate intelligence prior to the Iraq invasion of 2003. It is argued here that this is not a new phenomenon, but a replay of other periods of self-doubt and introspection within the Intelligence Community. The criticism of organizational structures and individuals – however relevant that may be – does not address the real, and enduring, problem with US intelligence-gathering bodies. The very process of intelligence theory, definition and practice needs to be fundamentally reviewed. Eschewing the dogmatism that has hindered intelligence reform, this article suggests three methods as a starting point for a new approach.     

RISING WITH THE TIDE WITHOUT FLIPPING THE BOAT — ANALYZING THE SUCCESSES AND CHALLENGES OF FISCAL CAPACITY BUILDING IN CHINA

While many developing countries experience a short period of economic boom and then spiral quickly into periods of deficit, currency fluctuation, and indebtedness, China has been able to sustain rapid economic growth and maintain solid fiscal capacity for the past 30 years, even during the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s and the global recession in the beginning of the 21st century. This article examines three key strategies behind China's fiscal success — its flexibility in adapting tax policies to the changing economic and social conditions, its success in realigning the intergovernmental fiscal relationship in 1994 and forcing subnational governments to become more entrepreneurial in revenue generation, and its pursuit of institutional reforms since the mid‐1990s to improve the government's capacity in budgeting and financial management. The article evaluates the implications of the Chinese experience for other developing countries and discusses the future challenges of fiscal reforms in China. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Group Delinquency in The Netherlands: Some Findings from an Exploratory Study

The phenomenon of group delinquency is, by and large, still terra incognita in the Netherlands. This paper presents a number of findings from a recent Dutch study on this subject. The findings result from a literature review, a (re-)analysis of Dutch self-report data and a number of interviews with informants and group members. Co-offending (i.e. offences that are committed by more than one person) and groups as a (semi-)organised association are two aspects of group delinquency that are considered here. Groups of youths hanging around and causing nuisance are the most visible manifestation of group behaviour. In 1997, according to a large survey, 12% of the Dutch population indicated that trouble caused by youth groups is an 'often occurring problem'. Concerning actual offending (with others), Dutch self-report data indicate that rates of co-offending are highest with vandalism, drug-related offences, intimidation, arson and participating in riots. Interviews with informants suggest that there is often a gap in local knowledge of problematic or criminal groups. It would seem that group delinquency is not paid structural attention by the various authorities. Besides employing informants, another means of gaining insight into groups is by computer analysis, using police data. This study has also looked at the characteristics of youths who commit offences with others. Findings concerning age, sex, ethnic background, type of offender and, finally, social identity are reported. In conclusion, some suggestions on how to tackle group delinquency are discussed.     

Relationship Between Dissociative and Medically Unexplained Symptoms in Men and Women Reporting Childhood Sexual Abuse

The relationship between the dissociative and somatic symptoms in a clinical sample of 216 women and 35 men survivors of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) was examined. Symptom patterns were measured by the Dissociative Experiences Scale, the Somatization Scale of the Symptom Checklist 90-Revised (SCL-90-R), and the Hypochondriasis, Hysteria, Health Concerns, and Harris–Lingoes Somatic Complaints Scales of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2. Somatization and dissociation were related, but not at a great enough magnitude to suggest that somatic symptoms as a generic category are an integral component of dissociation. With the exception of one of the measures of somatization, the SCL-90-R somatization scale, no significant differences were found between men and women CSA survivors in symptom levels. However, the relationship between somatization and dissociation was stronger in women than in men. The findings of this study should be considered preliminary and interpreted with considerable caution, since the scales used probably are of limited validity.