Developments in the assessment and treatment of sexual offenders: looking backward with a view to the future

This article provides a brief review of a number of key developments within the area of sexual offending over the past two decades. In addition, several directions for future research are discussed. The review presents information concerning several well-validated risk assessment instruments that are available. As well, some of the accumulating evidence concerning the efficacy of contemporary approaches to treatment with sex offenders is mentioned, as are theoretical developments within the field.     

Reference ballistic imaging database performance

Ballistic imaging databases allow law enforcement to link recovered cartridge cases to other crime scenes and to firearms. The success of these databases has led many to propose that all firearms in circulation be entered into a reference ballistic image database (RBID). To assess the performance of an RBID, we fired 4200 cartridge cases from 600 9mm Para Sig Sauer model P226 series pistols. Each pistol fired two Remington cartridges, one of which was imaged in the RBID, and five additional cartridges, consisting of Federal, Speer, Winchester, Wolf, and CCI brands. Randomly selected samples from the second series of Remington cartridge cases and from the five additional brands were then correlated against the RBID. Of the 32 cartridges of the same make correlated against the RBID, 72% ranked in the top 10 positions. Likewise, of the 160 cartridges of the five different brands correlated against the database, 21% ranked in the top 10 positions. Generally, the ranking position increased as the size of the RBID increased. We obtained similar results when we expanded the RBID to include firearms with the same class characteristics for breech face marks, firing pin impressions, and extractor marks. The results of our six queries against the RBID indicate that a reference ballistics image database of new guns is currently fraught with too many difficulties to be an effective and efficient law enforcement tool.     

Appeasing nihilists? Some economic thoughts on reducing terrorist activity

Recent contributions to the economics of terrorism have given contradicting recommendations for campaigning against terrorism, from the proposal to deprive terrorists of their resources to the proposal of raising the opportunity costs of terrorism by increasing the wealth of the affected regions. Within a simple framework which differentiates between the decision to become an active terrorist and the decision to support terrorists and which allows for reciprocal reactions to anti-terrorism policies, it is argued here that undifferentiated deterrence may indeed backfire, but so may an increase of the opportunity costs of terrorism. A very targeted anti-terrorism policy aimed only at active terrorists would then be the most reasonable remaining approach.     

公共政策问题建构过程中的公共性研究

公共政策具有公共性,亦即处理大多数民众的问题。政策具有问题性,也就是政策以民众问题为导向,大多数民众有相同问题,政府机关将问题纳入政府议程,提出解决策略。倘若忽视公共性,公共政策就有可能变为某些个人、团体、阶层谋取私立的工具。这就要求我们在公共政策的制定和实施的过程中,必须时时关注公共性,亦即要做到在政策问题取向上的公共性。故而,首先探究公共政策问题与其公共性之意涵;其次,析探问题建构中公共性之哲学基础;最后,藉由现今流行于公共政策学界,用以展现问题建构过程中公共性的审议式民主,以及审议式民主在台湾之应用-公民会议的召开,来加以进一步说明。     

Dosage of treatment to sexual offenders: are we overprescribing?

A sample of 337 offenders who received treatment in a variety of sex offender treatment programs in the Ontario region of Correctional Service Canada between 1993 and 1998 were divided based on the highest intensity sex offender programming that they received (low, moderate, and high). The three groups were compared with reference to a variety of actuarial risk assessment measures, criminogenic factors, and the number and type of treatment programs completed. It was hypothesized that the high-intensity group would have more criminogenic risk factors, higher actuarial scores, and participate in more treatment programs than both the moderate- and low-intensity groups. The results indicate that in general, the hypotheses were supported. Nonetheless, the results suggest that the low-intensity group may be receiving too much sex offender-specific treatment.     

Extraction and analysis of human nuclear and mitochondrial DNA from electron beam irradiated envelopes

The United States Postal Service is considering methods such as electron beam irradiation to neutralize biological agents sent through the mail. While this is proven to reduce/eliminate pathogenic organisms, it may also degrade human genomic DNA and therefore hinder the ability to garner forensically informative genetic profiles. To determine the effects of electron beam irradiation on DNA typing, 16 white, standard letter-sized envelopes were licked. Half of the envelopes served as nonirradiated controls while the other half underwent irradiation at dosages sufficient to kill anthrax spores (29.3 and 51.6 kGy). Total cellular DNA was extracted from all envelopes; nuclear short tandem repeat loci, as well as the hypervariable region I from mitochondrial DNA, were amplified by means of the polymerase chain reaction. Short tandem repeat profiles and mitochondrial DNA sequence haplotypes were acquired on an ABI Prism 310 Genetic Analyzer platform. Analysis of data from irradiated samples revealed evidence of DNA degradation; however, the ability to construct full genetic profiles from both nuclear and mitochondrial DNA remained largely unaffected. The use of the polymerase chain reaction, coupled with florescent fragment analysis and mitochondrial DNA sequencing, should be considered to profile biological material from evidence enduring irradiation to inactivate infectious agents.     

Review Article: Scandinavian Parties in the Internal and External Arena

Party research lived a relatively quiet life during the 1970s and 1980s in the western world, and to some degree also in Scandinavia, although the central role of parties in the Scandinavian democracies made it impossible for political scientists to completely ignore political parties in their research. However, from the end of 1980s, political party research has been revitalized, and the number of publications has increased substantially. The three books reviewed here are part of the upswing during 1997, which, of course, includes other books and publications from that particular year. Why this renewed interest in studying political parties? For a long period after World War II, Scandinavian political parties were characterized as stable mass organizations. In 1973, the established Danish political system suffered an electoral backlash, and the shock waves gave fuel to speculations of party decline in electoral behavior studies. At the same time, similar trends were visible in Finland and Norway. Much later, interest focused on finding the same signs of decline in the internal party arena. The discussion is still alive, and during this process students of political science have gained new knowledge about parties and their organizations in Scandinavia.     

Cultural citizenship

The paper argues that the development of citizenship rights in advanced societies has been cumulative but uneven. The extension of social/welfare rights has been arrested. Propelled by the claims formulated by some activists of new social movements, citizenship rights are currently expanding towards a new domain of cultural rights that involve the right to symbolic presence, dignifying representation, propagation of identity and maintenance of lifestyles. This reflects the crisis of welfarism, the ‘shrinking of the state’, and the expansion of the public spheres.     

Economics of transition: A review article

Milford Bateman et al., Business Cultures in Central & Eastern Europe. Oxford: Butterworth‐Heinemann, 1997, xxii + 238 pp., £18.99.

John L. Campbell & Ove K. Pedersen (eds), Legacies of Change, Transformations of Postcommunist European Economies. Berlin: Aldine De Gruyter, 1996, xii + 258 pp., DM48.00.

Mark Knell (ed.), Economics of Transition, Structural Adjustments and Growth Prospects in Eastern Europe. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 1996, xii + 246 pp., £45.00.

Martin Myant et al., Successful Transformations? The Creation of Market Economies in Eastern Germany and the Czech Republic. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 1996 xiii + 267 pp., £49.95.