Assessing the Behavior and Needs of Veterans with Traumatic Brain Injury in Washington State Prisons: Establishing a Foundation for Policy,Practice, and Education

Abstract

A growing awareness of justice-involved veterans is revealing how little is known about this population, to what extent they have experienced a traumatic brain injury (TBI), and how this may relate to institutional behavior, participation in programs, and use of institutional resources. The current study identifies the prevalence of incarcerated veterans in Washington State who have experienced a TBI and how a TBI history may affect their prison experience and use of prison resources. The results of our study show that incarcerated veterans in Washington State with a moderate-to-severe TBI are more likely to use medical services, commit violent infractions, be placed in maximum custody (solitary confinement), and less likely to complete vocational and job skills programs. The importance of these findings to policy and practice is discussed.     

自然法抑或实证法——理性与意志视野下的美国宪法

在看待美国宪法观念中,一种观念将美国宪法视为自然法或高级法的摹本,认为美国宪法的特征在于人类凭借理性发现和宣布了自然法或高级法;另一种观念则将美国宪法视为纯粹的人民主权的意志表达。这两种观念都存在一定的曲解:美国宪法其实和古典自然法之间存在着巨大的断裂,是一种现代自然权利体系之下的人为宪法,但这种宪法并不是未经筛选的人民意志的表达,而是理性引导之下的意志表达。美国宪法的这种特征要求当代的法律人政治家既不能神话宪法,也不能轻视宪法,而是要求将宪法视为政治科学的教材,通过理解与对话来提升理性,从而思考宪法在当代的挑战。     

国有控股公司:监狱集团企业体制改革的方向性模式

监狱集团企业在承担和不断强化相关法律和社会职能的前提下,如何有效摆脱若干体制障碍和功能束缚,以完全企业的组织形式和运行方式来适应社会主义市场经济体制,促进监狱可持续经济发展,是监狱管理体制改革的一个重点也是难点问题。从国有资产管理体制创新的角度分析,国有控股公司理应成为未来监狱集团企业管理体制的一种主流模式,同时,未来监狱集团企业将由国有独资模式逐步向投资主体多元化方向发展。对此,本文提出了监狱集团企业改制的现实路径和实施方案。     

Attention‐Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in Young French Male Prisoners

While forensic studies have reported higher than community rates of mental disorders in imprisoned populations, few studies have focused on attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in these subjects. The aim of this study was to investigate ADHD prevalence among young French male prisoners. A specific diagnostic interview (Conners' Adult ADHD Diagnostic Interview for DSM‐IV, CAADID) was used. Correlations between ADHD, subsyndromal ADHD, and criminal features were investigated. 11% of young male prisoners among 93 male subjects aged 18–35 years met the criteria for actual ADHD, and 17% met those for childhood ADHD. Considering ADHD and subsyndromal ADHD, prevalence was about 43% in adulthood. ADHD and subsyndromal ADHD in adulthood were significantly associated with a higher number of imprisonments and a younger age at first arrest. It could be advisable to better identify subjects with ADHD symptoms among prison populations.     

Publication rates of abstracts presented at the annual scientific meetings held by the American Academy of Forensic Sciences in 2011 and 2016

Prior research evaluating the papers presented in forensic sciences in international meetings is scant. This study determines the possible predictions concerning publications by comparing the publication rates, publication years, and presentation types, time until publication, participating countries, and criteria of the published journals in the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS). The publication rates of abstracts presented at scientific meetings of AAFS, a prestigious forensic science organization, along with the aforementioned components and the extent of their contribution in 2011 and 2016 were investigated. The abstracts presented at the AAFS meetings in 2011 and 2016 were reviewed retrospectively within the scope of this study. The Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, Science Direct, and Google Scholar databases were searched using a specified process that included the title, first and last author surnames, and keywords. Results revealed that approximately 21% and 24% of the papers presented at the 2011 and 2016 AAFS meetings, respectively, were published. Considering the publication rates of abstracts according to sections, the publication rates for the 2011 AAFS meeting ranged from 4% (questioned documents) to 31% (anthropology) and from 5% (questioned documents) to 32% (pathology/biology), on average, for the 2016 AAFS meeting. It was determined that the papers were largely published in the Journal of Forensic Sciences for both annual scientific meetings. Future studies should concentrate on the obstacles to the publication of papers presented at such prestigious organizations and strategies to facilitate the publication process such that they do not lose their value over time.     

霸权护持与美国的代理人战略

霸权护持是霸权国在霸权周期内的主要战略目标。通过考察二战结束以来美国霸权护持的历史轨迹,可以看出,代理人战略是美国频频实践但仍缺乏深入研究的现象。代理人战略是一种国家不直接出面,而是借助安全与外交领域的代理人实现间接制衡目标的战略手段。明确对手且制定相应策略是美国大战略的重要特征,当前美国政府认定的霸权威胁来源包括战略竞争对手、地区反美国家及恐怖主义等。基于战略目标的不同,美国针对上述三种威胁所采取的代理人战略的类型亦存在差异,分别是国家代理人战略、复合代理人战略以及次国家代理人战略。美国寻找的代理人一般与目标对象存在重大冲突或战略矛盾,代理人具有消耗与削弱对手的能力,代理人战略的实施路径包括威胁共识搭建及借力打力实践两个阶段。对于冷战后美国代理人战略的实践进行考察,有助于我们深入把握这种战略形式的逻辑延展及未来走向。     

Confidence in an election authority and satisfaction with democracy: Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment of a failed election in Sweden

Contemporary research on electoral integrity has focused on the functioning, evaluation, and legitimacy of electoral processes in emerging democracies. By contrast, this study investigates whether a failed election in a well-established democracy can affect individuals' evaluations of the electoral management body, the Election Authority, and whether those evaluations affect satisfaction with democracy. Using the case of a Swedish regional election in 2010 that had to be rerun due to procedural mistakes in the vote handling, we found that, in the short term, individuals’ confidence in the Election Authority was reduced after it was announced that the election had to be rerun because of the mistakes. Subsequently, this decreased confidence was strongly associated with less satisfaction with democracy at the regional and national level. As good news for the authority, after a successful rerun election, confidence rebounded to the levels prior to the failed election.     

“That shit doesn't fly”: Subcultural constraints on prison radicalization

Many observers describe prison subcultures as inherently and irredeemably antisocial. Research directly ties prison subcultures to violence, gang membership, and poor reintegration. In extreme cases, research has also suggested that prison subcultures contribute to incarcerated people joining radical groups or embracing violent extremist beliefs. These claims, however, ignore key differences in the larger cultural and social context of prisons. We examine the relationship between prison subcultures and prison radicalization based on semistructured qualitative interviews with 148 incarcerated men and 131 correctional officers from four western Canadian prisons. We outline several imported features of the prison subculture that make incarcerated people resilient to radicalized and extremist messaging. These features include 1) national cultural imaginaries; 2) the racial profile of a prison, including racial sorting or a lack thereof; and 3) how radicalization allowed incarcerated men and correctional officers to act outside the otherwise agreed-to subcultural rules. Our research findings stress the importance of contemplating broader sociocultural influences when trying to understand the relationship between radicalization and prison dynamics and politics.     

John Paul Jones: An Overlooked Autopsy Finding that May Explain His Terminal Illness

A finding in the autopsy of John Paul Jones, the American Revolutionary War naval hero, may explain his terminal illness. During his last 2 years, he had a persistent productive cough and dyspnea. Ten days before death, he developed rapidly progressive dependent edema and ascites. He died in France in 1792. His body, preserved in alcohol in a lead coffin, was, in 1905, removed to the United States. Glomerulonephritis was noted on an autopsy, performed in France, but there was no comment then or since about ventricular wall thickness being the same in both ventricles at 5–6 mm. Hypertrophy and dilatation with biventricular failure followed by tissue shrinkage during 113 years in alcohol could have resulted in these ventricular wall findings. Systemic hypertension and left ventricular failure are consistent with his respiratory symptoms complicated perhaps by pulmonary emboli, right ventricular failure with tricuspid regurgitation, peripheral congestion, and jaundice.     

Evaluation of Mastoid Process as Sex Indicator in Modern White Americans using Geometric Morphometrics

Conventional methods for evaluating the mastoid as a sex indicator cannot determine whether mastoid shape is an independent and reliable sex indicator. Here, shape differences between the mastoids of 100 male and 100 female modern white Americans were statistically analyzed and visualized using the geometric morphometric method. Discriminant analysis was performed on mastoid size and shape. The relation between size and shape was analyzed to examine the effect of size on shape. In the results, mastoid size and shape were statistically significant sex indicators, while size factor explained 87.3% of the total variance of the shape variables. Nevertheless, females had relatively broader and shorter mastoid shape than males regardless of size, reflecting 12.7% of the total variance of the shape variables. In conclusion, mastoid size and shape were statistically significant sex indicators, while size may matter more in the mastoid than in other cranial parts in terms of sexual dimorphism.