Editors’ introduction: critical terrorism studies: practice,limits and experience

The articles in this special issue are drawn from papers presented at a conference titled Critical Terrorism Studies: Practice, Limits and Experience. The conference was organised by the Critical Studies on Terrorism Working Group of the British International Studies Association (BISA). The event was supported by both a BISA workshop grant and by Loughborough University’s Centre for the Study of International Governance (CSIG) and was held at Loughborough University from 9–10 September 2013. The conference aimed to explore what we know about terrorism and counterterrorism and importantly to ask how we know it. Reflecting the recent “materialist”, “everyday”, “experiential” and “narrative” turns in the fields of International Relations (IR), Geography and Cultural Theory, the event brought together scholars and practitioners to reflect on practices of research and knowledge production in Critical Terrorism Studies and related fields. The articles in this special issue reflect those aims.     

Crime Scene Staging in Homicide

A nonrandom national U.S. sample of 946 homicide crime scenes--supplied by the FBI Behavioral Science Unit for purposes of research--was studied to delineate the prevalence, types, levels, and motives for staging in domestic, nonserial sexual, serial sexual, and general felony homicides. Stagers were found to be a relatively small group who employ a variety of methods to alter the crime scene in an attempt to redirect the investigation away from themselves as logical suspects. Results also suggest that different types of homicides have different staging rates based primarily on the relationship (or connection) between offender and victim. Implications for investigations and understanding this type of crime scene behavior are discussed.     

Coping in adolescence: Empirical evidence for a theoretically based approach to assessing coping

The present study was designed to examine the reported Stressors and patterns of coping strategies used by adolescents and extend the 1989 work of Carver et al. by reporting internal reliability, factorial validity, and normative data on the COPE for a sample of middle adolescents. A sample of 484 ninth through twelfth graders (ages 14–18) attending a Laboratory High School participated in the study. The COPE inventory developed by Carver et al. in 1989 for use with college students, was administered with a battery of measures to all adolescent participants in their classrooms. Results indicated sufficient internal consistency for the measure and significant gender differences. Factor analysis of the COPE indicated that the subscales consistently fell into four factors rather than the traditional two (i.e., problem focused vs emotion focused). Implications for using the COPE in research on adolescent were discussed.Partial support for this project was obtained from the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues and by Illinois State University's Graduate Student Association, Graduate School, and Psychology Department.Received master's degree at Illionos State University. Research interests include social development in adolescents.Receaved doctoral degree in experomental psychology from Virginia Commonwealth University. Research interests include life span social development.     

Life Constraints and Psychological Well-Being of Domestic Violence Shelter Graduates

Psychosocial adjustment and life constraints of 81 domestic violence shelter graduates were examined via field interviews in the community, assessing womens current life status, satisfaction with core life domains, and violence experience, pre- and post-shelter. Psychometric scales for depression and trauma symptoms were also administered. Participants had received extensive services in either an emergency or a transitional living shelter. Although fairly satisfied across life domains, many had serious post-shelter financial hardships. Most importantly, they reported remarkably little post-shelter violence exposure, either within or outside of romantic relationships. Despite now living independently, 43% and 75% reported clinical levels of depression and trauma symptoms, respectively. In hierarchical stepwise regressions, depression was related to womens childhood sexual abuse, dissatisfaction with housing and their own parenting, and experience of financial difficulties conjoined with public assistance. Trauma symptoms were associated with childhood sexual abuse and post-shelter financial difficulties. The impaired psychosocial functioning and life difficulties of these predominantly successful domestic violence survivors highlights the need for specialized shelter intervention and continuity of care in the community.