Juvenile delinquency in a developing country: a province example in Turkey

The aim of this study was to determine offence behavior, socio-demographic characteristics and some features of the juvenile offenders' families in a selected region, and compare with developed countries. A total of 165 juvenile offenders were included. Information was obtained by individually interviewing all children. Of a total of 165 juveniles, 162 (98%) were boys. The most frequently committed crimes were theft (52%) and wounding (20%). Of these juveniles, 33% were 14 years old when they committed offence, 21% had a history of an offence behavior, 14.5% had an offender sibling, 36% had smoking habits, 21% had a history of running away from home, and 28% had a history of internal migration. Mild psychiatric disorders were detected in 9 (5.4%) and 51% of them were not student at the time of offence behavior. Most of the families were crowded and had rather low economical and educational levels. Some features such as low income and low family educational levels, insufficient parental control, crowded family, migration, repetition of offences, and cigarette smoking were found to be risk factors for offensive behavior. These risk factors can be taken into consideration for the prevention of future crimes.     

Female suicides in Diyarbakir, Turkey

The aim of this study was to investigate the methods used and demographic data of women suicides by examining postmortem investigation and autopsy reports from the Branch of the Council of Forensic Medicine in Diyarbakir Province, Turkey, between 1996 and 2001. Fifty-eight percent (174/302) of suicides were females and 42% (128/302) were males. The suicide rates were similarly higher for females than for males (2.6 and 1.8 per 10,000 population, respectively). Over half of female suicides (56.3%) occurred in those under 20 years of age. The most common suicide method for women was hanging (32.2%), and for men was firearms (51.7%), but for women younger than 20 years the most frequent method was firearms. Among the female suicides, five (2.8%) were known to have attempted suicide at least once in the past. Twenty-nine women (16.7%) were documented to have any psychiatric illness. None of the women had a history of drug or alcohol abuse. A suicide note was found in only six cases (3.4%). The predominant suicide motive was family problems (in 32% or 56/174). The higher rate of suicide in females than in males, and the absolute female predominance in suicides in Diyarbakir, Turkey, are in contrast to most of the medical literature and statistical information about suicide rates by country, in which suicide rates are usually higher among males.     

Human Values and Sophistication Interaction Theory

Political Behavior - Political sophistication systematically affects the structure, crystallization, and use of political values, but it remains unclear if sophistication manifests similar effects...     

The Struggle to Save the National Symbol: Jaffa Port from the Arab Revolt Until the Twilight of the British Mandate

The outbreak of the Arab revolt marked the start of the continuous economic decline of Jaffa, which hitherto had been known as an outstanding and flourishing economic centre. The decisive factor that highlighted above all others the city's economic deterioration was the decline of its port. This carried notable moral implication for the Arab public, as Jaffa port, the city's symbol and legacy, was deemed a national emblem and a foundation stone of the Palestinian Arab economy. Its decline from 1936 onwards instigated a bitter struggle to restore it to its halcyon days. The article examines the measures taken by the local Arab leadership bodies and by the Arab Higher Committee to resurrect the port and its status, from the outbreak of the 1936 disturbances until the war that broke out in 1947.     

Identification of heroin in street doses using 1D-TOCSY nuclear magnetic resonance

Heroin street doses are complex mixtures commonly analyzed in forensic laboratories. Identification of the illicit substance in these street doses is among the primary analytical tasks of a forensic laboratory. We demonstrate that the one-dimensional ID-TOCSY NMR experiment permits identification of heroin in standard mixtures containing up to ten or more different components. This method produces an easily-identified and effective "fingerprint" for heroin within a mixture of other substances. The method has been successfully tested as a tool for identification of heroin in street doses from police casework in Israel. This NMR technique is robust and quick (a measurement can be carried out in 10-15 min), and it does not require any preliminary physical or chemical treatments of the sample to be examined, due to the effective spectroscopic "filtering" of the interfering components. The ID-TOCSY NMR method can potentially be used in combination with additional analytical methods as a routine tool in forensic laboratories to positively identify heroin for court purposes.     

Fatal poisoning from Nicotiana glauca leaves: identification of anabasine by gas-chromatography/mass spectrometry

Death of a worker occurred after ingestion of unknown amounts of Nicotiana glauca G leaves. The leaves were cooked after having been mistakenly considered to be spices of a type which grow in Thailand. After ingestion, two Thai workers collapsed, one with asystolia. Resuscitation efforts were successful only for one of the victims. A GC/MS method was used for the identification of anabasine as the main constituent in the leaves, food extract, blood, and the urine of the deceased. Lacking a standard, it was necessary to interpret the GC/MS spectrum to identify anabasine and establish its presence.     

Party Identification and Core Political Values

Party identification and core political values are central elements in the political belief systems of ordinary citizens. Are these predispositions related to one another? Does party identification influence core political values or are partisan identities grounded in such values? This article draws upon theoretical works on partisan information processing and value‐based reasoning to derive competing hypotheses about whether partisanship shapes political values or political values shape partisanship. The hypotheses are tested by using structural equation modeling techniques to estimate dynamic models of attitude stability and constraint with data from the 1992–94–96 National Election Study panel survey. The analyses reveal that partisan identities are more stable than the principles of equal opportunity, limited government, traditional family values, and moral tolerance; party identification constrains equal opportunity, limited government, and moral tolerance; and these political values do not constrain party identification.