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Sudden Accidental Death

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This article will touch on a few of the problems we encounter in traumatic grief experienced from the sudden accidental death of a child: shock, guilt, unfinished business, lack of closure, negative attitudes or obstacles to recover, and anger. I don’t pretend to have any concrete answers for you, but hopefully, a few insights on how to cope with grief. We all grieve differently. What works for one may not work for another. We don’t want to make judgments on which kind of grief is more difficult, but sudden death is recognized as one of the most difficult to recover from because of the tremendous shock involved. It will be longer, lonelier, and more hazardous to your lasting emotional stability than if you had been able to anticipate the loss and to communicate with your child before death. One of the large differences between sudden accidental death and death by long-term illness or anticipatory death is the shock involved. It is the primary

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Sex Murder and the Potential Sex Murderer

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Problems Encountered in the Study of Sexual Murder

• No generally agreed-upon definition
• Many seemingly sexual murders are not really sexually motivated
• Many sexual murders are not overtly sexual
• Distinction between a sexual homicide and a homicide associated with sexual behavior is often blurred
• No national crime statistics exist
• Practical impediments such as incomplete and inaccurate background histories, low base rate, lack of interdisciplinary cooperation, and not being labeled institutionally are common.

Four Types of Sexual Murder

• Outgrowth of sexual conflicts (catathymic)
• Fusion of sex and aggression (compulsive)
• Murder to cover up sex crime
• Sex-related homicide

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Routine Activity Theory

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ROUTINE ACTIVITY THEORY.

Developed by Lawrence Cohen and Marcus Felson during the late 1970s, routine activity theory is a criminological theory frequently used to explain crime and victimization. Routine activity theory is actually an outgrowth of another criminological theory rational choice. Rational choice theory assumes that the offender chooses to commit criminal activity based upon free-will. In other words, the offender uses a strategic thinking process to evaluate the risks, including the type of offense committed, the selection of the victim, and the chances of apprehension. If the rewards of committing the crime outweigh the consequences of apprehension, the offender will likely commit the criminal act. According to Cohen and Felson, crime and victimization is based upon three criteria: (1) a suitable target, (2) an absence of capable guardians, and (3) a motivated offender. Each of these variables will be explained as they relate to the victims actions and prevention strategies. A suitable target can be a person or object. Offenders select their targets

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Sexual Boundary Issues and Violations

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SEXUAL BOUNDARY VIOLATIONS

All major professional organizations decry sexual activity with patients. Many also include past patients. Several states have laws making such behaviors specific causes of action for lawsuits, or even crimes. The prohibitions often seem clear, but may not define “sexual activity” very well. In addition, statutes and ethical guidelines may not differentiate 1) brief behaviors from lasting, calculated, and/or predatory ones; 2) recent behavior from that which occurred decades ago; or 3) intense therapeutic relationships from one-time consultations. Nevertheless, rigid requirements and interpretations are facts of life. Clinicians should be highly aware of the rules in their profession and locale, and how their behavior may appear to a sometimes accusing or suspicious public. An older clinician with an excellent reputation had a brief affair with a patient early in his career. He quickly felt remorse and took all the professional steps believed appropriate by his profession at the time of the transgression (e.g., took responsibility for his behavior,

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A Comparative Analysis Of News Reports And Official Police Records On TASER Deployment

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Abstract

Purpose This paper sets out to encompass a comparative analysis of news reports and official police records of TASER deployments from 2002 to 2005.
Design/methodology/approach The methodology involves a content analysis of all LexisNexis and New York Times articles involving police use of the TASER during the study period (n = 353). Regional (New York Times) and national (LexisNexis) news reports describing police use of the TASER are compared with police reports of all TASER deployments by the New York City Police Department (NYPD) during the same timeframe (n = 375).
Findings Descriptive statistics and logistic regression are used to compare the data sources with respect to: the circumstances in which the weapon is deployed; the characteristics of the suspects involved in the TASER incidents; and the significant predictors of continued suspect resistance and repeated use of the TASER by an officer.
Research limitations/implications The paper examines official police records on TASER deployments from one police agency.

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The Impact Of Gruesome Evidence On Mock Juror Decision Making: The Role Of Evidence Characteristics And Emotional Response

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Abstract

Two experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of gruesome evidence on mock jurors’ decisions in a simulated capital trial. The first experiment was designed as a replication and extension of Douglas, Lyon, and Ogloff (1997), who found that mock jurors who were presented with gruesome photographic evidence were nearly twice as likely to convict the defendant than participants who did not see the gruesome evidence. In Experiment 1, gruesome evidence was manipulated in two ways: photographic evidence (low gruesome, highly gruesome, or control photographs) and verbal testimony (low gruesome vs. highly gruesome). Neither photographic evidence nor testimony had an effect on mock jurors verdicts or sentence decisions. However, the manipulation check failed to indicate that participants perceived the evidence differently in terms of gruesomeness. Experiment 2 was designed to address whether inducing specific emotions in participants would produce similar biasing effects on their decisions as gruesome evidence. Previous research has eluded to emotional arousal as a potential mediator of

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Clandestine Meth Labs

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According to NLECTC staff, course content should cover dangers that could be found in a lab and signs to look for such as lithium strips taken from batteries, kerosene and pseudoephedrine. Emphasize the importance of wearing proper equipment, especially respirators, and ways to handle possibly contaminated individuals. So-called “shake and bake” meth presents special dangers because the plastic containers are designed to hold beverages, not combustible chemicals.

Additional Resources: An Introduction to Clandestine Meth Labs (1985 downloads )

Burned 'Shake-and-Bake' Meth Makers Cost Taxpayers Millions

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Female Deception Detection As A Function Of Commitment And Self-Awareness

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Abstract

It was been hypothesized that evolutionary factors including self-awareness and commitment are related to deception detection. In this study, 34 female undergraduates were tested for their ability to detect deception via a video paradigm. Females that were not in a committed relationship were significantly better at detecting males ‘‘faking good’’ as compared to committed females. Further, self-awareness was correlated with the ability to detect deception. These data are consistent with the hypothesis that deception may be related to self-awareness and that such a relationship is related to reproductive advantages secured by the ability to deceive.

1. Introduction

The ability to deceive is a valuable strategy, and humans can be considered expert deceivers (DePaulo et al., 2003). Fiedler and Walka (1993) concluded that most people have become so experienced at deception that they have mastered the skill. Even when people are not confident in their lies, they still manage to deceive others (Vrij, Edward, & Bull, 2001).

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How you can tell if the Simulations in Computational Criminology are any Good

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Abstract

Computational criminology applies computer simulations to study topics of interest for criminologists. Just as for all computer modelling in science, the validity of the simulations ultimately depends on whether they are able to reproduce empirical phenomena with sufficient accuracy. The only way in which this can be determined is by comparing model output to real observations. This paper provides an overview of how such model evaluations can be undertaken.

Introduction

For well over a generation, complex computer simulation models have been important tools in the natural and social sciences. Such models can be broadly viewed as vehicles for studying complexity and emergent phenomena (Vicek 2000), and their applications are remarkably diverse. Models of climate change (Randall 2000) are perhaps the most visible illustration in the natural sciences. The functioning and growth of markets (Kirman and Vriend 2001; Tesfatsion 2002) is the archetype in economics. The impact of violence and revenge in primitive societies (Younger 2005) is an instructive instance from anthropology.

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Time Since Death and Decomposition of the Human Body: Variables and Observations in Case and Experimental Field Studies

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There are few studies on the decomposition rate of the human body [1-4]. 3,4 However, nonhuman studies have been conducted on such varied topics as the decay and putrefaction rates of frozen, thawed, and mechanically injured rats [5]; carrion insect activity of pigs [6--8]; and scattering and destruction of mammalian and human remains by carnivores [9-I3]. Difficulty in obtaining bodies, lack of suitable areas for placement and study of the bodies, and negative public opinion all contribute to deter most human decay studies. However, it is crucial that forensic scientists have adequate knowledge to estimate accurately how long a person has been dead if they are to contribute to the resolution of the legal issues involved when a human body is recovered. The most common way to obtain such information is to conduct controlled studies on deceased individuals of known age, race, sex, weight, and cause/manner of death in natural, rather than laboratory, settings. In the natural setting,

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The Theory and Practice of Blackmail

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PREFACE

In March, 1959, while a member of the Society of Fellows, Harvard, I delivered a series of public lectures in Boston, under the auspices of the lowell Institute; these lectures were subsequently broadcast over WGBH, an educational FM station. Overall subject of the series was, 'The Art of Coercion: A Study of Threats in Economic Conflict and War." The following essay was the opening lecture. I have reprinted this lecture as it was delivered on March 10, 1959, almost ten years ago. It was before I cnme to RAND, before I worked on general war "bargaining," or worked on cold wars in the Pentagon, or took part in a hot war in Vietnam: much painful, but mostly relevant, experience. And a lot of relevant history has happened to the world since then -- including successful U.S. coercion in the Cuban missile crisis and disastrous failure against North Vietnam. For these and still other reasons (I've thought more about the problem)

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Fracture of the neck structures in suicidal hangings: A Retrospective study

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ABSTRACT

Introduction: Several factors may play a role in the development of fractures of the neck structures in hanging. It has been repetitively demonstrated that the incidence of fractures increases with age. The role of other variables is less clear, different studies presenting contradictory results on the role of gender, the type of suspension, or the type of ligature. However, most of these studies evaluated these factors independently of the age of the victims. Considering that age is probably the most important factor in the development of neck structure fractures, all other contributing factors should be studied in relation to age. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the role of contributing factors to the development of neck structure fractures, taking age categories into account. Materials and methods: A total of 206 cases were analysed for the presence and localization of thyroid fracture. For each case, the following information was also compiled: the presence and localization of

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Crime Scene Photography

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Introduction

OVERVIEW

Crime scene photography is one of the most important aspects of documenting crime scenes and evidence. Photographs are often used as courtroom exhibits to support witnesses’ testimony and to prove or disprove issues or theories before the court. Because of their value as court exhibits, the crime scene photographer’s goal should be to take photographs that meet the requirements for admissibility.

OBJECTIVES

In this chapter you will learn about:

1. The value of crime scene and evidence photography
2. The admissibility of photographic evidence in court
3. Testifying in court
4. Becoming an expert witness

THE VALUE OF CRIME SCENE PHOTOGRAPHY

It was a fairly quiet evening in the dispatch center until all at once the 9-1-1 calls started coming in. The callers reported hearing men shouting, then screams and someone calling out for help. The police responded to find a bleeding man with several wounds caused by some type of cutting instrument. The victim said he was

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Bloodstains

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Bloodstain pattern analysis is a forensic discipline that deals with the physics of the blood and assesses bloodstains left at crime scenes using visual pattern recognition. It is used to shed light on various forensic matters including reconstruction of events, differential diagnosis of homicide/suicide/accident and identifying areas with high likelihood of offender movements for taking DNA samples. There are documented descriptions of bloodstain shapes at crime scenes that date back to past centuries. However, it was the Samuel Sheppard case in the USA that prompted advances in this f ield. Bloodstain pattern analysis is employed worldwide by scientists, police off icials and medics in an interdisciplinary manner. Both the blood itself and the surfaces on which the bloodstains are found are important in the assessment of bloodstains. The umbrella organisation for bloodstain pattern analysts is the International Association of Bloodstain Pattern Analysts (IABPA), which offers various forms of membership. The name of the method (bloodstain pattern analysis) is often abbreviated to BPA.

Additional Resource: Introduction to Bloodstain Pattern Analysis (2192 downloads )

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Bloodstain Patterns

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Blood spatter patters, at the scene of a violent crime can indicate how the crime occurred. The shape of spots of blood can be used to determine an estimate of their velocity and/or impact angle and/or distance fallen. Elongated portions of the blood spatter indicates the direction that the blood drop was traveling when it impacted the surface.

Some of the variables used in blood spatter analysis are:
• Size of the blood spot
• Quantity of blood
• Shape of the blood spot
• Distribution of the blood in the crime scene
• Location of blood stains
• Angle of impact
• Texture of target surface
Blood that drips vertically from a stationary source onto a smooth, hard, flat surface is usually circular with crenated edges. Rough surfaces result in more spatter. (See Figure B-2) The shape of a bloodstain indicates its direction of travel. Such bloodstains are shaped more like an exclamation point where the shape and length indicate

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Rigor Mortis In Smooth Muscle And A Chemcal Analysis Of Fibromyoma Tissue

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Studies of rigor mortis recorded in the literature have been made almost exclusively on skeletal muscle, and whatever conclusions there may be regarding its occurrence in smooth muscle seem to have been reached largely by inference from such studies, rather than by actual experimental observations. Wells’ states that all forms of muscle, striped, smooth, and cardiac, undergo rigor mortis, manifested by a shortening and thickening. SaxJ2 investigating the distribution of muscle proteins in bovine uteri, observed no difference between the analyses of tissues fresh and aft,er 24 hours. He did not see a postmortem rigidity of the seuteri. Nasse, according to this investigator, found the intestinal wall firmer several hours after death than immediately post mortem, and concluded that this is a rigor mortis contraction of the intestinal musculature. Hawk,3 referring to Saxl’s study, says there is a difference of opinion regarding the occurrence of true rigor in non-striated (smooth) muscle. Such statements in the literature are sufficiently at variance with the observed contraction

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