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Female Gang Membership: Current Trends and Future Directions

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In the face of the overwhelming violence both perpetuated by and affecting the young men trapped in the world of gang conflict, it is all too easy to overlook the young women who are also stranded in this unsafe, unstable environment. These women, although they make up less than 10 percent of gang members, face the highest rates of victim-offender overlap and often endure cruel, dehumanizing treatment at the hands of the gang members whom they are attempting to appease.1

Motivation for Joining Gangs

In order to properly address and provide solutions to the issue of female gang membership, it is essential to understand why girls and young women join gangs to begin with. Research shows that, perhaps intuitively, they join gangs for many of the same reasons that young men do. These motivating factors include protection from other gangs or neighborhood violence, a source of income, preexisting social or familial connections to the gang, and a path to earning respect.

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The Law Relating to Police Interrogation Privileges and Limitations

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The papers in this symposium will focus on that phase of Criminal Law Administration which chronologically precedes the suspect's first contact with a judicial officer: the phase of police action against or upon a suspect. This is the most important phase of criminal procedure, for here, much more so than during trial, the case is to be won-or lost. We shall assume that there has been contact by a police officer with one suspected of having committed a crime or at least with someone believed to know something about a crime believed to have been committed. A police officer may now enter the picture under any one of three different circumstances. He may (1) be armed with a warrant of arrest, or (2) have the right to make an arrest without a warrant, or (3) he may not yet have reached the stage at which he has the right and duty to effect an arrest...

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Whistleblower Protections Under Federal Law: An Overview

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Summary

Legal protections for employees who report illegal misconduct by their employers have increased dramatically since the late 1970s when such protections were first adopted for federal employees in the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978. Since that time, with the enactment of the Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989, Congress has expanded such protections for federal employees. Congress has also established whistleblower protections for individuals in certain private-sector employment through the adoption of whistleblower provisions in at least 18 federal statutes. Among these statutes is the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act, and the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act). In general, claims for relief under the 18 federal statutes follow a similar pattern. Complaints are typically filed with the Secretary of Labor, and an investigation is conducted. Following the investigation, an order is issued by the Secretary, and a party aggrieved by the order is generally permitted to appeal the...

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An Attribute Approach to Relationships between Offenders and Victims in Homicide

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I. INTRODUCTION

The relationship between the victim and the offender is an important variable in studies of personal violence because it places the event within the context of social structures. Roles such as husband, wife, friend, lover, and stranger are complex social relationships which may delineate homicides that share a distinctive etiology. Furthermore, the moral and legal responses to violence are, to a large extent, determined by the social roles of the victim and offender. Although most studies of personal violence collect information on victim-offender relationships, the literature contains little conceptual guidance and almost no methodological research on the measurement issues. Researchers typically report results as though the distinctions between concepts such as "primary" and "secondary" or "stranger" and "non-stranger" are simple and self-evident.

In practice, however, the classifications are based on complex decisions made by coders working with police documents which frequently contain contradictory testimony and spotty information about victim-offender relationships.

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The Constitutionality of Enjoining Criminal Street Gangs as Public Nuisances

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Cities throughout the nation are plagued by the growth of criminal street gangs. To combat this growth, state and local governments have enacted a wide variety of legislation increasing criminal sanctions for gang behavior. In addition, state and local governments have turned with increasing frequency to civil remedies to augment their criminal law enforcement efforts. Gangs pose a particularly acute problem in California. Reports of gang violence are increasing, and gang-related homicides are at an all-time high in the Los Angeles area. Despite the enactment of new criminal sanctions to combat gangs and the use of existing law enforcement techniques at their constitutional limits, these efforts have not quelled the increase in gang-related crime. 8 Consequentiy, Caiifornia has been particularly innovative in using civil remedies to control gang activity. One such innovation is taking place in the cities of Los Angeles,..

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S-3: Gang Signs, Symbols, Signals, Words, and Conduct Prohibited

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What are Gang Affiliation Laws?

Many states have enacted laws focusing on gang affiliation to prohibit people from joining such groups. The definition of a gang varies, especially when it comes to youth gangs. In general, a gang is an organization, group, or association of at least three people. The gang has:

• A common name • Identifying symbol(s) • Identifying sign(s) • Members who actively participate in crimes

Generally speaking, gang affiliation laws target people who might not necessarily be confirmed members of a gang. However, they might be subject to criminal penalties due to their affiliation with, or association with gangs and gang activity.

For instance, if a person is caught writing graffiti that is associated with a certain gang, that person might be held for questioning regarding their possible membership in that gang.

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NIJ Funded Software Tools, Apps and Databases

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NIJ has funded a number of free or low cost software tools, apps and databases to assist with investigations or research. Find tools for:

• Communications for public safety • Digital forensics • Fire and arson investigation • Forensic DNA • Forensic information management • Forensic anthropology/medicolegal death investigation • Law enforcement investigation • Mapping and analysis • Missing persons • School safety

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Understanding psychiatric institutionalization: a conceptual review

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Abstract

Background: Since Goffman’s seminal work on psychiatric institutions, deinstitutionalization has become a leading term in the psychiatric debate. It described the process of closure or downsizing of large psychiatric hospitals and the establishment of alternative services in the community. Yet, there is a lack of clarity on what exactly the concept of institutionalization means in present-day psychiatry. This review aims to identify the meaning of psychiatric institutionalization since the early 1960s to present-day.

Method: A conceptual review of institutionalization in psychiatry was conducted. Thematic analysis was used to synthesize the findings.

Results: Four main themes were identified in conceptualizing institutionalization: bricks and mortar of care institutions; policy and legal frameworks regulating care; clinical responsibility and paternalism in clinician-patient relationships; and patients’ adaptive behavior to institutionalized care.

Conclusions: The concept of institutionalization in psychiatry reflects four distinct themes. All themes have some relevance for the contemporary debate on how ..

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The Tort Liability of the Psychiatrist

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Psychiatry is defined as "a branch of medicine that deals with mental, emotional, or behavioral disorders."Due to its very nature, psychiatric practice differs from that of other medical specialties, which minister primarily to bodily ills and discomforts. Consequently, the tort liability of the psychiatrist, as might be expected, is in many ways different from that of other practitioners.The psychiatrist must deal not only with psychiatric disorders of an organic nature, but also with the emotions and feelings of his patients. To a great degree, success in treatment is dependent upon the effective interaction between practitioner and patient. Psychiatric patients often institute litigation against their doctors during periods of temporary setback, when the relationship with the physician is far from optimaL. This paper will survey the areas of tort liability encountered by the psychiatrist, examining past and present trends, and suggesting guidelines to be followed which may minimize the risks involved. ..

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Law & Psychiatry: Responsibility for Torts: Should the Courts Continue to Ignore Mental Illness?

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Abstract

Although courts routinely consider whether a criminal defendant's mental illness makes punishment unfair, the rules are very different for civil liability. When people with mental illness harm others, courts refuse to consider their mental states in determining civil liability. The justifications offered for this rule range from the difficulty of assessing the impact of mental illness on behavior to the desire to place the burden of loss on the person who caused the injury. Undeniably, though, mental disabilities are treated differently from physical impairments, and the law's resistance to change seems largely based on misunderstanding and prejudice against mental illness....

(Psychiatric Services 63:308–310, 2012; doi: 10.1176/appi.ps.20120p308)

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A review of tort liability in involuntary civil commitment.

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Abstract

The grounds for liability in cases of involuntary civil commitment have been broadened in recent years. Psychiatrists and other mental health professionals have been found liable for infringement of civil rights under Section 1983 of the Civil Rights Act and for failure to commit an individual who is subsequently involved in a tragedy. This article reviews recent developments in tort liability in involuntary civil commitment as well as the traditional areas of tort liability, including malpractice, malicious prosecution, false imprisonment, and abuse of process. The authors believe that even in this climate of expanded liability, mental health professionals who follow the letter and spirit of civil commitment laws will continue to enjoy the broad protections from liability afforded them in the past...

PMID: 3596501

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Weakness and Fatigue

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Definition

Weakness refers to a decrease in muscle strength . Fatigue is tiredness that may be either independent of, or associated with, exertion. The complaints of weakness and fatigue are among the most common and challenging problems encountered by clinicians . Because patients may use these terms to describe a variety of symptoms, the physician should attempt to obtain a precise understanding of the problem . Technique

Weakness and fatigue are nonspecific symptoms that may be encountered in a bewildering number of medical and psychiatric disorders ; they also may be the expected physiologic consequence of normal human activities. Most patients with weakness or fatigue have self-limited conditions and do not seek medical care . Among those who visit a physician, weakness and fatigue are often part of an easily identified symptom complex . The patient who presents with chronic weakness or fatigue as the sole or major complaint may represent a more difficult diagnostic and therapeutic problem ..

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Study of the Relationship Between Intelligence and Crime, A

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The question of delinquency, which has ever constituted a grave social problem, is arousing a constantly increasing interest as a result of the recent application of scientific methods to the study of crime in all its varied phases. Indeed, before a truly scientific interest could be developed, it was necessary that there be a development of those sciences which throw light on human conduct and behavior such as biology, psychology, sociology, and psychiatry, and particularly so this last-named science. However, the great significance of the problem is scarcely appreciated as yet, and the field of study, so wide and fertile, is relatively untouched, although significant progress has been made in some directions. Possibly, the most notable of advances made has been the beginning recognition of delinquency as a problem belonging almost entirely to the field of psychiatry rather than to the legal realm or to sociology, that field of normal human relationships.......

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The Homicidal Narcissist

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ABSTRACT

Personality type and murder have been linked via several studies on Sadistic personality disorder, Antisocial personality disorder, and psychopathy. The present study focused on the relationship between Narcissistic personality disorder and homicidal propensity. The relationship was examined using a sample of 490 inmates of the Colorado Department of Corrections. The subjects specific to this study were 215 inmates convicted of homicidal crimes including manslaughter, first degree murder, second degree murder, and second degree murder-crime of passion. A control group of approximately 275 inmates was included. The control group consisted of a random sample of crimes with the exception of homicide. Elevations on the Narcissistic, Sadistic, and Antisocial indices of the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-III were expected from the homicidal subjects. Results showed small but significant differences were found between minorities and whites on years of education and IQ. Significant...

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Notice regarding the solicitation “Strengthening the Medical Examiner-Coroner System Program”

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Program-Specific Information

The National Science and Technology Council’s Fast-Track Action Committee on Strengthening the Medicolegal-Death-Investigation System’s (FTAC-SMDIS) report titled Strengthening the Medicolegal-Death-Investigation System: Improving Data Systems notes that death investigations performed by ME/C offices are vital to criminal justice by investigating violent deaths. Of the estimated 2.6 million deaths annually, ME/C offices investigate nearl 500,000 cases in approximately 2,400 jurisdictions. FTAC-SMDIS found that the ME/C community lacks adequate personnel and resources to address the country’s medicolegal death investigation (MDI) needs. In addition, FTAC-SMDIS reports that there are systemic issues with death investigation data quality and infrastructure, inadequate facilities, and inconsistent expertise levels.3 Other reports such as the 2009 National Academy of Sciences Report, Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: A Path Forward have also asserted a need to address deficient facilities, equipment, staffing, education, and training for MDI.

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Psychological Trauma of Crime Victimization

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Psychological Trauma of Crime Victimization

[This paper is drawn from Chapter One of Marlene A. Young, Victim Assistance: Frontiers and Fundamentals, a publication of the National Organization for Victim Assistance. Permission to reprint this paper is granted so long as its source is properly attributed.]

Crime victimization leaves victims, families, and friends—even the community around them—in a state of turmoil. There is often significant financial loss and physical injury connected with victimization. But the most devastating part for most victims is the emotional pain caused by crime and the aftermath. The psychological trauma of victimization can be separated into two phases: the initial crisis reaction to the violation, and the long-term stress reactions it sometimes causes, with the second of these often exacerbated by additional “assaults” by society and its institutions.

I. The Crisis Reaction A. Individuals exist in normal state of equilibrium...

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