Offenders' Crime Narratives across Different Types of Crimes

The current study explores the roles offenders see themselves playing during an offence and their relationship to different crime types. One hundred and twenty incarcerated offenders indicated the narrative roles they acted out whilst committing a specific crime they remembered well. The data were subjected to Smallest Space Analysis (SSA) and four themes were identified: Hero, Professional, Revenger and Victim in line with the recent theoretical framework posited for Narrative Offence Roles (Youngs & Canter, 2012). Further analysis showed that different subsets of crimes were more like to be associated with different narrative offence roles. Hero and Professional were found to be associated with property offences (theft, burglary and shoplifting), drug offences and robbery and Revenger and Victim were found to be associated with violence, sexual offences and murder. The theoretical implications for understanding crime on the basis of offenders' narrative roles as well as practical implications are discussed

Johrei Family Healing: A Pilot Study

Johrei is a form of spiritual healing comprising “energy channelling” and light massage given either by a trained healer or, after some basic training, by anyone. This pilot trial aimed to identify any potential benefits of family-based Johrei practice in childhood eczema and for general health and to establish the feasibility of a subsequent randomised controlled trial. Volunteer families of 3-5 individuals, including at least one child with eczema were recruited to an uncontrolled pilot trial lasting 12 months. Parents were trained in Johrei healing and then practised at home with their family. Participants kept diaries and provided questionnaire data at baseline, 3,6 and 12 months. Eczema symptoms were scored at the same intervals. Scepticism about Johrei is presently an obstacle to recruitment and retention of a representative sample in a clinical trial, and to its potential use in general practice. The frequency and quality of practise at home by families may be insufficient to bring about the putative health benefits. Initial improvements in eczema symptoms and diary recorded illness, could not be separated from seasonal factors and other potential confounders. There were no improvements on other outcomes measuring general health and psychological wellbeing of family members

K∗(892)K^{*}(892) Production in Au+Au and pp Collisions at sNN\sqrt{s_{NN}} = 200GeV at STAR

Mid-rapidity $K^{*0}(892)\to K\pi$ and $K^{*\pm}(892)\to K_S^0\pi^{\pm}$ are measured in Au+Au and pp collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$=200GeV using the STAR detector at RHIC. The $K^{*0}(892)$ mass is systematically shifted at small transverse momentum for both Au+Au and pp collisions. The $K^{*0}(892)$ transverse mass spectra are measured in Au+Au collisions at different centralities and in pp collisions. The $K^{*0}(892)$ mean transverse momentum as a function of the collision centrality is compared to those of identified $\pi^{-}$, $K^{-}$ and $\bar{p}$. The $K^{*}/K$ and $\phi/K^{*}$ ratios are compared to measurements in A+A, $pp$, $\bar{p}p$, $e^{+}e^{-}$ collisions at various colliding energies. The physics implications of these measurements are also discussed.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, proceedings of Strange Quarks in Matter (SQM2003), Atlantic Beach, USA, to be published in J. Phys.

Resonance Production

Recent results on rho(770)^0, K(892)^*0, f_0(980), phi(1020), Delta(1232)^++, and Lambda(1520) production in A+A and p+p collisions at SPS and RHIC energies are presented. These resonances are measured via their hadronic decay channels and used as a sensitive tool to examine the collision dynamics in the hadronic medium through their decay and regeneration. The modification of resonance mass, width, and shape due to phase space and dynamical effects are discussed.Comment: 8 pages, 10 figures, proceedings of the Quark Matter 2004, in Oakland, California, to be published in Journal of Physics G: Nuclear and Particle Physic

A narrative based model of differentiating rioters

The present study applied a narrative analysis upon rioter accounts of their motivations during the August 2011 England riots. To the authors’ knowledge, this piece of research was the first to utilise narrative theory to explore the phenomenon of Rioting. Narrative accounts of twenty rioters were compiled from media, online and published sources. Content analysis of the cases produced a set of 47 variables relating to offenders’ motivations given when describing their criminality. Data were subjected to Smallest Space Analysis (SSA), a non-metric multidimensional scaling procedure and results revealed four distinct themes: the Professional Rioter, the Revengeful Rioter, the Victim Rioter and the Adventurer Rioter in line with previous research conducted on differing crime types (Canter et al, 2003; Youngs and Canter, 2011). The four narrative themes are consistent with motivations identified in previous theories

The process of spatial knowledge acquisition in a square and a circular virtual environment

This study investigated the effect of the environmental structure (circular vs. square environment) on spatial knowledge acquisition in a desktop virtual situation in which self-determined movement was allowed with a total of 120 participants: 7-, 8-year-old children; 11, 12-year-old children, and adults. In all measurements of spatial knowledge acquisition an overall developmental performance increase from younger children to adults was found. In contrast to that, the exploration and learning behavior did not differ between adults and children. Furthermore, the environmental structure influencedthenumber of trials needed to learn the two routes used and the distance walked to the determined landmarks. All these tasks were easier in a circular than in a square environment. This influenceofthe environmental structure was absent in the direction estimations task. The advantage of spatial knowledge acquisition in a circular environment in three of four tasks is discussed

Violent and non-violent crimes against sex workers : the influence of the sex market on reporting practices in the United Kingdom

Previous research has shown that sex workers experience extremely high rates of victimization but are often reluctant to report their experiences to the police. This paper explores how the markets in which sex workers operate in the United Kingdom impact upon the violent and non-violent crimes they report to a national support organization and their willingness to report victimization to the police. We use a secondary quantitative data analysis of 2,056 crime reports submitted to the UK National Ugly Mugs (NUM) scheme between 2012 and 2016. The findings indicate that although violence is the most common crime type reported to NUM, sex workers operating in different markets report varying relative proportions of different types of victimization. We also argue that there is some variation in the level of willingness to share reports with the police across the different sex markets, even when the type crime, presence of violence, and other variables are taken into account. Our finding that street sex workers are most likely to report victimization directly to the police challenges previously held assumptions that criminalization is the key factor preventing sex workers from engaging with the police. Key words: sex work; violence; policing; reported victimizatio

Chronic non-specific low back pain - sub-groups or a single mechanism?

Copyright 2008 Wand and O'Connell; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Background: Low back pain is a substantial health problem and has subsequently attracted a considerable amount of research. Clinical trials evaluating the efficacy of a variety of interventions for chronic non-specific low back pain indicate limited effectiveness for most commonly applied interventions and approaches. Discussion: Many clinicians challenge the results of clinical trials as they feel that this lack of effectiveness is at odds with their clinical experience of managing patients with back pain. A common explanation for this discrepancy is the perceived heterogeneity of patients with chronic non-specific low back pain. It is felt that the effects of treatment may be diluted by the application of a single intervention to a complex, heterogeneous group with diverse treatment needs. This argument presupposes that current treatment is effective when applied to the correct patient. An alternative perspective is that the clinical trials are correct and current treatments have limited efficacy. Preoccupation with sub-grouping may stifle engagement with this view and it is important that the sub-grouping paradigm is closely examined. This paper argues that there are numerous problems with the sub-grouping approach and that it may not be an important reason for the disappointing results of clinical trials. We propose instead that current treatment may be ineffective because it has been misdirected. Recent evidence that demonstrates changes within the brain in chronic low back pain sufferers raises the possibility that persistent back pain may be a problem of cortical reorganisation and degeneration. This perspective offers interesting insights into the chronic low back pain experience and suggests alternative models of intervention. Summary: The disappointing results of clinical research are commonly explained by the failure of researchers to adequately attend to sub-grouping of the chronic non-specific low back pain population. Alternatively, current approaches may be ineffective and clinicians and researchers may need to radically rethink the nature of the problem and how it should best be managed

Inside the eco-home: using video to understand the implications of innovative housing

As a method of qualitative research, video offers a means of looking into the world of a respondent and a means of stimulating a dialogue, both with the respondent and others. Video requires, however, the application of additional ethical procedures and may also increase refusal rates, if it is publicly disseminated. Applied to the home, the use of video reveals both practice and identity. Video records practice, showing how the spaces within a home are used at a particular time. For this reason, video is well adapted to understanding the implications of living in a home with an innovative design and technology, with all the complexities that this commonly involves. Equally, video communicates the appearance of the home and of its occupants to whoever is watching. Video is, therefore, intimately connected to identity and the home as a place