A predictive model of criminality in civil psychiatric populations

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop a predictive model of criminal risk in civil psychiatric populations, by determining the relative impacts of psychopathy, drug use, impulsivity and intelligence on levels of criminality. Design/methodology/approach The sample consisted of 871 civil psychiatric patients, selected from the MacArthur Violence Risk Assessment Study, who had been diagnosed with a mental illness or personality disorder, and hospitalised less than 21 days. Each participant was administered the Hare Psychopathy Checklist Screening Version (PCL:SV), Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11) and the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS-R). In addition, information on background demographics, drug use and criminality was obtained via a self-report questionnaire. Findings Pearson correlations identified significant positive relationships between past arrests, psychopathy, impulsivity and drug use. Intelligence was negatively related to past arrests. Multiple regressions identified a significant main effect for Factor 2 psychopathy on past arrests when controlling for all covariates, but not for Factor 1 psychopathy, intelligence or impulsivity. Drug use and gender had small univariate effects. Research limitations/implications It is suggested that future research investigates the influence of specific mental disorders on different types of offending. Originality/value By investigating predictors of criminal behaviour in civil psychiatric patients, the present study makes valuable contributions to the research literature, enhancing our theoretical understanding of the relationships between psychopathy and criminality/recidivism. It also has notable implications in applied practice, for example in the development and refinement of risk assessment methods

Understanding Adult Male Sexual Violence Victims' Reporting and Prosecution Decisions.

Purpose: To identify salient factors associated with adult male sexual violence victims' reporting and prosecution decisions, using a socioecological, mixed-methods approach. Method: British Crime survey data from 2004-2012 will be explored in two studies and used to model the different social ecologies which may interact to influence victims' decision making. The two models will be developed through adapting the Feminist Rape Mythology Hypothesis (Anders, 2007) to explore how congruence with rape myths (victim and assault level), and social support predict decision-making behaviour. A third study will explore these issues, and the value of the socioecological approach, qualitatively through in-depth interviews with voluntary organisation victim support workers. Results: Planned analyses include multi-level modelling for studies 1 and 2, and abbreviated Grounded Theory for study 3. Conclusion: The research findings are anticipated to have important implications for the policy and practice of the police, criminal justice system, and statutory and voluntary agencies which support male victims of sexual violence. Ultimately it is hoped that this research will shed further light on the experiences of male victims: an oft neglected and under-researched topic

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) in GB pig herds : farm characteristics associated with heterogeneity in seroprevalence

Background: The between- and within-herd variability of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) antibodies were investigated in a cross-sectional study of 103 British pig herds conducted 2003–2004. Fifty pigs from each farm were tested for anti-PRRSV antibodies using ELISA. A binomial logistic model was used to investigate management risks for farms with and without pigs with PRRSV antibodies and multilevel statistical models were used to investigate variability in pigs' log ELISA IRPC (relative index × 100) in positive herds. Results: Thirty-five herds (34.0%) were seronegative, 41 (39.8%) were seropositive and 27 (26.2%) were vaccinated. Herds were more likely to be seronegative if they had < 250 sows (OR 3.86 (95% CI 1.46, 10.19)) and if the nearest pig herd was ≥ 2 miles away (OR 3.42 (95% CI 1.29, 9.12)). The mean log IRPC in seropositive herds was 3.02 (range, 0.83 – 5.58). Sixteen seropositive herds had only seropositive adult pigs. In these herds, pigs had -0.06 (95% CI -0.10, -0.01) lower log IRPC for every mile increase in distance to the nearest pig unit, and -0.56 (95% CI -1.02, -0.10) lower log IRPC when quarantine facilities were present. For 25 herds with seropositive young stock and adults, lower log IRPC were associated with isolating purchased stock for ≥ 6 days (coefficient - 0.46, 95% CI -0.81, -0.11), requesting ≥ 48 hours 'pig-free time' from humans (coefficient -0.44, 95% CI -0.79, -0.10) and purchasing gilts (coefficient -0.61, 95% CI -0.92, -0.29). Conclusion: These patterns are consistent with PRRSV failing to persist indefinitely on some infected farms, with fadeout more likely in smaller herds with little/no reintroduction of infectious stock. Persistence of infection may be associated with large herds in pig-dense regions with repeated reintroduction

Resettlement and the making of the Ciskei Bantustan, South Africa, c.1960–1976

The cynical objectives and coercive actions of the apartheid state in engineering forced removals to the Bantustans have been well documented. These ‘dumping grounds’ were notorious examples of the poverty and human suffering produced in the name of ‘separate development’. Processes of mass resettlement in the Bantustans had multiple meanings, far-reaching effects and uneven political dynamics and outcomes. This paper traces local dynamics of power and clientelism in two resettlement townships in the northern Ciskei, as the apartheid government set about establishing indirect rule under this self-governing Bantustan. It explores the role of resettlement in extending the reach and the influence of the state by tracing the history of local administration and institutions of indirect rule, their everyday operations and political effects. The relations of patronage constructed under the ‘white chiefs’ of the Department of Bantu Administration and Development (BAD), which had starkly gendered dimensions and consequences, formed the critical basis upon which new Tribal Authorities were superimposed, becoming subject to new political imperatives. One of the outcomes of mass resettlement was to foster, through clientelism, new political constituencies for the Ciskei. Through the provision of housing, particularly to former farm-dwellers, the apartheid authorities were able to encourage, albeit temporarily, a limited compliance in these areas

South Africa's Bantustans and the dynamics of ‘decolonisation’: reflections on writing histories of the homelands

From the late 1950s, as independent African polities replaced formal colonial rule in Africa, South Africa's white minority regime set about its own policy of mimicry in the promotion of self-governing homelands, which were to be guided to full ‘independence’. Scholarly study of South Africa's homelands has remained largely apart from accounts of decolonisation in Africa. An interpretation of South Africa's exceptional political path in the era of African decolonisation that has dominated the literature has meant that important debates in African history, which might helpfully illuminate the South African case, have been neglected. In seeking inspiration for new histories of the homelands, this article looks beyond South Africa's borders to processes of and debates on decolonisation in Africa. Historical accounts of African decolonisation, particularly the work of Frederick Cooper, provide inspiration for ways of thinking about the making of bantustan states, the production of power, the differentiated responses with which the bantustan project was met across localities, classes, genders and generations and the range of alliances that this process forged

A qualitative study of a successful volleyball philosophy using Collins\u27 Level 5 leadership model

n recent years, successful sports coaches have been studied as to what measures success and how success is defined. While some measure success in terms of wins and losses, Concordia University-St. Paul volleyball coach Brady Starkey defines it differently. Starkey\u27s approach to coaching relates to Jim Collins\u27 description of a Level 5 Leader in his book Good to Great. This study examines the approaches to successful leadership as it is reflected in athletic coaching and the significant relationship between Collins\u27 Level 5 Leadership Model and Starkey\u27s leadership philosophy. Under Starkey, the CU volleyball team has won seven consecutive national championships and would be seen as a successful leader in the eyes of most. This paper examines the effectiveness of a Level 5 leader, like Starkey, against the win at all cost style leader. This review of Starkey\u27s leadership style was conducted through a one-on-one interview with Starkey, as well as years of personal observation while playing against his teams. His style suggests that successful leaders who take their teams from good to great are those who combine personal humility with professional will

Improving Responses to Rape and Sexual Assault: Delivering a Victim-Centred System.

Review of a Public Policy Exchange symposium, Broadway House, London,28 November 2013

The potential therapeutic benefit of targeting S-phase kinase-associated protein 2 (SKP2) in neuroblastoma

PhD ThesisS-phase kinase-associated protein 2 (SKP2) is the substrate recognition subunit of the SCF E3 ubiquitin ligase complex which monitors the G1/S transition of the cell cycle. SKP2 is a positive regulator of cell cycle progression targeting tumour suppressor proteins for degradation, primarily the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p27KIP1. An oncogenic protein, SKP2 is frequently overexpressed in human cancers and contributes to malignant progression. SKP2 has previously been identified as a possible MYCN target gene in neuroblastoma and based on these reports it is hypothesised that SKP2 is a potential therapeutic target in MYCN amplified disease. In this study a positive correlation between MYCN expression and SKP2 mRNA expression was shown in the SHEP-Tet21N MYCN-regulatable cell line and in a panel of MYCN amplified and non-amplified neuroblastoma cell lines. In chromatin immunoprecipitation and reporter gene assays, MYCN bound directly to E-box DNA binding motifs within the SKP2 promoter, and induced transcriptional activity which was decreased by the removal of MYCN and mutation of the E-boxes. SKP2 knockdown induced cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in non-MYCN amplified neuroblastoma cell lines independent of the p53 pathway. The G1 arrest induced was rescued in-part by the knockdown of p27KIP1 confirming the importance of the SKP2/p27 axis in cell cycle progression in neuroblastoma. Structure-activity relationship analysis identified a sub-set of putative SKP2 inhibitors which inhibited growth and suppressed SKP2-mediated p27 degradation in HeLa cells. Additionally, treatment of the MYCN regulatable SHEP-Tet21N cell line with commercially available direct or indirect modulators of SKP2 activity identified a MYCN-dependent sensitivity. In conclusion these data show that SKP2 is a direct transcriptional target of MYCN and suggests that SKP2 is a potential therapeutic target in neuroblastoma.Cancer Research U