Expressive and Instrumental Offending: Reconciling the Paradox of Specialisation and Versatility

Although previous research into specialisation has been dominated by the debate over the existence of specialisation versus versatility, it is suggested that research needs to move beyond the restrictions of this dispute. The current study explores the criminal careers of 200 offenders based on their criminal records, obtained from a police database in the North West of England, aiming to understand the patterns and nature of specialisation by determining the presence of differentiation within their general offending behaviours and examining whether the framework of Expressive and Instrumental offending styles can account for any specialised tendencies that emerge. Fifty-eight offences were subjected to Smallest Space Analysis. Results revealed that a model of criminal differentiation could be identified and that any specialisation is represented in terms of Expressive and Instrumental offending styles

‘It’s better than daytime television’: questioning the socio-spatial impacts of massage parlours on residential communities

It has been shown that street sex work is problematic for some communities, but there is less evidence of the effects of brothels. Emerging research also suggests that impact discourses outlined by residential communities and in regulatory policies should be critiqued, because they are often based on minority community voices, and limited tangible evidence is used to masquerade wider moral viewpoints about the place of sex work. Using a study of residents living in close proximity to brothels in Blackpool, this paper argues that impact is socially and spatially fluid. Impact needs to be evaluated in a more nuanced manner, which is considerate of the heterogeneity of (even one type of) sex work, and the community in question. Brothels in Blackpool had a variety of roles in the everyday socio-spatial fabric; thus also questioning the common assumption that sex work only impacts negatively on residential communities

The influence of implicit theories and offender characteristics on judgements of sexual offenders: a moderated mediation analysis

The psychological factors underpinning responses to sexual offenders are beginning to receive increased empirical scrutiny. One such factor is offender representativeness, which refers to the extent to which a given offender example matches a stereotype of those who are typically labelled as 'sexual offenders'. Using a sample of 252 community members, we examined the role of implicit theories about sexual offenders (i.e., whether sexual offending is seen as fixed or malleable) in mediating the relationship between affective responses to sexual offenders and policy outcome judgements. We found support for this mediating effect, although this was eliminated when participants were presented with a 'non-representative' offender vignette. We argue that the relationship between affective responses and policy judgements is contingent on the activation of a sexual offender stereotype, and that this link can be disrupted via the increased presentation of non-stereotypical case examples. Implications for public debate and professional practice are discussed

Engineered bacteriophages for treatment of a patient with a disseminated drug-resistant Mycobacterium abscessus

A 15-year-old patient with cystic fibrosis with a disseminated Mycobacterium abscessus infection was treated with a three-phage cocktail following bilateral lung transplantation. Effective lytic phage derivatives that efficiently kill the infectious M. abscessus strain were developed by genome engineering and forward genetics. Intravenous phage treatment was well tolerated and associated with objective clinical improvement, including sternal wound closure, improved liver function, and substantial resolution of infected skin nodules

Unmet psychosocial needs in haematological cancer: A systematic review

The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00520-014-2123-5A systematic review of key online databases and psycho-oncology journals was conducted to identify papers that formally assessed unmet psychosocial needs in adults with a diagnosis of haematological cancer

Diagnostic accuracy of routine antenatal determination of fetal RHD status across gestation: population based cohort study.

To assess the accuracy of fetal RHD genotyping using cell-free fetal DNA in maternal plasma at different gestational ages

Use of cffDNA to avoid administration of anti-D to pregnant women when the fetus is RhDnegative: Implementation in the NHS. BJOG doi

Objective To determine whether a policy of offering cffDNA testing to all RhD-negative women at about 16 weeks' gestation to avoid anti-D administration when the fetus is RhD-negative could be implemented successfully in the NHS without additional funding. Design Prospectively planned observational service implementation pilot and notes audit. Setting Three maternity services in the South West of England. Population All RhD-negative women in a 6-month period. Methods Prospective, intervention, cross-sectional observational study, using pre-intervention data as controls. Main outcome measures Proportion of suitable women who offered and accepted the test. Accuracy of the cffDNA result as assessed by cord blood group result. Fall in anti-D doses administered. Results 529 samples were received; three were unsuitable. The results were reported as RhD-positive (n = 278), RhD-negative (n = 185) or inconclusive, treat as positive (n = 63). Cord blood results were available in 502 (95%) and the only incorrect result was one case of a false positive (cffDNA reported as positive, cord blood negative -and so given anti-D unnecessarily). The notes audit showed that women who declined this service were correctly managed and that anti-D was not given when the fetus was predicted to be RhD-negative. The total use of anti-D doses fell by about 29% which equated to about 35% of RhD-negative women not receiving anti-D in their pregnancy unnecessarily. Conclusions We recommend this service is extended to all UK NHS services

Paedophiles in the community: inter-agency conflict, news leaks and the local press

This article explores the leaking of confidential information about secret Home Office plans to house convicted paedophiles within a local community (albeit inside a prison). It argues that a politics of paedophilia has emerged in which inter-agency consensus on the issue of ‘what to do’ with high-profile sex offenders has broken down. Accordingly, the article situates newspaper ‘outing’ of paedophiles in the community in relation to vigilante journalism and leaked information from official agencies. The article then presents research findings from a case study of news events set in train following a whistle-blowing reaction by Prison Officers’ Association officials to Home Office plans. Drawing from a corpus of 10 interviews with journalists and key protagonists in the story, the article discusses both the dynamics of whistle blowing about paedophiles and also what happens after the whistle has blown

Male Imprisoned Firesetters Have Different Characteristics than Other Imprisoned Offenders and Require Specialist Treatment

Objective: This study investigated whether a group of firesetters (n = 68) could be distinguished, psychologically, from a matched group of non-firesetting offenders (n = 68). Method: Participants completed measures examining psychological variables relating to fire, emotional/ self-regulation, social competency, self-concept, boredom proneness, and impression management. Official prison records were also examined to record offending history and other offense-related variables. A series of MANOVAs were conducted with conceptually related measures identified as the dependent variables. Follow up discriminant function and clinical cut-off score analyses were also conducted to examine the best discriminating variables for firesetters. Results: Firesetters were clearly distinguishable, statistically, from non-firesetters on three groups of conceptually related measures relating to: fire, emotional/self-regulation, and self-concept. The most successful variables for the discrimination of firesetters determined via statistical and clinical significance testing were higher levels of anger-related cognition, interest in serious fires, and identification with fire and lower levels of perceived fire safety awareness, general self-esteem, and external locus of control. Conclusions: Firesetters appear to be a specialist group of offenders who hold unique psychological characteristics. Firesetters are likely to require specialist treatment to target these psychological needs as opposed to generic offending behavior programs