Police Interviews with Victims and Suspects of Violent and Sexual Crimes : Interviewee's experiences and interview outcomes

The police interview is one of the most important investigative tools that law enforcement has close at hand, and police interview methods have changed during the twentieth century. A good police interview is conducted in the frame of the law, is governed by the interview goal, and is influenced by facilitating factors that may affect the elicited report. The present doctoral dissertation focuses on police interviews in cases of very serious crimes of violence and sexual offences. Results reveal crime victims’ and perpetrators’ experiences of being interviewed and police officers’ attitudes towards conducting interviews related to traumatizing crimes. Study 1 revealed that when police officers interviewed murderers and sexual offenders, the interviewees perceived attitudes characterized by either dominance or humanity. Police interviews marked by dominance and suspects’ responses of anxiety were mainly associated with a higher proportion of denials, whereas an approach marked by humanity, and responses of being respected were significantly associated with admissions. In line with Study 1, the victims of rape and aggravated assault in Study 2 also revealed the experience of two police interview styles, where an interviewing style marked by dominance and responses of anxiety was significantly associated with crime victims’ omissions of information. Moreover, a humanitarian interviewing style, and crime victims’ feelings of being respected and co-operative, was significantly related to crime victims providing all information from painful events. Special squad police officers’ attitudes towards interviewing crime victims, in Study 3, also showed a humanitarian approach and two dominant approaches, one affective and the other refusing. The attitude towards interviewing suspects of crimes in focus revealed humanitarian and dominant interviewing attitudes, and an approach marked by kindness. The present thesis shows that, during their entire career, an overwhelming majority of the special squad police officers have experienced stressful events during patrol as well as investigative duty. Results show that symptoms from stressful event exposures and coping mechanisms are associated with negative attitudes towards interviewing suspects and supportive attitudes towards crime victim interviews. Thus, experiences from stressful exposures may automatically activate ego-defensive functions that automatically generate dominant attitudes. Moreover, it is important to offer police officers who have been exposed to stressful events the opportunity to work through their experiences, for example, through debriefing procedures. After debriefings, police officers are better prepared to meet crime victims and suspects and, through conscious closed-loop processes, to conduct police interviews without awaking ego-defensive functions.

Friend of the police: Polizei in Nord-Ghana (Upper West Region) /// Arbeitspapiere / Institut für Ethnologie und Afrikastudien ; 93

Korruption, Gewalt, Machtmissbrauch – im medialen, aber auch im wissenschaftlichen Diskurs wird die afrikanische Polizei oft als dysfunktionale staatliche Institution dargestellt. Dabei erscheinen Polizisten und zivile Akteure als klar voneinander abgegrenzte Akteursgruppen, wobei die Polizisten einseitig das staatliche Gewaltmonopol durchsetzen. Ein Blick auf den Alltag polizeilichen Handelns in Nordghana eröffnet jedoch eine andere Perspektive: Wegen der niedrigen Legitimität, konkurrierenden alternativen Rechtsinstanzen und den Widersprüchen innerhalb ihrer Institution sind Polizisten mit massiven Unsicherheiten konfrontiert. Ihre Praktiken können als situative Anpassungen der Polizeiarbeit an dieses Umfeld verstanden werden. Dabei übertragen Polizisten oft Kernaufgaben ihrer Institution an zivile Akteure, die sogenannten „friends of the police“. Auch zivile Akteure verfügen jedoch durch physischen Widerstand, Beziehungen, Status und Geld über beträchtliche Beeinflussungsmöglichkeiten. Die öffentliche Ordnung ergibt sich erst aus den Verhandlungen zwischen den Polizisten und unterschiedlichen zivilen Akteuren unter Einbeziehung ihrer sozialen Ressourcen und moralischer Vorstellungen.

Analysis of clinical forensic examination reports on sexual assault

Medical-forensic examination of sexual assault victims and alleged offenders is a common task of many forensic institutes. In the current study, the results from samples taken at the Institute of Legal Medicine, Hanover Medical School, during a period from 2005 to 2007 were retrospectively evaluated. In total, 292 victims (283 females and nine males) and 88 suspects were examined. At the time of the assault, 41.8% of the victims and 43.2% of the alleged perpetrators were under the influence of alcohol. Injuries were found in 84.9% of the victims and 39.8% of the suspects. Thirty victims (10.3%) reported having been choked or strangled. Cytology was performed in 218 victims. In 81 cases (38.0%), sperm could be detected in vaginal swabs up to 3 days post-assault. In seven (18.9%) out of 37 anal samples, evidence of sperm could be found 24 h post-assault. None of 22 oral samples was positive for sperm. Out of 301 sexual assault cases, 171 could be proved by means of medical-forensic examination. In summary, our evaluation shows that an early medical-forensic examination of both victim and suspect can secure numerous medical findings. Furthermore, persons intoxicated by alcohol, handicapped persons and persons with psychiatric disorders are more vulnerable to become a sexual assault victim.

Phosphatidylethanol: normalization during detoxification, gender aspects and correlation with other biomarkers and self-reports

Phosphatidylethanol (PEth) is a direct ethanol metabolite, and has recently attracted attention as biomarker of ethanol intake. The aims of the current study are: (1) to characterize the normalization time of PEth in larger samples than previously conducted; (2) to elucidate potential gender differences; and (3) to report the correlation of PEth with other biomarkers and self-reported alcohol consumption. Fifty-seven alcohol-dependent patients (ICD 10 F 10.25; 9 females, 48 males) entering medical detoxification at three study sites were enrolled. The study sample was comprised of 48 males and 9 females, with mean age 43.5. Mean gamma glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) was 209.61 U/l, average mean corpuscular volume (MCV) was 97.35 fl, mean carbohydrate deficient transferrin (%CDT) was 8.68, and mean total ethanol intake in the last 7 days was 1653 g. PEth was measured in heparinized whole blood with a high-pressure liquid chromatography method, while GGT, MCV and %CDT were measured using routine methods. PEth levels at day 1 of detoxification ranged between 0.63 and 26.95 micromol/l (6.22 mean, 4.70 median, SD 4.97). There were no false negatives at day 1. Sensitivities for the other biomarkers were 40.4% for MCV, 73.1% for GGT and 69.2% for %CDT, respectively. No gender differences were found for PEth levels at any time point. Our data suggest that PEth is (1) a suitable intermediate term marker of ethanol intake in both sexes; and (2) sensitivity is extraordinary high in alcohol dependent patients. The results add further evidence to the data that suggest that PEth has potential as a candidate for a sensitive and specific biomarker, which reflects longer-lasting intake of higher amounts of alcohol and seemingly has the above mentioned certain advantages over traditional biomarkers.

Stratified Boston: The Brahmins, the Irish and the Boston Police Strike of 1919

This thesis explores the Boston Police Strike of 1919 through the lens of class struggle and ethnic tension. Through an examination of the development of Boston’s class structure, particularly focused on the upper class Brahmins and the Irish working class, it concludes that the Brahmins’ success in suppressing the police strikeallowed for their maintenance of socioeconomic power within the city despite their relatively small population. Based on their extreme class cohesion resulting from the growing prominence of Harvard University as well as the Brahmins’ unabashed discrimination against their ethnic neighbors in almost every sphere of society, theBrahmins were able to maintain their power in Boston’s cultural world. The Irish working class, on the other hand, which attempted to use the increasing popularity of public and police unionization to challenge the status and power of the Brahmins through the creation of the Boston Police Union and subsequently through the notorious Boston Police Strike of 1919 was ultimately unsuccessful, and it was left in the same position in which it started, at the bottom of the social ladder. The suppression of the strike by members of the upper class and their allies, particularly those in high government positions, served to preserve and affirm the socioeconomic power of the Brahmins over much of Boston society and brought the era of public police unionization to a close.

Multiplicity of data in trial reports and the reliability of meta-analyses: empirical study

Objectives To examine the extent of multiplicity of data in trial reports and to assess the impact of multiplicity on meta-analysis results. Design Empirical study on a cohort of Cochrane systematic reviews. Data sources All Cochrane systematic reviews published from issue 3 in 2006 to issue 2 in 2007 that presented a result as a standardised mean difference (SMD). We retrieved trial reports contributing to the first SMD result in each review, and downloaded review protocols. We used these SMDs to identify a specific outcome for each meta-analysis from its protocol. Review methods Reviews were eligible if SMD results were based on two to ten randomised trials and if protocols described the outcome. We excluded reviews if they only presented results of subgroup analyses. Based on review protocols and index outcomes, two observers independently extracted the data necessary to calculate SMDs from the original trial reports for any intervention group, time point, or outcome measure compatible with the protocol. From the extracted data, we used Monte Carlo simulations to calculate all possible SMDs for every meta-analysis. Results We identified 19 eligible meta-analyses (including 83 trials). Published review protocols often lacked information about which data to choose. Twenty-four (29%) trials reported data for multiple intervention groups, 30 (36%) reported data for multiple time points, and 29 (35%) reported the index outcome measured on multiple scales. In 18 meta-analyses, we found multiplicity of data in at least one trial report; the median difference between the smallest and largest SMD results within a meta-analysis was 0.40 standard deviation units (range 0.04 to 0.91). Conclusions Multiplicity of data can affect the findings of systematic reviews and meta-analyses. To reduce the risk of bias, reviews and meta-analyses should comply with prespecified protocols that clearly identify time points, intervention groups, and scales of interest.

Format preferences of district attorneys for post-mortem medical imaging reports: understandability, cost effectiveness, and suitability for the courtroom: a questionnaire based study

The objective of this study was to explore the perception of the legal authorities regarding different report types and visualization techniques for post-mortem radiological findings.

Reporting of consistency of blood pressure control in randomized controlled trials of antihypertensive drugs: a systematic review of 1372 trial reports

Hypertension is a powerful treatable risk factor for stroke. Reports of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of antihypertensive drugs rightly concentrate on clinical outcomes, but control of blood pressure (BP) during follow-up is also important, particularly given that inconsistent control is associated with a high risk of stroke and that antihypertensive drug classes differ in this regard.