Understanding violent extremism: Socio-demographic, criminal and psychopathological background characteristics of detainees residing in Dutch terrorism wings

2021 ◽  
pp. 174889582110490
Author(s):  
Gaby Thijssen ◽  
Erik Masthoff ◽  
Jelle Sijtsema ◽  
Stefan Bogaerts

In the past decades, Europe has been shocked repeatedly by terrorist crimes. This has led to an influx of suspects and convicts of terrorism in the prison system. The aim of this study is to provide insight into socio-demographic, psychopathological and criminal background characteristics of convicted violent extremists. Retrospective analyses were conducted on primary source data from 82 convicts in Dutch prison terrorism wings. Results showed that violent extremists are a heterogeneous group regarding socio-demographic characteristics. About 60% of the population had previously been convicted of ordinary crimes and a third suffered from a mental disorder. To gain more insight into violent extremists, additional research is needed into motivational and other risk factors. The latter is a necessary step to improve the identification, risk assessment, and effective treatment of violent extremists.

2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (01) ◽  
pp. 003-011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Theo Moraes ◽  
Malcolm Sears ◽  
Padmaja Subbarao

AbstractAsthma is a heterogeneous disorder with a complex etiology. Prevalence rates for asthma have been increasing in many countries over the past few decades. While it is unclear why this increase is occurring, the variation reported in asthma prevalence and severity associated with ethnicity offers some insight into the determinants of asthma. In this chapter, we discuss the data linking asthma to ethnicity and some of the factors that may explain this association. These include socioeconomic status, environmental exposures, the host microbiome, and genetics. A better understanding of these processes may inform future mechanistic studies and identify modifiable risk factors for targeted health care interventions.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adil Ellikkal ◽  
S Rajamohan

The COVID-19 outbreak is an exact reminder that pandemic like other rarely occurring disasters have happened in the past and will continue to happen in the future. Around the globe, countries are in lockdown, and citizens are asked to maintain social distancing and stay at home. This is not first instances that Kerala is fighting against a deadly virus like Coronavirus. Earlier in 2018, Nipah virus had been identified in Kerala and they had mortality rate of 40 to 80 per cent. From previous experience, among all the states in India, Kerala was well and the best prepared to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic and has managed to flatten the curve. But COVID-19 hit Kerala very hard, because the major source of revenue comes from tourism and Non-Resident Keralites (NRK’s) remittance drastically fell down. This paper provides vital insight into the effect on COVID-19 on Kerala’s job market. The aim of this study is to find out how Kerala’s job markets are being affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Since Malayalees are working in different countries across the world, survey method is used to collect data. The study helps us to understand the demographic characteristics of workforce in Kerala. It clearly discusses effect of COVID-19 on different sectors where of Malayalees work across the world. The study also helps to analyze the effect of COVID-19 on employability of graduates and non-graduates. Finally, this study identifies the rate of job loss due to COVID-19 lockdown during the month of June 2020.


Author(s):  
Sara A. Burt ◽  
Lidia I. Parramon Dolcet ◽  
Inge M. Wouters

Little research has been conducted in Europe regarding indoor exposure to airborne rodent allergens. The aims of this study were to gain insight into the prevalence of rodent allergens in airborne dust in Dutch households, to assess whether there is a relationship between rodent sightings and detectable allergens, and to identify risk factors associated with the presence of rodent allergens. Airborne dust was collected from the living rooms of 80 households distributed around central Netherlands by passive sampling using electrostatic dust collectors (EDCs). Samples were analysed for mouse (Mus m 1) and rat (Rat n 1) allergens. Participants completed a questionnaire on household and building characteristics, household pets, cleaning habits and ventilation. Mouse allergen was more prevalent than rat allergen and mouse sightings within the past year more than doubled the odds of detectable mouse allergen. Proximity to green areas, ventilation through an open window and insulation under the living room floor were determinants for detectable mouse allergen. Conversely, proximity to surface water was protective. No significant association was found between asthma and detectable mouse allergen. The passive EDC sampling method was used successfully to detect mouse and rat allergens in homes. The presence of mouse allergen was associated with previous mouse sightings. Risk factors and protective factors associated with the presence and levels of mouse allergen were identified.


2021 ◽  
pp. 000992282110096
Author(s):  
Sarah E. Benyo ◽  
Tyler J. Bruinsma ◽  
Elizabeth Drda ◽  
Jodi Brady-Olympia ◽  
Steven D. Hicks ◽  
...  

The use of electronic vapor products (EVPs) has increased dramatically in the past decade. The objectives of our study were to examine the frequency of EVP use; to identify demographic characteristics, risk-taking behaviors, and beliefs about vaping; and to determine symptoms associated with EVPs among adolescents. A questionnaire addressing these objectives was administered to a convenience sample of subjects aged 12 to 23 years. Among 494 completed questionnaires, 80% of responders were considered experimenters/nonusers (never tried or tried one time) and 20% were considered frequent users (at least once a month). We identified demographic features and risk-taking behaviors associated with EVP use. In the previous 6 months, frequent users were more likely to report headache, cough, sleep disturbances, dehydration, weakness, racing heart, chest pain, and tremors. Our findings provide evidence to support efforts to decrease EVP use through screening, education, and preventative strategies.


Author(s):  
Stephane M. Shepherd ◽  
Benjamin L. Spivak

There has been an increasing interest in cross-cultural risk assessment over the past 5 years. Much of this has been driven by concerns that particular risk instruments may be biased against, or ill-suited to, non-White offending populations. A growing body of work has asserted that unique cultural-specific risk factors and experiences may not be adequately considered within current risk assessment frameworks which have led to calls to culturally alter/remodel risk instruments. While recognising the importance of generalizable risk instruments, this article outlines a number of realities that cross-cultural risk assessment researchers must contend with before embarking on projects to alter instruments. With specific regard to structured professional judgement risk instruments, the article notes that efforts to culturally amend instruments, could paradoxically reduce accuracy and increase bias.


2021 ◽  
Vol 104 (3) ◽  
pp. 184-202
Author(s):  
Gary LaFree ◽  
Anina Schwarzenbach

Abstract Over the past twenty years, research on political extremism and terrorism has become one of the fastest growing sub-fields within criminology. This rapid growth is reminiscent of the early years of criminology itself, characterized by energy, imagination and creativity but at the same time a specialization struggling to collect and analyze valid data, apply appropriate research methods and develop coherent theoretical frameworks. In this paper, we take stock of these developments by considering a basket of micro- and macro-level risk factors that have been frequently linked to the decision to engage in violent extremism. Following a review of risk factors, we consider major definitional, theoretical, data and methodological challenges and also progress made. Prior criminological research on violent extremism has focused especially on micro-level characteristics and few studies to date have integrated micro and macro determinants to explain extremist outcomes. However, with the growing availability of data, including open-source databases, paired with the application of more sophisticated statistical methods, we expect to see more robust results in the years ahead.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jesse Cale ◽  
Thomas Holt

This review synthesises empirical studies from the past decade investigating child sexual abuse material (CSAM) production and distribution to gain insight into crime commission processes involved in these crimes. The findings highlight overlaps in risk factors for child sexual abuse and CSAM production and distribution, and possible unique risk factors specific to the latter. A substantial amount of CSAM is produced in family contexts, and there are different motivations and strategies for producing CSAM. Taken together, the findings provide important foundational information about the variety of crime commission processes involved in CSAM production and distribution, helping the development of effective prevention and intervention strategies for this increasingly prolific type of crime.


TAPPI Journal ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-60
Author(s):  
HONGHI TRAN ◽  
DANNY TANDRA

Sootblowing technology used in recovery boilers originated from that used in coal-fired boilers. It started with manual cleaning with hand lancing and hand blowing, and evolved slowly into online sootblowing using retractable sootblowers. Since 1991, intensive research and development has focused on sootblowing jet fundamentals and deposit removal in recovery boilers. The results have provided much insight into sootblower jet hydrodynamics, how a sootblower jet interacts with tubes and deposits, and factors influencing its deposit removal efficiency, and have led to two important innovations: fully-expanded sootblower nozzles that are used in virtually all recovery boilers today, and the low pressure sootblowing technology that has been implemented in several new recovery boilers. The availability of powerful computing systems, superfast microprocessors and data acquisition systems, and versatile computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling capability in the past two decades has also contributed greatly to the advancement of sootblowing technology. High quality infrared inspection cameras have enabled mills to inspect the deposit buildup conditions in the boiler during operation, and helped identify problems with sootblower lance swinging and superheater platens and boiler bank tube vibrations. As the recovery boiler firing capacity and steam parameters have increased markedly in recent years, sootblowers have become larger and longer, and this can present a challenge in terms of both sootblower design and operation.


2016 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 42-53
Author(s):  
Kyung-Wan Seo ◽  
Jeong-Ok Lee ◽  
Sun-Young Choi ◽  
Min-Jung Park

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