BACKGROUND: Considerable research has documented that exposure to traumatic events has negative effects on physical and mental health. Much less research has examined the predictors of traumatic event exposure. Increased understanding of risk factors for exposure to traumatic events could be of considerable value in targeting preventive interventions and anticipating service needs. METHOD: General population surveys in 24 countries with a combined sample of 68 894 adult respondents across six continents assessed exposure to 29 traumatic event types. Differences in prevalence were examined with cross-tabulations. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted to determine whether traumatic event types clustered into interpretable factors. Survival analysis was carried out to examine associations of sociodemographic characteristics and prior traumatic events with subsequent exposure. RESULTS: Over 70% of respondents reported a traumatic event; 30.5% were exposed to four or more. Five types - witnessing death or serious injury, the unexpected death of a loved one, being mugged, being in a life-threatening automobile accident, and experiencing a life-threatening illness or injury - accounted for over half of all exposures. Exposure varied by country, sociodemographics and history of prior traumatic events. Being married was the most consistent protective factor. Exposure to interpersonal violence had the strongest associations with subsequent traumatic events. CONCLUSIONS: Given the near ubiquity of exposure, limited resources may best be dedicated to those that are more likely to be further exposed such as victims of interpersonal violence. Identifying mechanisms that account for the associations of prior interpersonal violence with subsequent trauma is critical to develop interventions to prevent revictimization. Language: en

https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/F06E14BA4DF09A29CCA81909C285ABE9/S0033291715001981a.pdf/div-class-title-the-epidemiology-of-traumatic-event-exposure-worldwide-results-from-the-world-mental-health-survey-consortium-div.pdf

The epidemiology of traumatic event exposure worldwide: results from the World Mental Health Survey Consortium.

OBJECTIVE: Accurate information about preferred suicide methods is important for devising strategies and programmes for suicide prevention. Our knowledge of the methods used and their variation across countries and world regions is still limited. The aim of this study was to provide the first comprehensive overview of international patterns of suicide methods. METHODS: Data encoded according to the International Classification of Diseases (10th revision) were derived from the WHO mortality database. The classification was used to differentiate suicide methods. Correspondence analysis was used to identify typical patterns of suicide methods in different countries by providing a summary of cross-tabulated data. FINDINGS: Poisoning by pesticide was common in many Asian countries and in Latin America; poisoning by drugs was common in both Nordic countries and the United Kingdom. Hanging was the preferred method of suicide in eastern Europe, as was firearm suicide in the United States and jumping from a high place in cities and urban societies such as Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China. Correspondence analysis demonstrated a polarization between pesticide suicide and firearm suicide at the expense of traditional methods, such as hanging and jumping from a high place, which lay in between. CONCLUSION: This analysis showed that pesticide suicide and firearm suicide replaced traditional methods in many countries. The observed suicide pattern depended upon the availability of the methods used, in particular the availability of technical means. The present evidence indicates that restricting access to the means of suicide is more urgent and more technically feasible than ever.

https://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/86/9/07-043489.pdf

Methods of suicide: international suicide patterns derived from the WHO mortality database

The populist radical right constitutes the most successful party family in postwar Western Europe. Many accounts in both academia and the media warn of the growing influence of populist radical right parties (PRRPs), the so-called ‘verrechtsing’ (or right turn) of European politics, but few provide empirical evidence of it. This lecture provides a first comprehensive analysis of the alleged effects of the populist radical right on the people, parties, policies and polities of Western Europe. The conclusions are sobering. The effects are largely limited to the broader immigration issue, and even here PRRPs should be seen as catalysts rather than initiators, who are neither a necessary nor a sufficient condition for the introduction of stricter immigration policies. The lecture ends by providing various explanations for the limited impact of PRRPs, but it is also argued that populist parties are not destined for success in opposition and failure in government. In fact, there are at least three reasons why PRRPs might increase their impact in the near future: the tabloidisation of political discourse; the aftermath of the economic crisis; and the learning curve of PRRPs. Even in the unlikely event that PRRPs will become major players in West European politics, it is unlikely that this will lead to a fundamental transformation of the political system. PRRPs are not a normal pathology of European democracy, unrelated to its basic values, but a pathological normalcy, which strives for the radicalisation of mainstream values.

https://works.bepress.com/cas_mudde/69/download/

Three decades of populist radical right parties in Western Europe: So what?

https://www.amjmed.com/article/S0002-9343(15)01030-X/pdf

Violent Death Rates: The US Compared with Other High-income OECD Countries, 2010.

Despite legal reforms, there has been little improvement in police, prosecutor, and court handling of rape and sexual assault. In the past 15 years in Australia, Canada, England and Wales, Scotland, and the United States, victimization surveys show that 14 percent of sexual violence victims report the offense to the police. Of these, 30 percent proceed to prosecution, 20 percent are adjudicated in court, 12.5 percent are convicted of any sexual offense, and 6.5 percent are convicted of the original offense charged. In the past 35 years, average conviction rates have declined from 18 percent to 12.5 percent, although they have not fallen in all countries. Significant country differences are evident in how cases are handled and where in the legal process attrition is most likely. There is some good news: a victim’s “good” character and credibility and stranger relations are less important than they once were in police or court outcomes. However, evidence of nonconsent (witness evidence, physical injuries to the victim, suspect’s use of a weapon) continues to be important.

/pdf/rape-and-attrition-in-the-legal-process-a-comparative-jplcdwpy6v.pdf

Rape and Attrition in the Legal Process: A Comparative Analysis of Five Countries

The International Crime Victimisation Survey (ICVS) is the most far-reaching programme of fully standardised sample surveys looking at householders' experience of crime in different countries. The first ICVS took place in 1989, the second in 1992, and the third in 1996. Surveys have been carried out in over 50 countries since 1989, including a large number of city surveys in developing countries and countries in transition. This report deals with eleven industrialised countries which took part in the third sweep.

Criminal Victimisation in Seventeen Industrialised Countries. Key findings from the 2000 International Crime Victims Survey

Les recherches sur le role des armes a feu en matiere d'actes de violence se fondent presqu'exclusivement sur des donnees statistiques americaines. Cela entraine un certain nombre de limitations, e...

Guns, violent crime, and suicide in 21 countries

Despite the fact that opinion polls have explored public attitudes to
punishment for over 50 years now, surprisingly little is known about
international differences. The reason for this is that – with a few
exceptions – researchers have explored public opinion within, rather
than across, jurisdictions. However, international comparisons are now
possible thanks to the International Crime Victimisation Survey.
Analyses of responses to this survey permits us to explore variation
across national boundaries as well as to test some hypotheses about
public attitudes to punishment, using a truly international rather than
simply a national sample.

Cross-national attitudes to punishment

The International Crime Victims Survey (ICVS) has been carried out six times over the period 1989–2010. Although national and city samples are relatively small, the ICVS is a unique survey of the experience of being victimized in that it is standardized and far-reaching: it has been conducted in more than 80 countries in different regions of the world, with many countries having taken part more than once. This paper focuses not on the methodology of the survey but on four important areas of analysis that capitalize on the comparative nature of the ICVS, and its ability to look at victimization experience at the level of both individuals and countries. Firstly, it looks at the level of crime in different countries according to the ICVS, compared to the picture from police figures. It shows some distinct differences. Also taken up is how far the correlates of victimization risk are similar across countries, and whether the phenomenon of repeat victimization holds constantly. A special focus is on results fr...

The International Crime Victims Surveys: A retrospective

Many Western countries have experienced a boom in prisoners rates, characterised as “carceral hyperinflation” or “new punitiveness”. Politicians and opinion makers assume that this reflects the demand of the public for more severe sentencing. This article analyses data on the attitudes of the population towards punishment from over thirty different countries taken from the International Crime Victim Surveys of 2004/2005. First, some key findings on punitivity are presented showing that in many countries the public prefers non-custodial sentences for recidivist buglars. Next, results are presented from a multi-level analysis of the correlates of punitiveness at both the individual and country level. This multi level analysis shows that individual characteristics explain very little variance in country differences in punitiveness. On country level, the level of common crime and the Gini coefficient, a measure for income differences in the country, have significant explanatory power. The often mentioned tougher attitude towards sentencing in the English speaking/common law countries is fully explained by this. Finally, the relation between the publics attitude towards sentencing and a measure of actual sentencing severity showed a weak and inverse relationship at country level.

/pdf/public-attitudes-and-sentencing-policies-across-the-world-1z1kif7opa.pdf

John van Kesteren

Papers

Criminal Victimisation in Seventeen Industrialised Countries. Key findings from the 2000 International Crime Victims Survey

Guns, violent crime, and suicide in 21 countries

Cross-national attitudes to punishment

The International Crime Victims Surveys: A retrospective

Public Attitudes and Sentencing Policies Across the World