Low Down

This article contains graphic images from real cases which may be disturbing to some viewers. Viewer discretion is advised.   Drowning is defined as death caused by submersion in a liquid. It can occur in an ocean or, in the case of alcoholic stupor, epileptics, or infants, in water as shallow as 6 in . The mechanism of death in acute drowning is irreversible cerebral anoxia. The most important physiological consequence of drowning is asphyxia. In drowning, the volume of water inhaled can range from relatively small to very large. In freshwater drowning especially, large volumes of water can pass through the alveolar–capillary interface and enter the circulation. Even when large volumes of water are absorbed, there is no evidence that the increase in blood volume causes significant electrolyte irregularities or hemolysis, or that it is beyond the capacity of the heart or kidneys to compensate for the fluid overload. Some individuals who drown are considered to be victims of “d...

On March 4, 1861. Abraham Lincoln took the oath of office as President of the United States. Less than a month had passed since the formation of the Confederacy. In his inaugural address as President. Lincoln appealed to the southern states to stay in the Union. He promised that he would not interfere with slavery. He warned that he Gould not allow them to break up the United Stares by seceding. Quoting from his oath of office, he told them: ‘You have no oath registered in Heaven to destroy the government, while I have a most solemn one to preserve. Protect and defend it’. " The southern states took no notice of Lincoln's appeal. On April  12 Confederate guns opened fire on Port Sumter. A fortress in the harbor of Charleston , South Carolina, that was occupied by United Slates troops. These shots marked the beginning of the American Civil War. Some people found it difficult and painful to decide which side to support. The decision sometimes split families. The son of the co...

There are various ways to classify types of criminal homicide. State statutes distinguish between criminal and non-criminal homicides, degrees of murders, and types of manslaughters. Law enforcement agencies often categorize homicides according to the characteristics of the offender (e.g., gang versus non-gang), the victim (e.g., child murders, teen violence, elderly victims), or situational context or attributes (e.g., domestic violence, stranger assaults, drive-by shootings, robbery- murders, road rage, or workplace homicides). Lawyers, social scientists, and law enforcers also classify homicides in terms of motive. Common motives for homicides include trivial altercations, jealousy, revenge, romantic triangles, robbery, sexual assault, burglary, and disputes in drug transactions. The research examines whether instrumental and expressive homicides are qualitatively different in their social context (i.e., combinations of offender, victim, and situational characteristics). We do thi...

Fuzzy logic is used by mathematical sciences, it has found little or no application in the social sciences, especially criminology. As a mathematical system, fuzzy logic generalizes the Boolean logic and can be a very useful tool for the social sciences, where concepts and terms involve shades of meanings. Descriptions of suspects that police officers receive are often fuzzy in nature. They are described as “tall”, “dark”, “young,” or even “rude”, terms that are imprecise and admit a range of possibilities. In fact, policing itself involves many issues that are fuzzy and difficult to measure. For example, officer’s services are often evaluated as being “good” or “average,” while gang activity related areas are described as “dangerous” or “rowdy”. All these characteristics are essentially fuzzy, and difficult to use with common statistical techniques. In everyday conversation we use imprecise terms like “it’s a hot day”, “it’s an early morning meeting”, and “there is only a short time a...