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Inspired by the Renaissance artist and polymath Leonardo da Vinci as an ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) archetype celebrated for his creativity, brilliance, endless curiosity, and experimentation, this article brings to awareness links between genetic traits and neurodivergence. It seeks to rethink the ADHD diagnosis and proposes a TA-neurodiversity affirming lens for navigating neuronormativity as well as healing from its oppressive structural and systemic processes. In particular, impasses are explored in the context of how neuronormativity impacts relational material and drives adaptive masking patterns, racketeering, and script formation. The authors present the masking-authenticity triangle framework, which provides an intersectional and standpoint epistemological inquiry into the clinical presentation and developmental trajectory of neurodivergent masking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author presents major theories which Fanita English enriched and developed transactional analysis with. Her theory concepts are examined from various perspectives: human image, personality, relationship and communication, reality and contextual reference, development and change, and professional methods. It is conclusively explained that and how she laid a foundation for the positive orientation of transactional analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article compares the union careers of the US Teamsters Union leader James R. Hoffa and the head of the Canadian Seafarers International Union (siu), Hal Banks. It focuses on the charges of union corruption that swirled around both men in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The article uses that comparison to consider the predominant understanding of union corruption in the United States, which posits a kind of American exceptionalism in regard to this issue. The similarities and differences between the cases of Hoffa and Banks provide a new consideration of the history of union corruption in Canada. This comparison also offers a new perspective on the divergence between unionization rates in the United States and Canada since 1964. Cet article compare les carrières syndicales du chef du US Teamsters Union, James R. Hoffa, et du dirigeant du Syndicat international des marins canadiens (siu), Hal Banks. Il se concentre sur les accusations de corruption syndicale qui tournaient autour des deux hommes à la fin des années 1950 et au début des années 1960. L'article utilise cette comparaison pour examiner la compréhension prédominante de la corruption syndicale aux États Unis, qui postule une sorte d'exceptionnalisme américain à l'égard de cette question. Les similarités et les différences entre les cas de Hoffa et and Banks offre une nouvelle considération de l'histoire de la corruption syndicale au Canada. Cette comparaison offre aussi une nouvelle perspective sur la divergence entre les taux de syndicalisation aux États-Unis et au Canada depuis 1964. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Gold from artisanal mining is frequently traded outside official channels, resulting in illicit financial flows. • Political settlement analysis reveals how seemingly dysfunctional institutions work well in the logic of political power. • In the case of Burkina Faso, state-sponsored protection rackets enable the informalisation of gold trade to generate rents. • Drafting new legislation or building capacity for enforcement is unlikely to overcome the impasse. • Interventions responsive to political settlement dynamics and actor configuration will more likely rein in illicit gold trade. A significant share of gold from artisanal and small-scale mining is produced informally or illegally. Most of this gold is traded outside official channels, resulting in illicit financial flows that deprive governments of much-needed revenue, and some of these flows are also used to finance armed conflict and launder money from other illicit activities. We apply a political economy lens to the analysis of illicit gold markets to study their intersection with state-building dynamics and political settlements, with a view to understanding the function these markets fulfil even though they seem highly dysfunctional from an institutionalist perspective. In Burkina Faso, we find that the modus operandi of the artisanal gold market has become a function of political competition, aided by well-meaning policy reforms. State-sponsored protection rackets enable and shape the illicit gold market, putting off-budget resources at the disposal of factions competing for political dominance. Drafting new legislation or building capacity for enforcement is unlikely to overcome the impasse. To rein in illicit financial flows, understanding the political-economy dynamics inherent in the functioning of illicit gold markets is critical for defining policy interventions responsive to the prevailing actor configuration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on "New York Times" media report on sex trafficker firm NXIVM's secret women's group that branded its members in a ceremony. It mentions investigation of documentary television shows such as "Seduced" which focused on one young survivor's story and provided revelations about abuses. It also mentions that Keith Raniere, founder of NXIVM was sentenced to 120 years in prison for sex trafficking, racketeering, and possession of child pornography and he had manipulated and had sex with several minors.

The Hobbs Act, passed by Congress in 1946, makes it a federal crime to obstruct, delay, or affect commerce through robbery or extortion. "Commerce" is the federal jurisdictional hook that elevates robbery to a federal crime. The commerce hook grants jurisdiction for all robberies that Congress's Commerce Clause power reaches. This Note argues that federal Hobbs Act robbery prosecutions for individual, localized robbery eviscerates meaningful dual federalism distinctions and has led to confusion among lower courts and patchwork definitions for what it means to "affect commerce" for these cases. This Note proposes three solutions--at least one for each coordinate branch of government--to solve the problem. For the judicial branch, the Supreme Court should declare the Hobbs Act unconstitutional because it grants Congress a police power to reach purely local robbery that should be left to state prosecution and that "commerce" should be interpreted consistently with its meaning at the time of the Hobbs Act's passage. For the legislative branch, Congress should amend the Hobbs Act to only allow federal prosecution of robberies that "substantially and directly" affect commerce. The Note concludes that the judicial and legislative solutions for Hobbs are unlikely, so pragmatically, the executive branch should adopt prospective enforcement policies that make clear Hobbs charges should not be brought for de minimis, localized robbery. Each of these solutions would aid in restoring the appropriate balance between federal and state criminal robbery law thus, keeping federal resources trained on the most pressing national concerns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: A federal court ruled tobacco companies violated racketeering laws and ordered them to publish corrective statements. This study assesses effects of exposure to the statements and related court findings on attitudes toward tobacco-related policies and tobacco company influences on policymaking. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey of US adults (N = 2010) prior to publication of the statements. Participants were randomly assigned to the "unexposed" group (N = 1004), which answered attitude questions before reading the statements and court findings, or the "exposed" group (N = 1006), which answered attitude questions after reading the statements and court findings. Results: The exposed group was less likely to think lawmakers should trust tobacco companies as much as other companies (β = -.24, p < .001) or that lawmakers should trust tobacco company lobbyists to provide accurate information (β = -.17, p = .019), compared to the unexposed group. The exposed group also was more likely to support requiring graphic warning labels (β = .15, p = .014) and point-of-sale quitline signs (β = .13, p = .028). Conclusions: Exposure to the statements and court findings may aid tobacco industry denormalization and tobacco-related policy initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: A federal court ruled tobacco companies violated racketeering laws and ordered them to publish corrective statements. This study assesses effects of exposure to the statements and related court findings on attitudes toward tobacco-related policies and tobacco company influences on policymaking. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey of US adults (N = 2010) prior to publication of the statements. Participants were randomly assigned to the "unexposed" group (N = 1004), which answered attitude questions before reading the statements and court findings, or the "exposed" group (N = 1006), which answered attitude questions after reading the statements and court findings. Results: The exposed group was less likely to think lawmakers should trust tobacco companies as much as other companies (β = -.24, p < .001) or that lawmakers should trust tobacco company lobbyists to provide accurate information (β = -.17, p = .019), compared to the unexposed group. The exposed group also was more likely to support requiring graphic warning labels (β = .15, p = .014) and point-of-sale quitline signs (β = .13, p = .028). Conclusions: Exposure to the statements and court findings may aid tobacco industry denormalization and tobacco-related policy initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses updates on business litigation-related decisions issued by U.S. federal and state courts. Topics explored include the injunction sought by plaintiffs under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) in Safe Streets Alliance v. Alternative Holistic Healing, LLC, the use of RICO in the lawsuit filed against medical cannabis dispensary Healthy Pharms, and the arbitrability of a dispute considered in Archer & White Sales, Inc. v. Henry Schein, Inc.

The article discusses the state and emerging research on criminal politics through a study of criminal protection rackets by developing a political economy framework to explain variation in forms of resistance to rackets in Latin America.

Illegal gambling operations have been alleged to support organized crime and victimize participants, rather than benefit them. This is said to occur through cheating in the games provided, defrauding the government of tax revenue, and funding other illicit and criminal activities. What has been missing is a systematic analysis of actual cases involving illegal gambling businesses to determine precisely who is involved, how these businesses operate, the nature of the threat posed, and the law enforcement response to it. The analysis reported here examines all federal convictions involving operation of illegal gambling businesses during a single year. There were more than 80 persons charged and convicted of participation in illegal gambling businesses, centered around 40 distinct enterprises. The results indicate that illegal gambling businesses in the United States are long-term operations consisting of four general types, and that enforcement of existing laws, particularly related to illegal online sports betting, are not working effectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents the results of some empirical research on extortion in Palermo. The project is based on the administration of a structured questionnaire with traders in various districts within Palermo and villages in the provincial interior, in two phases, the first in 2007 and second in 2012. The objective was to explore traders’ opinions on the various aspects of the phenomenon of extortion: its characteristics, causes, possible solutions, and the responsibilities of every actor in the battle against this illegal enterprise. In the period in which the research was undertaken, there was a wave of strong anti-mafia and anti-racketeering activism, particularly stimulated by the emergence in 2004 of the Comitato Addiopizzo and culminating in the establishment of the first ‘ antiracket ’ association in Palermo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prohibited possessor statutes have been a part of American law for decades. Put simply, these laws prohibit any person who has been convicted of a felony from possessing a firearm, a prohibition that lasts for the felon's entire life. The Supreme Court's modern Second Amendment jurisprudence has held that the right to possess a firearm is a fundamental individual right. In light of this new paradigm, the constitutionality of such broad prohibitions must be called into question--despite the eagerness of courts across the country to dismiss such challenges by pointing to a single line in Heller. This Note challenges the constitutionality of modern prohibited possessor laws and asserts that these laws are unconstitutionally overbroad. It then proposes a constitutional framework for analyzing laws that ban firearm possession by felons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Control over means of violence and protection emerge as crucial in much research on corruption in non-South Asian contexts. In the Indian context, however, we still know little about the systems of organised violence that sustain the entanglement of crime, capital and democratic politics. This timely comparative ethnographic piece explores two different manifestations of what our informants identify as "Mafia Raj" ("rule by mafia") across North India (Uttar Pradesh and Punjab). Drawing on analytical concepts developed in the literature on bossism and "mafias", we explore protection and racketeering as central statecraft repertoires of muscular styles of governance in the region. We show how a predatory economy together with structures of interand intra-party political competition generate the demand for and the imposition of unofficial and illegal protection and shape different manifestations of Mafia Raj. In doing so, the paper aims to contribute to debates on the relationship between states and illegalities in and beyond South Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although substantial research has examined the Saudi state’s symbiosis with the Islamic revivalist movement commonly known as ‘Wahhabism’, few studies have considered how the dynamics of state formation underpin this relationship. This article argues that a continuous and circular political logic lies behind the Saudi state’s patronage of the revivalist movement since 1744 and proposes a four-stage model that explains how and why the regime has maintained its support for the revivalist movement over such a prolonged period. This article first outlines the model, then presents a detailed analysis of its persistent presence in the development of Saudi state authority in order to highlight the recurrent manner by which the state often has constructed the spiritual concerns of revivalists to counter challenges to its authority, a pattern demonstrated most recently during the Arab Spring and the war in Yemen. The effects of this model will continue to shape the decisions, policies and perceptions of the Saudi political elite for the foreseeable future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Computer simulation has recently been recognised by criminologists as a useful tool for bridging the gap between theoretical and empirical analyses of organised crime and for supplementing their weaknesses. GLODERS-S is an innovative and configurable agent-based simulator specialised in reproducing the dynamics of a specific type of criminal organisations: protection racketeering groups. The simulator adopts an event-based approach that provides a more realistic operation of the agents, which integrated with its configurability provides policy-makers with a highly flexible platform for analysing multiple scenarios and assessing policies to counter organised crime. In this paper, we describe the principles of the simulator design, its features and limitations, and possible applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the relationship between racket subcultures and informal social control. Specifically, this paper examines the influence of traditional organized crime on informal social control in community areas while controlling for satisfaction with the police, tolerance of deviance, neighborhood and organizational ties, and neighborhood attachment. The data used in this analysis comes from the Community Survey of the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods. They were obtained from the Inter University Consortium of Political and Social Science Research. Ordered logistic regression was used to analyze the data. The findings indicate that racket areas reported higher levels of informal social control when compared to similar non racket areas in the city of Chicago. These findings have important implications for the study of deviance. Not only do they suggest that criminals can play an important role in controlling street crime, the findings also support differential social organization theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the influence of traditional organised crime on informal social control in community areas that once had a presence of organised crime while controlling for neighbourhood attachment, satisfaction with the police, social and organisational ties, and tolerance of deviance. The data comes from the Community Survey of the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods. The comparative quantitative method was used to analyse the data. The findings indicate that neighbourhoods with an historic reputation for organised crime can report higher levels of informal social control when compared to current racket areas in the city of Chicago. These findings have important implications for the study of deviance. Not only do they suggest that criminals can play an important role in controlling street crime, the findings also suggest that this public reputation remains long after organised crime activities have ceased in the area. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Institutional studies on the Camorra and its illegal activities are much more limited in comparison to the Sicilian Mafia. The study of its various aspects remains marginal, even though, through the first decade after the unification of Italy, the Neapolitan Camorra, as a form of organised crime and its associates, and not the Sicilian Mafia, raised initial concerns from the emerging national State. Illegal activities of the Camorra are developed on the illegal and legal market. This paper analyses the phenomenon of racketeering because it is not possible to understand the historical transformation of the essential traits of racketeering or the persistence of it if the birth, transformation and development of the Camorra are not reconstructed. Extortion is to the Camorra what territory is to the Mafia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents decisions of courts in cases involving business law from October 1, 2014, to September 30, 2015 in the U.S. Topics include dismissal of the plaintiff 's complaint in Home Orthopedics Corp. v. Rodriguez by the First Circuit, failure of plaintiff to establish a racketeering in Zastrow v. Houston Auto Imports Greenway Ltd., and dismissal of a claim under U.S. Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) in D. Penguin Brothers, LTD. v. City National Bank.

Extortion racketeering is an industry not only practiced by mafia, but also in groups such as hells angels. It occurs in a complex setting of criminals, victims, police and society, and its framework is set up by legal norms as well as informal norms of the actor groups involved. The paper presents two agent-based simulation models which differ with respect to the decision making mode, which is either stochastical with fixed probabilities or deliberative where decisions depend on utility considerations and norms learned during the process. The central research questions of the paper - beside the question how extortion racket system can be appropriately modeled - concern the divergence of the results of the two model versions, the comparison of the input parameter combinations, the motivations of input parameters and the validation of the results by comparing them to available empirical data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies have mostly examined cognitive and psychosocial variables that are critical to the cognitive behavioral conceptualization of Problem Gambling (PG) in community samples. This study aimed to assess whether cognitive and psychosocial variables (gambling refusal self-efficacy, gambling cognitions, gambling urges, comorbid negative psychological states, comorbid substance use/misuse, life satisfaction and quality of life) can predict gambling behaviour in a clinical sample. One hundred and thirty-nine volunteers for a PG self-help cognitive behaviour treatment program participated. Results showed that only perceived gambling refusal self-efficacy, cognitions of inability to stop gambling, hazardous drinking behaviors, and poor quality of life related to one's environment, significantly predicted SOGS and/or CPGI scores. Significant interactions between gender and a number of variables including gambling cognitions (especially gambling expectancies), gambling refusal self-efficacy as well as quality of life related to physical or environmental health predicted gambling behaviour in this clinical sample. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A child prodigy and Harvard University graduate turned serial killer, Theodore Kaczynski—now better known as the Unabomber—constructed elaborate cipher systems to encrypt his thoughts and emotions. His personal journals contain enciphered details of his life, his beliefs and feelings about society, and his crimes. This article introduces the Unabomber's cipher systems and through his use of these systems gives a brief glimpse into a fascinating mind that crossed the line between genius and madness. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article analyses the cohesion of Addiopizzo’s anti-racketeering campaign in Palermo, Sicily. By supporting entrepreneurs who refuse to pay for protection and by encouraging consumers to support these companies through their consumer power, Addiopizzo has mobilised about 900 companies and 11,000 citizens. Taking social capital theory as a point of departure, this article explores the values of trust and norms of reciprocity among entrepreneurs who joined Addiopizzo’s anti-racketeering campaign. In addition, it analyses their solidarity with colleagues who are victims of extortion. Shared values express a stronger commitment to a movement, reinforce internal solidarity, strengthen the collective identity and reduce the risk of free riders and dropouts. The article reveals not only similarities but also important differences between various groups of joiners. The analysis builds on a unique data-set consisting of questionnaires collected from 277 entrepreneurs who joined the campaign between 2005 and 2011. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

When a hired thug hurled acid in the face of the prominent newspaper columnist, Victor Riesel, in 1956, the attack left him permanently blind. The incident appeared to dramatically vindicate Riesel's repeated warnings about the dangerous power of labor racketeers and it helped spur the creation of the largest ever congressional investigation into union corruption, the McClellan Committee hearings (1957–1959). This article raises important questions about the accepted version of why this attack occurred and what it meant. It uses recently released documents from the FBI as well as records from the McClellan Committee's staff. The article also suggests that several governmental bodies, including the FBI and the US Attorney's Office, played a role in furthering the public's misunderstanding of this episode. In so doing it offers a new understanding about how the issue of union corruption came to assume an important place on the nation's political agenda in this era. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article describes counseling work with a 15-year-old girl who suffered from relational disorders and learning difficulties. Creative writing was used to build a relationship in a play setting, first as a way to identify the girl’s needs and second as a working tool. The author outlines the two techniques that allowed her to help her client gain awareness of existing in the world, the resources she possessed, and her ability to use them in her relationships with others. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]