The COVID-19 pandemic has killed millions across the world in only two years. Government health restrictions aimed at preventing transmission have impacted typical mourning practices such as funeral gatherings and in-person grief support services. This research examines the potential impacts that the pandemic may have had on people's ability to grieve. We employed a mixed methods study design to ask those who have lost a loved one during this time to reflect on their mourning practices with an anonymous survey. Our results present themes of complicated grief, the uncertainty of who to blame for frustrations, and common needs requested by the bereaved to help them mourn during these unprecedented times. These findings may help inform grief support and bereavement services during current and future mass death and pandemic health concerns.
COVID-19 has had an unprecedented impact on arguably every sector of our criminal justice system. To assess the impact that this global health crisis has had on our medicolegal investigations and administration of justice during the early stages of the pandemic, this research aims to give voice to the lived experiences of medicolegal death investigators (coroners, medical examiners and pathologists). This research involved in-depth interviews and follow-ups with experienced personnel from Canada (3), Italy (1), the United Kingdom (1) and the United States (4). Results suggest that despite facing similar challenges, each individual office has had to develop their own strategies to overcome obstacles during the early stages of the pandemic. These results help identify overlapping areas for constructive policy and procedural changes, including recommendations for workflow adaptations, strategic partnerships and other approaches to best prepare for subsequent health crises.
QAnon, a group of conspiracy theorists dedicated to the overthrow of the deep state and the facilitation of the rapture, has been growing in strength and prominence since its inception in 2017. Originally started as an anonymous post on a message board, the collective has increased in membership, geographic footprint, and ideological reach. QAnon initiates have also expanded their repertoire of tactics, evolving from online chatter to rallies and, finally, to violent attacks, leading law enforcement to opine that the group may incite incidents of domestic terrorism. Although this outcome is possible, predictions of this kind have less merit unless supported by systematic analysis of the evidence. This essay attempts to address this need by providing an empirically grounded prediction of the future of QAnon. Specifically, it summarizes the results of comparative case analyses, which consists of examining groups and collectives that are comparable to QAnon on key factors and applying their trajectories to QAnon. Case comparisons indicate that QAnon may continue to grow in membership size and regional presence. In addition, QAnon members may persist in their use of violence, leading to an increase in the number and severity of their attacks.
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