The globalisation of crime means there is an increasingly vital need for effective sharing of knowledge by police organisations across international borders. However, identifying the complexities and challenges of this aspect of international collaboration has been relatively neglected in previous research. The research reported in this paper therefore set out to identify the major barriers and facilitators of international knowledge sharing. Research teams in ten European countries produced ten case studies of knowledge sharing across borders, either involving direct cooperation between police forces in different countries or through international agencies such as CEPOL or INTERPOL. The integrative findings showed that the major influences on knowledge sharing could be theoretically categorised in terms of organisational factors (e.g. technological and staff capabilities), inter-organisational factors (e.g. quality of relationships, shared visions and systems), inter-country factors (e.g. bilateral conventions, legislation) and knowledge characteristics (e.g. clarity, legal sensitivity). Practical implications include standardising technology systems across countries, improving interorganisational trust through exchanges and physical co-working, developing police members' knowledge and skills with regards to collaborative working and creating joint agreements and visions. Research implications highlighted the need to test the findings in non-European contexts and to comparatively focus on specific types of collaboration.

No abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess the veracity of the Court of Arbitration for Sport's assertion that sex-differences in athletic performance in elite-standard track and field competition is of the order of 10-12%. Exponential curves were fitted to the data of selected track and field events of the finals of all IAAF World Championships and Olympic Games from 1983 to 2016. For each curve, the coefficient of determination R was calculated, in combination the corresponding 95% confidence intervals for the curve constants. Sex-differences were evaluated via differences in the fitted curves between men and women. Mean performances of winners, as well as overall performance means of all participants, were also analyzed. The calculated sex-difference was 8.2 ± 1.0% - 11.8 ± 2.1% for sprints, 10.3 ± 3.3% - 12.8 ± 4.0% for middle and long-distance events, 9.7 ± 2.9% - 13.1 ± 2.9% for relays and 14.2 ± 2.2% - 25.0 ± 4.4% for jumps. This study therefore confirms that the percentage difference accepted by the CAS is appropriate for elite-standard track and field events.

Rodríguez, C., Ospina, J., & Piedra, J. (2016). Athletic body stereotypes in the academic training of students in the Physical Activity and Sport Sciences. J. Hum. Sport Exerc., 11(1), 74-88. In the past years, despite advances in recent decades in terms of rights and equal opportunities between women and men, the male and female body stereotypes have not disappeared; on the contrary, they have continued to exist at an even greater scale. However, there are no current studies analyzing this phenomenon in terms of the perceptions held by future professionals in the field of physical education and sport in Spain. In this paper, we have tried to examine the stereotypes of gender that exist in the substructures of beliefs of students of physical and sports activity science in regard to the body of women in athletics. The study took place in three Andalusian public universities currently offering studies in the field of athletics (2009-2010, N= 424). Data collection was conducted through a questionnaire completed online. The analysis of data was conducted by descriptive statistics. Results show the existence of a stereotyped conception, both overt and covert, against the stated objective. Gender stereotypes detected on the woman's body on training in track and field are mainly located in physical appearance and performance, manifestations of gender in terms of the woman's body and on different events that took place. Their need to maintain beauty standards, brought under established social control, emanates from these perceptions.

No abstract