Surviving the suicides of significant others: a case study

Psychological pain has been reported to be major contributing factor for completed suicide, and classical suicidology based its wisdom on this construct. In this paper we report the case of a patient whose family experienced a high number of suicides apparently due to an escalation of psychological pain in the family members after the successive suicides. We also briefly discuss the problem of helping survivors after the suicide of loved one.     

Unusual basal skull fracture in a vehicle equipped with an air bag

A woman who was the lap/shoulder belt-restrained driver of a car equipped with a full-size air bag was involved in an oblique frontal collision with a tractor-trailer combination. She was extremely out of position, i.e., witnessed to be slumped over the steering wheel before impact. This preimpact positioning led to fatal injuries resulting from the inflating air bag. Postmortem examination showed an unusual partial ring fracture of the base of the skull, which to the authors' knowledge has not previously been reported.     

Women in prison: unhealthy lives and denied well-being between loneliness and seclusion

The purpose of this study is to investigate the well-being of female inmates in Italian prisons. The hypothesis is that stress in women prisoners is strictly related both to “external” networks and “internal” support, and is more linked to the feeling of loneliness than to coping with the difficulties of prison life. Qualitative study involving adult female prisoners in the prisons of three Italian regions (Campania, Lazio, Emilia Romagna). 37 individual semi-structured interviews were conducted. The interviews were processed using the CAQDAS contents (Computer Assisted/Aided Qualitative Data Analysis Software) by the software Atlas.ti, to practice the Grounded Analysis method to attain the construction of categories and its relations. The interviews show multiple levels of reflection, crossbreeding mainly two plans: a situational one and a personal one. The main dimensions emerged are: the access to activities in prison (work, projects, sociality) experienced as a deterrent to depression and as an opportunity for the future reintegration into the “free” society; the motherhood, as a spur to a resilience, but also in reference to the difficulties associated with the conditions of segregation. The main theme that crossed all the conversations is the loneliness lived as a prison disease. More attention should be given to the re-socialization aspect of prisons, constructing new ways to guarantee the prisoners a valid alternative to deviant behaviours so as to help restore family relationships and the reintegration in society.     

Social Europe and its Components in the Midst of the Crisis: A Conclusion

The article starts by identifying the main institutional components of the (elusive) concept of Social Europe: the ‘National Social Spaces’, i.e. the social protection systems of the member states; the ‘EU Social Citizenship Space’, i.e. the coordination regime that allows all EU nationals to access the social benefits of other member states when they exercise free movement; the ‘Regional Social Spaces’, i.e. sub-national and/or trans-regional social policies; and the ‘EU Social Policy’ proper. Based on such reconceptualisation, the article then revisits the main analytical insights and substantive findings of the volume’s contributions, focusing in particular on dynamics of ‘social re-bounding’ during the crisis, on national implementation processes, on the relevance of ‘fits’ and ‘misfits’ for social policy compliance and on issues of democratic control. In the conclusion, some suggestions for future research and for the EU’s social agenda are put forward.     

NATO's Southern flank in the east‐west balance

American primacy continues to characterise the international system, despite trends toward a diffusion of power. The discussion is too often biased in favour of multipolarity due to imprecise or misleading definitions of US primacy. On the basis of a simple definition of what a “pole” is, combining GDP and defence expenditure, only the US can be considered a global pole. The current economic crisis is not changing this reality. Even considering perceptions, soft power, and the ability to translate power into influence, rising powers like China or an aggregate power like the EU have a long way to go before they can get on an equal footing with the United States.     

American media messages and public opinion on the Palestinian uprising

The article opens with a review of recent developments which have caused the Neutrality Act of 1794 to reemerge as a legal issue. The article then examines the origins and purposes of the Act, as well as the political climate in the United States and the circumstances that led to its passage. The Neutrality Act was passed with the specific intention of remedying the practice of “privateering.” This problem was prevalent at the time the Act was passed but is no longer a problem today. The article examines early case law interpreting the Act, with specific attention to the definitional problem of how to interpret key words and phrases used in the Act. The early case law demonstrates that the activities of private citizens who fund the Contras do not violate the Act. Another important issue addressed is how the Executive Branch interprets the Act. The article supports the position of the current administration, namely, that the Neutrality Act does not apply to the President when he is exercising his power as sovereign over this nation's foreign affairs. Basically, the article attempts to show that those who are attempting to invoke this law to prohibit private citizens from assisting the Democratic Resistance in Nicaragua are misinterpreting the purpose and scope of the law. Moreover, it would be a great exaggeration of the law to extend it to the activities involved here.