Prison visitation as human ‘right’ or earned ‘privilege’? The differing tales of England/Wales,and Scotland

Prison visitation has been widely recognised as an important feature of a just and humane prison system, providing important benefits for prisoners and their family in maintaining ties. However, emphasis on maintaining prisoner–family ties over the sentence has remained a low priority for the prison service in England and Wales, with prison visits ideologically framed as a ‘privilege’ rather than a ‘right’ for prisoners. This paper contrasts England and Wales with Scotland where a diverging approach to supporting visitation and family contact has been implemented. In Scotland, a strong focus on human rights as a justification for these policies has occurred, in tandem with more palatable historical context of penal welfarism. This paper assesses differences between the two governmental approaches to prison visitation, situated in discussion of some of the broader resettlement outcomes which may be garnered via these policy responses.     

Laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry of triacylglycerols and other components in fingermark samples

The chemical composition of fingermarks could potentially be important for determining investigative leads, placing individuals at the time of a crime, and has applications as biomarkers of disease. Fingermark samples containing triacylglycerols (TAGs) and other components were analyzed using laser desorption/ionization (LDI) time-of-flight mass spectrometry (TOF MS). Only LDI appeared to be useful for this application while conventional matrix-assisted LDI-TOF MS was not. Tandem MS was used to identify/confirm selected TAGs. A limited gender comparison, based on a simple t-distribution and peaks intensities, indicated that two TAGs showed gender specificity at the 95% confidence level and two others at 97.5% confidence. Because gender-related TAGs differences were most often close to the standard deviation of the measurements, the majority of the TAGs showed no gender specificity. Thus, LDI-TOF MS is not a reliable indicator of gender based on fingermark analysis. Cosmetic ingredients present in some samples were identified.     

From offender to situation: the 'cold' approach to sexual violence prevention?

Many commentators have pointed to the monstrous nature of sexual violence, with its related sense of pollution and disgust. In response, post-release regulation has a ‘hot’ quality: in the USA, sexually violent predator statutes, residency requirements, GPS satellite monitoring, and variations on the theme of community notification all speak of the expressiveness of the response. ‘Hot’ signifies and has embedded within it an ‘individualist’ rather than ‘structural’ account of action, emphasises a dramaturgical reading of the social world, and privileges the political rather than the problem-solving sphere. What has been far less explored, until recently, is research and prevention policy related specifically to the sexual violence itself, or the situation in which the offense occurs. By contrast to the ‘hot’ response, elision from offender to situation appears to betoken a ‘cold’ quality. This paper analyses the conceptual and empirical underpinnings of such a ‘cold’ situational approach, evaluates existing studies across settings, and assesses the implications of this problem-solving process for prevention policy and practice. It concludes by embedding the analysis within a broader precautionary politics of ‘hot’ and ‘cold’ control.     

Narrative identity and offender rehabilitation

The rehabilitation of offenders is an evaluative and capability-building process and is concerned with promoting primary goods and managing risk. At the heart of this process is the construction of a more adaptive narrative identity and the acquisition of capabilities to enable offenders to secure important values in their postrelease environments. In this article, the authors examine the idea of narrative identity and its relationship to values and to assessment and treatment.     

Proof of causation in informed consent cases: establishing what the plaintiff would have done

A degree of judicial caution in accepting the assertion of a plaintiff as to what he or she would have done, if fully informed of risks, is clearly evident upon a review of decisions applying the common law. Civil liability legislation in some jurisdictions now precludes assertion evidence by a plaintiff. Although this legislative change was seen as creating a significant challenge for plaintiffs seeking to discharge the onus of proof of establishing causation in such cases, recent decisions suggest a more limited practical effect. While a plaintiff's ex post facto assertions as to what he or she would have done if fully informed of risks may now be inadmissible, objective and subjective evidence as to the surrounding facts and circumstances, in particular the plaintiff's prior attitudes and conduct, and the assertion evidence of others remains admissible. Given the court's reliance on both objective and subjective evidence, statistical evidence may be of increasing importance.     

The Crisis of Over-Accumulation in Japan

Abstract

Japan has now been mired in economic stagnation, punctuated by recurrent recessions, for the past two decades. What are the causes of this longstanding malaise? Is it merely the natural consequence of financial retrenchment and the onset of a pervasive “liquidity trap” after the collapse of the “bubble” economy in the early 1990s, or does the present slump signify a more profound historical phase of structural decline? The aim of this study is to provide several tentative hypotheses. In the first section, some of the possible causes of this phase of prolonged stagnation will be examined. The next section provides a theoretical treatment of the dynamics of debt-deflation from a Minsky-Fisher perspective. The final section evaluates whether the historical evidence lends credence to the debt-deflation thesis.     

THE SOCIETY'S 2006 TOUR OF WESTERN MONGOLIA (28 JULY–14 AUGUST)

This article, accompanied by colour photos, records the author's recent archaeological expedition in the Taklamakan Desert. His advance northwards along the now mostly sand-covered beds of the Keriya River proved to be a march backward through time, from the Iron Age city of Jumbulakum to the early Bronze Age necropolis of Ayala Mazar. The artifacts he found are contemporary with, and similar to Chinese discoveries at Xiaohe. This proves that Xiaohe was not an isolated case and provides evidence for a whole culture based on some sort of fertility cult. The remains also suggest that some, at least, of the peoples concerned had Indo-European affiliations.