Whitewashing: How Obama Used Implicit Racial Cues as a Defense Against Political Rumors

Political Behavior - Although Barack Obama won the presidency in 2008, some Whites nevertheless penalized him because of his race. In part, these penalties involved persistent rumors about his...     

Campus Sexual Violence Elimination Act: SaVing Lives or SaVing Face?

The purpose of this study is to examine colleges’ and universities’ compliance with the criteria presented by the Sexual Assault and Violence Education Act (SaVE). Using a stratified random sample of postsecondary institutions (n = 435), we examined university websites in spring 2015 to determine whether schools were meeting each criterion of the SaVE Act. Additionally, we also examined what types of programs were offered for prevention, the accessibility of the information (by number of separations from universities main website). Lastly, we examined how university resources and programs, as well as institutional and student characteristics, were related to overall compliance and the availability of online information on sexual violence programs that institutions offered. Findings showed that only 11 % of schools within the sample were fully compliant with the requirements of the SaVE Act and on average, each school met ten of the eighteen criteria for compliance. Most resources were available within websites that were three to four separations from the main university page. Student population and region were positively associated with whether any programs on sexual violence programs were offered and schools with women’s centers were more likely to offer program/s on dating/domestic violence. Additionally, ROTC programs and larger student populations were positively associated with compliance, while being located in the south was negatively associated.     

A severe case of multiple metal poisoning in a child treated with a traditional medicine

A child who had been treated orally with a traditional medicine was admitted to hospital with diarrhoea, vomiting and severe metabolic acidosis. Following treatment for renal failure and supportive therapy, the child was discharged well. Analysis of the traditional remedy, a black powder, using inductively coupled plasma-optical emission revealed very high concentrations of iron and manganese. Other metals were also present at lesser, but still high concentrations. The composition suggested that this was a sample obtained from a surface fracture in Transvaal dolomite.Metal poisoning is not uncommon following the use of non-herbal traditional remedies in South Africa, but in this case the mixture appears to have been a combination of many metals and salts.     

Assessing the Impact of State Human Trafficking Legislation on Criminal Justice System Outcomes

Since 2003, state legislatures in the United States have been active in passing legislation aimed at combating human trafficking. To date, all states have passed laws that criminalize acts of human trafficking, though with significant variation in the penalty structure and associated legal provisions. This article examines what aspects of state human trafficking laws are most impactful at increasing the arrest and prosecution of human trafficking suspects. Using panel data on state laws and associated enforcement actions from 2003 to 2012, this study confirms that more comprehensive state laws that invest in antitrafficking resources are most strongly associated with human trafficking arrests and prosecutions. States that make legislative provisions for victim assistance, law enforcement training, statutory task forces, and mandatory reporting have higher antitrafficking criminal enforcement. The political environment in which state human trafficking laws are enacted also influences their enforcement.     

Feminist Judgments Projects at the Intersection

Feminist Legal Studies -     

Language nuances, trust and economic growth

Language serves two key functions. It enables communication between agents, which allows the set-up and functioning of formal and informal institutions. It also serves a less obvious function, as it provides a reassuring quality more closely related with issues linked with trust, social capital, and cultural identification. While research on the role of language as a learning process is widespread, there is no evidence on the role of language as a signal of cultural affinity. We pursue this latter avenue of research and show that subtle language affinity is positively linked with change in earnings when using English-speaking data for cities in the Golden Horseshoe area in Southern Ontario during the period 1991 to 2001. The results are robust to changes in specification, and a broad number of empirical tests.     

Health Visiting and District Nursing in Victorian Manchester; divergent and convergent vocations

Community nursing and public health work provided many Victorian and Edwardian women in Britain with the opportunity of a career and professional training. Such work created contradictions, not least the tension between ‘inherent’ female skills and the role of learnt professionalism. This article discusses Manchester's neglected district nurses alongside the city's more well-studied health visiting scheme. Comparing these occupations in one city highlights continuities in origins and practice, but a clear divergence in terms of class and purpose. These differences provide historians with opportunities to reconsider the inherent tensions and varied identities of employed women in Victorian and Edwardian Britain.