‘Situating’ active citizenship: historical and contemporary perspectives of women's organising in the Pacific

This article examines a 40-year history of women's organising in Fiji, in order to show how the political goals pursued by active citizens can be shaped by an interplay of domestic and international political contingencies. This approach challenges the common and somewhat idealised definitions of active citizenship that focus upon actors' capacity to mobilise collectively behind political goals independent of those that motivate the state or the market. Rather, active citizenship is viewed as a realm of political activity constituted in ways that both reflect and contest contingent factors prevailing globally and locally.     

The determinants of the effectiveness of medical disciplinary boards: 1960–1977

The results of an empirical study to determine the reasons why some state boards of medical discipline are more active in disciplining physicians than others are presented. The study concluded that for most of the years between 1960 and 1977, the principal determinant of board vigilance was the degree to which they werenot dominated by physicians. But it was also shown that even if all the boards were controlled exclusively by nonphysicians, board activity, stated in absolute terms, would still be very small. This then leads to the inference that current efforts to change the composition of the board and create obligations for reporting miscreant physicians for various sectors in the health services industry will not produce acceptable levels of medical disciplinary board performance.     

Rapid determination of carbohydrates in heroin drug seizures using capillary electrophoresis with short-end injection

A simple and rapid method for the analysis of carbohydrates in heroin samples by capillary electrophoresis utilizing a borate complexation method is described. Separations were performed using an uncoated fused silica capillary, 50 cm x 50 micro I.D. x 360 microm O.D. with an effective separation length of 9 cm. The system was run at 60 degrees C with an applied voltage of -8 kilovolts. Injection of each sample was for 1 sec at -50 mbar. UV detection was employed with the wavelength set at 195 nm. The background electrolyte consisted of 65 mM borate, pH 12.0. Samples and standards were prepared in the run buffer containing 2 mg/mL of mannose as an internal standard. Under these conditions a test mixture containing glucose, sucrose, lactose, mannitol and mannose as an internal standard was resolved within 5 min. The method was used to determine the concentration of carbohydrates in heroin seizure samples and synthetic heroin samples. The results were in good agreement with the reported values.     

Normative Beliefs and Relational Aggression: An Investigation of the Cognitive Bases of Adolescent Aggressive Behavior

The relations between normative beliefs about different forms of aggression and corresponding aggressive behaviors were investigated in 2 studies of adolescents. In Study 1, we revised an instrument designed to assess normative beliefs about aggression to include beliefs about the acceptability of relational aggression, and we examined the psychometric properties of the instrument. In Studies 1 and 2, the unique associations of normative beliefs about relational and physical aggression with self-reported relational and physical aggression were examined. Findings across both studies revealed that beliefs-behavior associations were specific to aggression forms. In other words, beliefs about relational aggression were uniquely associated with engagement in relationally aggressive acts, whereas beliefs about physical aggression, but not relational aggression, contributed unique information about adolescents’ level of physical aggression. No gender effects were found. Results are discussed within a social-cognitive framework, and implications are explored for future prevention and intervention efforts to reduce aggressive behaviors.Assistant Professor in the Department of Human Development at Washington State University, Pullman, Washington. Dr Werner received her PhD from the University of Minnesota—Twin Cities Campus. Her research focuses on social-cognitive, peer, and family relationship correlates of relational and physical aggression.Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, Pennsylvania. Dr Nixon received her PhD at West Virginia University. Her primary research interests include prevention and intervention of relational aggression and program evaluation.     

Position paper on fatal abusive head injuries in infants and young children

This article represents the work of the National Association of Medical Examiners Ad Hoc Committee on shaken baby syndrome. Abusive head injuries include injuries caused by shaking as well as impact to the head, either by directly striking the head or by causing the head to strike another object or surface. Because of anatomic and developmental differences in the brain and skull of the young child, the mechanisms and types of injuries that affect the head differ from those that affect the older child or adult. The mechanism of injury produced by inflicted head injuries in these children is most often rotational movement of the brain within the cranial cavity. Rotational movement of the brain damages the nervous system by creating shearing forces, which cause diffuse axonal injury with disruption of axons and tearing of bridging veins, which causes subdural and subarachnoid hemorrhages, and is very commonly associated with retinal schisis and hemorrhages. Recognition of this mechanism of injury may be helpful in severe acute rotational brain injuries because it facilitates understanding of such clinical features as the decrease in the level of consciousness and respiratory distress seen in these injured children. The pathologic findings of subdural hemorrhage, subarachnoid hemorrhage, and retinal hemorrhages are offered as "markers" to assist in the recognition of the presence of shearing brain injury in young children.     

Combating terrorism by constraining charities? Charity and counter‐terrorism legislation before and after 9/11

How does counter‐terrorism legislation – enacted in democratic states – impact upon charities, intentionally or unintentionally? To address this question, we present a new analytical framework that allows us to compare, across established democracies, how charity legislation and counter‐terrorism legislation are connected, enabling us to assess how charities’ legal environments have changed since 9/11. Comparing legislation across six long‐lived democracies (the UK, US, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Ireland), we distinguish between three types of legislative connection: overlap, direct intersection and indirect intersection. These categories differ in terms of the visibility of the connection established between the two areas of law. As high‐profile reform exercises, both overlap and direct intersections have been predominantly introduced post‐9/11. But it is through indirect intersections that intensified post‐9/11 which are most vague and difficult to manoeuvre, that the day‐to‐day activities of charities are most likely to be affected, with important empirical and normative repercussions.