Culture: Intervention or solidarity?

This article deals with certain themes concerning religion, culture, and development, in part to help to set the context for the rest of this edition. It considers the religious and/or cultural background of many Northern agencies and individuals, and its effect on their development agenda. Arguing that local cultural values define what development means, it looks at some of the cultural issues -- political and moral, thematic and practical -- which arise in North-South development interaction. It concludes that the history of intervention, whatever its motives, has been a sorry one. It is time to play a supporting role, as people in the South make development their own history.     

An Impact Velocity Device Design for Blood Spatter Pattern Generation with Considerations for High‐Speed Video Analysis,

A mechanical device that uses gravitational and spring compression forces to create spatter patterns of known impact velocities is presented and discussed. The custom‐made device uses either two or four springs (k₁ = 267.8 N/m, k₂ = 535.5 N/m) in parallel to create seventeen reproducible impact velocities between 2.1 and 4.0 m/s. The impactor is held at several known spring extensions using an electromagnet. Trigger inputs to the high‐speed video camera allow the user to control the magnet's release while capturing video footage simultaneously. A polycarbonate base is used to allow for simultaneous monitoring of the side and bottom views of the impact event. Twenty‐four patterns were created across the impact velocity range and analyzed using HemoSpat. Area of origin estimations fell within an acceptable range (ΔX_av = ?5.5 ± 1.9 cm, ΔY_av = ?2.6 ± 2.8 cm, ΔZ_av = +5.5 ± 3.8 cm), supporting distribution analysis for the use in research or bloodstain pattern training. This work provides a framework for those interested in developing a robust impact device.     

Books received

The Politics of Local Expenditure, K. Newton and T.J. Karran, Macmillan, 1985, pp. 165, £5.95 paperback.

Welfare Bureaucracies, David Billis, Heinemann, 1984, pp. 252, £11.50 paperback.

Paying for Welfare, Howard Glennerster, Black well, 1985, pp. xi + 273, £7.50.

School Governing Bodies, M. Kogan, D. Johnson, T. Packwood and T. Whitaker, Heinemann Educational Books, 1984, pp. 210, £18.50 hardback, £8.50 paperback.

Something in the Air, Andrew Blowers, Harper and Row, 1984, pp. 359, £6.95.

Controlling the Constable: Police Accountability in England and Wales, Tony Jefferson and Roger Grimshaw, Frederick Muller/The Cobden Trust, 1984, pp. 205, £18.95 hardback, £7.95 paperback.