A comprehensive approach to providing services to survivors of sexual and gender-based violence in Democratic Republic of Congo: addressing more than physical trauma

ABSTRACT

The eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is impacted by a prolonged conflict and humanitarian crisis. Sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) affects an estimated 39.7% of women and 23.6% of men in the region, and is associated with serious medical, psychological, and socio-economic outcomes for survivors and communities. IMA World Health, a faith-based non-profit organisation, implements a USAID-funded project, Ushindi, which is a collaborative effort with three national NGOs and one technical partner in response to SGBV in eastern DRC. The consortium provides a comprehensive package of services to SGBV survivors, focusing on medical, emotional, psychological, legal, and socio-economic needs.     

What shall I do now? Released offenders' expectations for supervision upon release

In an outcome evaluation of recovering addicts who participated in a prison-based therapeutic community, 39 clients (a nonrandomized subsample) were interviewed about their rehabilitation and reintegration experience. The study focused on participants' perceptions of how essential the continuum of treatment and supervision after release was. Whereas many studies have shown that participating in prison-based drug treatment programs reduces likelihood of recidivism, clients in this study suggested that other factors might be equally important-in particular, the importance of the continuum of treatment after release and/or being supervised in the community. Findings are discussed in regard to inmates' expectations, confusion upon release, and formal support mechanisms; suggestions for further research are made.     

The Totemic Authority of the Court

This article examines the place of the court within civil religion. It is argued that every civil religion is rooted in a magical anchor that in contemporary democratic civil religions is provided by the court. While in most institutions of civil religion totemic authority is represented, in court it is present. Therefore, court proceedings are occurrences of magic: they are performances (rituals and ceremonies) during which the sacred Thing is present. In court, the law itself and the clerical community to which it was entrusted assume the characteristics of the sacred Thing. The law appears under two facets: on the one hand, it is a norm and a word while, on the other hand, it is a Thing devoid of meaning and reason. Formalism is a magical mode of thinking that treats law as a timeless and meaningless Thing. In the course of the argument, the distinctions between ceremony and ritual, between social structure and communitas, and between religion and magic are reformulated, and the concepts of zone of familiarity and clerical community are laid out in a nutshell. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Robust satisficing voting: why are uncertain voters biased towards sincerity?

The modern theory of voting usually regards voters as expected utility maximizers. This implies that voters define subjective probabilities and utilities for different outcomes of the elections. In real life, these probabilities and utilities are often highly uncertain, so a robust choice, immune to erroneous assumptions, may be preferred. We show that a voter aiming to satisfice his expected utility, rather than maximize it, may present a bias for sincere voting, as opposed to strategic voting. This may explain previous results which show that strategic voting is not as prevalent as would be expected if all voters were expected utility maximizers.     

Contribution and collaboration in joint authorship: too many misconceptions

Legal context: This Article examines the requirements of collaborationand contribution in joint authorship. It discusses the mainUK case law and provides a comparative assessment of the requirementsin the US and Canada. Key points: The author identifies and examines misconceptionssurrounding the definition of joint authorship; the nature ofthe requirements of collaboration and contribution; the confusionwithin the definition of what amounts to sufficient contribution.The author asserts that joint authorship cannot be determinedby using similar conceptions applicable to individual authorship.At the heart of the argument is the belief that the unavoidableresult of the present definition of joint authorship is denialof reward for authors and artists. Practical significance: This Article argues that the rules ofjoint authorship, as presently configured, do not recognizeintellectual input that should be recognized. The Article defendsthe proposition that this has far-reaching effects on the creativeprocess. It discourages authors from creating or contributingvaluable materials to other authors. More importantly, the flawsinherent in the present definitions of collaboration and contributionin joint authorship contradict the aims of our copyright systemthrough the denial of authorial contributions and withholdingof reward from authors.     

Cosmopolitan Patriotism as a Civic Ideal

Recent theoretical debates have questioned the compatibility of patriotism with global political responsibilities, as identified by cosmopolitan theory. In response, several authors claim that a cosmopolitan patriotism is both possible and desirable. In this article, we propose two desiderata for cosmopolitan patriotism as a civic ideal, which existing accounts fail to meet. First, arguments for cosmopolitan patriotism should provide an account of collective identification, supporting the relation between the actions of one's country and one's appropriate reactive attitudes. Second, such a theory should be able to explain the patriot's commitment to critical engagement with her country's actions. We then offer a critical appraisal of two accounts linking patriotism with global responsibility—Permissible Partialism and Globally Responsible Nationalism—-and demonstrate how they fall short. Finally, we propose an account of civic republican patriotism, which better explains how cosmopolitanism and patriotism can be brought together.     

Stereotypical Knowledge and Age in Relation to Prediction of Public Support for Rehabilitation: Data from Taiwan

Studying public attitudes toward rehabilitation is not a new phenomenon. However, not much research is available on this topic from Asian countries. The present study explores public attitudes among Taiwanese people toward rehabilitation efforts in general, and the Rehabilitation and Protection Act (RPA) in particular. Using a sample of N?=?333, we asked Taiwanese residents age d18 and older about their support for the RPA, and their support for rehabilitation initiatives for three types of criminals: drug offenders, violent offenders, and sex offenders. Using a univariate model, we found that only two variables??age and stereotypical knowledge??had a statistically significant effect on whether an individual supported rehabilitation initiatives. Findings also indicate overwhelming support for the RPA and rehabilitation in general. We discuss these findings in a cultural context, and make recommendations for future research.     

Liberal nationalism,immigration, and the problem of multiple national identities

ABSTRACT

Critics and defenders of liberal nationalism often debate whether the nation-state is able to accommodate cultural and political pluralism, as it necessarily aspires for congruence between state and nation. In this article, I argue that both sides of the debate have neglected a second homogenising assumption of nationalism. Even if it is possible for the nation-building state to accommodate multiple political and cultural communities, it is not obvious that is possible or desirable for it to accommodate individuals belonging to more than one nation. With the rise of international migration, and the growing number of multinational individuals, this flaw is a serious one. I advance an internal critique of liberal nationalism to demonstrate that, from within its own logic, this theory must either reject multiple national identities, or accommodate them at the cost of the normative justifications of nationalism it provides. By analysing David Miller’s influential analysis of national identity in divided societies, I demonstrate how this framework is unable to support an accepting attitude towards multiple national identities.     

Iran days in Egypt: Mosaddeq's Visit to Cairo in 1951

During Mohammad Mosaddeq’s tenure as the Iranian Prime Minister, the struggles for de-colonization took shape vis-à-vis the old superpowers, Britain and France, in Iran and the rest of the Middle East. Following the nationalization of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, Mohammad Mosaddeq became the first Middle Eastern Muslim leader that overcame Britain, albeit temporarily. Mosaddeq paid a price, overthrown in 1953 in an American and British-backed coup, but his struggle aroused interest around the world and received different interpretations, depending on the location. This article examines the way Mosaddeq was perceived in Egypt, where he visited in November 1951 for a highly significant four-day visit. The article examines the evolution of the anti-colonial struggle in Egypt and the emergence of a new vernacular framing of the struggles in the Middle East in one context.     

Electoral Confidence,Overconfidence, and Risky Behavior: Evidence from a Study with Elected Politicians

Political Behavior - Democratic theory makes strong assumptions about the relationship between politicians’ likelihood of retaining office and their behavior in office. Specifically,...