Female Autonomy,Social Norms and Intimate Partner Violence against Women in Turkey

The theoretical literature asserts that intimate partner violence against women stems from inequalities within the relationship, and it strengthens both male power and control, and female subordination. Using Structural Equation Modelling, this paper addresses the two-way relationship between intimate partner violence and female autonomy in Turkey. Consistent with the theory, we find that (1) violence has a significant and negative effect on female autonomy; and (2) the incidence of violence decreases with the level of female autonomy. We also find that intimate partner violence is an increasing function of the strength of men’s commitment to social norms upholding traditional gender roles.     

There is no free lunch: Unintended effects of the new military retirement system

In June 1986, the new Military Retirement Reform Act was signed into law with the intention of saving $2.9 billion in the 1986 accrual funding of the military retirement budget. This article provides an analysis of the potential effects of the new policy on personnel retention. It concludes that the losses of personnel due to the new retirement system are likely to be much larger than expected, the proportion of higher-quality personnel is likely to be reduced, and policies that can moderate these effects would dilute the intended future cost savings.     

Deaths among homeless people in Istanbul

The number of the homeless people in Istanbul, one of the largest cities in the world, is at present unknown. There has been no previous study in Turkey on cases and causes of death occurring among these individuals. In this paper, documents and autopsy reports of the Mortuary Section of the Council of Forensic Medicine, Istanbul, covering the period January 1st, 1991-December 31st, 1995, were reviewed. We established that there were 126 cases of death among homeless individuals in Istanbul during this period, 120 of them being males (95%), four (3%) females, and two (2%) transsexuals. Ninety-four corpses were found outdoors, 32 indoors. No personal documents, such as identity cards, were found in 110 individuals (87%), whereas only 16 individuals could be identified. Most deaths occurred in the age group of 41-50 years. One hundred and three of the cases (82%) died in the cold season between October and April. The deaths of 98 cases were attributable to natural causes, whereas the remaining 28 cases died from unnatural causes. Respiratory tract diseases occupied the first rank among cases of death from natural causes (44%). Alcohol abuse and other infections were further striking factors contributing to the fatal outcome. This is the first retrospective study on this topic in Turkey. However, more detailed and anterospectively programmed studies on this subject, a growing social problem, should be carried out.     

Recreating the Third World Project: possibilities through the Fourth World

Abstract

In this paper, we make a theoretical argument that the Third World be returned to its political origins to inspire an updated Third World Project (TWP), revived as a global movement for progressive, anti-imperialist forces, through the Fourth World movement, which highlights internal colonialism. Both the TWP and the United Nations recognise only nation states as full members. We examine how a Third World strategy that brings in the Fourth World, or indigenous, minority and/or stateless groups, can help oppressed groups gain more autonomy and rights through a transnational solidarity rooted in empathy. We trace the intellectual roots and history of the TWP and consider obstacles in bringing together the TWP and the Fourth World movement. A Fourth World strategy corrects the TWP’s implicit approval of an underlying imperialism, and the TWP provides the Fourth World movement a model to accomplish its goal of resisting uncritical modernity.     

Use of Autopsy to Determine Live or Stillbirth: New Approaches in Decision‐support Systems

Fetal deaths are important cases for forensic medicine, as well as for criminal and civil law. From a legal perspective, the determination of whether a deceased infant was stillborn is a difficult process. Such a determination is generally made during autopsy; however, no standardized procedures for this determination exist. Therefore, new facilitative approaches are needed. In this study, three new support systems based on 10 autopsy parameters were tested for their ability to correctly determine whether deceased infants were alive or stillborn. Performances were analyzed and compared with one another. The artificial neural networks and radial basis function network models had 90% accuracy (the highest among the models tested), 100% sensitivity, and 83.3% specificity. Thus, the models presented here provide additional insights for future studies concerning infant autopsies.     

Injuries of the female genitalia in cases of sexual assault

Sexual violence is a global problem that particularly affects women and children. A retrospective analysis of 390 clinical-forensic examinations and 120 autopsies regarding injuries of the female genitalia in cases of sexual violence was performed. In the majority of cases no injuries of the female genitalia were found. Autopsy cases showed significantly more (and more serious) injuries of the genitalia than clinical forensic examinations (43 % vs. 25 %; p = 0.0004). Predominantly found were injuries of the external anogenital area, mostly tears or soft tissue lesions. In the current literature, data regarding the rate of injuries in victims of sexual violence vary strongly and their comparability is limited. Regarding the reconstruction of an offence, a forensic examination with an appropriate documentation of the injuries is evidently crucial.     

Preliminary validation of the Child Abuse Potential Inventory in Turkey

This study aims to provide preliminary findings on the validity of Child Abuse Potential Inventory (CAP Inventory) on Turkish sample of 23 abuser and 47 nonabuser parents. To investigate validity in two groups, Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) Psychopathic Deviate (MMPI-PD) scale is also used along with CAP. The results show that, with the 200.5 cutoff point, which is the average score of the whole Turkish sample, Abuse Scale correctly classified 83% of the participants in the abuse group and 78.8% of the participants in the control group, which gives 21.2% false-positive result. MMPI-PD to all group and Pearson correlation coefficient analysis is found to be significant for both groups. These results show us high reliability and validity of the abuse scale for Turkey.     

Mole guns in Turkey in 2003-2005

This study describes the frequency of mole guns in Turkey by examining the cases sent to the Council of Forensic Medicine of Turkey between 2003 and 2005. In total, 11 mole guns were examined. Mole guns are manufactured to be used as a trap against detrimental animals. Although they are not meant to be used as a firearm, they are able to cause death. Mole guns appearing in regular casework were evaluated in terms of type of the gun, number of barrels, size and caliber, rifling, design, mechanism, fitness for use, legality, and geographical distribution. Ninety-one percent of the guns were 12 gauge. Most commonly they originate from Inner Anatolia. Mole guns are typically handmade. Some examples of injuries and deaths caused by mole guns are also offered.     

Handmade Guns in Trabzon, Turkey

Abstract:  A wide variety of handmade firearms have been involved in criminal cases in the city of Trabzon, Turkey. Although they are often very similar to commercially manufactured firearms in terms of design, loading and locking mechanisms, and cocking and firing arrangements, these guns are constructed from cheap materials and are not safe for firing. Handmade firearms manufactured in the Black Sea region of Turkey, particularly in the city of Trabzon, are similar to pistols manufactured by Browning, Luger, Star, Smith and Wesson, Berretta, and MAB. A total of 201 handmade guns referred to the Criminal Police Laboratories for examination from 2003 to 2005 were evaluated with respect to type, number of barrels, size and caliber, rifling, design, mechanism, operability, legality, and similarity to commercial models. We found that most of these handmade guns resembled commercial models in several aspects.