Melting Moments: The Future of Polar Oceans Governance in a Warming World

Climate change poses significant physical, ecological, social and economic challenges to environmental, human and national security in polar regions. From an oceans governance perspective, increased human access to formerly ice-covered areas, and the potential for increased activities such as fishing, shipping, tourism, bioprospecting, off-shore mining, and oil and gas exploration, present significant legal challenges. While the issues are not unique to polar areas, the geopolitical, geographical and physical characteristics of the polar regions provide a unique and demanding framework in which to identify and address jurisdictional issues and issues relating to the protection of polar marine environments. This article attempts to identify the legal challenges ahead and to provide preliminary observations as to how the polar oceans governance regime might develop in the future.     

The Ambiguities of Reconciliation and Responsibility in South Africa

This paper traces the ways in which the language of reconciliation promotes and detracts from responsibility. What it means to be responsible and to take responsibility is explored through a reading of J. M. Coetzee's novel, Disgrace . Coetzee provokes a nuanced examination of the nature of reconciliation and responsibility in post-apartheid South Africa, particularly how deep a moral transformation is needed and of whom it should be expected. The tensions between pro forma acknowledgement and deep moral transformation are examined with respect to the competing narratives of reconciliation and responsibility that took place during the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and afterwards in South African civil society. The paper concludes with a warning about the delicate balance between responsibility and vilification, reconciliation and denial.     

Parolee Perceptions of Case Management Practices during Reintegration

Researchers argue that the therapeutic alliance is a crucial ingredient for successful releasee treatment outcomes, and more recently in effective correctional treatment. Within the context of the criminal justice system, I illustrate the value of the therapeutic alliance in effective case management and in supporting desistance from crime for reintegrating parolees. The study involved in-depth, semistructured interviews with 56 high-risk/high-need federal male parolees and three parolee case studies. Releasees reported an appreciation for their relationship with their caseworker(s), which they described as supportive and without judgment. I argue this relationship reflects the social dimensions of responsivity and embodies the valued treatment components, optimized through a therapeutic alliance, that foster pathways to releasee reintegration. I conclude by discussing the role of therapeutic alliances in processes of and implications for effective correctional treatment.