Breaking the silence. Family ties and social networks of the deaf. A case study of East Flanders,Belgium, 1750–1950

In this article the social networks and family ties of a pre-industrial (married and/or died between 1770 and 1850) and industrial (married and/or died between 1850 and 1950) cohort of deaf men and women are compared to each other and to a cohort of non-disabled siblings. The aim is to assess the extent to which the deaf participated in a full-fledged manner in family and social life and to evaluate the ways in which their social networks changed as a result of nineteenth-century industrialisation processes. The extent of social integration is deduced from the profile of the witnesses registered in marriage and death certificates. In the absence of personal testimonies of social experiences, demographic sources are invaluable for providing a glimpse of the everyday social life of ordinary people in the past. In combination with historical records identifying disabled individuals, this research is a first attempt to study the social opportunities of an up-until-now often forgotten, but nevertheless integral part of society: the disabled. Based on the analysis of the witnesses, this article argues that in the course of the nineteenth century deaf individuals became less embedded in their social environment and their relationship with their family weakened. The minority of married deaf persons, however, expressed a much higher connectedness with family.     

Transitions in women's and children's work patterns and implications for the study of family income and household structure: A case study from the Catalan textile sector (1850–1925)

This article deals with the outcomes of changes in the family labor resource allocation for family incomes and household structures. During the first stage of the demographic transition, since women worked more than men due to child bearing and child rearing, and children were the main contributors to household incomes over the medium term, there was a substitution effect whereby women 's wage labor was replaced by that of the children. With the beginning of the second industrial revolution, a contrary trend can be observed whereby child labor was replaced by that of married women, even by those reported as housewives in the Municipal Census. A smaller number of children, mandatory schooling, and an improvement of women 's position within the factory with respect to men, all seem to explain this second substitution. As a result of all these transformations, household structures and family incomes do not conform to any pre-established norms and integrate what we have defined as a family economy of mutual assistance.     

The role of the Portuguese parliament based on a case study: The discussion of the budget, 1983–95

Barely studied, the Portuguese parliament is a young institution which has undergone numerous and deep changes in its first 20 years of democratic existence. This article looks into those changes during a fundamental period of Portuguese political life: from 1983 to 1995, after the so‐called transition to democracy, in the years that Portugal became a member of the European Union and in the period that saw the occurrence (and repetition) of an absolute majority. To understand the changes in parliament's role, a case study has been chosen: the consideration of the budget bill. This article is based on three main aspects: procedural rules, debate styles and votes. The analysis of the budget discussions shows how the Portuguese parliament has undergone a strong rationalisation process, as well as a change in the role of parliamentarians; from a loss of decisional power, the parliamentarians found new ways of exercising influence in Portuguese politics. The votes on the budget bill and its amendments are an excellent indicator of the role of parliament in policy making, showing a very strong institution in the years preceding the absolute majority. Simultaneously, the votes are also revealing of the determinant position, during the IVth legislature, of the short‐lived Renewal Democratic Party (PRD). Finally, this article looks at data showing the existence of stronger links between Portuguese MPs and their constituencies than is generally expected.     

A comparative study of British and German press articles on ‘organised crime’ (1999–2009)

Organised crime is the topic of many popular fiction teledramas and films, such as The Sopranos, The Godfather and Goodfellas. The relationship between fiction and fact is delicate. We argue that the same can be said for the influence of the press. How far does the press construct, rather than objectively recount an image of organised crime? We extracted 389 British and German articles from national newspapers that reported organised crime between 1999 and 2009, from the Lexis Nexis (now Nexis UK) database and the online archives of a number of German newspapers. We then analysed them using quantitative and qualitative methods of textual analysis. In this article, we analyse the British and German press discourses on organised crime between 1999 and 2009, to identify their rhetoric and compare their reporting. To do this, we will 1) define terms and explain our methodology; 2) provide a general overview of statistics; 3) provide two specific analyses of reporting of organised crime and 4) discuss our findings.     

Geographic proximity and university–industry interaction: the case of Mexico

This paper analyses whether geographic proximity favours specific channels of university–industry interaction when firms collaborate with universities and with government research centres. Our study also provides insights regarding the relationship between the associated channel and the role of firms’ absorptive capacities. Our results show that firms with higher levels of absorptive capacities tend to interact more independently of their location. Additionally, interaction with non-local universities generally includes the transfer of codified forms of knowledge, while links with local universities includes more tacit forms of knowledge. Policy implications derived from this analysis focus on fostering interaction at local and non-local levels.     

Migration and work in the Alps (17th–18th centuries): Family strategies,kinship, and clientelism

Outmigration from the Alps is traditionally attributed to the hardship of life and to the lack of employment. The article questions such assumptions and proposes a different relationship between working conditions and migrations. Focusing on the eighteenth century, it examines three economically diverse Alpine regions and shows that behind the apparent diversity, there are common features to the ways families do or do not choose between working in the village or elsewhere. Analyses of family networks have to be performed in terms of the distribution of power within communities. The existence and reproduction of family networks, as well as the ability of individuals and families to develop strategies, are unequally distributed among social groups, and this has to be noted in the examination of decisions about migration.     

Picking up the pace – legal slowness and the authority of the judiciary in the acceleration society (a Dutch case study)

This paper inquires into the nature of the crisis haunting the judiciary in our contemporary society. Drawing upon the work of Hartmut Rosa, it is stated that our society is an acceleration society and that this puts the judiciary under great pressure. The resulting crisis is twofold since it is both of an organizational and fundamental nature. The focus of this paper is on the – in our view – underexposed latter crisis because of its effect on the very core of the judiciary, namely the legitimacy and authority. The judiciary is confronted with the demand to speed up, whereas the nature of the legal system seems to reject an accelerated tempo and even needs a certain degree of slowness to communicate its accuracy. It is not just the process of acceleration that erodes or at least changes the authority of the judiciary but it concerns a complex interplay of expectations induced by acceleration, both externally by justice seeking citizens and internally by the judiciary’s own management and politics, and how these expectations are met, or not. This is illustrated by a case study on the position of the Dutch judiciary, but holds true for other national and international adjudication as well.     

Women’s age at last childbearing and its determinants: a case study of Antwerp (Flanders,Belgium) on the basis of the multi-source COR* historical sample

Declines in the age at last childbearing in the first demographic transition reflected conscious changes in fertility behaviour during that period, in particular efforts to limit the total number of children. Such fertility limitation behaviour was the net result of ‘cultural causal factors’ on the one hand and ‘structural and economic causal factors’ on the other hand. This paper analyses the evolution of women’s age at last childbearing by reconstructing women’s life histories based on data from the multi-source COR* historical sample for Antwerp in the period 1846–1920. The paper also assesses the causes of this evolution through a number of theoretically grounded structural/economic, cultural and life course determinants, placing these concepts in a macro-micro framework of methodological individualism. For this purpose, in the first place a Kaplan-Meier analysis is applied to 10-year birth cohorts; a proportional hazard model is also applied to three different birth cohorts (mothers born before 1840; born in the period 1840–1859; and born after 1860); and a range of cultural and life course determinants are analysed, including women’s literacy status, marriage witness characteristics, the seasonality of marriages and births, and birth histories. The analysis confirms the decline in the age at last childbearing especially in the late cohort, and also highlights inter-cohort differences caused by cultural and life course determinants.     

How Chinese e-public feel and think about corruption: A case study of Audit Storm (Shenji fengbao – – Part I)

Corruption is pervasive, rampant, enduring, and above all else a tolerated and taken for granted social problem in China. Still, corruption is a major concern for the political leaders, general public and foreign observers. Foreigners complained about the corruption cost of doing business in China. Students took to the street and peasants staged violent protest against government corruption. The consensus is that corruption challenges CPC's legitimacy and threatens China's stability.A systematic review of literature uncovers no investigation on the Chinese people's reception and reaction to the corruption, in the net. This is a first attempt to do so.This is a research into the “feelings” and “thinking” of Chinese internet users (e-public) on (anti)corruption in China. Specially, it tries to document and analyze the comments – reaction of the e-public to news articles on various aspects of “Audit Storm” in June–July of 2004.     

A study on the concentrations of 11-nor-Δ(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol-9-carboxylic acid (THCCOOH) in hair root and whole hair

In this study, we investigated the patterns of cannabis users (n=412) according to their sex, age, and the results of urinalysis and hair analysis, and classified the concentrations of THCCOOH in hair into three categories to examine the levels of cannabis use. We also compared the concentrations of THCCOOH in hair root, hair without the hair root and whole hair and examined the relationship among them according to the results of urinalysis. The hair samples were washed, digested with 1ml of 1M NaOH at 85°C for 30min and extracted with 2ml of n-hexane:ethyl acetate (9:1) two times after adding 1ml of 0.1N sodium acetate buffer (pH 4.5) and 200μl of acetic acid. The final mixture was derivatized with 50μl of PFPA and 25μl of PFPOH for 30min at 70°C. The solution was evaporated, and the residue was reconstituted in 40μl of ethyl acetate and transferred to an autosampler vial. One microlitre was injected into the GC/MS/MS-NCI system. The concentrations of THCCOOH ranged from 0.06 to 33.44pg/mg (mean 2.96; median 1.32) in hair from cannabis users who had positive urine results and ranged from 0.05 to 7.24pg/mg (mean 1.35; median 0.37) in hair from cannabis users who had negative urine results. The average concentration of THCCOOH in hair from cannabis users who had positive urine results was higher than that from cannabis users who had negative urine results. Male cannabis users in their forties were predominant. We classified the concentrations of THCCOOH in hair into three groups (low, medium and high), and could use the grouping of THCCOOH in hair as a guide for determining the level of use. The low, medium and high concentration ranges for THCCOOH in hair were 0.05-0.24, 0.25-2.60 and 2.63-33.44pg/mg, respectively. We also investigated 28 hair samples with the root. The highest concentrations of THCCOOH were seen in the hair root from 18 out of the 28 hair samples. The average concentrations of THCCOOH in hair root, hair without hair root and whole hair from cannabis users who had positive urine results were higher than those who had negative urine results.     

Optimal environment-friendly economic restructuring: the United States–China cooperation case study

This paper discusses a model for the restructuring of national economies for the purpose of achieving optimal growth under conditions of decreased energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. The discussion combines input–output and factorial-decomposition models, and applies projected gradient and factor analysis to find the optimal structural changes that serve all three goals. A comparative analysis of the economies of the United States and China, including opportunities for cooperative restructuring, serves as a case study.     

Collective efficacy and arson: the case of Malmö

The burning of cars and containers during social unrest has become a topic of both scholarly and public interest in Sweden over the past decade. Studies have suggested that social disorganization theory, or its modern expression collective efficacy, may be important for explaining why some neighbourhoods experience elevated levels of arson and unrest while others do not. To date, no study has explicitly studied the link between arson and collective efficacy at the neighbourhood level. The present study attempts to fill this gap by analysing the association between arson and collective efficacy in the city of Malmö, Sweden. Collective efficacy data from 96 neighbourhoods were collected in 2012 in the Malmö Community Survey (N = 4051). Arson data were collected from the rescue services, which employ GPS-receivers to accurately record the location of incidents. Regression models were fitted for arson, controlling for concentrated disadvantage, ethnic heterogeneity and residential stability. Results show no significant link between collective efficacy and arson following appropriate controls. This suggests that arson may depend on mechanisms other than collective efficacy, at least at the neighbourhood level. Future research may need to focus on alternative theoretical explanations such as strain, or on other levels of analysis than neighbourhoods.     

The role of justice in the North–South conflict in climate change: the case of negotiations on the Adaptation Fund

Justice, by and large, implies greater legitimacy and can persuade parties with conflicting interests to cooperate more closely on collective actions. Therefore, the aim of this article is to investigate the role that ethical arguments have played in restoring mutual trust between the developed and the developing countries in negotiations on the Kyoto Protocol Adaptation Fund and in transforming the patent failure of the Subsidiary Body for Implementation Bonn May 2006 meetings on its management into the encouraging success of the Nairobi December 2006 round. These meetings are analysed from the perspectives of procedural and distributive justice in order to interpret the negotiating dynamics and their outcomes. More specifically, procedural and distributive justice are, respectively, sought in the Bonn and Nairobi formal meetings through reference to, and the emergence of, principles and criteria of participation, recognition and distribution of power among Parties, and of Parties’ responsibility for, and vulnerability to, climate impacts.     

Ever-increasing circles: A descriptive study of Hampshire and Thames Valley Circles of Support and Accountability 2002–09

Abstract

This paper gives a history of Hampshire and Thames Valley (HTV) Circles, an organisation which recruits, trains and supports volunteer members of the public who are formed into small groups meeting weekly to provide support and monitoring of post-conviction sex offenders (Core Members) in the community. It describes the origins of Circles of Support and Accountability in Canada and gives an account of its implementation in the UK and a summary of the findings of the previous study of the first 16 HTV Circles Core Members in 2006 and some discussion about the challenges inherent in evaluating this kind of community-based and volunteer-led intervention. It describes demographic data on 60 Core Members followed-up for an average period of 36.2 months, including offence and sentence category, treatment history and statistically assessed risk of reconviction. It provides evidence of progress by these Core Members across a range of dynamic risk factors, as well as information on sexual reconviction, recall to prison and dropout from Circles. Three case studies provide details of Circles practice in community risk management of sex offenders. The paper discusses proposed areas of further research into Circles work, as well as the development of new techniques for measuring and managing dynamic risk factors displayed by Core Members in the community.     

Complaints of group-stalking (‘gang-stalking’): an exploratory study of their nature and impact on complainants

Stalking primarily concerns the actions of individuals. However, some victims report stalking by organised groups, this being known as ‘group-’ or ‘gang-stalking’. This phenomenon has not been subject to systematic study. An anonymous questionnaire was completed online by self-defined victims of stalking. One thousand and forty respondents met research definitions for stalking, of which 128 (12.3%) reported group-stalking. One hundred and twenty-eight individually stalked cases were randomly selected as a comparison group. All cases of reported group-stalking were found likely to be delusional, compared with 3.9% of individually stalked cases. There were highly significant differences between the two groups on most parameters examined. The group-stalked scored more highly on depressive symptoms, post-traumatic symptomatology and adverse impact on social and occupational functioning. Group-stalking appears to be delusional in basis, but complainants suffer marked psychological and practical sequelae. This is important in assessment of risk in stalking cases, early referral to psychiatric services and allocation of police resources.     

A comparative study on the concentrations of 11-nor-Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol-9-carboxylic acid (THCCOOH) in head and pubic hair

In this study, the concentrations of 11-nor-Δ(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol-9-carboxylic acid (THCCOOH) in pubic, axillary and beard hair were measured and the correlation between the concentrations of THCCOOH in head and pubic hair from same cannabis users were evaluated. The papers on body hair analysis for THCCOOH were rarely found although police officers submit body hair as a complimentary specimen to forensic laboratories in case cannabis users had no hair. Head, pubic, axillary, and beard hair were collected. All hair samples were cut into 0.5mm segments and decontaminated with methanol, digested with 1 mL of 1M NaOH at 85 °C for 30 min and extracted in 2 mL of n-hexane:ethyl acetate (9:1) two times after adding 1 mL of 0.1N sodium acetate buffer (pH = 4.5) and 200 μL of acetic acid followed by derivatization with 50 μL of PFPA and 25 μL of PFPOH for 30 min at 70 °C. The extracts were analyzed using gas chromatography tandem mass spectrometry operating in negative chemical ionization mode (GC/MS/MS-NCI). We determined the concentrations of THCCOOH in both pubic and head hair. The concentrations of THCCOOH in pubic hair were higher than those in head hair. We also evaluated the concentrations of THCCOOH in body hair (pubic, axillary and beard hair) and head hair according to the positive/negative urine test results. There was no statistically significant difference in the concentrations of THCCOOH in head and body hair according to urine results.     

Absolutism and the ‘rule of law’ in Denmark 1660–c. 1750

With the introduction of absolutism in Denmark, the country became one of the two most absolute monarchies in Europe. The question arises whether the concept of the ‘rule of law’ was compatible with absolutism, or whether it was totally contrary to this form of government. Through an analysis of the criteria central to the concept of the ‘rule of law’, for example, the public proclamation of laws, the independence of the courts, predictable proceedings, the right of appeal, due care, legal aid, promptness of legal proceedings etc., and evidence of practice from public records, the present article concludes that although the ‘rule of law’ was fragile, as it depended on the absolute king's mercy, there was an ideal among the ruling elite that the ‘rule of law’ ought to be respected, and the rural and urban population trusted the system.     

English Matrimonial Law on the Eve of Reform (1828–57)

The ecclesiastical courts, which until 1857 administered English matrimonial law, could not dissolve marriages, but they had important powers, including the power to decree a permanent separation, to order payment of alimony, to make an order for restitution of conjugal rights, and to annul a marriage on certain restricted grounds. The work of these courts deserves attention: though the amount of litigation was, by later standards, comparatively small, this is not a reliable indication that the influence of the law was slight; moreover, the ecclesiastical courts often showed considerable sympathy with the interests of women, inclining to some extent in their favour on several important points of law and practice.     

Researcher–practitioner partnerships and crime analysis: a case study in action research

This paper describes a recent researcher–practitioner partnership designed to address the challenges faced by law enforcement agencies when implementing crime control and prevention strategies. Using an action research methodology, the project embedded a group of trained students within the law enforcement community to assist with local crime problems and supplement existing crime analysis and research capabilities in six agency units. Results of this case study offer several implications for future researcher–practitioner partnerships focused on crime analysis and present an enhanced set of metrics for evaluating success.     

“Demystifying” the police: a participant observation study of police stops (and searches)

Police are empowered by law to stop and search vehicles and their occupants, once reasonable grounds for suspicion come into being. However, as attested by this study, not all suspicions are followed up, nor all stops-searches follow on suspicions. Police stops-searches involve bounteous discretion of whom, where, and when to stop-search, and this process entails a long chain of judgments and actions on behalf of the constables faced with given street-level situations. A six-month complete participant observation study of the Emergency Response Unit of the Cyprus Police resulted in asserting that police stops-searches of vehicles and their occupants rest upon multiple, perplexed, and intertwined factors that range from racial predilections to heat tolerance levels of constables who may or may not be inclined to enforce the law. In all, over one hundred dimensions were found to relate to constables’ decision-making process on whether to conduct a stop-search or not.