Imagined more than women: lesbians as hermaphrodites, 1671-1766

In texts circulating in Britain in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, women who had sex with women were often denounced, mocked, and exiled from womanhood; one of the most common strategies was to call them hermaphrodites. There was constant slippage between concepts of sexual deviance at this time, but two ideas in particular – lesbian desire and hermaphroditical anatomy – became tightly bound into the figure of the tribade, a woman whose phallic ‘member’ (whether a prolapsed vagina or an enlarged clitoris) was thought to enable her to have penetrative intercourse with women. This essay follows the hermaphroditical tribade through children's compendia, gynaecological handbooks, neoclassical satires, love poems and anti-masturbation treatises. Though the writers were generally hostile, their debates over anatomy and motivation, and the tonal ambiguities in their treatment of these freakish heroines, make these texts rich sources for lesbian history.     

Measuring Innovation – Applying the Literature-Based Innovation Output Indicator to Public Services

Governments have been encouraging public service organizations to innovate. However, little is known about the extent of innovation in public service organizations. A private sector approach to the measurement of innovation - the literature-based innovation output indicator (LBIOI) - is applied to public service organizations to address this significant information gap. The method is described and then explored in one public service sector, English housing associations. A sample of 257 innovations is constructed and then subject to analysis. This initial testing of the LBIOI indicates that the approach can be applied across public services to create longitudinal data sets, which will enhance the communication of good practice and the use of evidence in public policy, management and research. This methodology is demonstrated to offer initial insights to public service innovation and would allow relationships to be explored notably innovation and performance, a relationship central to government's promotion of innovation.     

Ministerial responsibility and the Scottish Qualifications Agency

The Scottish Qualifications Agency (SQA) is charged with the task of overseeing school–based qualifications in Scotland. However, for the 2000 exam diet the SQA failed to produce either timely or accurate exam results. The events surrounding this failure, accompanied by the responsible minister's explanation of his own actions and inactions, brought to the fore issues of responsibility and accountability. The unresolved nature of accountability and responsibility within government, particularly in relation to non–departmental public bodies (NDPBs), became apparent as the inquiries into the SQA took evidence. Utilizing the SQA as a powerful example, this article explores the problematic structures of accountability and responsibility that exist between NDPBs and ministers.     

Non-violent Erotica: A Case Study in an Issue Network within the Australian Federal Parliament

The federal government's attempt to replace the X classification for videotapes with a Non-violent Erotica (NVE) classification category was rejected through the intervention of an issue network within the federal parliament. By assessing this process, we can see how individuals can form issue networks and successfully alter a policy proposal.     

Comparing the psychological characteristics of un-apprehended firesetters and non-firesetters living in the UK

Deliberate firesetting research predominantly focuses on apprehended populations. In contrast, this paper focuses on the prevalence and characteristics of un-apprehended firesetters living in the UK. Social media was utilized to recruit 232 participants for an online questionnaire. Two hundred and twenty-five people answered a question relating to deliberate firesetting. Forty participants (17.78%) indicated that they had ignited a deliberate fire and were classified as un-apprehended firesetters. Firesetting was most common in childhood and adolescence. Relative to non-firesetters, un-apprehended deliberate firesetters were more likely to report; a diagnoses of a psychiatric illness, a diagnosis of a behavioural problem, having been suspended from school, a history of suicide attempts, experimenting with fire before the age of 10 years old, and having a family member who also ignited a deliberate fire. Un-apprehended firesetters also scored significantly higher compared to non-firesetters on the Fire Setting Scale and the Fire Proclivity Scale [Gannon, T. A., & Barrowcliffe, E. R. (2012). Firesetting in the general population: The development and validation of the Fire Setting and Fire Proclivity Scales. Legal and Criminological Psychology, 17(1), 105–122], the Fire Interest Rating Scale [Murphy, G. H., & Clare, I. C. H. (1996). Analysis of motivation in people with mild learning disabilities (mental handicap) who set fires. Psychology, Crime & Law, 2(3), 153–164], the Novaco Anger Scale and Provocation Inventory [Novaco, R. W. (2003). The Novaco Anger Scale and Provocation Inventory: NAS-PI. Los Angeles, CA: Western Psychological Services], the Boredom Proneness Scale – Short Form [Vodanovich, S. J., Wallace, J. C., & Kass, S. J. (2005). A confirmatory approach to the factor structure of the Boredom Proneness Scale: Evidence for a two-factor short form. Journal of Personality Assessment, 85(3), 295–303], and the Measure of Criminal Attitudes and Associates Scale [Mills, J. F., & Kroner, D. G. (1999). Measures of criminal attitudes and associates: User guide. Unpublished instrument and user guide].     

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Comorbidity: Untangling the Gordian Knot

The high rates of psychiatric comorbidity for individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have long been noted. The conceptual, clinical and aetiological relationships between PTSD and other disorders are so interwoven and multi-determined that understanding and treating posttraumatic psychopathology can feel like trying to untangle the legendary Gordian knot. This paper examines the varying streams of research seeking to better understand this extensive comorbidity. These streams of research include examination of the bi-directional relationships in the development of PTSD and key mood, anxiety and substance use disorders; the study of the shared manifest and common higher order features across these disorders and investigations of underlying biopsychosocial vulnerabilities. Finally, the paper examines the preliminary findings emerging using the new DSM-5 criteria for PTSD and queries whether these revised criteria will address the issue of comorbidity and assist in untangling the knot of posttraumatic comorbidity.