Worth a Thousand Words: The Unwritten History of Law as a Jurisprudence of Text and Pictures

International Journal for the Semiotics of Law - Revue internationale de Sémiotique juridique -     

Urban infant mortality and religion at the end of the nineteenth and in the early twentieth century: the case of Ekaterinburg,Russia

Modern demographers analyse regional and other infant mortality differentials as important factors behind the current life expectancy of Russian citizens. Historically, however, the Russian Empire is simply displayed as one block with high infant mortality rates. Also with respect to cultural background factors, Russia is often perceived as religiously homogeneous with the Orthodox Church dominating the country. In reality, Russia has a long history of coexisting religious traditions. This includes both provinces with a majority of Catholics, Muslims, Buddhists or shamanistic populations as well as territories characterized by religious diversity and significant minority religions. Our project studies minority religious groups in the Urals, a province by the Ural Mountains stretching into Asia. While no territory can claim to be truly representative of this mega-country, we believe that this centrally located province is well suited to show some of the Russian variety, including differential infant mortality among the followers of minority religions, which is the topic of this article. We employ church record microdata to study Catholics, Jews and Old Believers in the main metal-producing city of Ekaterinburg.     

Climate Change Litigation in Canada and the USA

This article examines the growing phenomenon of climate change litigation in the USA and Canada. It explores the expanding context in which this litigation is occurring and highlights key successes and failures of these actions. In the absence of a comprehensive federal framework in both countries, the article shows how litigation is being used by claimants to attempt to require government action in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and to force private entities to do the same and to pay damages. Whether a piecemeal approach to climate change engendered through litigation can provide a solution to this global issue remains to be seen.     

Partner Assaultive Men and the Stages and Processes of Change

Researchers have recently suggested that the Transtheoretical Model of behavior change (TTM; Prochaska, J. O. DiClemente, C. C., and Norcross, J. C., 1992, Am. Psychol. 47: 1102–1114) might help in understanding the mechanisms through which partner assaultive men attempt to change their abusive behavior. In the present study, we present data from 2 psychometrically sound scales designed to assess the stages and processes of change in a cross-sectional sample of 250 men attending 2 batterer's intervention and prevention programs: the University of Rhode Island Change Assessment Scale for Domestic Violence (URICA-DV; Levesque, D. A., Gelles, R. J., and Velicer, W. F., 2000, Cog. Therapy Res. 24: 175–200), which assesses movement through the stages of change, and the Processes of Change Scale (POC), developed by the authors to assess self-reported usage of behavior change processes. Cross-validated cluster analyses indicated a three-cluster solution based upon URICA-DV scores: Immotive, Unprepared Action, and Preparticipation. Results indicated that individuals in more advanced stages of change reported using more behavior change processes, although this did not appear to result from being in treatment for a longer period of time. These data are interpreted in light of recent data indicating relatively small effect sizes for batterer's treatment programs and how assessment of the stages and processes of change might assist in matching men to different levels of treatment.     

Police discretion: Relations of experience to officers' beliefs and arrest decisions

Questionnaires to assess generalized beliefs about people and factors associated with arrest decisions were completed by police officers. Responses to the Philosophies of Human Nature Scale (Wrightsman, 1974) and to statements about law enforcement and arrest decisions indicated divergent beliefs and interpretations associated with different amounts of experience in the police role. Results are discussed in terms of socialization pressures on officers, and a broader perspective to understand the dynamics of that socialization is proposed.     

What Hat Do I Wear Now?: An Examination of Agency Roles in Collaborative Processes

As collaborative approaches to resolving public disputes become more prevalent, agency officials are finding themselves in unfamiliar terrain. This article offers one conceptualization of agency roles in collaborative processes, drawing from the experiences of natural resource managers and enviromental regulators at the federal level. Based on an examination of 65 cases, the authorsidentify three distinct "hat" that effective agency officals wear in collaborative processes - leader, partner, and stakeholder. The objective and function of each role is assessed, along with the implications of agency facilitation. The most successful agency representatives were able to blend the three primary roles, and did not act as facilitators of the collaborative process.