Book reviews

Love, power and political interests

Anna G. Jónasdóttir, Love Power and Political Interests. Towards a Theory of Patriarchy in Contemporary Western Societies. 255 pp. Örebro Studies 7, 1991.

The power of the Will. Natalie Zahle. A biography

Birgitte Possing, Viljens Styrke. Natalie Zahle. En biografi (The Power of the Will. Natalie Zahle. A biography.) 2 vols. 622 pp. Summary in English. Copenhagen: Gyldendal 1992.

Image of god and gender models in Judaeo‐Christian tradition

Kari Elisabeth Börresen, ed, Image of God and Gender Models in Judaeo‐Christian Tradition. Oslo: Solum forlag, 1992.

Rethinking change

Rethinking Change ‐ Current Swedish Feminist Research. Uppsala: Swedish Science Press, 1992.

On the politics of theorizing strangers

Julia Kristeva, Strangers to Ourselves. Transl. Leon S. Roudiez. Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1991.

Julia Kristeva, Muukalaisia itsellemme. Transl. Paivi Malinen. Gaudeamus, 1992.

Julia Kristeva, Främlingar för oss själva. Transl. Ann Runnqvist‐Vinde. Natur och kultur, 1991.

The state, mothers and day care for children

Arnlaug Leira, Welfare States and Working Mothers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992.     

School-based health services for urban adolescents: Psychosocial characteristics of clinic users vs nonusers

Evaluated psychosocial differences between adolescent users and nonusers of an urban school-based health clinic, considering the influence of gender. As expected, a number of gender differences were found (e.g., girls reported more fear, were rated as more likeable by peers than boys). Examination of differences based purely on clinic use indicated that nonusers were rated as more socially withdrawn by their peers than clinic users; otherwise, these two groups did not differ on psychosocial measures. Gender by clinic-status interaction effects were found for academic measures (e.g., nonusing boys had more absences and lower grades than boys who used the clinic). A group of intensive clinic users (n=14) reported higher levels of emotional distress than other students, and surprisingly, most of these students were not receiving mental health services.Received Ph.D. from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 1991. Research interests include evaluation of school mental health services, empirical development of interventions for children, and the impact of violence on urban youth.Received B.A. from Loyola College. Interested in applied work with adolescents and adults.Received B.A. from Cornell University. Interests include stress and coping in children, identification of resilience factors, and evaluation of child mental health systems of care.Received Ph.D. from the University of Oklahoma in 1967. Research interests in psychophysiology, sleep disorders, and biofeedback and instrumentation.Received M.D. from Duke University in 1968. Research interests include training in child and adolescent psychiatry, adolescent psychopathology, and the development of school mental health programs.     

Antisocial Personality Disorder and Physical Partner Violence Among Single and Dual Substance-Abusing Couples

The current study examined how antisocial personality disorder (APD) and substance use disorder contributed to partners’ reports of physical partner violence among single and dual substance-abusing couples. Participants were 69 heterosexual couples entering treatment in which one or both partners met criteria for substance use disorder. APD diagnosis of the male partner was linked to significantly higher male-to-female and female-to-male perpetration of physical partner violence and victimization. Female partner’s APD diagnosis was associated with women’s reports of victimization by their male partners. Dual substance use diagnosis emerged as a moderator, in which the effect of men’s APD diagnosis on men’s perpetration of physical partner violence and victimization was significantly reduced if both partners had substance use disorder. Findings underscore the importance of both partners’ APD diagnosis and substance use status for understanding physical partner violence among single and dual substance-abusing couples.     

Degrees of difference: Do college credentials earned behind bars improve labor market outcomes?

It is widely held that providing postsecondary education programs to incarcerated individuals will improve postrelease labor market outcomes. Little research evidence exists, however, to support this view. To test the effect of postsecondary carceral education credentials on employer perceptions of hireability, the current study uses a factorial design to survey a sample of employers nationwide (N = 2,538). Employers were presented with résumés of fictional applicants applying to a job as a customer service representative at a large call center. The résumés randomized education credentials earned while incarcerated. Results indicate that employers were significantly more willing to interview applicants with postsecondary education credentials relative to applicants with only a General Educational Development (GED) diploma. Although Black applicants who had earned a sub-baccalaureate certificate saw improvements in hireability relative to GED holders, Black applicants who had earned a bachelor's degree did not. In contrast, White applicants benefited both from sub-baccalaureate certificates and bachelor's degrees. Results from a mediation analysis suggest that these credentials signal important information to employers about applicant attributes and that improved perceptions of applicant ability and likelihood to reoffend drive the overall effect. Implications for future research and policy are explored.     

Extraction, derivatization, and analysis of vegetable oils from fire debris

Vegetable oils have the ability to spontaneously heat under certain conditions, which may lead to spontaneous ignition. While the oils are not often encountered in forensic casework, they may be suspected in some fire cases. As these oils are not effectively analyzed using traditional fire debris analysis methods, a protocol must be established for extracting vegetable oils from fire debris. In this study, a protocol was developed for the extraction, derivatization, and analysis of vegetable oils from fire debris. Three derivatization methods were compared to establish an optimal derivatization procedure to convert the fatty acids found in vegetable oils to the fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) used in analysis. Three different gas chromatograph columns and programs were examined to determine which was best suited for the separation and analysis of FAMEs. The procedure was tested and refined using a variety of neat and burned vegetable oils, in addition to extractions from oils burned on commonly encountered fire debris materials. The findings of this research will serve as a starting point for further understanding and research of vegetable oils in fire debris.     

The new women's movement—Where have all the women gone? Women and the peace movement in Sweden

The new women's movement in Sweden has been involved increasingly in Peace issues. This article asks who these peace campaigners are and where they have come from. Furthermore, what does this change of direction mean for the women's movement as a whole in Sweden? What are the motives behind this new strategy?     

‘Peace with the earth:’ Women and the environmental movement in Sweden

Women active in the contemporary Swedish environmental movement draw much of their inspiration from twentieth century feminist Elin Wägner (1882–1949) who in the 1930s saw connections between environmental issues, feminism, and matriarchal cultures of the past. Contemporary women writers, poets, and artists celebrate periods in which both women and nature seemed to be more powerful than they are today. Contemporary women are most active in environmental issues that involve the reproduction of the human species (such as nuclear issues) and their own reproductive labor as it affects themselves, the family, and the state (such as pesticides, food quality and distribution, and work environments). These issues are analysed as a ‘politics of reproduction’ that leads to conflicting strategies of equality politics, women's culture politics, and alternative ‘green’ politics. These conflicting strategies exemplify contradictions inherent in both the wider women's movement and the ‘women and environment’ movements throughout the world today.     

Forensic psychiatric experiences,stigma, and self-concept: a mixed-methods study

This study used a mixed-methods approach to investigate stigma experiences and self-concepts of individuals with both mental illness and criminal histories. The full sample of participants completed self-report measures of self-concept related to mental illness, race, and criminal history, and a brief qualitative self-concept measure. A subsample of participants completed semi-structured interviews, which were analyzed for content domains. Analyses suggested that several aspects of self-concept related to responses on stigma measures. Participants who identified their own styles of acting, feeling, and thinking tended to exhibit less mental illness self-stigma. Qualitative interview findings suggested that the majority of participants described stigma experiences related to mental illness, race, and criminal history, and these stigmatized identities negatively influenced one another. Conclusions review how stigmatized identities can intersect in powerful ways for individuals with mental illness and histories of criminal offending, and discuss implications for future research and clinical practice.