Methods for the analysis of hard dental tissues exposed to high temperatures

The preservation of teeth that have been exposed to a heat source is a key factor in order to keep their value as evidence. This research paper presents some methods under development for the analysis of dental evidence after exposure to high temperatures; it also establishes age related alterations of young and aged teeth which have been exposed to direct heat. A total of thirty permanent healthy teeth (young=15 and old=15) were submitted to direct heat (n=14) and to a controlled raise of temperature (n=16); they were embedded in polymethylmetacrilate. For the macroscopic study, blocks were cut in half, polished and their surfaces were digitalized. Subsequently, blocks were put in slides, worn away and observed through a photomicroscope. The study of the colorimetric pattern was done by Corel Photo Paint 12.0 and Image J. software. All teeth submitted to the gradual raise of temperature presented a degree of structural damage lower than those exposed to direct heat. The internal surface of young teeth exposed to direct heat showed lines of fracture oblique to the long axis of the tooth; in contrast, a reticular pattern was observed on aged teeth. All teeth exposed to direct heat showed some matte-black coloration areas, while those submitted to a gradual increment of temperature showed a greyish colour in the enamel and a chalky-white in the cementum. By using both thermal treatments in young teeth, the amelodentinal junction was lost, thus preserving the integrity of each tissue. In aged teeth, the separation of this junction was produced because of the breakdown of the dentine. Microscopically, in teeth exposed to direct heat, it was neither possible to differentiate the dentin from the cementum, nor to distinguish the incremental lines of the latter; while in those submitted to a controlled increment of temperature, the corresponding morphology in the tissues was observed. A significant statistical difference was obtained for black colour among young and aged teeth exposed to direct heat, as well as among the means of all colours obtained from the teeth exposed to both treatments. The structural changes observed allow locating a tooth in the studied age groups. Our results show the viability of the applied method for the processing of samples, allowing their preservation as evidence during an indefinite time.     

The relationship of self-regulation and aggression: an empirical test of personality systems interaction theory

On the basis of personality systems interaction (PSI) theory, the authors examine self-regulation, conflict behaviour, behavioural resources, and personality disorders in a sample of 83 male offenders and explore the role self-regulatory variables play with respect to aggressive behaviour. Although substantial correlations between self-regulatory functions and aggressive behaviour were found, these variables did not predict aggression in a subsequent regression analysis with measures of self-regulation, conflict behaviour, and personality disorders as independent variables. Antisocial behaviour, behavioural self-control, and affect were among the strongest predictors of aggression. Specific predictions based on PSI theory could not be confirmed. Theoretical implications of the findings are discussed and put into relation with treatment issues of offenders.     

Ethnic outbidding and nested competition: Explaining the extremism of ethnonational minority parties in Europe

The classical outbidding model of ethnic politics argues that democratic competition involving ethnic parties inevitably leads to ethnic outbidding where parties adopt ever more extreme positions. However, recent small‐N studies show that ethnic outbidding is only one of a range of strategies available to ethnic parties. This article seeks to explain why some ethnic parties are extremist, whereas others adopt moderate positions. Drawing on the ethnic outbidding and the nested competition model of ethnic party competition, it is hypothesised that the ethnic segmentation of the electoral market, and the relative salience of an ethnically cross‐cutting economic dimension of party competition, account for the varying degrees of extremism. Hypotheses are tested drawing on a novel, expert‐survey‐based dataset that provides indicators for the positions of 83 ethnonational minority parties in 22 European democracies in 2011. Results of ordinary least squares and two‐level linear regressions show that as the economic dimension gains importance, parties become more moderate relative to the party system mean. The electorate's ethnic segmentation has a positive effect on extremism, but this effect is not significant in all models. Contrary to expectations, higher ethnic segmentation of the party system is associated with more moderate positions in the majority of the estimated models.     

A Letter Sent,Waiting to be Received: Queer Correspondence,Feminism and Black British Art

Abstract

This article examines what the published letter does as a form that is both intimate and public, and how it is particularly resonant when dealing with the silences and absences around queer and feminist artist of colour histories. Connections are made between three letters published in feminist and queer journals and books, written for readers who may include the writers’ loved ones, friends, contemporaries, and future readers. These three letters are contained within the following publications: Surviving Art School (2016) by the group Collective Creativity, a QTIPOC artist group who made the publication as part of a wider project examining the history of Black British Art (members are: Evan Ifekoya, Raisa Kabur, Rudy Lowe and Raju Rage); a special issue of FAN (Feminist Arts News) edited by Lubaina Himid and Maud Sulter in 1988, the precursor to the more well-known collection Passion, edited by Sulter in 1990; ending with Himid's recent reflections on her curation in the 1980s through a series of ‘Letters to Susan’ published in the 2011 catalogue for the exhibition Thin Black Line(s) at Tate Britain. Through close examination of these examples, this article explores the particularities of the letter form, asking if it allows feminist and queer artists of colour to present their experiences in a manner that encourages all their readers to take part in the conversation, whilst prioritizing calls for other people of colour to respond. The article proposes that the published letter form keeps feminist histories alive and creates a counterpublic that speaks to and for a community that is imagined as both geographically and temporally diffuse.     

When Will a Victim Be Secondarily Victimized? The Effect of Observer's Belief in a Just World,Victim's Innocence and Persistence of Suffering

According to the belief in a just world (BJW) theory, the most threatening victim for the observers' BJW is the innocent victim whose suffering persists. Consequently the innocent victim whose suffering persists should be more secondarily victimized by high-BJW participants than by low-BJW participants. However, research has never systematically tested this basic prediction of the theory. In these two studies we tried to determine the impact of the observer's BJW, the victim's innocence, and the persistence of the victim's suffering on secondary victimization. In study 1, an interaction between BJW and victim's innocence was found on the attractiveness of the victim. In study 2, an interaction between BJW, victim's innocence, and persistence of suffering was found on the derogation of the victim.     

Dignity and Equality

Inequality remains one of the most challenging issues on theglobal human rights agenda. It is widely recognised that a formalapproach to the assessment of inequality has failed to eliminateentrenched structural social and economic inequality and thata different approach is required in order to tackle the rootsof inequality and achieve substantive equality. In seeking toimplement an approach to equality that addresses the historyof apartheid and the social and economic inequality endemicin South African society, the South African Constitutional Courthas rejected formal equality, and is in the process of developinga substantive interpretation of equality based on the protectionof human dignity. Critics of this approach have argued thatthe concept of human dignity is too indeterminate to providea stable foundation for equality law and that it promotes anexcessively individualistic conception of equality. Focussingon key developments in defining human dignity in German andSouth African constitutional law, this article argues that theconcept of dignity is rooted in a rich tradition which is capableof underpinning an approach to equality which avoids excessiveindividualism and fully recognises the interplay between individualand community needs. A detailed exploration of the equalityjurisprudence of the South African Constitutional Court revealshow the dignity-based approach has been developed in order toprovide a framework within which the actual experience of victimsof discrimination can be explored. It is concluded that thisapproach has the potential to engage with the realities of thewide range of divisions within South African society and theireffects in order to address not only the legacy of apartheidbut also to contribute to the creation of a society in whichevery person is valued equally.     

Assessing the impact of casino gambling on crime in Mississippi

The introduction of legalized gambling into a community has generated a great deal of hubris regarding concomitant criminality. While Las Vegas has long been synonymous with organized crime, the recent focus has been on the connection between traditional crime and legalized gambling. The conventional wisdom among opponents of this new source of revenue is that casinos attract many undesirables to the community, thereby increasing crime and social disorganization. Routine activities theory would suggest that with increased numbers of tourists, more opportunities for crime will exist. To test this proposition, the frequency of crime before and after the introduction of legalized gambling in Biloxi, Mississippi was examined. Larcey-theft and motor vehicle theft were the only categories of crime to show statistically significant change. Robbery and aggravated assault increased, while murder and rape declined, although the change was not statistically significant for any category of violent crime.     

Women murderers and victims of abuse in a southern state

We consider the hypothesis that abused women who kill their abusers are not socially different from other abused women. Comparing two groups of women from a Deep South state, one group incarcerated for killing their partners (n=21) and the other served by a shelter for battered women (n=273), we find mixed support for the conclusion that the two groups represent a homogeneous general population of abused women. The women incarcerated for killing their male partners appear to be more isolated from the social mainstream and in greater perceived danger than the women who used the shelter. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 1990 Southern Sociological Society Annual Meetings. Invaluable comments on earlier versions of the paper were received from Judith Stitzel, Shirley Dowdy, Ann Paterson, Sally Maggard, Janet Curry, Jon Conte, Mary Jo Ullom, and Lorrie Hardy.