Procedural Justice in Majority–Minority Relations: Studies Involving Belgian Linguistic Groups

Two studies investigated perceptions of fairness of two modes of group representation in a political assembly. The numerical status of two Belgian linguistic groups (Dutch-speaking vs. French-speaking) was predicted to influence these perceptions: The minority finding equality fairer and proportionality less fair than the majority. These preferences were investigated at two levels of comparison, Belgium and Brussels, Dutch speakers being numerically a majority in Belgium and a minority in Brussels. The results of two studies (N = 52 and N = 127, respectively) revealed that the expected trend was present, especially at the level of Brussels. A third study (N = 103) suggested that minorities and majorities could be driven by different motives with trust in the out-group being a powerful predictor of minorities' choices, whereas group identification predicted majorities' preferences.     

The Influence of Jurisprudential Considerations on Supreme Court Decisionmaking: A Study of Conflict Cases

In this study, we assess the impact of attitudinal and jurisprudential factors on the Supreme Court's resolution of intercircuit conflicts. In doing so, we depart from earlier efforts to assess the impact of legal factors that conceptualize law as an external constraint. Instead, we view jurisprudential considerations in terms of the justices' efforts to adopt the most legally persuasive position in light of accepted methods of legal reasoning. Our analyses reveal that the justices are (1) more likely to follow the reasoning process adopted by the majority of circuits involved in the conflict, (2) less likely to adopt the conflict position marred by contrary dissents and concurrences in the circuit court opinions, and (3) more likely to adopt the conflict position endorsed by prestigious circuit court judges. Our findings suggest that jurisprudential considerations, as well as attitudinal concerns, affect the justices' decisionmaking processes in a substantial minority of cases.     

Militär und Gewalt. Eine konzeptionelle Skizze

The article presents the empirical evidence of violence and the military. It describes acts of violence by, of and within the military and by the members of military organizations. It turns out that, as with modernity in general, violence is an inherent aspect of the military in modern societies, albeit an ambivalent one. Violence by, of and within the military cannot be framed negatively only; it disposes of productive capabilities. The chapter tries to conceptualize the empirical evidence and proposes a 2 × 2 Violence-Military-Matrix. It is argued that violence can be differentiated as constructive-legitimate violence on the one hand and destructive-illegitimate violence on the other hand. With regard to the fields of violence, the extra-organizational and the intra-organizational dimension are differentiated. At the end, it is argued that taming violence transgressions in terms of destructive-illegitimate violence is a Sisyphean task. The proposed conceptual approach to violence and the military may inform the future debate on the sociology of violence.     

Interfirm collaboration as a modernization strategy: A survey of case studies

Interfirm collaboration (IFC) has been explored by organizations seeking a vehicle for the industrial modernization of small and medium-sized manufacturers. This paper offers five models of the impacts of IFC networks based on a survey of 123 case studies. The models examine the association between impacts of IFC with variables describing the origins, activities, and structures of networks. Impacts are measured through aggregate assessments of business expansion, bottom line savings, increases in projects, increases in membership, and increases in other benefits. We find that business expansion is associated most strongly with factors related to the origins of projects. Increases in membership and other benefits are most strongly associated with structural factors. Finally, bottom line savings and increases in projects are most closely associated with both origin and structural factors.     

A Molecular Method to Correlate Bloodstains with Wound Site for Crime Scene Reconstruction

Bloodstain pattern analysis to determine the wound‐of‐origin of bloodstains is problematic with nonspecific patterns. In this proof‐of‐concept study, the authors examined a molecular approach to correlate bloodstains with injuries using the rat as a model. Specifically, investigations were conducted on the rat brain marker, rno‐miR‐124‐3p, with the QIAGEN miScript System and real‐time PCR analysis. Rno‐miR‐124‐3p was detected in brain homogenates diluted 100,000 times; in 3‐week‐old, room temperature stored, simulated brain–blood stains; and in bloodstains from head gunshot wounds collected with swabs and subsequently frozen for 9–18 months; however, rno‐miR‐124‐3p was not detected in whole blood. Proof‐of‐principle was demonstrated by the ability to distinguish bloodstains from a gunshot wound to the head versus bloodstains from a gunshot wound to the chest, by the testing of otherwise identical bloodstains from the two patterns for the presence of the marker. The results suggest a viable approach to a longstanding problem in casework.