South Africa's bilateral relationships in the evolving foreign policy of an emerging middle power

This article introduces the special issue on ‘South African Foreign Policy: identity, directions, and intentions’. Here we seek to summarize key insights from the contributions to this special issue to deepen understanding of South Africa’s evolving post-apartheid foreign policy through an exploration of the nature and trajectory of key bilateral relationships from both the global ‘South’ (Brazil, China, Iran, the AU) and ‘North’ (Japan and the UK). This window on the country’s international relations enriches understanding of the normative and structural factors that influence not only South African foreign policy, but those of what Edouard Jordaan calls emerging middle powers as they seek to position themselves as influential actors in international affairs. We sketch the contours of these key South African relationships in four areas where the tendencies and tensions of emerging middle power foreign policies are apparent: regionalism, multilateralism, reform of global governance, and approach to moral leadership.     

A voice for change? Trust relationships between ombudsmen,individuals and public service providers

There has been a debate for years about what the role of the ombudsman is. This article examines a key component of the role, to promote trust in public services and government. To be able to do this, however, an ombudsman needs to be perceived as legitimate and be trusted by a range of stakeholders, including the user. This article argues that three key relationships in a person’s complaint journey can build trust in an institution, and must therefore be understood as a system. The restorative justice framework is adapted to conceptualize this trust model as a novel approach to understanding the ombudsman institution from the perspective of its users. Taking two public sector ombudsmen as examples, the paper finds that voice and trust need to be reinforced through the relationships in a consumer journey to manage individual expectations, prevent disengagement, and thereby promote trust in the institution, in public service providers, and in government.     

Marriage,Cohabitation, and Crime: Differentiating Associations by Partnership Stage

A wealth of scholarship generally finds that marriage protects against crime, but there is less consistent evidence for cohabitation. In this article, we contribute to scholarship on marriage and put forward new evidence about cohabitation by examining marital and cohabiting partnerships as transitions with distinct stages of entry, stability, and dissolution. We use within-person change models with contemporary data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 to analyze these stages for the full sample and separately for men and women. The findings show differential protective associations of marriage and cohabitation depending on the stage of the partnership. Both recently formed cohabiting partnerships and stable cohabiting partnerships are associated with reductions in the level of offending, although to a lesser degree than marital relationships. Cohabiting partnerships that are stable, in that they have lasted at least a year, are associated with larger decreases in offending, particularly among women.     

Custody and Visitation in Families With Three (or More) Parents

New technological and legal developments have enabled the formation of three‐parent families. Now that these families have arrived, families—and family law—must adapt to allocate responsibilities among the responsible adults.     

Delivering effective therapeutic interventions for men with severe personality disorder within a high secure prison

Abstract

The Fens Unit is a government-initiated facility for male prisoners reaching criteria for Dangerous and Severe Personality Disorder (DSPD). Prisoners are assessed using a standardised process; those meeting criteria engage in a five-year treatment programme using a cognitive interpersonal model. Personality disorder is seen as a combination of coping strategies, developed in response to experience, which results in dysfunctions of thinking, feeling, behaviour and interpersonal relationships. These dysfunctions are linked to offending. Therefore, in order to reduce risk, multiphasic interventions – individual and group therapies – specifically target each dysfunction area, focusing on the developmental experiences that generated them. Each man's individual risk factors become treatment targets that are addressed in every aspect of the programme. All staff on the unit, clinical and operational, attempt to improve the quality of interpersonal relationships the prisoner has access to in order to create remedial experiences that are necessary to attain the capacity to develop socially adaptive cognitive, emotional and behavioural responses. This paper describes the treatment provided to these prisoners and the outcomes for the first cohort to have completed treatment (n=18). Results indicate that there is a reduction in violent behaviour, a higher than expected attendance at therapy, a decrease in actuarial risk measures and the majority of men are successfully managed in lower security after programme completion.     

Bridging between Myanmar and international society – Japan's self-identity and kakehashi policy

Abstract

Numerous academic works have critiqued Japan's Official Development Assistance (ODA) programme for being mercantilist and failing to promote democratization and human rights (Orr 1990; Rix 1993; Arase 1995, 2005). Such accounts assess Japan's ODA policy from Western theoretical perspectives that advocate Western approaches, such as military and economic interventions to contain repressive states. While receptive to these criticisms, Japanese policy-makers have perceived their country's international role in ‘bridging’ (kakehashi) terms and structured their ODA accordingly, as this paper details in the case of Japan's ODA policy towards Myanmar. ¹ 1. Myanmar is used throughout this paper in place of Burma in line with the preference of the Japanese government. Burma is employed when referring to events prior to 1989. The rationale behind Japan's kakehashi approach lies in the construction of Japan's self-identity as a state able to reenter international society after World War II through focusing on economic development rather than military and coercive action. Proponents of the kakehashi approach construct Japan both as a model of successful democratization through development which other states can learn from, as well as the means through ODA to ‘bridge’ the divide between repressive regimes and liberal democratic capitalism. This critical approach examines Japan's kakehashi or bridging strategy in terms of Japan's response to the anti-government protests in September 2007, Cyclone Nargis in May 2008, and in the build up to parliamentary elections in November 2010 in Myanmar to demonstrate the permanence of this approach in spite of a change of government in Japan. In so doing, the kakehashi approach reveals opportunities to engage with, rather than contain, repressive regimes, thereby raising the possibility of enticing such states back into international society though economic incentives.     

The Reliability of the Greulich and Pyle Atlas When Applied to a Modern Scottish Population

This study examines the reliability of age estimation utilizing the Greulich and Pyle atlas in relation to a modern Scottish population. A total of 406 left‐hand/wrist radiographs (157 females and 249 males) were age‐assessed using the Greulich and Pyle atlas. Analysis showed that there was a strong correlation between chronological age and estimated age (females R² = 0.939, males R² = 0.940). When age groups were broken down into year cohorts, the atlas over‐aged females from birth until 13 years of age. The pattern for males showed that the atlas under‐estimated age until 13 years of age after which point it consistently over‐aged boys between 13 and 17 years of age. This study showed that the Greulich and Pyle atlas can be applied to a modern population but would recommend that any analysis takes into account the potential for over‐ and under‐aging shown in this study.     

Recovering Lost Years: British Foreign Policy After the War of the Polish Succession

A study of a neglected period in British foreign policy serves to question schematic approaches to the history of international relations and to underline the indeterminacy felt by contemporaries, and their sense of the roles of contingency and personality. The problems faced then in conceptualizing international relations can be mirrored today.     

Working from strengths to assess changes in gender equality

This paper describes an empirical application of a strengths-based approach (SBA) to assess changes in gender equality, and draws out implications for research, evaluation, and wider development practice. We outline what constitutes a strengths-based approach and present a case study where a participatory methodology informed by appreciative inquiry was used to investigate gender outcomes of two water, sanitation, and hygiene-focused development initiatives. We consider the value and limitations of taking an explicitly strengths-based approach to assessing gender outcomes, and also propose that there are important arguments for why SBAs might be usefully applied in addressing (not just assessing) gender equality.

Travailler à partir des forces pour évaluer les changements sur le plan de l'égalité entre les sexes

Ce document décrit une application empirique d'une approche fondée sur les forces (AFF) pour évaluer les changements sur le plan de l'égalité entre les sexes, et en tire les implications pour les recherches, l'évaluation et les pratiques plus générales en matière de développement. Nous décrivons ce qui constitue une approche fondée sur les forces et présentons une étude de cas dans laquelle une méthodologie participative éclairée par une enquête appréciative a été utilisée pour examiner les résultats sur le plan du genre de deux initiatives portant sur l'eau, l'assainissement et l'hygiène. Nous considérons la valeur et les limites de l'adoption d'une approche expressément fondée sur les forces pour évaluer les résultats sur le plan du genre, et avançons par ailleurs qu'il y a des arguments importants concernant les raisons pour lesquelles les ABS pourraient être utilement appliquées au moment de tenter d'obtenir (et pas seulement d'évaluer) l'égalité entre les sexes.

Evaluando cambios en la igualdad de género a partir de las fortalezas

El presente artículo examina la aplicación empírica de un enfoque basado en fortalezas (SBA por sus siglas en inglés), destinado a valorar cambios en la igualdad de género y a analizar sus implicaciones en la investigación, la evaluación y las prácticas más generales relacionadas con el desarrollo. Las autoras hacen un bosquejo de lo que constituye un SBA. Presentan un estudio de caso en el que se utilizó una metodología participativa a partir de una investigación apreciativa, con el objetivo de realizar una pesquisa en torno a los resultados vinculados al género obtenidos en dos iniciativas de desarrollo enfocadas en agua, saneamiento e higiene. Asimismo, examinan el valor y las limitaciones implicadas en el uso explícito de un SBA para valorar los resultados relacionados con el género, sosteniendo que existen razones importantes para defender la utilización del SBA con el fin de obtener (y no sólo valorar) la igualdad de género.

Trabalhando a partir dos pontos fortes para avaliar mudanças na igualdade de gênero

Este artigo descreve uma aplicação empírica de uma abordagem baseada nos pontos fortes (SBA) para avaliar mudanças na igualdade de gênero e extrai as implicações para a pesquisa, avaliação e prática de desenvolvimento mais geral. Esboçamos o que constitui uma abordagem baseada nos pontos fortes e apresentamos um estudo de caso onde uma metodologia participativa com informações de uma investigação apreciativa foi utilizada para examinar os resultados de gênero de duas iniciativas de desenvolvimento focalizadas no fornecimento de água, saneamento e higiene. Consideramos o valor e as limitações de se adotar uma abordagem explicitamente baseada nos pontos fortes para avaliar os resultados de gênero e também propomos que há argumentos importantes que explicam por que as SBAs podem ser utilmente aplicadas na abordagem da igualdade de gênero (não apenas avaliando).