Colonization to co‐operation? French technical assistance in Senegal

Too often manpower aid planners treat the input of expert personnel and their knowledge as if it would have a reasonably calculable output and positive effect on development, however vaguely defined. This article suggests the limitations of such an approach by examining the French programme in Senegal, which in 1971 included more than 1,200 technical assistants in education and the administration. It concentrates chiefly on technical assistants serving as advisors in the administration where their impact lies above all in the continuation of structures and attitudes derived from the colonial period and afterwards. It examines the ambiguity of the role of the technical assistant in the context of local organization, emphasizing the importance which his authority and experience assume while working within an inefficient administrative structure. Tracing the consequences of this, it is possible to discern the elements of an expatriate ‘administration within an administration’.

While such a phenomenon may not be so obvious elsewhere, it seems pertinent to take a critical look at technical assistance activity in the context of ever expanding unemployment and inefficient bureaucratic structures in Africa, and possibly elsewhere.     

Crime clearance rates in Canadian municipalities: A test of Donald Black's theory of law

Donald Black's theory of law has been considered an important theory in the sociology of law. However, while the theory views law as a quantity variable, there has been limited empirical support from quantitative studies. This study offers a quantitative test of Black's theory using data from 579 Canadian municipalities. The results show that the quantity of law, in terms of crime clearance rates, varies positively with stratification, morphology, culture, and organization just as Black's theory has predicted. In addition, population size, population density, the property and violent crime rates, and policing resources also affect the clearance rates. These findings support the general notion that there is more law for certain groups and under certain social conditions. Also, most of the findings are consistent with Black's theory, thus supporting its viability as a sociological theory. In addition, two seemingly contradictory explanations, the resource explanation and the need/dependency explanation, are proposed to interpret the findings. These contradictory and yet complementary explanations perhaps reflect the reality of law in society.     

How Chinese e-public feel and think about corruption: A case study of Audit Storm (Shenji fengbao – 审计风暴 – Part II)

Corruption is pervasive, rampant, enduring, and above all else a tolerated and taken for granted social problem in China. Still, corruption is a major concern for the political leaders, general public and foreign observers. Foreigners complained about the corruption cost of doing business in China. Students took to the street and peasants staged violent protest against government corruption. The consensus is that corruption challenges CPC's legitimacy and threatens China's stability.A systematic review of the literature uncovers no investigation on the Chinese people's reception and reaction to the corruption, on the internet. This is a first attempt to do so.This is a research into the “feelings” and “thinking” of Chinese internet users (e-public) on (anti)corruption in China. Specially, it tries to document and analyze the comments–reaction of the e-public to news articles on various aspects of “Audit Storm” in June–July 2004.     

An Incomplete Victory: The Implications of QT v Director of Immigration for the Protection of Gay Rights in Hong Kong

QT v Director of Immigration is the most important decision on gay rights in Hong Kong since the unequal ages of consent between heterosexuals and homosexuals were held to be unconstitutional 10 years ago. The Court of Appeal of Hong Kong affirmed the right of same‐sex couples married or in a civil partnership overseas to be treated on an equal basis with married heterosexual couples. This note considers the strengths and shortcomings of the Court of Appeal's reasoning, in terms of its potential significance both to the rights of sexual minorities and to the wider protection of human rights by means of the common law.     

Investigation of trace inorganic elements in street doses of heroin

Sixteen trace elements found in 309 street heroin samples, piped water and contaminated water were determined using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. All the street heroin samples were found to contain high levels of sodium, a reflection of the use of sodium bicarbonate during heroin synthesis. Additionally, this element was also found to be one of the potential contaminants acquired from the piped water. Calcium could be derived from lime while iron, aluminum and zinc could have come from the metallic container used in the processing/cutting stage. The levels of these elements remained low in the heroin and it could be due to the dilution effects from the addition of adulterants. Statistical validation was performed with six links of related heroin samples using principal component analysis to find the best pretreatment for sample classification. It was obtained that normalization followed by fourth root showed promising results with 8% errors in the sample clustering. The technique was then applied to the case samples. Finally, the result suggested that the case samples could have originated from at least two major groups respectively showing unique elemental profiles at the street level.     

Beat patrol deployment in Hong Kong

This article addresses critical policy issues raised in the SB vs. DB debate. How should such a policy debate be resolved? What are the pros and cons of both patrol deployment measures? More importantly, what immediate and effective remedial steps can be taken to secure the front line police officers’ desire for safety and security without compromising the public's legitimate expectation for order and service. This article provides the HKP community — policymakers, operational managers and front line officers — with relevant research literature and pertinent empirical data to understand the issues involved and help resolve the debate in an informed and reflective manner. In the end, the article argues that education and training are more important than patrol deployment in reducing risk of injury to police officers in the line of duty. Removal of side arms and demilitarization of the HKP is also suggested.     

Update on Neuroimaging and Cognitive Functioning in Maltreatment-Related Pediatric PTSD: Treatment Implications

This article reviews maltreatment-related pediatric posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) neuroimaging and neuropsychology research. Existent interventions that target brain networks associated with PTSD and cognitive impairment are highlighted. Furthermore, the benefits of combining neuroimaging and neuropsychology research in treatment outcomes are discussed. To conduct this review, a literature search was done utilizing the words MRI, structural, functional, neuropsychological testing, children, maltreatment, treatment, and PTSD. This was supplemented with a direct search of developmental trauma experts. Results from the neuroimaging studies found differences in the total cerebral volume, prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, cerebellum, superior temporal gyrus, corpus callosum, and other regions in maltreatment-related childhood PTSD. Neuropsychological findings demonstrate deficits in memory, attention, learning, and executive function that correspond to these brain regions. Existent and novel psychotherapeutic interventions address these deficits. These interventions may be directed at key networks associated with cognitive processing. Future directions include the implementation of treatment outcome research integrating psychotherapy with putative biological and psychological markers.     

Oral fluid drug tests: Effects of adulterants and foodstuffs

An on-site oral fluid drug screen, Oratect^®, was used to investigate the effects of adulterants and foodstuffs on oral fluid test results. Common foods, beverages, food ingredients, cosmetics and hygienic products were demonstrated not to cause false positive results when tested 30 min after their consumption. Evaluations of two commercial oral fluid adulterants, “Clear Choice^® Fizzy Flush™” and “Test’in™ Spit n Kleen Mouthwash” suggest their mechanism of action is the clearing of residual drugs of abuse compounds through rinsing of the oral cavity. They do not directly destroy the drug compounds or change the pH of the oral fluid. It is also suggested that a common mouthwash would perform similar action.     

Law of assembly in China: People''s Republic of China vs. Republic of China

This paper is a comparative study of law of assembly between the People's Republic of China (PRC) vs. the Republic of China (Taiwan) (ROC). The comparison is achieved by looking at how these two societies regulate and police assembly, procession, and demonstration (hereinafter “public assembly”). Particularly it looks at the constitutional mandate and legal limitations on police powers in managing such public gatherings, e.g. what are the role and functions, and powers and limitation of the police in dealing with public assembly application and conduct.This comparative project is conducted with a view to understand the relative development in police powers in the two Chinese societies, once linked by history and culture and now divided by geography and ideology. It is assumed that in order to achieve a political “unification” of the two societies under a “one country two systems” formula,or any other viable political settlement, some understanding of how the two legal systems work is important in breaching their differences.In a still larger context, this research rides the tide of comparative policing in exposing and explicating how police in these two closed societies, ROC (Confucianism) and PRC (Socialism), come to terms with social protests and political challenges; more broadly how they balance the forces of reform and control with the use of law.