Unmarried Fathers and Parental Responsibility: A Case for Reform?

Following a Consultation exercise conducted by the Lord Chancellor's Department, the U.K. Government has announced its intention to amend the Children Act 1989 so that the unmarried father who jointly registers the birth with the mother will acquire parental responsibility automatically. In this paper, I draw on the responses made to the L.C.D. Consultation, in order critically to evaluate the arguments for and against reform. A poverty of relevant empirical research makes it impossible to reach a properly informed view on the positive or negative impacts of implementing the proposal. However, the principled arguments: that unmarried fathers and their children are subject to discrimination, or that it is unfair for men to pay child support, yet have no automatic rights with regard to their children, are ultimately unconvincing. I also attempt a more explicitly sociological exploration of the Consultation and reform process, focusing on what it can tell us about evolving social attitudes towards the statuses of `father' and `family' and how they should be valued and protected.     

Individual Conceptions of Public Service Motivation

Many scholars and practitioners of public administration converge on the belief that some individuals are predisposed to perform public service. James L. Perry (1996) recently clarified the public service motivation (PSM) construct and proposed a measurement scale. The present study builds on and extends this important stream of research by examining how individuals view the motives associated with public service. Specifically, we use an intensive research technique called Q-methodology to examine the motives of 69 individuals. We identify four distinct conceptions of PSM: individuals holding these conceptions are referred to as samaritans, communitarians, patriots, and humanitarians. The practical and theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.     

An investigation into the presence of petrol on the clothing and shoes of members of the public

First, the clothing and shoes from 29 participants who had recently filled their vehicles with petrol were analysed for any traces of petrol. No traces of petrol were found on any of these items. Secondly, the clothing and shoes from 17 participants who had recently used a petrol-powered lawn mower were also analysed for petrol. Petrol was detected on two pairs of shoes from different participants. Components of petrol were detected on a set of clothing from a third participant, however, there were insufficient components present in this sample to confirm the presence of petrol. No traces of petrol were found on the items from the remaining 14 participants. Thirdly, the clothing from a forecourt attendant, a mechanic and a professional lawn mower were analysed at the end of a number of shifts. Petrol was detected on the upper and lower clothing from the forecourt attendant at the end of one shift. No petrol residues were found on the forecourt attendant after a second shift, or on the mechanic's clothing after two separate shifts or on the professional lawn mower's clothing after three separate shifts. These results can be used to assist the forensic analyst in assessing the chance of finding traces of petrol on clothing and shoes after the wearer has performed common activities that involve petrol.     

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act (2008) and the Tenacity of the Sexual Family Form1

The new parenthood provisions set out in Part 2 of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 have been attacked as dangerous and radical, offering a ‘lego‐kit model of family life’ and a ‘magical mystery tour’ in how legal fatherhood is to be determined. In this paper, we explain what is innovative about these new provisions but also explore what they owe to deep‐rooted traditional assumptions about the family. Relying both on published documentation relating to this reform process and a small number of key actor interviews, we trace the imprint of what Fineman has described as the ‘sexual family’ model on the provisions. We conclude that the way that parenthood is framed within the legislation relies on a number of important normative assumptions which received very little scrutiny in this process. We also highlight a number of tensions within this framing which, we suggest, may create future problems for judicial determination.     

A Comparison of Victimization and Perpetration of Intimate Partner Violence Among Drug Abusing Heterosexual and Lesbian Women

The study describes types and rates of intimate partner violence (IPV) reported by active drug using women enrolled in a street outreach HIV prevention research study located in Tucson, Arizona. IPV data were collected on 434 women at the baseline assessment who reported being in a current intimate partner relationship. The data collected included types of violence as well as rates of victimization and perpetration of IPV. Using profile analysis, we examined similarities and differences in patterns of incidence rates of both victimization and perpetration of IPV across different IPV behaviors experienced by heterosexual and lesbian women. Results indicate substantial rates of IPV among both heterosexual and lesbian women with both similarities and differences in IPV behaviors reported. Results suggest that type of relationship and type of IPV behavior are important factors in identifying and preventing IPV, and improving interventions aimed at addressing IPV.     

Dialoguing with the Divided Self as the Outline of a Becoming-Woman in Music

For more than 30 years, I have been researching contemporary women's classical music and have concluded that in the current time, it is difficult to believe in the utopian world for women in music that had once been imagined in the decade of the 1990s. According to Roffe, however, in Deleuzian thought utopia is not really about hope or an ideal society, but about who we are, and what we are capable of, here and now. In this paper, through a dialogue with the divided self, or what Deleuze refers to as the ‘dividual’, I will generate some thoughts about the kinds of actions that a dividual is able to produce at different stages of her work as a musician and an activist feminist. Specifically, the paper will aim to develop a new conception of subjectivity in order to sow the seeds for new ways of thinking about women in music. It will ask two questions: who acts, and who is the subject of that action?; and, how do new ways of thinking transform real world situations? The first question leads to the theme in Deleuze and Guattari's work of ‘a people to come’ or ‘becoming-woman’, the latter a concept that disrupts the male form of subjectivity, challenging the emphasis on ‘man’ as the standard by which all beings and things are measured. The paper will map the question leads to a demonstration of how the self, conceived as a dividual, is able to make an intervention into the nature of subjectivity while at the same time gesturing towards the ways in which the practices of musicology and feminist studies might be transformed.     

Black Feminist Voices in Politics

Abstract

Nearly 80 years after they gained entry to the legal profession in England women remain greatly underrepresented in the judiciary. This article examines the career of Sybil Campbell, England's first full-time woman judge. It explores the criticisms of her appointment as stipendiary magistrate at Tower Bridge in 1945 and the press campaign against her severe sentences which followed. It concludes that, while she was not esteemed a success by the authorities, the main reason for the long gap before the appointment of the next female judge (in 1962) was the control of practically all appointments     

Student Drug Testing in the Context of Positive and Negative School Climates: Results from a National Survey

Positive school climates and student drug testing have been separately proposed as strategies to reduce student substance use in high schools. However, the effects of drug testing programs may depend on the favorability of school climates. This study examined the association between school drug testing programs and student substance use in schools with different climates. The analysis was based on a nationally representative sample of 943 high school students (48% female) ranging from 14 to 19 years of age (62% identifying as white, 18% Hispanic, 13% African American, and 7% in other categories). Results showed that both male and female students in schools with positive climates reported lower levels of personal substance use. Drug testing was associated with lower levels of personal substance use in positive school climates, but only for female students. There was no relationship between drug testing and male students’ substance use. The results are discussed in terms of the importance of considering school climates before implementing drug-testing programs in high schools.     

Histopathological,histochemical and biochemical postmortem changes in induced fatal hypothermia in rats

Reaching a postmortem diagnosis of hypothermia is challenging in forensic practice. Therefore, this study was conducted to detect the histopathological, histochemical and biochemical changes that occur in adult albino rats following exposure to induced fatal hypothermia. Twenty-four adult albino rats were divided into the negative control, moderate hypothermia, severe hypothermia and hypoxia groups. Rats in the control group were euthanized when those in the moderate hypothermic group died. Blood samples were collected via heart puncture, and the cerebrum, heart, suprarenal gland, kidney, liver and skeletal muscle were removed to investigate the biochemical, histochemical and histopathological changes. Postmortem assessment depicted significant changes in lipid peroxidation, represented by increased malondialdehyde levels in the studied organs of the rats in hypothermic and hypoxia groups. Histopathological examination of the rats’ organs revealed degeneration and necrosis in the hypothermia and hypoxia groups. Sections taken from the severe hypothermic rats revealed a loss of normal cardiac tissue architecture, necrotic changes in the pyramidal cells in the cerebral cortex, and massive necrosis, mainly in the tubules of the renal cortex and medulla. These findings suggest that histological changes might be used as biochemical markers for postmortem diagnosing of fatal hypothermia, particularly in severe hypothermic conditions.

Key points

• Death by hypothermia is a serious public health problem worldwide.
• Confirming a diagnosis and determining the cause of death in cases of hypothermia are among the most difficult practices in forensic medicine.
• Death by hypothermia might be associated with structural abnormalities in various organs.
• Studies using different tissue staining techniques will enable an overall illustration of the role of histopathological changes in body organs as indicators of hypothermia.