When generals consume intelligence: the problems that arise and how they solve them

Strategic intelligence is a critical input to national security decision-making. Research indicates decision-making is negatively affected when strategic intelligence creates cognitive problems. In this qualitative study, the opposite was found to be true. Twenty-one very senior landpower generals with command experience in Iraq and Afghanistan were interviewed. Their problems with strategic intelligence – resulting from their perceptions of contradictions – had a positive affect on decision-making. The generals resolved problems using a three-prong, socially embedded, hierarchically diverse, problem solving strategy consisting of self-learning, learning from others, and mentoring others. Such a strategy could be incorporated into professional military education throughout an officer’s career.     

The influence of the South African transition on the Northern Ireland peace process

The Provisional Irish Republican Army's announcement of a ceasefire at the end of August 1994 prompted widespread comment around the world. A notable feature of the commentaries was the frequency with which reference was made to the transition in South Africa and the peace process in the Middle East. The South African analogy derived additional credibility from the fact that nationalist leaders in Ireland themselves made constant reference to it, both at the time of the ceasefire and in the months leading up to it. Comparison with South Africa became a major theme of Sinn Fein's rhetoric during the 1980s, when comparison with the African National Congress (ANC) was used to legitimise the IRA's ‘armed struggle’. It is argued that the analogy itself became an influence on developments in Northern Ireland in the mid‐1990s, when South Africa underwent fundamental change, putting pressure on Sinn Fein leaders either to drop the comparison or to justify it through establishing an Irish peace process.     

‘Their life in your hands’: the experiences of prison-based psychologists conducting risk assessments with indeterminate sentenced prisoners in the United Kingdom

ABSTRACT

Assessing prisoners’ risk of recidivism and making risk-management recommendations is central to the work of prison-based psychologists. Risk assessment is particularly crucial when it involves indeterminate sentenced prisoners: psychologists’ recommendations have potentially significant consequences both for prisoners and the public. However, little is known about psychologists’ experiences of conducting such high stakes risk assessments. This paper reports the results of an exploration of psychologists’ experiences, via interviews and discussions with qualified, prison-based psychologists. Analysis using Grounded Theory methods identified one super-ordinate category of meaning, namely The Challenging Context of Risk Assessment, which comprised two sub-categories: (1) pressure of limited resources and (2) pressure of the environment. An additional major category, Risk Assessment as a Weighty Task, comprised three sub-categories: psychologists described (1) a weight of responsibility relating to the magnitude and range of their responsibilities; (2) a weight of expectation from colleagues to provide solutions, and (3) the trainee dilemma associated with the need to balance development of trainee psychologists’ competence in risk assessment with being held accountable for their work. Understanding qualified psychologists’ experiences of undertaking risk assessments with indeterminate sentenced prisoners can facilitate improvements and build on areas of existing good practice.     

Sequence analysis of STR polymorphisms at locus ACTBP2 in the Taiwanese population

A highly polymorphic sequence structure is reported in the human beta-actin related pseudogene 2 (ACTBP2) (SE33) locus in members of the Taiwanese Han population. A total of 100 unrelated members of the Taiwanese Han population were used in the study. Alleles that shared the same size but differ in their sequence are described to allow for inter laboratory sharing of data. PCR products amplified from this locus were separated by single-strand conformation polymorphism electrophoresis, the single-stranded DNA bands were excised from the gels, a second amplification performed, and then the PCR products were sequenced. All the alleles differed by either 2 or 4 bp. Sequence variations were observed as deletions or insertions in the repeat units AG (or AA) and AAAG. Additionally, transitions in the flanking regions were recorded. A total of 27 alleles with 71 associated genotypes were recorded if the alleles were defined by size, but 68 alleles with 88 associated genotypes were noted with the alleles were scored on the basis of sequence variation. The power of discrimination (Pd) of this single locus was 0.9874 making the human ACTBP2 a good alternative marker for individual identification and paternity testing.     

‘Social Services will not touch us with a barge pole’: social care provision for older prisoners

Older prisoners are the fastest growing subgroup in the English and Welsh prison estate. Older prisoners have high levels of health and social care needs. This mixed-method study involved the distribution of a questionnaire examining the availability of health and social care services for older prisoners to all prisons housing adult males in England and Wales, followed by qualitative telephone interviews with representatives from eight prisons. Over half of establishments had some contact with external social care services, but reported significant difficulties in arranging the care for individuals. A professional lead for older prisoners had been identified in 81% of establishments; however, the value of this role to positively affect practice appeared questionable. Statutory social care was often non-existent in prison due to the lack of understanding of what it constituted and who was responsible for its provision.