The Cultural Context of Restorative Justice: Journeys Through Our Cultural Forests to a Well-Spring of Healing

In the field of Conflict Transformation, Restorative Justice (RJ) is often perceived as a transformative process focused on healing relationships after a specific harm. The parties considered in a RJ setting are those harmed, those responsible and the community impacted. This is particularly true in the field of criminal and transitional justice, and in an extended and spiritual view, there is reconciliation with the parties and God. Despite cultural differences, RJ theory and concepts have been accepted favorably in the many countries. From a viewpoint focused on methodology and process, however, cultural differences have a significant effect for implementation. For example, important concepts such as control, choice, harm, responsibility, apology, shame, reconciliation and forgiveness vary greatly in the manner in which they are perceived from culture to culture and may create obstacles for successful implementation of a successful process when one culture’s process and definitions are forced upon another. Therefore, promotional factors (i.e., culture and religion) and the implication of semiotics (cultural definition or meaning) are an absolute consideration in developing a RJ process within a particular culture. This paper discusses the cultural differences between the United States and Japan with regard to semiotic obstacles in the implementation of a RJ model in the Japanese criminal justice system. While the exploration of cultural differences, particularly between the United States and Japan is not new and has been the focus of many disciplines, little has been considered regarding the assimilation and implementation of a Western RJ model into the Eastern culture of Japan. In sum, is an attempt to clarify and integrate the effects of cultural differences for some factors (i.e., Control/Choice, Harm, Apology, Responsibility, Shame, Forgiveness, and Reconciliation) as they apply to a RJ based reconciliation process focused in Semiotics, Social psychology and the Sociology of law as they apply to the United States and Japan.     

Language and the Learning Crisis: Evidence of Transfer Threshold Mechanisms in Multilingual Reading in South India

This paper provides evidence for a non-linear relationship between local language and English reading scores in multilingual South India. The mechanism suggests that being taught English prematurely may lead to struggles in English literacy acquisition; whereas being taught English after achieving a threshold reading level in the local language may lead to success in transitioning to English literacy acquisition. We base our findings on non-parametric and parametric regression analysis of data from assessments that were uniquely designed for South and Southeast Asian languages, and for multilingual children. Our findings help explain the global trend of increased school enrolment, with learning achievements lagging.     

STR Genotyping from a Dry‐Cleaned Skirt in a Sexual Assault Case

In this sexual assault case, the standard preliminary semen examinations could not confirm physically or biochemically whether the accused's semen had stained the victim's skirt because the skirt had been dry‐cleaned for stain removal and had been worn for more than a year after the assault. Fortunately, however, a photograph taken just after the assault was found in the court records that showed white stains on the checkered skirt. The locations of the stains were estimated based on the checkered pattern of the fabric, and microscopic examination using Baecchi's staining revealed the presence of spermatozoa. Further analysis indicated the male DNA profile generated from the sperm cells was consistent with the suspect's DNA using three multiplex STR typing systems for a total of 21 autosomal and 17 Y chromosomal short tandem repeats (STRs). Ultimately, the result of the DNA profile played a very useful role as additional evidence.     

Vaginal fluid zinc concentration as a marker for intercourse

Zinc is present in high concentration in semen, but in low concentration in vaginal fluid. We evaluated vaginal zinc levels as a marker for intercourse by measuring precoital (greater than 11 h after intercourse) or postcoital (less than 5 h after intercourse) zinc and acid phosphatase levels in 26 specimens of vaginal fluid from 18 women. The approximate 95% reference range for zinc in precoital vaginal fluid was 1.2 to 15 micrograms/mL (mean 4.5), and in postcoital vaginal fluid 4.0 to 135 micrograms/mL (mean 24). There is an overlap between the precoital and postcoital reference ranges. Provided that the vaginal fluid zinc level is less than approximately 4.0 micrograms/mL or greater than approximately 15 micrograms/mL, vaginal fluid zinc concentration may be useful as an indicator of intercourse.     

Prospects for Islam in post‐Soeharto Indonesia∗

The Islamic parties combined may win a majority of the popular vote in the general elections in Indonesia in June, says Professor Mitsuo Nakamura of the Department of Cultural Anthropology, Chiba University, but there is virtually no possibility that so‐called “Islamic fundamentalism” will gain influence, and little likelihood that a solid Islamic bloc dominating both legislative and executive bodies of the government would initiate a comprehensive program of Islamization. In this article, Nakamura discusses the implications of the growing number of Islamic political parties for the future of Indonesian politics, and whether the emergence of these parties is likely to be detrimental or conducive to the reconstruction of Indonesia's national life on a more democratic footing.     

Traumatic rupture of an abdominal aortic aneurysm associated with the use of a seatbelt

Injury to the abdominal aorta after blunt trauma continues to be a relatively infrequent occurrence. In this report, we describe a case of traumatic rupture of an abdominal aortic aneurysm associated with inappropriate seatbelt use.     

Simultaneous detection of multiple STR loci on sex chromosomes for forensic testing of sex and identity.

The forensic usefulness of X and Y chromosomal STR loci has recently been demonstrated. One quadruplex-PCR, using 2 X- and 2 Y-STRs (STRX1/HPRTB and DYS390/ DYS393), and 2 duplex-PCRs, each using an X- and a Y-STR (ARA/DYS390 and ARA/DYS393), and detection of PCR products by using an automated DNA sequencer are reported herein. This approach allows us to determine not only the sex of the donor of a sample, but also the X- and/or Y-STR genotypes of the sample. A male biological specimen yields 4 amplified products in quadruplex-PCR and 2 amplified fragments in duplex-PCRs, whereas a female biological specimen yields only 2 amplified fragments of X-STR in quadruplex-PCR and one fragment, also of X-STR, in duplex-PCRs. Our study thus provides useful information for many activities in forensic practice, such as identity testing, paternity testing, especially of deficiency cases, compilation of population data, and sex determination of a biological sample from a single PCR.     

An unusual case of fatal gas embolism.

We describe an unusual case of fatal gas embolism, in which a man died by connecting an extension tube supplying oxygen to an indwelling catheter that was inserted into the left cephalic vein.     

Japan's central administration at the crossroads: increasing public demand for deregulation,decentralization and de-bureaucratization

The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)singlehandedly governed Japan for over thirty eight years until June 1993. Under the semipermanent conservative governance, central agencies have assumed a major role in making Japanese big businesses expand and become one of the leading players in the international economy. Nonetheless, many Japanese doubt the role and function of Japan's central administration. They believe that the central government has been excessively involved in economic affairs. For them, governmental meddling in private business is detrimental to the health of Japanese society. Reflecting these public outcries, the government finally enacted an important law, The Law for the Promotion of Decentralization, on May 15, 1995. While much still remains to be clear, this may become a significant threshold for Japan's administrative reform. It may perhaps help introduce a new paradigm to Japan's producer oriented social environment.