Between Two Worlds: Indigenous Leaders Exercising Influence and Working across Boundaries

Although there has been considerable commentary and debate relating to Indigenous political leadership, less attention has been given to the emergence of Indigenous leaders working to improve Indigenous prospects from within the worlds of community development, management, and administration. Based on in‐depth interviews with a cohort of emerging Indigenous leaders in these situations, we found that these leaders are producing their own style of leadership, drawing on their Indigenous identity as a resource, while negotiating the policy and other demands of white Australia. The style of leadership that is emerging has its own distinctive attributes, being more relationally based than is the norm. We suggest that these differences have an important cultural dimension, but also relate to the strategic and tactical challenges of managing ‘two‐ways’. We conclude that these characteristics may be difficult to recognise and reward in organisations where leadership is conceptualised in more instrumental terms.     

The Case of the “Offering of Life” in the Causes for Canonization of Catholic Saints: The Threshold of Self-Sacrifice

International Journal for the Semiotics of Law - Revue internationale de Sémiotique juridique - Catholic legal and doctrinal tradition defined two main cases for the canonization of saints:...     

Stable isotope ratio mass spectrometry and physical comparison for the forensic examination of grip-seal plastic bags

Plastic bags are frequently used to package drugs, explosives and other contraband. There exists, therefore, a requirement in forensic casework to compare bags found at different locations. This is currently achieved almost exclusively by the use of physical comparisons such as birefringence patterns. This paper discusses some of the advantages and shortcomings of this approach, and presents stable isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS) as a supplementary tool for effecting comparisons of this nature. Carbon and hydrogen isotopic data are presented for sixteen grip-seal plastic bags from a wide range of sources, in order to demonstrate the range of values which is likely to be encountered. Both isotopic and physical comparison (specifically birefringence) techniques are then applied to the analysis of rolls of bags from different manufacturing lots from a leading manufacturer. Both approaches are able to associate bags from a common production batch. IRMS can be applied to small fragments which are not amenable to physical comparisons, and is able to discriminate bags which could be confused using birefringence patterns alone. Similarly, in certain cases birefringence patterns discriminate bags with similar isotopic compositions. The two approaches are therefore complementary. When more than one isotopically distinct region exists within a bag (e.g. the grip-seal is distinct from the body) the ability to discriminate and associate bags is greatly increased.     

Is social change fundable? NGOs and theories and practices of social change

Northern NGOs have come under critical scrutiny since the 1990s, often with negative conclusions as organisations which had supported radical social change in the 1970s and 1980s have since turned themselves into a professionalised and bureaucratic aid sector. The article focuses on the Northern NGOs that purport to fund progressive social change and which encourage beneficiaries to question market and political power, and on the NGOs to which they channel funds in Latin America. After examining various types of critique, the article asks whether it is not only dangerous in practice to fund social change but also misguided in principle, or whether there remain ways to use resources to enhance the capacity of local change agents to make the choices that they deem appropriate. It concludes that much depends on the theory and practice of social change that underpin the resource transfer, particularly in relation to the transformation of power (as opposed to ‘empowerment’), to social activism, and to the robustness of efforts within NGOs to resist or modify bureaucratic imperatives from back-donors.     

Pregnancy in prison,mental health and admission to prison mother and baby units

Little is known about the mental health of pregnant women in prison in England or the factors which impact admissions to prison mother and baby units (MBUs). Research from the UK suggests women with more ‘stable’ backgrounds and lower prevalence of mental disorder are more likely to be admitted to prison MBUs. Eighty-five pregnant women were interviewed in eight different prisons. Schedules for the Clinical Assessment of Neuropsychiatry (SCAN) and Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) were used to assess mental health; Severity of Dependence Questionnaire (SOD-Q) for drug misuse; Alcohol Use Identification Test (AUDIT) for hazardous drinking; and the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID-II) to identify personality disorder. Fifty-one per cent of participants had depression and 57% had anxiety. Those who were working prior to imprisonment were more likely to be admitted to MBUs, and those with a prior social services involvement, diagnosis of personality disorder or history of suicidality were less likely to be admitted. The high levels of depression and anxiety can have negative impacts on both the mother and her unborn child. Factors which influence MBU admission suggest those who might benefit most from MBU placement are least likely to be admitted.     

Absorptive capacity in child welfare: measurement challenges and item development

Promoting successful implementation of evidence-based practices within child welfare agencies necessitates accurately measuring absorptive capacity (i.e., the ability to acquire, assimilate, transform, and exploit knowledge) through valid and reliable assessment. However, a measurement tool does not exist for child welfare agencies. As such, this exploratory study identified existing measures and items relevant to absorptive capacity in child welfare. The study resulted in 12 identified measures, comprising 98 applicable items. This research is a first step toward creating a measure for use in child welfare settings that will guide practice and administration decisions through valid measurement.     

The WORSHIP II study: a pilot of psychodynamic interpersonal therapy with women offenders who self-harm

Abstract

The Women Offenders Self Harm Intervention Pilot II (WORSHIP II) study was conducted in three female prisons in England and piloted a treatment intervention for self-harm. WORSHIP II specifically aimed to reduce thoughts and actions of self-harm and suicide risk, through an evidence-based intervention Psychodynamic Interpersonal Therapy (PIT), which is also known as the conversational model. This paper provides an outline of this pilot evaluation of using the PIT approach in prison settings. Therapeutic obstacles associated with implementing WORSHIP II in a correctional environment are discussed, together with successful strategies to overcome these difficulties. Finally, examination of some of the quantitative outcomes suggests that WORSHIP II is a promising approach for this difficult area.     

Deceptive behaviour and instrumental violence among psychopathic and non-psychopathic violent forensic psychiatric patients

Deceptive behaviour and instrumental violence are well-known psychopathic features and as such play important roles in the assessment of psychopathy. This study examined first, the nature of the violence committed by offenders that have been admitted to forensic psychiatric care and whether scores on the Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version (PCL:SV), Part 1, were associated with the instrumentality of violence. Second, we examined the proneness of offenders to re-frame the instrumentality in their past violent crimes, and whether this was associated with scores on the PCL:SV. The results show that the PCL:SV, Part 1 (interpersonal/affective features), was positively related to the officially coded instrumentality of the violent crimes. As expected, this association disappeared when the instrumentality was self-reported. However, the majority of the patients tended to exaggerate the reactivity of their violent crimes when it was self-reported, indicating that most offenders, independently of level of psychopathy, used deception when questioned about the characteristics of their past violent crimes. The reasons for, and implications of, the use of deception are discussed.     

Counter-conduct and its Intra-modern Limits

ABSTRACT

This article critically explores the Foucauldian concept of “counter-conduct”, which has recently been applied to the study of resistance in international relations (IR). Whilst a counter-conduct analytic can destabilise a power/resistance binary, I argue in this article that it does not fully overcome onto-political assumption. Drawing on postcolonial and decolonial perspectives, alongside discussions with protesters during the 2014 “Umbrella Movement” protests in Hong Kong, this article traces how a counter-conduct analytic can fix and flatten the politics and ethics of struggle in other ways. Specifically, I draw out three limiting assumptions about power/resistance articulated by Foucault, which are then implicated in a counter-conduct analytic: (1) his intra-modern critique of power; (2) his undivided reading of the subject; and (3) his valorisation of the politics of struggle. Offering a constructive critique, this article considers the stakes of unsettling these intra-modern limits and the consequences for an emerging counter-conduct research agenda.