International Power and Local Action – Implications for the Intersectionality of the Rights of Women with Disability

The recent United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) reframes how policy responds to disability, difference, interdependence and rights. We examine how Australian disability activists used the CRPD to advocate for the intersectional rights of women with disability. We applied a framework from Zwingel's conceptualisation of mutually constituting global norms to analyse the intersectionality of rights represented in three stages of the CRPD process – during the drafting, the wording in the Convention, and the periodic review. We found that disability activists were able to shape the gendering of disability through their targeted representation as people with lived experience. This expertise filled a knowledge gap in the policy process valued by the actors at other policy levels. Extending Zwingel's concept of global discourse translation, it also suggests that the dynamic contribution continues in the international interpretation of the CRPD itself.     

Perceptions and use of videoconferencing in forensic mental health assessments: A survey of evaluators and legal personnel

ABSTRACT

The use of videoconferencing (VC) to conduct forensic mental health assessments (FMHA) is increasing. Yet, little is known about its acceptability among clinicians or legal professionals. In Study 1 (N?=?156), forensic evaluators were asked about their use of VC, reasons for its use, and opinions about the validity, usefulness, ethics, and legality of its use. An estimated one-third of evaluators have used VC in the past. Although evaluators overall expressed moderate concern over the ethics and legality of use, prior experience appeared to mitigate concerns. Younger practitioners were also more open to using VC. Reduced costs for courts was the most frequently endorsed benefit associated with VC, while restricted ability to administer psychological testing and potential technological problems were seen as the biggest disadvantages. In Study 2 (N?=?27), attorneys and judges were surveyed about frequency with which they encounter VC for FMHA and their perceptions about the validity of those assessments. Findings indicated legal personnel expressed rather negative views without having much first-hand experience of VC, including concerns about establishing rapport and technical difficulties. These studies have implications for whether VC will be adopted more frequently in FMHA.     

A. Reviews: general

JOURNAL OF ORIENTAL AND AFRICAN STUDIES, Vol. 1. Edited by ATHANASIUS TH. PHOTOPOULOS. Athens, 1989. viii, 245 pp.

RELIGION AND SOCIETY IN ARAB SIND. By BERRYL N. MACLEAN. (Monographs and Theoretical Studies in Sociology and Anthropology in Honour of Nels Anderson, 25.) Leiden, Brill, 1989. x, 191pp. Hf1.75‐/$37.50.

AN ARAB‐SYRIAN GENTLEMAN AND WARRIOR IN THE PERIOD OF THE CRUSADES: MEMOIRS OF USAMAH IBN‐MUNQIDH. Translated by PHILIP K. HITTI. Columbia University Press, 1929; reissued by Princeton University Press 1987. x, 265pp. 3 illustrations, 1 map. US$9.95.

THE ASSASSINS. By BERNARD LEWIS. London, al‐Saqi Books, repr. 1985. £4.95.

ECONOMIC LIFE IN OTTOMAN JERUSALEM. By AMNON COHEN. (Cambridge Studies in Islamic Civilization.) Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1989. 179pp., 6 photographs, 1 map. £27.50.

SUMMON UP REMEMBRANCE. By MARZIEH GAIL. Oxford, George Ronald, 1987. 295pp. £14.95 (H/B); £7.50 (P/B).

AFRICANISMO Y ORIENTALISMO ESPAÑOL EN EL SIGLO XIX. By VICTOR MORALES LEZCANO. Madrid, Universidad Nacional de Education a Distancia, 1989. 175pp.

ORIENT AND OCCIDENT. By AHMAD AMIN, translated by WOLFGANG H. BEHN. Berlin, Adiyok 1984. 76 pp. DM19.50.

ISLAM, THE PEOPLE AND THE STATE; ESSAYS ON POLITICAL IDEAS AND MOVEMENTS IN THE MIDDLE EAST. By SAMI ZUBAIDA. London and New York, Routledge, 1989. xi, 192pp. £27.95

POWER AND STABILITY IN THE MIDDLE EAST. Edited by BERCH BERBEROGLU. London, Zed Books, 1989. 206pp., tables, index.

THE ANTHROPOLOGY OF JUSTICE: LAW AS CULTURE IN ISLAMIC SOCIETY. By LAWRENCE ROSEN. (Lewis Henry Morgan Lectures, 1985.) Cambridge and New York, Cambridge University Press, 1989. 101pp. Plates. £22.50/$34.50 (h/b), £7.50/$12.95 (p/b)

THE DRUZE. By ROBERT BRENTON BETTS. New Haven and London, Yale University Press, 1988. xiv, 161pp. 5 maps, 22 black & white plates.

PUBLIC OPINION AND THE QUESTION OF PALESTINE. Edited by ELIA ZUREIK and FOUAD MUGHRABI. London, Croom Helm, 1987. 206pp.

PALESTINE AND ISRAEL: THE UPRISING AND BEYOND. By DAVID MCDOWALL. London, Tauris, 1989. 322 pp.

THE PLO UNDER ‘ARAFAT: BETWEEN GUN AND OLIVE BRANCH. By SHAUL MISHAL. New Haven and London, Yale University Press, 1986. 178pp.

THE MIDDLE EAST: TEN YEARS AFTER CAMP DAVID. Edited by WILLIAM B. QUANDT. Washington DC, Brookings Institution. £28.75

RADICAL ISLAM: THE IRANIAN MOJAHEDIN. By ERVAND ABRAHAMIAN, London, I.B. Tauris, 1989. 320pp. £29.50 (hardback), £9.50 (paperback).

ARAB WOMEN IN THE FIELD: STUDYING YOUR OWN SOCIETY. Edited by SORAYA ALTORKI and CAMILLIA FAWZI EL‐SOLH. Syracuse, Syracuse University Press, 1988. xii, 184pp.

KHUL‐KHAAL: FIVE EGYPTIAN WOMEN TELL THEIR STORIES. By NAYRA ATIYA. London, Virago Press, 1988. xxii, 182pp.

WE SHALL RETURN: WOMEN OF PALESTINE. By INGELA BENDT and JAMES DOWNING. London, Zed Press, 1982. iii, 129pp.

THREE WOMEN OF HERAT. By VERONICA DOUBLEDAY. London, Jonathan Cape, 1988. xi, 222pp. £12.95.

DOING DAILY BATTLE: INTERVIEWS WITH MOROCCAN WOMEN. By FATIMA MERNISSI, translated by JO LAKELAND. London, The Women's Press, 1988. 224pp. £5.95.

BOTH RIGHT AND LEFT HANDED: ARAB WOMEN TALK ABOUT THEIR LIVES. By BOUTHAINA SHAABAN. London, The Women's Press, 1988. vii, 242pp. £5.95.

THE PRESS IN THE MIDDLE EAST: CONSTRAINT, CONSENSUS, CENSORSHIP. By BARBARA KOEPPEL. Washington, Middle East Research and Information Project (MERIP), [c.1989]. 14pp. US$2.00.

INFORMATION AND THE MUSLIM WORLD: A STRATEGY FOR THE TWENTY‐FIRST CENTURY. By ZIAUDDIN SARDAR. London, Mansell, 1988. x, 186pp. £24.75

STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT OF SERVICES IN THE ARAB GULF STATES: COMPANY AND INDUSTRY CASES. By M. SAMI KASSEM and GHAZI M. HABIB. Berlin and New York, de Gruyter, 1989. xxi, 480pp.

THE MODERN ARABIC SHORT STORY: SHAHRAZAD RETURNS. By MUHAMMAD SHAHEEN. London, Macmillan, 1989. 158 pp.

MUSIC OF AFGHANISTAN. By JOHN BAILY. (Cambridge Studies in Ethnomusicology.) Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1988. 183pp., cassette. £32.50.

WOMEN'S COSTUME OF THE NEAR AND MIDDLE EAST. By JENNIFER SCARCE. London and Sydney, Unwin Hyman, 1987. £40.00.

A SHORT ACCOUNT OF EARLY MUSLIM ARCHITECTURE. By K.A.C. CRESWELL, revised and supplemented by J.W. ALLAN. Aldershot, Scolar Press, 1989. 435pp. 273 illustrations, 3 maps. £47.50

THE HISTORICAL MOSQUES OF SAUDI ARABIA. By G.R.D. KING. London and New York, 1986. 208pp.

YEMEN: 3000 YEARS OF ART AND CIVILISATION IN ARABIA FELIX. Edited by WERNER DAUM. Innsbruck, Pinguin‐Verlag and Frankfurt/Main, Umschau‐Verlag, 1987. 483pp.

MANDA: EXCAVATIONS AT AN ISLAND PORT ON THE KENYA COAST. By NEVILLE CHITTICK. (Memoirs, 9.) Nairobi, British Institute in Eastern Africa, 1984. xvi, 258pp. £25.00     

Effects of Positive Impression Management on the Psychopathic Personality Inventory

The Psychopathic Personality Inventory (PPI; S. O.Lilienfeld & B. P. Andrews, 1996) is a self-report test that has shown considerable promise as a screening measure for psychopathy. A current limitation of the PPI is that no data exist regarding the impact of response sets such as positive impression management. Although the PPI contains a validity scale (Unlikely Virtues) designed to identify response biases such as faking good, its utility has not yet been assessed. In this study a repeated measures analogue design was employed in which 186 respondents completed the PPI both under standard conditions and with specific instructions to create a favorable impression of themselves. In the fake good condition, participants were able to appear significantly less psychopathic, with those who obtained higher scores in the standard instruction condition showing the largest decreases in their PPI scores. Receiver Operating Characteristic analyses indicated that, although the Unlikely Virtues scale significantly differentiated between fake good and honest protocols (area under the curve = .73), a considerable number of misclassifications occurred. The clinical and forensic implications of these findings are discussed.     

Capturing high-resolution digital images for use in forensic document examination

In the past, pattern disciplines within forensic science have periodically faced criticism due to their subjective and qualitative nature and the perceived absence of research evaluating and supporting the foundations of their practices. Recently, however, forensic scientists and researchers in the field of pattern evidence analysis have developed and published approaches that are more quantitative, objective, and data driven. This effort includes automation, algorithms, and measurement sciences, with the end goal of enabling conclusions to be informed by quantitative models. Before employing these tools, forensic evidence must be digitized in a way that adequately balances high-quality detail and content capture with minimal background noise imparted by the selected technique. While the current work describes the process of optimizing a method to digitize physical documentary evidence for use in semi-automated trash mark examinations, it could be applied to assist other disciplines where the digitization of physical items of evidence is prevalent. For trash mark examinations specifically, it was found that high-resolution photography provided optimal digital versions of evidentiary items when compared to high-resolution scanning.     

Preventing Transboundary Harm From Invasive Alien Species

The problem of invasive alien species (IAS) is the second biggest threat to biodiversity after loss of habitat. Although customary international law obliges States to prevent transboundary environmental harm such as IAS, international law does not clearly articulate these obligations in this context. A potentially helpful mechanism lies in the use of transboundary environmental impact assessment and risk analysis. However, the operation of these processes, within international environmental law, international quarantine law and international trade law has generated obligations that largely remain soft, ill-defined and inconsistent. This situation is counter-productive to preventing or minimizing transboundary harm caused by IAS.