Black Politics: How Anger Influences the Political Actions Blacks Pursue to Reduce Racial Inequality

Political Behavior - Although Blacks are homogeneous in their support for racial equality, research shows that they are conflicted about the political strategies their group should adopt to advance...     

Do Policy Makers Use Academic Research? Reexamining the “Two Communities” Theory of Research Utilization

Academics and policy makers in many Western countries are perceived as occupying separate communities, with distinct languages, values, and reward systems. However, data from a survey of more than 2,000 policy officials and 126 in‐depth interviews with public servants in Australia suggest that the “two communities” conceptualization may be misleading and flawed. More realistically, there is a range of interaction between policy and academia, with some individuals valuing and using academic research more than others. Furthermore, this relationship is complicated by the internal division between the political and administrative components of the public policy process.     

Ethnonationalism as a Source of Stability in the Party Systems of Bulgaria and Romania: Minority Parties,Nationalism, and EU Membership

Democratization, economic transformation, and EU accession have shaped the Bulgarian and Romanian party systems in ways similar to that seen across the rest of eastern Europe. A quarter century after democratization, the party systems remain unstable. The article demonstrates that nationalism and ethnic identity provide stable voter salience in party systems that remain dominated by fragmentation, personalistic political parties, and a lack of issue differentiation. An analysis of the use of ethnonationalism by political elites in Bulgaria is contrasted with a briefer analysis of Romania.     

Healed Depressed Parasagittal Skull Fractures—A Feature of Archaic Australian Aboriginal Remains

The skeletal remains of eight Australian Aboriginals with healed depressed skull fractures were examined. Male:female ratio 5:3; age range 20‐60 yrs. Burial dates by ¹⁴C dating in three cases were 500 years BP (n = 2) and 1300 BP. There were 13 healed depressed skull fractures manifested by shallow indentations of cortical bone and thinning of diploe, with no significant disturbance of the inner skull tables. Nine (69%) were located within 35 mm of the sagittal suture/midline. These lesions represent another acquired feature that might be helpful in suggesting that a skull is from a tribal Aboriginal individual and may be particularly useful if the remains are represented by only fragments of calvarium. While obviously not a finding specific to this population, these healed injuries would be consistent with the possible results of certain types of conflict behavior reported in traditional Aboriginal groups that involved formalized inflicted blunt head trauma.     

A feminist analysis of the American criminal justice system’s response to human trafficking

While criminological and criminal justice scholars have made important contributions to human trafficking literature, to date, such scholarship has been devoid of a feminist analysis of the topic as scholars have spent little time reflecting on how patriarchy impacts the criminal justice system’s response to human trafficking. Such examination is necessary to understand how the issue of patriarchy impacts criminal justice system approaches to the crime as well as the outcomes of such anti-human trafficking efforts. It is argued the influence of patriarchy on criminal justice system policy development and practice undermines the system’s anti-human trafficking efforts.     

Mentalisation-based therapy (MBT) in a high-secure hospital setting: expert by experience feedback on participation

Evidence for mentalisation-based therapy (MBT) is increasing in relation to the treatment of personality disorder. Individuals with personality disorder are over-represented in inpatient, forensic and forensic inpatient mental health services. This study explores MBT within a forensic setting as an intervention designed to moderate deficits linked to violence and to improve adaptive coping. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was conducted on interviews with four patients who completed MBT at a high-secure hospital. Findings suggest that MBT-enhanced participants’ mentalising which had a positive impact upon their capacity to manage their behaviour and emotions. MBT further enabled participants to process past experiences of violence and develop some degree of empathy for others, which led to a trend in abstinence from risk behaviours. Findings contribute a secure inpatient perspective on the experience of MBT and to MBT clinical outcomes.     

Obstacles to preserving precaution and equity in global hazardous waste regulation: an analysis of contested knowledge in the Basel Convention

The Basel Convention is regaining attention for the potential entry into force of the heretofore stalled Ban Amendment. In this paper, we draw parallels between the current debate surrounding the Ban Amendment and contestations that occurred in the early years of the Basel Convention’s Technical Working Group (TWG) over defining ‘hazardousness.’ Like the present debate, TWG deliberations involved a contestation between two divergent discourses concerning how hazardous wastes should be regulated—as ideally managed versus actually managed in the global South. Scholars have shown how the TWG is a site for industry to press for a definition of hazardousness favorable to their economic interests. However, explorations of the specific processes by which this occurred—particularly, how a framework for defining hazardousness that privileges private technical expertise over concerns of precaution and equity was successfully institutionalized within the TWG—have yet to be completed. We show that it is important to reexamine this debate today in order to better understand current Basel Convention developments.