The patentability of human beings: the effect of a proposed exclusion in the Patents Act 1953

The author critically examines the debate over whether "human beings" ought to be patentable. The article outlines the choices between excluding just the patenting of whole organisms or parts of organisms. After considering New Zealand, Canadian, and European Union Patent law, the author concludes that at very least New Zealand must statutorily prevent the patenting of whole organisms.     

Early Adolescent Social and Overt Aggression: Examining the Roles of Social Anxiety and Maternal Psychological Control

This study examined the factors contributing to the self-reported use of social and overt aggression among 745 10–14-year-old European American and Latino adolescents. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses showed that dispositional social evaluative anxiety was uniquely positively associated with boys’ and girls’ social aggression and negatively associated with boys’ overt aggression. Maternal psychological control was positively associated with overt aggression for all boys, but with social aggression only for Latino boys. Although maternal psychological control also was associated with girls’ use of overt aggression, this effect was stronger among older than among younger females. The relationship between maternal psychological control and girls’ social aggression was mediated by social evaluative anxiety. Implications for elevated levels of social evaluative anxiety are discussed within a social cognitive theory perspective and for maternal psychological control within a social learning theory perspective.Received Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from Michigan State University. Research interests include the interacting influences of individual differences and contextual factors on child and adolescent aggression.Research interests include examining the familial and peer systemic influences on child and adolescent aggression, individual differences influencing child and adolescent aggression, and interventions to reduce bullying behavior in peer groups.Received Ph.D. in School Psychology from Mississippi State University. Research interests include developing interventions in the classroom for disruptive behaviors, increasing prosocial behaviors, and decreasing aggression.     

Gender Stereotypes,Political Leadership,and Voting Behavior in Tunisia

Political Behavior - Although female political representation in the Arab world has nearly doubled in the last decade, little is known about how voters in the region view female politicians and...     

A comparison of the Russian and Canadian experiences with defining “organized crime”

The dangers stemming from organized crime have been widely acknowledged in the academic literature, government reports, as well as in popular discourse. This article focuses on the legislative efforts to define “organized crime” undertaken in Russia and Canada. Neither country has yet devised a satisfactory legislative definition of the varied phenomenon that is organized crime. Definitions in both jurisdictions are problematic due to their sweeping scope and insufficient delineation of a zone of risk for the accused as well as law enforcement officials. However, striking a proper balance between security concerns and human and civil rights in both countries will be problematic due to constant political pressure to “get tough on crime” as well as due to the amorphous nature of the phenomenon of organized crime.

Helping to sort the liars from the truth‐tellers: The gradual revelation of information during investigative interviews

Research examining detection of verbal deception reveals that lay observers generally perform at chance. Yet, in the criminal justice system, laypersons that have not undergone specialist investigative training are frequently called upon to make veracity judgements (e.g., solicitors; magistrates; juries). We sought to improve performance by manipulating the timing of information revelation during investigative interviews. A total of 151 participants played an interactive computer game as either a truth‐teller or a deceiver, and were interviewed afterwards. Game information known to the interviewer was revealed either early, at the end of the interview, or gradually throughout. Subsequently, 30 laypersons individually viewed a random selection of interviews (five deceivers and five truth‐tellers from each condition), and made veracity and confidence judgements. Veracity judgements were most accurate in the gradual condition, p < .001, η² = .97 (above chance), and observers were more confident in those judgements, p < .001, η² = .99. Deceptive interviewees reported the gradual interviews to be the most cognitively demanding, p < .001; η² = .24. Our findings suggest that the detection of verbal deception by non‐expert observers can be enhanced by employing interview techniques that maximize deceivers' cognitive load, while allowing truth‐tellers the opportunity to respond to evidence incrementally.     

What a girl's gotta do: the labor of the biopolitical celebrity in austerity Britain

This article debunks the widespread view that young female celebrities, especially those who rise to fame through reality shows and other forms of media-orchestrated self-exposure, dodge “real” work out of laziness, fatalism, and a misguided sense of entitlement. Instead, the authors argue that becoming a celebrity in a neoliberal economy such as that of the United Kingdom, where austerity measures disproportionately disadvantage the young, women, and the poor, is not as irregular or exceptional a choice as previously thought, especially since the precariousness of celebrity earning power adheres to the current demands of the neoliberal economy on its workforce. What is more, becoming a celebrity involves different forms of labor that are best described as biopolitical, since such labor fully involves and consumes the human body and its capacities as a living organism. Weight gain and weight loss, pregnancy, physical transformation through plastic surgery, physical symptoms of emotional distress, and even illness and death are all photographically documented and supplemented by extended textual commentary, usually with direct input from the celebrity, reinforcing and expanding on the visual content. As well as casting celebrity work as labor, the authors also maintain that the workings of celebrity should always be examined in the context of wider cultural, social and real economies.     

The Social Representativeness of German Party Membership

The present article empirically examines the social composition of German political party membership. In the first stage of the analysis, party members are compared with the total population and with voters. This makes it possible to identify potential deficiencies in the political representation of certain social groups. In the second stage, party membership is regressed on individual characteristics. This makes it possible to study cleavage structures. Since the empirical analysis includes data from the 2009 German Party Membership Study as well as from the 1998 Potsdam Party Membership Study, we are able to investigate changes over a period of eleven years. In light of the empirical findings, we then consider whether German parties are socially representative of the German population and their respective voters.