Recent developments in medicine and law

This article focuses on certain noteworthy legislation and cases affecting medicine and law during the period September 1, 2001, to August 31, 2002. It does not attempt to discuss every case or piece of legislation, but instead seeks to summarize some of the more significant developments in this area of law.     

Changing coverage of domestic violence murders: a longitudinal experiment in participatory communication

Stressing relation-building and participatory communication approaches, the Rhode Island Coalition against Domestic Violence worked with journalists to develop a best practices handbook on news coverage of domestic violence murders. This study compares print coverage of domestic violence murders prehandbook (1996-1999) and posthandbook (2000-2002). Significant changes include increased labeling of the murder of intimates as domestic violence and doubled usage of advocates as sources. As a result, domestic violence murders, previously framed as unpredictable private tragedies, are more commonly framed posthandbook as social problems warranting public intervention. The authors conclude that relation-building approaches can affect news cultures and public discourse when conducted in conjunction with comprehensive participatory communications strategies.     

Litigation Migrants

Civil law is enforced primarily via private litigation. One characteristic of private enforcement is that litigation levels tend to cycle between periods of boom and bust. This article builds a theory for explaining this fluctuation, proposing that plaintiffs’ attorneys can be understood as economic migrants. Just as workers cross borders to find jobs, lawyers “move” across case types and jurisdictions to find profitable claims, and case filing numbers increase as a result. Using the recent wage and hour litigation boom as a case study, this article paints an empirical picture of attorney migration and its influence on case filing numbers.     

Can latent fingerprint disclose the sex of the donor? A preliminary test study using GC–MS analysis of latent fingerprints

While fingerprints are a highly used means of identification, not every fingerprint left behind on a potential crime scene can be used for identification purposes. In some cases, the fingerprint may be smudged, partially preserved or overlapping with other prints hence distorting the ridge pattern and may therefore be not appropriate for identification. Further, fingermark residue yields a very low abundance of genetic material for DNA analysis. In such cases, the fingermark may be used to retrieve basic donor information such as sex. The focus of this paper was to assess the possibility of differentiating between the sexes of the donor of latent fingermarks. Analytical method was GC–MS analysis of the chemical compounds of latent fingermarks using 22 male and 22 female donors. Results showed 44 identified compounds. Two alcohols, octadecanol C₁₈ and eicosanol C₂₀, were found to show a difference that was statistically significant between male and female donors. There is also some evidence for the possibility of distinguishing sex of the fingermark donor based on the distribution of branched chain fatty acids, as free compounds or esterified in wax esters.     

Smallholder Drip Irrigation in Burkina Faso: The Role of Development Brokers

Smallholder drip irrigation is widely held as a promising technology for water saving, poverty reduction and food security, despite a dearth of evidence of benefits to farmers, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. In this article, we document three development programmes promoting drip irrigation in Burkina Faso. Using actor network theory and insights from critical development studies, we show that development brokers play a key role in aligning interests, shaping activities and interpreting project outcomes. They are accountable towards each other rather than to farmers. This means that success is interpreted through development agencies lenses and with the intention of continuing involvement in future projects. Small farmers’ interests and uptake of the technology are of secondary importance.     

Editors’ introduction: neoliberalism and/as terror

The articles in this special issue are drawn from papers presented at a conference entitled “Neoliberalism and/as Terror”, held at the Nottingham Conference Centre at Nottingham Trent University by the Critical Terrorism Studies BISA Working Group (CSTWG) on 15–16 September 2014. The conference was supported by both a BISA workshop grant and supplementary funds from Nottingham Trent University’s Politics and International Relations Department and the Critical Studies on Terrorism journal. Papers presented at the conference aimed to extend research into the diverse linkages between neoliberalism and terrorism, including but extending beyond the contextualisation of pre-emptive counterterrorism technologies and privatised securities within relevant economic and ideological contexts. Thus, the conference sought also to stimulate research into the ways that neoliberalism could itself be understood as terrorism, asking – amongst other questions – whether populations are themselves terrorised by neoliberal policy. The articles presented in this special issue reflect the conference aims in bringing together research on the neoliberalisation of counterterrorism and on the terror of neoliberalism.     

Explaining Levels of Local Government Involvement in Service Delivery: The Dynamics of Cross‐Sector Partnerships in Malawi

This study explores how local governments and their development partners—that is, donors, non‐governmental organisations and private companies—structure their partnerships as they work together to provide services to communities. Cases of collaboration between four organisations working in the rural water supply sector and six local governments in Malawi are studied. Using a cross‐case qualitative methodology, we illustrate how power and control translate into practices, leading to different levels of local government involvement in service delivery. This study contributes to the literature on cross‐sector partnerships in particular by developing empirically‐based propositions that help explain the dynamic trajectories that partnerships between local governments and their development partners can take. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.