The Law and Politics of Marital Rape in England, 1945–1994

This article examines the ending of the marital rape exemption in England. It describes the unresponsiveness of the political and legal establishment on the issue from the war to the mid-1970s. The arguments and campaigns that feminists and others advanced against the rule from the 1970s onwards are analysed, together with the political and legal reaction to this campaign. Next, the Parliamentary and legal debates over the rule in the 1980s are discussed: a story of inertia, even hostility, towards such campaigning. Finally, the article considers the demise of the exemption in the 1990s. The article presents a nuanced account of this change, which was both vigorously contested and highly contingent. It also suggests that legal protection from ‘the rapist who pays the rent’, and the campaign to achieve this, deserve appropriate recognition within the story of feminist activism in the late twentieth century.     

Psychologists as ‘the quiet ones with the power’: understanding indeterminate sentenced prisoners’ experiences of psychological risk assessment in the United Kingdom

ABSTRACT

Prisoners serving indeterminate sentences in the United Kingdom do not know when or if they will be released from prison. Release and progression decisions are determined by the risk the ISP presents of reoffending. This makes the assessment of risk a high stakes business for ISPs. Whilst there is a large body of literature focused on prisoners’ general experiences of prison, there is an absence of specific empirical exploration of prisoners’ experiences of risk assessment. This paper aims to address this gap by reporting the results of a qualitative exploration of ISPs’ experiences of psychological risk assessment. Interviews with 10 ISPs were conducted and analysed using Grounded Theory methods. Analysis indicated that prisoners experienced the prison environment as characterised by violence, volatility and suffering. Psychological risk assessment is embedded within this emotionally and physically challenging context but also contributes to the experience of suffering. Within this context, prisoners felt stuck, powerless and out of control in relation to risk assessment, and experienced psychologists as untrustworthy yet powerful. Understanding prisoners’ experiences is the first step in resolving some of the long-reported difficulties in working relationships between psychologists and prisoners as well as making the process more procedurally just.     

ACCOUNTING FOR RESULTS: PORTFOLIO EXPLANATORY NOTES BECOME PROGRAM PERFORMANCE STATEMENTS

Abstract: This paper outlines the place of performance evaluation in the recent administrative reforms and, in that context, assesses the changes made for the 1991–92 Program Performance Statements. The changes constitute a concerted attempt to improve the system of program evaluation throughout the Australian Public Service. Coherent and logical, they are based on a model of governance that seeks to establish a definitive demarcation between policy and administration, and hence confirm traditional notions of ministerial accountability. Analysis of these changes from a parliamentary perspective suggests that, unless there are serious reforms introduced into parliament, there is an increased likelihood that the monitoring of the bureaucratic machinery of government will become inadequate.     

STR data for the GenePrint PowerPlex 1.2 system loci from three United Arab Emirates populations

Allele frequencies for the eight STRs included in the GenePrint PowerPlex 1.2 kit were obtained from three population groups that are resident in the United Arab Emirates (UAE); 228 unrelated UAE individuals, 194 unrelated Indian individuals and 197 unrelated Pakistani individuals were analysed.     

东欧二十年转型风暴:从集权主义到全球化

在欧地区共产主义政权突然垮台的原因是由于共产党领导人忽视了政治和经济现实。苏联及其二战后成立的那些卫星国家的共产党不像中国共产党那样勇于变革，在全球竞争的背景下，他们既未能找到阻止经济崩溃和解决技术落后的方案，也没有考虑到本国公民对自由的渴望。20年前，东欧国家以惊人的速度决定摆脱旧有体制的统治，重新规划未来。