Beyond reason and hysteria: Towards a postmodern model of communication and control in science

This article takes the controversy over ‘Mad Cow Disease’ ('BSE') in Britain as the starting point to reflect on postmodern contexts for the production, circulation and control of scientific discourse. It looks at two competing models of scientific rationality, modernist and postmodernist, as they function in contexts we call ‘postmodern’. With BSE? the Government began with the modernist project of combating hysteria with calm reasonableness, thereby helping to produce the hysteria they feared. But science, far from being entirely rational or unitary, is a set of relatively independent discourses? including ‘entropie’ discourse: discursive black holes which are strictly policed but never fully contained—the unconscious of science? where scientific creativity and popular paranoia meet. Where modernist science defends against the crisis of unreason to prevent it from happening, postmodern science (chaos theory, fuzzy logic) accepts the normality of crisis? chaos and unpredictability, which are not coincidentally coming to characterise the postmodern world. The problems of modernist science are not purely epistemological. The postmodern alliance of modernist science and global agribusiness has meant unprecedented assaults on nature, producing a ‘return of the (biotic) repressed’ that, in turn, becomes the content of the discursive repressed of science itself. To contend with these processes, we need postmodern theories of science—including the anomalous? the improbable in the analysis—as was not done with BSE until too late? because current science refused to accept the possible existence of a phenomenon that was empirically unproven and did not fit in. Of equal importance is to include popular discourses among the full set of available sources of scientific ‘truth’. Films like Outbreak and popular science like The Hot Zone express a popular paranoia that discourses of science urgently need to attend to. The study of popular culture should become an integral part in a new postmodern sociology of science.     

Role of orthopedic implants and bone morphology in the identification of human remains

When conventional methods of identification, such as visual recognition and dental comparison, cannot be used to identify a deceased person, it becomes necessary to consider alternative methods. The presence of an orthopedic implant in a body may assist identification if ante-mortem medical records are available for comparison. Another method of identification involves comparison of ante-mortem and postmortem radiographs. Eight cases are reported from Forensic Science SA where the presence of orthopedic implants and/or ante-mortem radiographs were used to try to establish identification. In six cases, positive identification was established, and in two cases with upper limb orthopedic implants, the bones remained unidentified. Manufacturers were unable to provide any information about the distribution and use of the implants that could be of use with identification, as there are no requirements in Australia for individual medical implants to be tracked. Such a system has the potential to aid postmortem identification if serial codes were etched onto implants that could then be traced to manufacturers, surgeons, and recipients of these devices.     

Using meta-analysis under conditions of definitional ambiguity: the case of corporate crime

Given the reliance on meta-analyses to produce criminal justice policy recommendations, it is important to think critically about how this method is being applied in practice. In this study, we use data from a meta-analysis of corporate crime deterrence to demonstrate that applying meta-analytic methods to conceptually ambiguous research domains is problematic. Although meta-analysis is capable of modeling methodological variations in different research projects examining the same construct, analysts should not assume that meta-analytic methods are always appropriate; methodological differences may reflect underlying conceptual dissimilarities – this violates an assumption of meta-analysis. We also offer a critique of the corporate crime field for failing to clearly define its outcome, a critique that can be extended to other areas of criminological study.     

Reimagining Sutherland 80 years after white‐collar crime*

Eighty years ago, Edwin H. Sutherland conceptualized and defined white‐collar crime. In this article, I engage retrospectively with Sutherland's ideas and work to emphasize important aspects that continue to guide research today; to note where he was prescient as well as shortsighted. I center this discussion around “corporate crime” or crimes by business. Four main themes are discussed: 1) law and official responses to corporate offending—the data problem, 2) corporate crime and the life cycle of organizations, 3) psychological and trait‐based explanations, and 4) consequences of definitional ambiguity.     

Of mice and men: will the intersection of social science and genetics create new approaches for intimate partner violence?

The past two decades have yielded a recognition that intimate partner violence is ubiquitous. Although violence within relationships is bidirectional, there is acknowledgment that violence directed against women is more persistent and dangerous. Strategies for treatment of men have been largely unsuccessful, and studies of women centered approaches to prevention are in their infancy. An emerging concept in the brain-behavior field is the recognition of genetics as a powerful influence on aggressive and violent behaviors. Mouse models of human health and disease have facilitated our understanding of the role of genetics in the manifestation of these traits. There is a need to push the boundaries of research on intimate partner violence by adopting biosocial approaches to understand its causes.     

THE CHILDREN ACT 1989 AND THE VOICE OF THE CHILD IN FAMILY CONCILIATION

Over the past 10 years, there has been a rapid development of conciliation throughout Great Britain in matters relating to divorce and separation. The growth has been in terms of the accessibility of services as well as in the styles of conciliation practice offered. Throughout this period, the question of the involvement of children in conciliation has persisted as a key issue. Should children be involved at all, and if so, how should this involvement best be brought about? This article suggests that the change of philosophy regarding child law intended by the new Children Act 1989 will give considerable impetus to this debate and should lead to a clarification of the role of conciliation in allowing the voice of the child to be heard following divorce or separation.