Asia–Pacific news

This column provides a country by country analysis of the latest legal developments, cases and issues relevant to the IT, media and telecommunications' industries in key jurisdictions across the Asia Pacific region. The articles appearing in this column are intended to serve as ‘alerts’ and are not submitted as detailed analyses of cases or legal developments.     

Did the CIA Reproduce ‘Soviet Satellite’ Imagery of the US During DCI McCone’s Era? Evidence from a Document at the National Archives

The US developed the capability to see and reproduce photo imagery taken by Soviet satellites crossing the American landmass, according to notes of a conversation between DCI John McCone and Secretary of State Dean Rusk in 1963. We analyze the implications of this conversation, and report results of a literature search to explore how the US might have developed such a capability, and whether it lasted.     

Low-income preschoolers' behavior with anatomically detailed dolls

The present study examined nonabused children's responses to anatomically detailed (AD) dolls among diverse populations. Thirty six low-income, predominantly African-American preschoolers from a Head Start center participated in an AD interview. Interviews were videotaped and coded for the presence of eight behaviors and eight parallel verbalizations. Results indicated that the children spent the majority of the interview without engaging in any behaviors which are often associated with sexual abuse. Sexual interaction between the dolls was seldom demonstrated, particularly when compared to exploration of the dolls' genitalia. Some differences were noted in the way low-income, predominantly African-American preschoolers responded to the dolls, when contrasted with the results of studies using predominantly middle-income, White preschoolers. The need for the consideration of environmental factors in interpreting children's responses to AD dolls is discussed.     

Differential patterns of partner-to-woman violence: A comparison of samples of community,alcohol-abusing,and battered women

This paper compared a sample of women in treatment for alcoholism (N = 45) with a randomly selected sample of women from the local community (N = 40), and a sample of women receiving services for victimization by severe partner violence (N = 38). Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS) items were dichotomized into low frequency of partner violence (twice per year or less) and high frequency of violence (once per month or more), and then summed to yield separate low frequency and high frequency scores for each CTS subscale. Results showed that at the high frequency level, battered women reported the highest scores on each subscale, alcoholic women the second highest, and the community sample of women reported the lowest level of violence. A multiple regression analysis revealed that being in the alcoholic sample significantly predicted high frequency negative verbal interaction and moderate violence, controlling for presence of a partner with alcohol-related problems and demographic differences among the samples.     

More than ten years after: The long-term stability of informed death penalty opinions

This panel study examined the stability of informed death penalty opinions more than ten years after students participated in a semester long death penalty class. Results for two “abstract” opinion measures indicated that support of the death penalty significantly diminished after exposure to the death penalty class, yet rebounded to initial pretest levels two to three years later. After more than ten years, the data revealed small increases in support of the death penalty from the first follow-up period. Personal involvement measures did not change significantly across the four points in time. The relative importance of four of the eleven reasons for death penalty support or opposition changed significantly over time. Those changes varied across measures. Some increased in importance over time, while others decreased in importance. Finally, race was a significant factor in every opinion measure, as well as in nine of the eleven reasons for death penalty support or opposition.     

The role of procedural justice in the allocation of limited resources: A West German perspective

Following the experimental design used by Barrett-Howard and Tyler (1986), this study examines the importance given by West German university students to procedural and distributive justice allocation decision making. After reading one of eight scenarios in which there was a limited resource to be allocated, the subjects answered questions concerning the importance and meaning of justice. For the most part, the results correspond to previous U.S. findings of the importance of procedural justice and its definition across various allocation settings. However, the West German students placed greater importance on having mechanisms for correcting inadequate decisions than did their American counterparts. Beyond the design of the initial U.S. study, however, the West German students were asked in an open-ended format to discuss their concerns in making the allocation decision. Nearly half of the unprompted responses centered around justice issues.