“Like Having New Batteries Installed!”: Problematizing the Category of the “40+ Mother” in Contemporary Danish Media

In recent years, the phenomenon of the “40+ mother” has generated much media attention in Denmark. Within these discussions, 40+ mothers are regularly labelled as ridiculous, bad, or irresponsible, their access to assisted reproductive technologies is restricted, and their right to them is questioned. This rhetoric is explored here within the particular context of the Danish welfare state, which commonly takes pride in being family-friendly and is often seen as liberal in terms of its gender policies. This paper analyses these debates and argues that the ideological category of the “old mother” is another formulation of sexist and ageist discourses that identify feminine ageing with decline and emptiness. Drawing on feminist age studies, these media representations are considered here as a manifestation of middle-ageism, in which 40+ mothers undergo a process of accelerated ageing as they fail to act their age. The analysis traces these emerging discourses and discusses some of the alternatives they raise. The paper is situated within social and feminist studies of time that aim to challenge normative reproductive temporalities and the ideology of ageing as decline, so that the category of 40+ mothers opens up new rhythmic options for reproductive time and for heteronormative life-course paradigms more generally.     

Loss Due to Death and its Association with Mental Disorders in Juvenile Detainees

This study investigated the prevalence of loss due to death and its association with mental disorders in a random sample of 898 newly detained adolescents in Chicago, Illinois. Nearly 90% of youth experienced the loss of an important person; most had also experienced a “high‐risk” loss (e.g., loss due to violence, sudden loss). Minority youth were at particular risk. Youth with any loss or multiple losses were more likely to have mood disorders and ADHD/behavioral disorders, respectively, than youth who had no such losses. Interventions focusing on modifiable protective factors following loss may increase positive outcomes in this vulnerable population.     

Handout or Hand‐up: Ongoing Tensions in the Long History of Government Response to Drought in Australia

In 2014 the Coalition government announced a 320 million dollar package for drought‐hit farmers. In describing this initiative as a “hand‐up” not a “hand out” Prime Minister Tony Abbott encapsulated more than 150 years of tension over whether government drought response should be unconditional limited relief or conditional longer‐term assistance. This paper considers the long history of drought assistance in Australia as seen through government legislation, year books, newspapers and personal papers. It argues that despite changing political and social circumstances, contradictions in the approach to government drought response, as well as in public and personal reactions to those policies, have remained remarkably consistent. We further suggest that lack of consensus over the inherent nature of drought is not sufficient to explain the dilemma.     

Neighbourhood outreach: a novel approach to Liaison and Diversion

Aims and method: We evaluate the initial outcomes from the Cornwall Criminal Justice Liaison and Diversion Service (CJLDS) which includes a pilot Neighbourhood Outreach scheme to support police with vulnerable individuals with suspected mental illness but not necessarily criminal involvement. Results: We review the first nine months’ operational data, including a six month follow-up of the initial three months’ to assess the impact of intervention. The service identified a large proportion of new cases of mental illness at an earlier stage. Intervention significantly reduced the number of contacts with police and may suggest a reduction in the severity of crime. Clinical implications: The Cornwall CJLDS with its pilot Neighbourhood Outreach has had a significant impact on both health and on crime, with additional cost savings. The degree to which this is replicable is discussed. Declaration of interest: None     

Sex offender laws in the United States: smart policy or disproportionate sanctions?

In the 1990s, the United States began enacting a series of laws to monitor and supervise sex offenders living in the community. These evolved to include Internet registries of sex offenders, sex offender residence restrictions, GPS monitoring, and even civil commitment of sex offenders at the conclusion of their criminal sentences. Though other countries have enacted legislation to monitor sex offenders, none have implemented laws impinging on the civil liberties of offenders to the extent of those in the United States. This article examines the basis of the US laws and their challenges, provides an overview of their efficacy, and compares the US approach to those of other countries.     

Distribution of Enantiomers of Methadone and Its Main Metabolite EDDP in Human Tissues and Blood of Postmortem Cases

Knowledge concerning the distribution of methadone in postmortem human tissue and the effect of postmortem redistribution on methadone is today limited making the choice of a suitable substitute for femoral blood difficult when this is not available. Cardiac blood, femoral blood, muscle, and brain tissue concentrations of the enantiomers of methadone and its metabolite 2‐ethyl‐1,5‐dimethyl‐3,3‐diphenylpyrrolinium were recorded for 155 postmortem cases. Brain and muscle tissue concentrations exceeded the femoral blood concentrations with a median fold of 2.3 and 1.6, respectively, but both had a better correlation than cardiac blood to femoral blood concentrations. The Kruskal–Wallis test showed a significant dependency on time and body mass index for some of the matrix ratios over femoral blood. We conclude brain or muscle tissue may constitute a better alternative for measurement of methadone than cardiac blood for situations in which femoral blood is not available, despite concentrations in both matrices being systematically higher.     

The Co‐optation of LGBT Movements in Mexico and Nicaragua: Modernizing Clientelism?

Before the 1980s, LGBT groups in Latin America were largely (though not entirely) excluded from the state. This article argues that a combination of factors—democratization, social movement demands, neoliberal globalization and its accompanying discourse of modernity—has led many state actors to seek to incorporate LGBT groups into the state. Considering two cases of self‐proclaimed revolutionary parties, Mexico's PRI and Nicaragua's FSLN, the article examines how and why these parties incorporated LGBT organizations and what impact such incorporation had on the LGBT groups themselves. In both countries, LGBT groups benefited from clientelistic resources at the same time that they found themselves deradicalizing, often forced to accept visibility without rights. But in Nicaragua, a more recent revolutionary experience and ties to a combative, autonomous feminist movement have allowed some LGBT activists to resist the state's efforts to co‐opt their movement.