A Study Comparing the Pre- and Post-Training Knowledge of Emergency Department Nurses in Turkey for the Diagnosis of Physically Abused Women

This study assesses the knowledge levels of emergency service nurses regarding their ability to recognize the signs of physical abuse in women, before and after an educational program. The research was conducted in Istanbul city center, using a comparative definitive method. The universe of the research consisted of emergency service nurses of three different publics. Data were collected via face to face interviews based on a questionnaire comprised of 21 questions with forty nine nurses. The results of the research revealed that 58.6 % (n?=?27) of ER nurses were between 18–25 years of age and 100 % (n?=?46) of them didn’t have any previous education on recognizing violence, and the scores before, just after and 3 months after the education program were statistically meaningful (x?=?30, p?<?0.0001). This study indicates that forensic medicine should be built up in nursing schools and via in-service training, the workers should be supported to improve themselves.     

Modernization without the market? The case of the ‘Soviet East’

This paper examines the contradictory nature of the ‘modernizing’ encounter between the former Soviet state and Cnetral Asian societies with a view to exploring more fully a path that purported to be transformative in the absence of a market economy. This encounter was evaluated by some as a radical break with the past and by others as an instance of cultural stasis and continuity. This apparent paradox is explained with reference to the specific features of the command economy and Soviet nationalities policy and their interplay with local forms of social organization. The main argument is that what appeared to some commentators as ‘traditionalism’ was as much a response to and creation of the system itself as a feature of local communities.     

Importance of electromyography and the electrophysiological severity scale in forensic reports

Forensic reports on traumatic peripheral nerve injuries include dysfunction degrees of extremities, which are arranged according to the Turkish Penalty Code. The aim of this study is to discuss the role and importance of electromyography while preparing forensic reports in the cases of traumatic peripheral nerve injuries and the usefulness of scoring systems. A modified global scale, recommended by Mondelli et al., was used to assess the electrophysiological impairment of each peripheral nerve. Forensic reports of 106 patients, reported between 2002 and 2004, were evaluated. Thirty-four percent of the cases were reported as "total loss of function," 41.5% were reported as "functional disability," and there were no dysfunctions in the other cases in forensic reports that were prepared based on Council of Social Insurance Regulations of Health Processes and Guide prepared by the Council of Forensic Medicine and profession associations of forensic medicine. When we rearranged these forensic reports based on the electrophysiological severity scale (ESS), it was clearly found that all of the score 2 cases and 86.7% of the score 3 cases corresponded to "functional disability" and 91.4% of the score 4 cases correspond to "total loss of function." We found a significant correlation between the ESS and functional evaluation in peripheral nerve injury cases. Evaluation of functional disabilities in peripheral nerve injuries with the ESS represents a standardized and objective method used for forensic reports.     

Mehrheitstyrannei durch Volksentscheide?

The article presents an examination of the question of whether minorities’ rights are somewhat protected or discriminated against by direct democratic decisions. It also delivers an investigation into the decisive factors which have a discriminatory or protective effect in the popular vote. Empirical analyses revealed that direct democracy cannot per se be considered a majority sword with a sharp blade or, conversely, a protective shield for minorities. Rather, the impact of direct democratic devices strongly depends on the degree of integration of the affected minority and the perception as a foreign group.     

Book reviews

National Movements and National Identity Among the Crimean Tatars (1905–16) Hakan Kirimli Leiden: EJ. Brill, 1996, 242 pp, illus., bibliog., index

Crimean Tatars: Repatriation and Conflict Prevention New York: Open Society Institute, 1996, 95 pp

Between the Slogans of Communism and the Laws of Islam Marfua Tokhtakhodjaeva Lahore: Shirkat Gah, 1995, x, 268 pp, paperback

Household Welfare in Central Asia Jane Falkingham, Jeni Klugman, Sheila Marnie and John Micklewright (editors) Basingstoke: Macmillan Press, 1997, xii, 253 pp, hardcover

The Wars of Eduard Shevarnadze Carolyn McGiffert Ekedahl and Melvin A. Goodman University Park, Pennsylvania: Penn State Press, 1997

Dictionary of Afghan Wars, Revolutions and Insurgencies Ludwig W. Adamec Lanham, MD, USA and London: The Scarecrow Press, 1996, 384 pp, maps, illus, chronology, bibliog. $48, hardback

Domestic Culture in the Middle East Jennifer Scarce National Museums of Scotland: Edinburgh and Curzon Press, Richmond, UK 1996, £12.99

Imageries Populaires en Islam Pierre Centlivres and Micheline Centlivres‐Demont Geneva, Switzerland: Georg Editeur, 1997, 106 pp, illus. FfS39

Colour and Symbolism in Islamic Architecture: Eight Centuries of the Tile‐Maker's Art Photographs by Roland and Sabrina Michaud. Text by Michael Barry London: Thames & Hudson, 1996, 315 pp, illus, map, indices, glossary, £48 hardback

Traditional Textiles of Central Asia Janet Harvey London: Thames & Hudson, 1996, 160 pp, biblio, £35

The Carpets of Afghanistan R. D. Parsons Woodbridge, Suffolk: The Antique Collectors Club, 1994, 192 pp, £29.95

The Iranian Constitutional Revolution, 1906–1911: Grassroots Democracy, Social Democracy and the Origins of Feminism Janet Afary New York: Columbia University Press, 1996, xxi + 448 pp., bibliography, glossary, index

Kochevaia tsivilizatsiia kazakhov: osnovy zhiznedeiatel'nosti nomadnogo obshchestva Nurbulat Masanov Almaty: Sotsivest, 1995     

Turkish nationalism at its beginning: Analysis of Türk Yurdu, 1913–1918

Turkish nationalism became an element of the Ottoman political scene in the late nineteenth century. Although its roots can be traced back to the Hamidian period (1876–1909), Turkish nationalism emerged as one of the most important political ideologies during the Constitutional Regime. Wars that the Ottoman State participated in from 1911 to the end of the empire in 1918 resulted in population and land losses. Especially, following the Balkan Wars, most of the lands that were populated by non-Muslim and non-Turkish subjects were lost. Within this context, Turkish nationalism came to be seen as the most dominant ideological tool intended to save the Empire. This article argues that Turkish nationalism emerged as a reactive ideology that addressed Ottomanism and Islamism, which were the two other dominant state ideologies during the late Ottoman State, due to the changing political context. In this article, Türk Yurdu, a well-known and influential periodical, is used as the primary source of reference to demonstrate the basic features of Turkish nationalism in its infancy.     

Between the hammer and the anvil: post-conflict reconstruction,Islam and women's rights

This paper argues that gender issues are becoming politicised in novel and counterproductive ways in contexts where armed interventions usher in new blueprints for governance and ‘democratisation’. Using illustrations from constitutional and electoral processes in Afghanistan and Iraq, it analyses how the nature of emerging political settlements in environments of high risk and insecurity may jeopardise stated international commitments to a women's rights agenda. The disjuncture between stated aims and observed outcomes becomes particularly acute in contexts where security and the rule of law are severely compromised, where Islam becomes a stake in power struggles among contending factions and where ethnic/sectarian constituencies are locked in struggles of representation in defence of their collective rights.     

On the Spatial-temporal Diffusion of Community Based Policing from Japan to Peninsula Southeast Asia: The Case of Timor-Leste

ABSTRACT

This article traces the legacies and variances of ‘community based policing’ in Timor-Leste, and inquires about historical trajectories and cross-cultural sociopolitical influences which forged and determined the idea of policing in Timor-Leste. By drawing on diffusion theory, the article investigates the changing interpretations and transformations of ‘community based policing’ from the Imperial Japanese koban policing, to its Indonesian babinsa- and bimpolda-variant through to the current Timorese ofisial polísia suku approach. It delivers a historically based explanation for the difficulties and challenges of implementing an approach to ‘community based policing’ in Timor-Leste during UNTAET and following missions of the United Nations.     

Social change and social stratification in a Turkish village

The aim of this paper is to illustrate and critically discuss the effect of social change on rural stratification in Turkey by means of a case study. The rural village under consideration is named Sakarya and is situated 90 kms. S.W. of Ankara in the heart of the grain‐farming area of the Anatolian plateau, which is now dominated by mechanized, capital intensive wheat cultivation. One of the advantages of focusing on this particular case, is that it belongs to an area the subsistence or near‐subsistence stage of which has been researched in great detail [Stirling, 1965; Cuisenier, 1967; Berkes, 1942], thus providing easier access to a baseline in reference to which contemporary transformations in the stratification system become intelligible. Also, Sakarya is typical of small landownership villages which according to a survey conducted by the State Planning Office in 1968 cover 40 per cent of the rural population, so that the structural changes it has undergone are typical of a large section of rural Turkey.     

Coincidence of Nicolau Syndrome and Rhabdomyolysis: Report of a Forensic Autopsy Case and Review of the Literature

Nicolau syndrome (NS) is a dermatological adverse reaction of intramuscular injections and is caused by several mechanisms. The etiopathogenesis remains unclear, and several hypotheses have suggested a vascular origin. Rhabdomyolysis (RM) is the destruction of striated muscle, with the subsequent release of muscle cell contents into circulation. NS and RM diagnoses may overlap. Herein, we present the autopsy findings of a 40‐year‐old female with NS complicated with RM. On clinical follow‐up, creatine kinase (CK) was 7146 IU/L, and urea and creatinine levels were elevated on the third day after intramuscular diclofenac injection. Possible ischemic process triggered the RM and subsequent acute renal failure. The opportunity for an early diagnosis was missed because the patient delayed seeking medical aid. The prognosis worsened, and the patient died due to secondary sepsis. Early diagnosis of NS before the occurrence of complications is the most important issue in patient education and can be life‐saving.