Comment: Good-bye dependency theory,hello dependency theory

Studies in Comparative International Development -     

Account-making and confiding as acts of meaning in response to sexual assault

A study was conducted to compare the interpretive and coping responses of female and male survivors of incest and female survivors of sexual assault by a nonrelative. Twenty-eight persons responded to a questionnaire that asked them to provide an account of the nature of an assault(s), the role of confidants in helping them cope with the assault, how they coped and tried to understand the assault over time, how they felt the assault affected their close relationships, and how they evaluated their current state of recovery. The results for male and female incest groups were similar in revealing great difficulty in coping and in having adult close relationships. These two groups showed more continuing lack of resolution than did the female nonfamilial survivors. The male group of incest survivors showed the greatest overall difficulty. The findings are discussed in terms of the roles of searching for meaning via account-making and confiding as ways of dealing with long-term, major Stressors in people's lives.     

Electrocution accident with three-week survival]

A 55-year-old man was found unconscious with ventricular fibrillations at his working place near a power press. CPR was successful. After three weeks of intensive care the patient died of ischemic brain damage. The first suspected diagnosis of myocardial infarction was revised when typical current marks were detected on both palms. At the working place the top of a lubricating grease container was found to be energized due to a technical damage: There is a round, multiple-pole plug mounted upon the container top the proper orientation of which is coded by a set of five plastic nipples. All the nipples had been abraded by longlasting mechanical stress, so that the plug could be connected in a variety of possible orientations. In actual fact, the incorrect orientation caused a voltage of up to 240 V to the container top.     

Absolute Pollution: Exclusion Update

This article reviews court decisions from 2001 and 2002 discussing the absolute pollution exclusion in the context of property damage, bodily injury claims, and other types of harm. In recent cases, courts have consistently found the absolute pollution exclusion to be clear and unambiguous, excluding coverage for “environmental” and other types of property damage claims. However, there is a split of authority and inconsistency in how courts analyze and interpret the absolute pollution exclusion when bodily injury claims are at issue. The analysis and court rulings are often determined by the specific policy language as applied to the facts in the cases.