Migration as family strategy: Rural-urban labor migration in India during the twentieth century

"The article analyzes the role of families in processes of rural-urban migration in India in the twentieth century. It shows that the continuous circular form of this migration should be explained as a consequence of rural family strategies. Already established kinship relations or marriage opportunities in the future act as a centripetal force, drawing the labor migrants back to their communities time and again. In addition, the article shows how labor migration is informed by economic and cultural considerations which determine the socioeconomic behavior of men and women."     

Intergovernmental Fiscal Relations: Coordination Failures and Fiscal Outcomes

This article estimates the fiscal impact of coordination failures in intergovernmental fiscal relations. The coordination failures considered here are due to agency problems arising from the delegation of fiscal powers to sub-national governments, and "common pool" problems associated with funding decentralised government spending through intergovernmental transfers. Particular attention is focused on the trade-off between coordination and fiscal decentralisation. Evidence provided for a sample of thirty countries suggests that coordination failures are likely to result in a deficit bias in decentralized policy making, particularly in the case of developing countries, for which the benefits of decentralization may be over-stressed. Developed countries were found to be less adversely affected by coordination failures and have therefore managed to pursue fiscal consolidation in a decentralized setup.     

Reviews

Terrorism in Mozambique by Alex Vines. Centre for Southern African Studies, University of York, in association with James Currey, London, 1991. xiv plus 176pp. including maps, figures, tables, appendices, bibliography and index. R47.25. Paperback.

Kwame Nkrumah, the Conakry Years: His Life and Letters compiled by June Milne. Panaf, an imprint of Zed Press Ltd., London, 1990. x plus 422pp. including notes, bibliography and index.

Towards Economic Recovery in Sub‐Saharan Africa: Essays in Honour of Robert Gardiner edited by James Pickett and Hans Singer. Routledge, London, 1990. xv plus 273pp. including tables, notes, bibliography and index. £35.00. Hardback.

Chronicles of Darkness by David Ward. Routledge, London and New York, 1989. xii plus 191pp. including notes and index. £30. Hardback.

Towards Justice? Crime and State Control in South Africa edited by Desiree Hansson and Dirk van Zyl Smit. Oxford University Press, Cape Town, 1990. iv and 278pp. R34.95. Paperback.

The Politics of Reconciliation: Zimbabwe's First Decade by Victor de Waal. David Philip Publishers (Pty) Ltd., Cape Town, 1990. xiv plus 146pp. including prologue, acknowledgements, list of acronyms, endnotes and index of names. R39.95. Paperback.

Civil Service Pay in Africa by Derek Robinson. International Labour Office, Geneva, 1990. xi plus 220pp. including 58 tables. Paperback.

No Place to Rest: Forced Removals and the Law in South Africa edited by Christina Murray and Catherine O'Reagan. Oxford University Press, Cape Town, pp. 248. R24.95. Paperback.

People and Violence in South Africa edited by B. McKendrick and W. Hoffman. Oxford University Press, 1990. 495 pp. R49.95. Paperback.

The Elusive Search for Peace ‐ South Africa, Israel, Northern Ireland edited by H. Giliomee and J. Gagiano. Oxford University Press, 1990. viii plus 328 pp. R29.95. Paperback.

Southern Africa at the Crossroads. Prospects for the Political Economy of the Region edited by Anthoni van Nieuwkerk and Gary van Staden. South African Institute of International Affairs, Johannesburg, 1991.267 pp. including tables, notes and bibliographies. Paperback.

South Africa's Informal Economy edited by Eleanor Preston‐Whyte and Christian Rogerson. Contemporary South African Debates, Oxford University Press, Cape Town, 1991. vi plus 410pp. including 25 chapters with editors’ introductions, figures, tables, photographs, index. Each chapter has its own bibliography and notes. R43.95. Paperback.

Protecting Human Rights in a New South Africa by Albie Sachs. Oxford University Press, Cape Town, 1990. viii plus 208pp. including appendices and index. R21.95. Paperback.

The Igbos of Nigeria by John E. Eberegbulam Njoku. African Studies, (Vol. 14, 1990), The Edwin Mellen Press, New York. $69.95. Hardback.

La France et l'Afrique du Sud: Histoire, Mythes et Enjeux Contemporains edited by Daniel C. Bach. Karthala, Paris, 1990.432pp. Paperback.     

A technique to capture, analyze, and quantify anterior teeth rotations for application in court cases involving tooth marks

Anterior teeth within the human dentition have a specific numerical rotation value. Bite marks show an array of angled indentations, abrasions, microlacerations, and contusions. These marks generally represent the incisal surfaces of the suspect's dentition reflecting the rotation values of the teeth in the dental arch. This study described a method for capturing and analyzing anterior dental rotations. The rotations of individual anterior teeth within the study population were categorized as common, uncommon, and very uncommon according to Allen's classification. In the absence of a large number of incisal patterns present in a bite mark, a single but heavily weighted tooth rotation could be of equal discriminatory potential to several common rotation values. No prevalence studies quantifying individual tooth rotations are available. The measurement of each individual tooth rotation together with its individual discrimination potential will enhance the evaluation of the concordant features observed in bite marks.     

Attitude to personality disorder among prison officers working in a dangerous and severe personality disorder unit

BACKGROUND: It is well established that staff attitudes to personality disordered patients are commonly negative, characterised by pessimism and rejection. A recent study in forensic psychiatric hospitals has described the psychological and social factors underlying positive attitudes, and suggested that staff with more positive attitudes perform better and are less stressed. AIM: To assess whether it is possible to predict which staff will adjust positively to working with personality disordered people. More specifically to confirm links between attitude to personality disorder and: job performance; perception of managers; personal well-being; burnout; and interaction rates with inmates. METHODS: The opening of a new Dangerous and Severe Personality Disorder unit within a UK prison allowed a longitudinal study of prison officers to be performed, in which a number of measures, including the Attitude to Personality Disorder Questionnaire (APDQ), were collected at three fixed points (at baseline, eight and sixteen months after the opening of the unit). RESULTS: Attitude to Personality Disorder varied over the course of the study, and changes in attitude were linked to events experienced by individual officers. More positive attitude to personality disorder was associated with improved general health and job performance, decreased burnout, and favourable perception of managers. CONCLUSIONS: Attitude to Personality Disorder has important outcomes, and is responsive to the psychosocial environment. Its measurement is not useful for staff selection, because of low stability over lengthy time periods. The APDQ has been demonstrated to be valid measure of attitude to PD, and potentially useful for outcome studies, or benchmarking between units.     

Life imprisonment: recent issues in national and international law

This article notes that, because understandings of what life imprisonment means are often ambiguous, the life sentence is sometimes perceived to be relatively uncontroversial. Life imprisonment without the prospect of parole for children under the age of 18 years is the most extreme form of this sentence that can be imposed. However, in the United States of America even such sentences have only recently become the subject of public debate. In contrast, in a small but growing number of jurisdictions all life sentences are regarded as constitutionally suspect and contrary to human rights, whilst in the majority of jurisdictions the imposition of life imprisonment is strictly limited. The article traces recent developments in the imposition and implementation of life imprisonment that have evoked some controversy. It pays particular attention to attempts that have been made in practice to ensure that life imprisonment produces punishment that is proportionate to the crime. It points out, however, that a renewed focus on combating dangerous offenders through indeterminate preventive sentences has blunted even this modest safeguard. It warns that this tendency increases the risk of life imprisonment being an unfairly harsh penalty.     

Methadone extraction from minimal amounts of biological fluids

A new solid phase extraction method was studied to extract methadone from small amounts of biological samples, by using little disposable columns prepacked with reverse phase sorbents. Two different commercial kinds of reversed phase columns prepacked with octadecylsilane (ODS) were tested; the results were compared to those obtained by a direct liquid/liquid extraction method. Gas chromatograms of extracts obtained by means of ODS reversed phase columns showed a good signal/noise ratio resulting in higher sensitivity (20 ng/ml as detection limit), in comparison with the liquid/liquid extraction method.     

Analysis of carboxyhemoglobin and cyanide in blood from victims of the Dupont Plaza Hotel fire in Puerto Rico

Ninety-seven people died from a fire that occurred in the Dupont Plaza Hotel in Puerto Rico on 31 Dec. 1986. All, except four who died later in the hospital, were found dead at the scene. All of the fatalities at the hotel (except for eight) were burned beyond recognition. Blood from seventy-eight of the victims was screened for carboxyhemoglobin at the Institute for Forensic Sciences in Puerto Rico and was then sent to the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland, for analysis of carboxyhemoglobin and cyanide concentrations. The blood data indicated that carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide, singly or combined, were probably not responsible for the majority of the deaths that occurred in the badly burned victims. On the other hand, the significantly higher carboxyhemoglobin in the nonburned victims indicated that carbon monoxide alone or combined with hydrogen cyanide probably played a major role in the cause of their deaths.