NECESSARY MEASURES AND LOGISTICS TO MAXIMIZE THE SAFETY OF VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ATTENDING PARENT EDUCATION PROGRAMS

This article suggests measures that should be taken to ensure, as much as possible, the safety of victims of domestic violence. Because victims and perpetrators of domestic violence will inevitably be attendees at parent education programs, such programs must be sensitive to the safety concerns of these victims. Only when victims of domestic violence are safe will their children be safe and able to benefit from what their parents learn at these education programs. This article concludes that, by weaving common-sense logistical, administrative, and curricular recommendations into the fabric of every parent education program, the safety of victims and children will be prioritized as it must be, while all attendees still receive the maximum benefit from these valuable programs.     

The Limits of European-ness: Immigrant women in Fortress Europe

This article is intended to contribute to the ongoing debate on the ideological, social and political formation of a New Europe. By focusing on the position of immigrant women it examines the gendered nature of the changing configurations of cultural and social European landscapes. Two features of immigrant women's positioning are the key issues of this analysis: regulations through national and European law and ideological representation. It is argued that the debate on European citizenship should be closely linked to the question of formal and substantive and also of symbolic rights. Moreover, feminists, when using the concept of difference in this context, should be aware of the power structures underlying differentiated social positions in society. European-ness will lose its exclusive character only if it provides a solid place in the symbolic order of Europe for immigrants.     

A polychromatic turn in corruption research?

Arnold Heidenheimer's last paper features an imaginative attempt to elaborate on his well-known “black-gray-white corruptio” typology by introducing metaphoric elements of color. How might those ideas work in practice? This article develops three specific questions that could guide further research on that question. The first involves an extended historical and etymological inquiry sufficient to bring out the diverse origins and referents of “corruptio” as a term of analysis; the second, exploring ways to extend the concept of corruption--typically applied to the realms of government and politics--to business and to the growing numbers of ways in which businesses and states interact; and third, attempting to draw more precise distinctions among lobbying, illegal political finance, and political corruption. The discussion concludes with a first sketch of a model drawing those three lines of inquiry together.     

Amnesia and responsibility following brain concussion. A study of 70 patients

Hit- and run traffic accidents frequently occur because an intention to hide drunkenness. Later, the accused claims that he or she had amnesia due to concussion at the time of accident and what followed. In most cases, the question arises as to whether it is the truth or just a story to protect the defendant from punishment. To study this question, 70 patients (39 male, 31 female) were interrogated. They were asked about the duration of their amnesia and their ability to recall their own actions, or what they had been told. In 80% of the persons examined there was only a short period of amnesia (less than 30 min). Of 12 cases with a longer period of amnesia, 7 were also intoxicated from alcohol (one case had a concentration of 3.1%). In only one person suffering from concussion could it definitely be proved that the actions taking place long after the accident, were usually not comparable with evidence given in court.     

Forensic Analysis of Stains on Fabric Using Direct Analysis in Real‐time Ionization with High‐Resolution Accurate Mass‐Mass Spectrometry

A rapid technique using direct analysis in real ‐ time (DART) ambient ionization coupled to a high ‐ resolution accurate mass‐mass spectrometer (HRAM‐MS) was employed to analyze stains on an individual's pants suspected to have been involved in a violent crime. The victim was consuming chocolate ice cream at the time of the attack, and investigators recovered the suspect's pants exhibiting splatter stains. Liquid chromatography with mass spectral detection (LC‐MS) and stereoscopic light microscopy (SLM) were also utilized in this analysis. It was determined that the stains on the pants contained theobromine and caffeine, known components of chocolate. A shard from the ceramic bowl that contained the victim's ice cream and a control chocolate ice cream sample were also found to contain caffeine and theobromine. The use of DART‐HRAM‐MS was useful in this case due to its rapid analysis capability and because of the limited amount of sample present as a stain.     

Micromethod for the detection of erythrocyte antigens in blood stains

A micromethod was developed to allow the analysis of blood stains of minor size by the absorption elution technique. The individual absorption, washing, and elution steps were carried out in Beckman tubes containing 5 microliter antiserum. The final agglutination reaction was read through the inverted microscope in microtest plates regularly used for HLA typing. For this final reaction, 2-4 microliter eluate was incubated with 2,000 red blood cells suspended in 1 microliter saline and supplement. For the purpose of standardization, the intensity of agglutination in the microtest plate had to be defined. In comparison to the standard method (tube test and centrifugation), the proposed method proved to be slightly more sensitive with regard to the Rhesus and slightly less sensitive with regard to the AB0 system. With the proposed method very small traces could be successfully analyzed. Thus, two cotton threads 1 mm in length were sufficient for testing antigens A and B, and two cotton threads 2.5 mm in length were enough to detect an Rh antigen.     

Editors' Note

Editorial Introduction

Editors' Note