Aid partnership in the Bougainville conflict: the case of a local women's NGO and its donors

Thisc article documents lessons learned from a study of aid partnerships in post-conflict development and peace building in Bougainville. It examines how donor agencies, in this case the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) through the International Women's Development Agency (IWDA), contributed to the successes and failures of the Leitana Nehan Women's Development Agency (LNWDA). Although the donors contributed to the organisational development and capacity of the LNWDA, the balance of power remains unequal. Furthermore, the deployment of an intermediary body in the partnership exerts considerable pressure on the LNWDA, because it has to deal with multiple demands for accountability, which affect the impact of its own work on the ground. It is argued that in order to enhance the impact of their assistance, donor agencies need to develop a framework in which partnerships are sustained through mutual and less demanding accountabilities.     

When a corporation rapes: perceptions of rape in civil court for corporate defendants

In recent years, the coupling of poor outcomes for rape victims in criminal court and the widening scope of legal responsibility for sexual assault has prompted plaintiffs to file civil suits for rape against corporations. Unfortunately, we know little about juror perception of civilly litigated rape against corporate defendants and most jury research involving corporate defendants concerns non-sexual injury cases (e.g. premises liability, automobile accidents). With the increasing number of corporations being sued civilly for rape, we need to understand how civil juries perceive these cases. The present study investigated mock jurors’ perceptions of a fictional civil rape trial against a hotel. Community members (N?=?155) read one of three trial summaries: Civil rape trial against the alleged perpetrator, civil rape trial against a hotel, or criminal rape trial. Results indicate females have higher pro-plaintiff judgments than males in civil court, perceptions of greed typically associated with civil litigation apply to rape, and favorable plaintiff decisions are most likely against a corporate defendant. Also, mental models suggest mock jurors conceptualize criminal and civil rape cases against an individual similarly. We discuss our results in terms of psychological, legal and practical expectations when suing for rape.     

The impact of juror characteristics and victim health status on the perception of elder physical abuse

An experiment investigated mock juror perceptions of elder abuse using a community sample from Lexington, Kentucky. Two-hundred six men and women ranging in age from 18 to 88 read a fictional criminal trial summary of a case of elder physical abuse (EPA) in which the accuser was described as healthy, frail, or confused. In addition, the influence of participant age, participant gender, and attitude toward the elderly on juror perceptions of EPA was also investigated. Results showed that women had higher conviction rates than did men. Accuser health status, participant age, participant gender, and attitude toward the elderly affected other rating variables including accuser believability, accuser inaccuracy, defendant believability, and verdict confidence. Results suggest implications for how EPA cases are perceived in court.     

Positive identification of the principal component of a white powder as scopolamine by quantitative one-dimensional and two-dimensional NMR techniques

An unidentified white powder collected as evidence in an intelligence investigation was characterized exclusively by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) analysis. A small fraction of the powder dissolved in D2O was subjected to a series of one- and two-dimensional techniques which were used to elucidate the molecular structure of the powder's major component and positively identify it as the scopolamine biotoxin. Quantitative one-dimensional experiments identified individual proton and carbon atom sites, and conventional 14N spectroscopy detected a single nitrogen atom site. Heteronuclear single quantum coherence data correlated all protons to their directly bonded carbon atom, and together with the quantitative spectra, were used to determine the number of protons directly bonded to each carbon atom. The presence of a methyl, carboxyl, and a benzyl group was also identified from these data. Correlation spectroscopy detected a three proton and a nine proton JH,H network, representing a CH2CH moiety and seven carbon atom ring, respectively. These five elements were assembled into an almost complete molecular structure by using long-range, J-coupled, 1H-13C pairs detected by heteronuclear multiple bond correlation (HMBC) spectroscopy and 1H-1H dipolar-coupled pairs found from nuclear Overhauser effect spectroscopy (NOESY) data. Additional oxygen atom sites were inferred from 1H-13C correlation intensities in the HMBC spectra along with 1H and 13C chemical shift values, or directly from NOESY correlations. Only a single oxygen atom site could not be inferred from NMR data, but its presence was inferred from comparisons to target analyte structures to complete the structure of the scopolamine molecule. To confirm these results, an ethanol/H2O solution of the powder was analyzed by direct infusion into an ion trap mass spectrometer. A prominent base signal was observed at m/z 304.1 amu, corresponding to the protonated molecular ion of scopolamine. Subsequently, the ion was selected and subjected to collision-induced dissociation, producing characteristic major MS/MS fragments at m/z 138.1 and 156.1. Comparisons of 1H and 13C chemical shift values and JH,H values measured from our NMR data were found to agree very favorably with previously reported values for scopolamine in D2O.     

A test of social learning and intergenerational transmission among batterers

This research examined the direct and indirect transmission of family-of-origin violence among a sample of male domestic violence offenders. Intergenerational transmission of violence was tested by examining the effects of childhood corporal punishment experiences and witnessing inter-parental physical violence on the odds of reporting minor and severe intimate partner violence perpetration in adulthood. Social learning mechanisms were applied to examine the relationship between abuse experiences and the incidence of minor and severe forms of intimate partner violence. Use of a sample of 204 male domestic batterers attending court-mandated family violence intervention programs in an urban setting revealed considerable variation in minor and severe intimate partner violence. Results from logistic regression models suggested intergenerational transmission and social learning provided distinct mechanisms for both minor and severe forms of intimate partner violence.     

Identification and quantitation of 3,4-methylenedioxy-N-methylamphetamine (MDMA,ecstasy) in human urine by 1H NMR spectroscopy. Application to five cases of intoxication

Identification of 3,4-methylenedioxy-N-methylamphetamine (MDMA, ecstasy) in five cases of intoxication using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy of human urine is reported. A new water suppression technique PURGE (Presaturation Utilizing Relaxation Gradients and Echoes) was used. A calibration curve was obtained using spiked samples. The method gave a linear response (correlation coefficient of 0.992) over the range 0.01–1 mg/mL. Subsequently, quantitation of the amount of MDMA present in the samples was performed. The benefit and reliability of NMR investigations of human urine for cases of intoxication with MDMA are discussed.