The Influence of Supportive and Nonsupportive Persons in Helping Rural Women in Abusive Partner Relationships Become Free from Abuse

Many rural women in abusive partner relationships have reached to informal and formal support networks for assistance and have been negated, discounted, or treated in a nonsupportive manner. Women trying to end partner abuse rarely have found the help they seek from their communities; and family and friends may question, blame, or misunderstand women's situations. This study examined behaviors of supportive and nonsupportive persons and the effectiveness of support networks in helping rural women in abusive partner relationships become free from abuse. Supportive persons were found to help women access resources and extended informal and formal networks which in turn helped women become free from abuse. Nonsupportive persons hindered women's access to resources and facilitated in keeping women bound in abusive partner relationships. Partner abuse is a complex societal issue that involves a large network of support and services in order to help women become free from abuse, having implications to educators and service providers.     

Copyright and its complex and varying contexts

This is the third volume of writings based on papers deliveredat workshops and conferences organized under the auspices ofthe Arts and Humanities Research Council Network on New Directionsin Copyright Law. It focuses on two of the themes consideredwithin that research programme, the protection of traditionalknowledge and culture and developments in related rights andrights neighbouring on copyright. Of the 10 chapters, six consider various aspects of the legalprotection that is, or ought to be, accorded to traditionalknowledge and     

Writings on the margins: Welsh politics

Books reviewed in this article:
Andrews, L., Wales Says Yes
Davies, R., Devolution: A Process not an Event
Osmond, J., New Politics in Wales
Osmond, J. (ed.), The National Assembly Agenda
Taylor, B. and Thomson, K., Scotland and Wales: Nations Again?
Day, G. and Thomas, D. (eds), Contemporary Wales: An Annual Review of Economic and Social Research     

Variation in decomposition stages and carrion insect succession in a dry tropical climate and its effect on estimating postmortem interval

Insects have an important role in minimum postmortem interval (PMI_min) estimation. An accurate PMI_min estimation relies on a comprehensive study of the development and succession of local carrion insects. No published research on carrion insect succession exists for tropical north Queensland. To address this, we aimed to obtain preliminary observational data concerning the rate of decomposition and insect succession on pig carcasses in Townsville and compare these with other regions of Australia and overseas. Adult insects were collected daily from three pig carcasses for 30 d during summer and identified to family level. Observations of decomposition rate were made each day and progression through the stages of decomposition were recorded. Adult insects were identified to family and their presence/absence used as a proxy for arrival at/departure from the remains, respectively. These preliminary data highlight several interesting trends that may be informative for forensic PMI_min estimation. Decomposition was rapid: all carcasses were at the dry/remains stage by Day 5, which was substantially quicker than all other regions in the comparison. Differences were also observed in the presence/absence of insect families and their arrival and departure times. Given the rapid progression through early decomposition, we argue that later-arriving coleopteran taxa may be more forensically informative in tropical Australia, in contrast with temperate regions where Diptera appear most useful. This research contributes preliminary observational data to understanding insect succession patterns in tropical Australia and demonstrates the critical need for comprehensive local succession data for each climatic region of Australia to enable accurate PMI_min estimation. These data will inform future research targeted at gaining a more comprehensive understanding of insect succession in the Australian tropics.

Key points:

• We obtained preliminary observational data concerning the rate of decomposition and insect succession on pig carcasses in tropical Australia.
• Decomposition was rapid: all carcasses were at the dry/remains stage by Day 5.
• Coleopteran taxa may be more forensically informative in tropical Australia than dipterans.

     

Influencing expert judgment: Attributions of crime causality

Purpose. The present research aimed to investigate the effects of attribution on expert clinical judgment in comparison to semi‐experts and laypeople. Two research questions were addressed. First, would experts be less subject to attributional manipulations, in terms of their perceived ratings of dangerousness, than would semi‐experts or laypeople? Second, would experts be less subject to attributional manipulations, in terms of their assessments of offender responsibility, than would semi‐experts or laypeople? Method. A 3×3×2 mixed groups design was implemented. Participants read nine crime scenarios that had been internally or externally manipulated. For each scenario, participants were asked to rate offender dangerousness, offender responsibility, and the seriousness of the crime and to suggest a suitable sentence length. Targeted recruitment was employed, yielding 12 experts, 21 semi‐experts, and 22 laypeople. Results. Offenders were considered to be more responsible for their actions and more dangerous to others in the internal manipulations than in the external ones across all crime types and by all levels of expertise. Findings indicate that semi‐experts are less subject to the influence of attributional manipulations than both experts and laypeople. Marked similarities in the pattern of expert and lay person judgments can be observed from the present analyses. Conclusions. The current findings lend support to previous research in the area in that similarities between expert and lay person judgment were observed. However, through expanding and clarifying the levels of expertise investigated, the current findings highlight the need for greater research into the distinct ‘semi‐expert’ group.