Battered women who kill their abusers: an examination of commonsense notions, cognitions, and judgments

It has been argued that battered women who kill their abusers represent a special class of defendants being unfairly treated in the legal system. As a result, commentators have argued for reforms to permit the judicial system to respond more fairly. Researchers have investigated the influences of these prescribed legal modifications and the possible influence of various demographic and psychological factors on legal reforms. However, social scientists have not yet asked some fundamental, psychological questions. Is the law consistent with what society believes is right and just? Is there a commonsense notion of justice in these cases? What factors constitute cognitive decision rules and influence judgments in cases of battered women who kill their abusers? This study uses a basic, psychological method to identify psychological factors that are important in judgments regarding battered women who kill and to better understand commonsense notions of justice in these cases.     

Why education matters: school ‘choice’ and differing views on citizenship in Pakistan

This article discusses young Pakistanis' self-articulation of their relationship with the state, focusing in particular on the perceptions held by those aged between 15 and 25 and who are in education. The research used a mixed methods approach. Data were collected in 6 private, 11 philanthropic and 3 government schools as well as 2 madrassas and 5 universities in urban, semi-urban and rural areas in Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan. A questionnaire with qualitative and quantitative sections was distributed to class 10 students and over 1000 questionnaires were returned. The research found, on aggregate response, that there is a high sense of belonging to the nation, yet paradoxically also a high sense of alienation with regard to the state. Whilst most of those surveyed professed awareness of their rights and duties, the youth was seen by the same respondents as mostly ignorant of these. The factor that caused the greatest variation was the type of school attended where responses and attitudes regarding the state, rights, responsibilities and citizenship differed markedly. This article discusses how this school ‘choice’ is linked with particular perceptions of citizenship by looking beyond class and problematising the relationship between education and the perceptions of the state.     

Educational-entertainment as an intervention with black adolescents exposed to community violence

Witnessing violence is one adverse childhood experience (ACE) associated with living in impoverished Black urban communities. Youth with higher violence avoidance self-efficacy and positive coping are more likely to avoid violence. This study evaluates educational entertainment (edutainment) as an intervention with Black adolescents exposed to community violence. Edutainment has shown success in increasing self-efficacy and positive coping skills in other domains. Self-administered scales were used to measure stress, anxiety, violence avoidance self-efficacy, and coping strategies. Data were collected pre- and nine days post-interventions/no intervention from 20 subjects receiving the edutainment intervention, 19 subjects participating in a group discussion about violence, and 21 subjects receiving no intervention (N?=?60). Edutainment and no intervention were more effective than group discussion alone in increasing violence avoidance self-efficacy. Violence avoidance self-efficacy was found to have an intervening relationship between edutainment and the outcome of stress. This study indicates limited but positive effects for edutainment.     

The third molar as an age marker in adolescents: new approach to age evaluation

Adolescence is a relatively short period between childhood and adulthood. It is very difficult to determine adulthood based on biological indicators. The third molar may be considered a potential age marker for the period between the ages of 16–21. Our study evaluated a set of 1700 panoramic radiographs of individuals aged between 5 and 21 years. Results confirmed the statistically significant difference in the course of third molars development. The mean deviation for individuals with one third molar agenesis is ?0.98 years, for individuals with two third molars agenesis ?1.89 years, and with three molars agenesis ?3.28 years. Thus, the extent of the deviation is directly proportional to the number of unformed third molars. The calculation of age according to the mean of stages of all third molars could lead to the underestimation of age. No intergender differences were found. Age determination using third molars could be used for forensic purposes.     

Death Due to Complications of Anhidrotic Ectodermal Dysplasia

Ectodermal dysplasia comprises a group of disorders affecting ectodermal tissues. Severity depends on the genetic aberration; hyperpyrexia secondary to absence of sweat glands is a common complication. Treatment is supportive. This case report describes a 1‐month, 27‐day‐old male infant with a diagnosis of X‐linked recessive anhidrotic ectodermal dysplasia. On the day of his death, his mother swaddled him in a blanket and placed him on the couch at 5:30 am. When she picked him up at 8:00 am, he was unresponsive. At the emergency department, his rectal temperature was 40°C. Postmortem blood culture was positive for group B streptococcus, a possible etiology for fever. It is vital to teach parents that close monitoring of children with ectodermal dysplasia is necessary, as an increase in body temperature can become life threatening.     

Codecision procedure biais: the European legislation game

The European Union’s codecision procedure is analyzed as a bargaining game between the Council and the European Parliament. The model shows that the policy outcome is biased towards the ideal point of the institution that is closest to the status quo, when the negotiation leads to an agreement. If the Council’s ideal policy is closer to the status quo, as is the case for example concerning the duration of maternity leave, the resulting policy will remain closer to the Council’s than to the European Parliament’s position. Furthermore, the result of the codecision procedure is Kaldor–Hicks inefficient. The developments of common policies concerning asylum, fishery and maternity leave illustrate both the possibility of the failure of negotiations and the influence of the Council on the outcome.