HUMAN TISSUE LEGISLATION AND MEDICAL PRACTICE: A BENEFIT OR A BURDEN?

The scandals surrounding organ removal and retention throughout the United Kingdom provoked several Inquiries and ultimately led to law reform. Although the medical professions were well represented at the Inquiries, little was heard of the voices of those at the 'coal face'. In this scoping study, funded by the Wellcome Trust, we interviewed a number of doctors and others engaged in the uses of human tissue and organs to explore their hopes, concerns and fears about the role of the law in their practices. We found that those involved in transplantation were more aware of, and more actively involve with, the law, whereas others, such as pathologists, had less direct engagement with the law. Most of those we interviewed expressed the hope that law reform would provide much-needed clarity. Although some expressed concern that the law might be over-intrusive, most felt that the placing of authority firmly in the hands of the person him or her self to decide what should happen to their bodies was to be welcomed.     

Book notes

Political Participation and Democracy in Britain by Geraint Parry, George Moyser and Neil Day. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992. Pp.xviii + 510; index, bibliography, three appendices. £60 (hardback); £17.95 (paperback). ISBN 0 521 33298 2 and 33602 3

Work and Citizenship in the New Europe edited by Harry Coenen and Peter Leisink. Aldershot: Edward Elgar, 1993. Pp.254; index, bibliography. £38.50. ISBN 1 85278 739 2

Capitalist Development and Democracy by Dietrich Rueschemeyer, Evelyne Huber Stephens and John D. Stephens. Cambridge and Oxford: Polity Press, 1992. Pp.387; index, bibliography, appendices. £45 (hardback); £14.95 (paperback). ISBN 0 7456 0398 X

Minority Representation and the Quest for Voting Equality by Bernard Grofman, Lisa Handley and Richard G. Niemi. Cambridge, London and New York: Cambridge University Press, 1992. Pp.174; index, bibliography. £30. ISBN 0 521 39128 8

Peace, Politics and Violence in the New South Africa edited by Norman Etherington. London: Hans Zell Publishers, 1992. Pp.352; index. £45. ISBN 1 873836 75 6

The State in Africa: The Politics of the Belly by Jean‐François Bayart. London and New York: Longman, 1993. Pp.370; index. £14.99 (paperback). ISBN 0 582 06421 X

Russia in Flux: The Political and Social Consequences of Reform edited by David Lane. Aldershot: Gower, 1992. Pp.xvi + 248; index. £45 (hardback); £14.95 (paperback). ISBN 1 85278 680 9 and 713 9

Democracy and Development by Axel Hadenius. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992. Pp.xi + 218; index, bibliography, appendices. £30. ISBN 0 521 41685 X

Power and Empowerment: A Radical Theory of Participatory Democracy by Peter Bachrach and Aryeh Botwinick. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 1992. Pp.ix + 211; index, bibliography. ISBN 0 87722 930 9

Democratization in Africa: African Views, African Voices edited by Sahr John Kpundeh. Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 1992. Pp.85. £17.95 (paperback). ISBN 0 309 04797 8

Marxism and Democracy by Joseph V. Femia. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993. Pp.204; index, bibliography. £25 (hardback). ISBN 0 19 827494 7

Dirty Politics: Deception, Distraction and Democracy by Kathleen Hall Jamieson. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992. Pp.335; index, bibliography, appendices. $25 (hardback). ISBN 0 19 597854 3

Viva ‐ Women and Popular Protest in Latin America edited by Sarah A. Radcliffe and Sallie Westwood (International Studies of Women and Place Series). London and New York: Routledge, 1993. Pp.270; index, bibliography. £40 (hardback); £12.99 (paperback). ISBN 0 415 07312 X

Dimensions of Radical Democracy edited by Chantal Mouffe. London: Verso, 1992. Pp.254; bibliography. £12.99 (paperback). ISBN 0 86091 556 5

Democracy and Discontent: India's Growing Crisis of Governability by Atul Kohli. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990. Pp.420; index, bibliography. £35 (hardback). ISBN 0 521 39161 X     

UK OC OK? Interpreting Optimal Classification Scores for the U.K. House of Commons

Iain McLean Nuffield College, Oxford University, Oxford OX1 1NF, United Kingdom. e-mail: iain.mclean{at}nuffield.ox.ac.uk e-mail: spln{at}mail.rochester.edu (corresponding author) Poole's (2000, Non-parametric unfolding of binary choice data.Political Analysis 8:211–37) nonparametric Optimal Classificationprocedure for binary data produces misleading rank orderingswhen applied to the modern House of Commons. With simulationsand qualitative evidence, we show that the problem arises fromthe government-versus-opposition nature of British (Westminster)parliamentary politics and the strategic voting that is entailedtherein. We suggest that political scientists think seriouslyabout strategic voting in legislatures when interpreting resultsfrom such techniques.     

From British Colony to American Satellite? Australia and the USA during the Cold War

This article challenges the widely‐accepted view that Australia's strategic relationship with the USA during the period 1945–69 thwarted the full development of Australian nationhood and, in so doing, formed an obstacle to Australia's accommodation with its region. It argues that the most influential perspectives on the subject place too much emphasis on the 1940s as a watershed in Australian foreign policy history, exaggerate differences between Labor and conservative policies, fail to appreciate that the pursuit of Australian interests was central to Australian policy during this period, and exaggerate the limitations that ANZUS imposed upon Australian freedom of action. Not a thwarted nationalism but flawed understanding of the limitations and possibilities of the US alliance as a vehicle for Australian interests shaped Australian government policies during this period.     

Can Callous-Unemotional Traits and Aggression Identify Children at High-Risk of Anti-Social Behavior in a Low Socioeconomic Group?

Frick et al. (2005) proposed that Callous-Unemotional (CU) traits may be an important personality dimension associated with youth offending. The goal of the present study was to examine whether CU traits were associated with risk factors for offending in a low SES sample of children aged 10 years to 11 years in New Zealand. Two subgroups were identified: one high (High-CU/Agg group) and one low (Low-CU/Agg group) on CU traits and aggression. Results showed that scores for the High-CU/Agg group were significantly worse compared to the Low-CU/Agg group on a range of measures including stress management, caregiver criminal convictions, and dysfunctional parenting. However, analyses revealed that the measure of aggression accounted for more unique variance compared to CU traits. Further research is needed with youths from low SES communities to develop a more robust profile of potential youth offenders.     

CLINICAL ETHICS COMMITTEES IN THE UNITED KINGDOM: TOWARDS EVALUATION

In the United Kingdom there is a growing conviction that CECs have an important role to play in helping health care professionals address ethical dilemmas. For example, the Royal College of Physicians, the Nuffield Trust and the unofficial Clinical Ethics Network, which has received financial support from the Department of Health, commend the use of CECs in the UK. The growth of such committees has been influenced by the legal and policy support they have received in the United States. However, there is increasing concern about both the benefits and the quality of work produced by CECs. In addition, despite the rapid increase in the number of CECs in the UK, outside of the United States they remain under-researched and no formal mechanism exists to assess their performance. As a result we know little about the structure, function, impact and effectiveness of CECs. We are currently conducting a research project funded by the Wellcome Trust that seeks to interrogate the competing claims regarding the benefits and disbenefits of CECs. This initial account of our research provides a detailed analysis of theoretical issues that surround the development and use of CECs and points towards the questions that lie at the heart of the social science strand of our project.     

De facto Veto? The Parliamentary Liberal Democrats

The parliamentary party of the Liberal Democrats is a symbol of the third party's growth in recent years. As a result of successful election targeting and an improvement in electoral reach, the party has seen its number of MPs at Westminster more than triple since 1992. It has been claimed that the increase in size of the parliamentary party has been accompanied by an increase in its power, so that the parliamentarians now have a de facto power of veto over policy despite the official policy-making structures as laid out in the Liberal Democrat constitution. This article investigates the make-up of the parliamentary Liberal Democrats and their contemporary influence over policy formation, and the parliamentary party's relationship with the conference and the party leader—and especially the events leading to the change of Liberal Democrat leader in 2006—to establish the veracity of this claim.     

Replicating Group-Based Trajectory Models of Crime at Micro-Places in Albany,NY

Objectives

Replicate two previous studies of temporal crime trends at the street block level. We replicate the general approach of group-based trajectory modelling of crimes at micro-places originally taken by Weisburd et al. (Criminology 42(2):283–322, 2004) and replicated by Curman et al. (J Quant Criminol 31(1):127–147, 2014). We examine patterns in a city of a different character (Albany, NY) than those previously examined (Seattle and Vancouver) and so contribute to the generalizability of previous findings.

Methods

Crimes between 2000 and 2013 were used to identify different trajectory groups at street segments and intersections. Zero-inflated Poisson regression models are used to identify the trajectories. Pin maps, Ripley’s K and neighbor transition matrices are used to show the spatial patterning of the trajectory groups.

Results

The trajectory solution with eight classes is selected based on several model selection criteria. The trajectory of each those groups follow the overall citywide decline, and are only separated by the mean level of crime. Spatial analysis shows that higher crime trajectory groups are more likely to be nearby one another, potentially suggesting a diffusion process.

Conclusions

Our work adds additional support to that of others who have found tight coupling of crime at micro-places. We find that the clustering of trajectories identified a set of street units that disproportionately contributed to the total level of crime citywide in Albany, consistent with previous research. However, the temporal trends over time in Albany differed from those exhibited in previous work in Seattle but were consistent with patterns in Vancouver.