THE TRANSSEXUAL IN SOCIETY

Because transsexuals possess bodies that their minds cannot accept, they are trapped between society's demand to conform to the anatomical self thrust on them by birth and their own desire to conform to a different interior self, Although the transsexual dresses and behaves as a member of the morphologically opposite sex, this is neither a case of transvestism nor homosexualiy. Psyahologically. the transsexual is a female within a male body, or a male within a female body. In the past these distinctions were virtually ignored by the medical world. Recently, however, attempts have been made, particularly at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, to determine precisely what constitutes transsexualism and to treat surgically those suffering from it. As important as the need to identify and heat the problem itself is the need to combat the emotionalism and prejudice surrounding the subject, which hamper serious research [Green and Money, 1969: Inside cover notes].     

Index

Other Index

Index     

Death following atypical compression of the neck

The authors present 3 cases of asphyxia caused by atypical compression of the neck by the metal bed bars fitted at the sides of the bed to prevent falling out. These occurred in 3 elderly women living in nursing homes, confined to bed by severe neuropsychiatric disturbances. In all 3 cases, the minor nature of the skin lesions and absence of blood infiltrations in the anatomic structures of the neck had made it difficult to diagnose the cause of death. Inspection of the rest homes, together with the autopsy findings (acute pulmonary emphysema, conjunctival petechiae, and dark, fluid blood), enabled identification of asphyxia as the cause of death and its causal agent as the bed bars.     

Motivating and Retaining Government Employees: The Role of Organizational Social Capital

While a great deal of attention has been given to the role of performance pay and extrinsic rewards in understanding how to motivate and retain employees, this study points towards the importance of organizational social capital, defined as the sum of collaboration, trust, and value congruence among employees. Using a four-year panel data set of 170 federal agencies, we find a positive effect of social capital on intrinsic motivation but contradicting effects on turnover. Changes in social capital across time mitigate turnover intention but are unrelated to turnover behavior. A cross-sectional analysis shows, however, that the relationship between social capital and turnover behavior is curvilinear and has an inverted u-shape. The findings suggest that social capital can be a double-edged sword, as it is harmful in lower doses but beneficial if a critical mass of employees can participate in the social network, thereby avoiding conflict-laden in- and out-group constellations.     

Local Pork-Barrel Politics in National Pre-Election Dates: The Case of Italy

Political representation in the national assemblies isgeographic and elected representatives care about whogains and who loses in their electoral districts. Since legislators are re-election oriented, theirchances of electoral success are directly associatedwith the net benefits delivered to their constituents. In this perspective, geography is not only the basisfor political organisation and representation, butalso the hallmark of distributive politics. In thiscontext, it is likely that locally elected politiciansand party leaders standing in national elections wouldtend to cooperate in pre-election dates. In thispaper we argue that local administrators have anincentive to manipulate local government outlays inconnection with national election dates to enhance there-election prospects of their national party leaders. In particular, given the matching character ofnational grants with local investment spending, weexpect that in pre-election dates local policy-makerswould be induced to raise investment outlays beyondtheir standard growth rate. This would determineinefficient local public spending as a result of thegeographically-based system of democraticrepresentation. The case study under our investigationis the behaviour of Italian local policy-makers inconnection with national election dates.     

“Not Imminent in My Domain!” County Leaders’ Attitudes toward Eminent Domain Decisions

Eminent domain is an urgent problem facing local government administrators and scholars throughout the United States. However, the literature is sparse regarding how local leaders make decisions on this hot‐button issue. A 2006 Government Accountability Office report noted a lack of data about local governments’ use of their eminent domain authority. A survey of county managers in North Carolina was conducted to redress this apparent knowledge gap. Although the findings are primarily generalizable only to other Dillon’s rule states, such data demonstrate that eminent domain applies more often for “narrow” (public use) purposes, such as water and sewer systems, than for “broad” (public good) purposes, such as economic development. Current and future property considerations also influence eminent domain decisions. [A] law that takes property from A, and gives it to B: It is against all reason and justice, for a people to entrust a legislature with such powers; and, therefore, it cannot be presumed that they have done it. —Associate Justice Samuel Chase, majority opinion, Calder v. Bull (1798)     

Identification of cremains using X-ray diffraction spectroscopy and a comparison to trace element analysis

The ability to distinguish human cremains from filler materials can be important in a variety of situations, the most notorious recent example being the Tri-State Crematorium incident. However, the majority of the papers in the recent literature present methods that rely on trace or minor element analysis, usually followed by a statistical or variable cluster analysis, to determine attribution. This approach is inherently risky, as there is significant natural variation in the trace and minor element body burdens within the human population and no real baseline for comparison. Bones and teeth are a form of calcium phosphate that is part of the mineral group apatite, often referred to as bioapatite. X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectroscopy is a technique that is used to identify minerals by their crystalline structures rather than their elemental composition. The members of the mineral group apatite have a highly flexible hexagonal (6/m) structure that is able to incorporate small amounts of a wide variety of elements. However, its structure, and therefore its X-ray diffraction pattern, is distinct from the crystalline structures of all of the commonly reported filler materials, most of which are composed of some combination of Portland cement, limestone aggregate and quartz sand. XRD has several advantages over other analytical techniques for the identification of cremains. It is non-destructive, requires relatively small amounts of material, is unaffected by the elemental variations found in bioapatite, and can be used to semi-quantify the components of a mixture, thus determining the relative level of contamination of a sample. This paper presents the results of X-ray diffraction spectroscopy analysis of human cremains and a variety of common filler materials.     

The relationship of stress, impulsivity, and beliefs to drug use severity in a sample of women prison inmates

There is a paucity of research examining substance abuse issues among women prisoners. This study explored relationships between perceived stress, impulsivity, and beliefs in the efficacy of drugs as these variables pertain to self-reported drug use severity. Women prisoners (N = 100) participated in structured face-to-face interviews based on established research instruments. Although there was no significant correlation between demographic characteristics and substance use severity, positive relationships were found between substance use severity, perceived stress, impulsivity, and beliefs. A multiple linear model was estimated regressing drug use severity on beliefs, impulsivity, and perceived stress. Only the measures of beliefs and impulsivity were significant correlates of drug use severity. Implications are discussed for prison substance abuse programming and future research.     

Analytical survey of restorative resins by SEM/EDS and XRF: databases for forensic purposes

Frequently in forensic cases, unknown substances must be identified. Automated databases can ease the burden of comparison as materials may be compared against many known standards in a relatively short period of time. It has been shown that dental resins can be named according to brand or brand group even in conditions as harsh as cremation. Databases are already in use for many materials, but no such database exists for dental resins. Thus, two databases were generated. One utilized a laboratory-based method, scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM/EDS), in conjunction with the Spectral Library Identification and Classification Explorer (SLICE) software. The other was based on portable X-ray fluorescence (XRF). The ability to perform database comparison with portable instrumentation can thus be brought directly to the field. Both the SLICE and XRF databases were evaluated by testing unknown resins. EDS is a well-established technique and the SLICE program was demonstrated to be a good tool for unknown resin identification. Portable XRF is a relatively new instrument in this regard and its databases have been constructed mostly for metal alloy comparison and environmental soil testing. However, by creation of a custom spectral library, it was possible to distinguish resin brand and bone and tooth from other substances.