The Demise of ATSIC? Accountability and the Coalition Government

ATSIC has been portrayed by the Coalition government as an organisation that is not financially accountable and, because of this, is not achieving positive service delivery outcomes for Aboriginal people. Drawing on documentary material and fieldwork data, this article argues that ATSIC is indeed accountable and that the Coalition is putting the accountability argument forward as a means of justifying the dismantling of ATSIC. Given the past and recent actions taken by the Coalition, it is unclear how much longer ATSIC will be able to survive in its current form.     

UNDERSTANDING CONFLICT AND HUMAN CAPACITY The Role of Premises in Mediation Training

In this article, the authors points out that underlying mediator practices and techniques, there are deeper premises and values that guide and shape practice. The authors argue that mediation training should include articulation and explanation of the premises that underlie the form of practice being taught. They describe the particular premises that underlie the transformative orientation to mediation practice and give examples of how those premises can be conveyed within an overall training design, how doing so enriches the teaching of skills and techniques themselves.     

The prevalence of violence and relation to depression and illicit drug use among incarcerated women in Recife, Brazil

PurposeTo assess the prevalence and different types of violence experienced by women prisoners in Brazil and the effects of violence on women's depression and illicit drug use.MethodsParticipants (N = 377) were incarcerated women from a state prison in a northeastern city of Brazil. Multivariate logistic regression models (adjusted for age, education, partner status, prison history, drug related offense, and sentencing status) were used to assess associations between each type of violence (physical abuse, sexual abuse, and life threats) and each outcome variable: recent depression and illicit drug use.ResultsThe majority of participants (87%) reported experiencing some type of violence in their lifetime, including physical violence (83%), sexual victimization (36%), and threats on their life (29%.) Sexual violence was significantly related to both recent depression (Odds Ratio (OR) = 2.8; 95% Confidence Interval (CI) = 1.4–5.3) and recent substance use (OR = 2.7; 95% CI = 1.6–4.4) in adjusted models. Experiences of life threats were also significantly associated with illicit drug use (OR = 2.2; 95% CI: 1.3–3.7), as was physical violence (OR = 2.4; 95% CI: 1.2–4.9); however, neither of these latter two violence variables were significantly associated with depression.ConclusionReports of lifetime violence victimization among this incarcerated sample of women were extremely prevalent and relevant to women's depression and illicit drug use. Prison efforts to address women's depression and illicit drug use may be most effective by incorporating aspects related to women's history of victimization, especially given the high rates of violence experienced by women in this sample.     

关于经验法则的思考

本文从经验法则的概念入手,厘清了经验法则的起源和限定,进而讨论了经验法则的具体类型。在此基础上,阐述了经验法则的三种功能:"启发性"功能;"认识性"功能;以及"证明性"功能,并就如何运用经验法则提出具体意见。     

The drugs-violence nexus among rural felony probationers

Little research has focused on the drugs-violence nexus in rural areas. As such, the purpose of this study is to use Goldstein's tripartite conceptual framework to examine the relationship between drugs and violence among felony probationers in rural Appalachian Kentucky (n = 799). Data on demographics, substance use criminal history, and violence were collected between 2001 and 2004 using an interviewer-administered questionnaire. Rural probationers are partitioned into four groups based on lifetime violent victimization/perpetration experiences: (a) neither a perpetrator nor a victim, (b) perpetrator only, (c) victim only, and (d) both a perpetrator and a victim. Chi-square analyses indicate substance use, and criminal history varies across the four groups. Binary logistic regression analyses are used to explore the significant correlates of both perpetration and victimization. Multivariate analyses support both the psychopharmacological model and the economic compulsive models of perpetration and victimization. Further implications of these findings are discussed.     

Biomechanical Factors in Human Dermal Bitemarks in a Cadaver Model*

Abstract: In bitemark analysis, the forensic odontologist must consider how the biomechanical properties of the skin contribute to distortion of the bitemark. In addition, one must consider how the bitemark can be distorted by postural movement of the victim after the bite has occurred. A fundamental review of the architecture and biomechanical properties of the dermis is described and evaluated through bites made on cadavers. In order to assess distortion, 23 bites from a single characterized dentition were made on un‐embalmed cadaver skin. Bite indentations were photographed. Following various body manipulations they were re‐photographed in different positions. Hollow volume overlays of the biting dentition were constructed, and metric analysis of the dentition and all bitemarks was completed. The overall intercanine, mesial to distal, and angle of rotation distortion was calculated. Of the 23 bites made, none were measurably identical, and in some cases, dramatic distortion was noted.     

SUPPORTING FAMILY STRENGTH: THE USE OF TRANSFORMATIVE MEDIATION IN A PINS MEDIATION CLINIC

This article describes, and explains the rationales for, the establishment of an innovative program in which a law school and two social services agencies are collaborating in a mediation clinic that uses the transformative model of mediation to serve clients in cases that seem ideally suited to benefit from this approach to practice—so-called "PINS" (persons in need of supervision) cases involving conflict within families, between parents and their adolescent children. The article first describes the evolution of the PINS system and the changing views of its purpose, especially in New York State. It then offers a brief introduction to the unique features of the transformative approach to mediation and explains why that approach in particular is likely to mesh with current understandings of the needs of the families involved in these cases. Finally, the article describes the innovative "Family Solutions Program" and how it uses transformative mediation to help these families and suggests that experience of this program shows how use of the transformative model, in particular, could be valuable not only for clinical education but also for effective volunteer training and supervision in mediation programs generally.     

Identification of incinerated root canal filling materials after exposure to high heat incineration

With the increase in global terrorism there is a higher probability of having to identify victims of incineration events secondary to incendiary explosive devices. The victims of incineration events challenge forensic odontologists when coronal restorations are no longer present to compile postmortem data. With 40 million root canals being completed annually in the United States, a very large pool of antemortem data is available to the forensic odontologist to make positive identifications. When complete and thorough dental records exist, individuals that have undergone surgical and nonsurgical root canal therapy may have materials present in the canal that may aid in identification. This study provides elemental fingerprints of root canal obturation materials to be utilized as a forensic identification aid. This study used scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM/EDS) to assess the elemental composition of materials before and after high temperature incineration. Sixteen endodontic materials were analyzed pre-incineration and placed in extracted teeth. The filled teeth were subjected to incineration at 900 degrees C for 30 min to simulate incineration events or cremation. Incinerated materials were radiographed and re-analyzed to determine if they retained their original elemental composition. Endodontic sealers, gutta percha, root-end filling materials, silver points, and separated files were distinguishable in the canal and traceable after incineration. The authors present a fingerprint of the endodontic obturation materials that are capable of withstanding high heat incineration to be used as an aid for postmortem identification. This work represents the initial stage of database generation for root canal filling materials for use as an aid in forensic identification.     

Grade related changes in young people's reasoning about plea decisions

The present study examined the development of young people's ability to reason about legal issues involved in a plea decision in a criminal matter. Forty-eight subjects in each of grades 5,7, and 9, and 48 young adults participated in a semistructured interview containing four vignettes, each depicting a young person who had committed a criminal offense was charged, and retained a lawyer. Subjects received information regarding the charge and the prosecution's evidence (weak in half of the vignettes and strong in the other half). Subjects were asked to decide what they would plead if they were in the defendant's shoes, and to justify their choices. Contrary to prediction, a majority of even the Grade 5 subjects based their plea decisions on legal rather than moral criteria. Nonetheless, there were significant grade-related changes both in legal reasoning scores and in the use of guilt-based plea justifications. In addition, according to a panel of lawyers, subjects' plea choices were rated as more reasonable when the evidence against the story character was strong (and thus congruent with “moral” guilt) than when it was weak. This difference, diminished with grade as subjects became better able to separate moral from legal issues in their decision making.