Woman's hour at the women's library

This article, written by a BBC Producer, describes a Woman's Hour Radio Four programme that was broadcast from the new Women's Library, London Guildhall University, on Thursday 31 January 2002 to celebrate the Library's opening.     

International political economy: a tale of two heterodoxies

International political economy (IPE) originated in the early 1970s. For almost 20 years it has been dominated by separate, largely non-communicating schools, one centred on scholarly institutions in Britain, the other associated with the US journal, International Organization (IO) . In terms of the evolving norms of both economics and political science, both schools are surprisingly heterodox. Rather than developing strong systematic data collections and systematic theory, the IO school has been characterised by a shifting set of conceptual and metatheoretical debates. The British school, which has tended to take a deliberately critical position, has been characterised by an ever-widening set of concerns topical concerns fuelled by a desire to include more and more voices in the study of IPE. These outcomes are explicable only by tracing the specific historical developments of the two schools.     

Indonesia Returns to the International Stage: Good News for the United States

Indonesia, the world's fourth largest country, third largest democracy and home to the world's largest community of Muslims, has returned to the international stage. Indonesia's membership in a number of important global communities-it resides physically in Asia but is part of the broader Muslim world, the developing world, and the community of democracies-makes it an important international actor. Many Americans assume that common democratic values will translate into shared foreign policy goals and cooperation between the United States and Indonesia. The two countries do share significant interests, such as counter terrorism, maritime security, and a wariness of China, but also hold starkly different positions on the Middle East peace process and global trade issues. Democracy provides opportunities for the two-thirds of Indonesians who hold anti-American views to influence foreign policy, making it costly for Indonesian leaders to cooperate with the United States. Indonesia's return is good news for America, but the relationship needs to be managed skillfully to maximize benefits for both sides.     

Verbal Aggression Among Male Alcoholic Patients and Their Wives in the Year Before and Two Years After Alcoholism Treatment

Our earlier reports on 88 male alcoholics and their wives showed that domestic violence decreased significantly in the first and second year following a behavioral marital therapy (BMT) alcoholism treatment program. The present study examined verbal aggression in this same sample. In the year before BMT, verbal aggression was significantly greater—being five to seven times more prevalent for clinically elevated aggression and substantially more frequent—for the alcoholic husbands and their wives than for a demographically matched, nonalcoholic comparison sample. In the two years after BMT, both alcoholic men and their wives showed significant and substantial reductions in verbal aggression as compared with the year before BMT. Despite these significant reductions from the year before BMT, verbal aggression in the two years after BMT remained significantly elevated relative to demographically similar nonalcoholic controls. As predicted, relapsed alcoholics and their wives showed more verbal aggression in the 2 years after BMT than both couples with a remitted alcoholic husband and demographically similar nonalcoholic controls, whereas remitted alcoholics and their wives had similar levels of verbal aggression to the nonalcoholic controls. Further, frequency of drinking was positively correlated with verbal aggression in the 2 years after BMT; verbal aggression was greater when the alcoholic husband drank more frequently.     

Suicide by gunshot while driving an automobile

Suicide by a motor vehicle occurs more commonly than is realized, and may be difficult to prove. Suicide by other means while driving a vehicle is far less common. An automobile driven by a young woman left a road at high speed, became airborne, and came to rest on its top in a front yard. This was initially assumed to be a fatal traffic accident. Upon righting the vehicle, a .357 revolver was found on the ground beside it. A single, fatal, self-inflicted gunshot wound was found in the decedent's midanterior thorax. A suicide note was found in her purse. She had been chronically depressed and had twice attempted suicide. Vehicular suicides may constitute 10-30% of fatal single-vehicle crashes, and must be considered in any vehicular mishap lacking another reasonable explanation. Suicide by other means while driving is far less common than suicidal vehicular collision and suicidal death from carbon monoxide in motor vehicles. An autopsy should be performed in each of these sometimes-low-priority single-vehicle deaths in order to certify vehicular accidents correctly; to discover and document vehicular suicides; and to detect homicides disguised as vehicular mishaps.     

A single fatal penetrating chest wound from shattered wind-blown glass

The great majority of penetrating wounds of the thorax result from firearms and bladed weapons. Penetrating wounds of the heart and of the great vessels still have a high immediate mortality. While penetrating chest wounds occasionally result from fragments of glass; most severe and fatal wounds from glass result from one's falling into or through architectural (plate) glass, sustaining wounds of abdomen or extremities, or both. A single, fatal penetrating chest wound resulting from a wind-blown fragment of glass is distinctly uncommon. The unique case of this type reported herein is that of a 12-year-old youth who was struck in his home in the left anterior chest by a single, sharp, slender fragment of glass blown from a window which shattered in a thunderstorm. This resulted in a rapidly fatal penetrating wound involving thoracic viscera. The forensic pathologist must thoroughly investigate and document such accidental deaths, modifying his/her autopsy procedure as necessary for these purposes and to avoid accidental injury at the autopsy table.