Appendix: a reconnaissance of Canadian administrative reform during the early 1990s

Abstract: The purpose of this paper was to provide background information for discussions at the National Seminar on Decentralization and Power Sharing on 15–17 October 1993 in St. Andrew's, New Brunswick. It emerged out of a concern that the literature has not managed to convey a sense of the extent and nature of administrative reform under way in Canada. Senior public servants working for nine provincial governments were contacted during the summer of 1993 in order to obtain documents and their views on developments in administrative and program reform during the early 1990s.* The information was first presented at the national seminar and was subsequently reviewed by provincial contacts in late 1993, who often suggested additional modifications. Our reconnaissance moves from west to east, and ends with observations about developments at the federal level. We did not delve into aboriginal and federalprovincial issues since other papers were to take up these subjects, but if officials noted that such issues were part of their administrative reform agenda, then we mentioned them. Officials from New Brunswick emphasized regional initiatives in the eastern provinces and we chose to leave that discussion in that section. Given the limited resources and time available for undertaking this survey of developments, it should not be construed as a definitive history of recent reform within each jurisdiction. Nevertheless, we do think this reconnaissance conveys the current tumult in Canada's public sector; governments at all levels are in the midst of significant restructuring, and this will continue for the foreseeable future. Sommaire: Afin de créer une base empirique pour le débat qui devait avoir lieu au Colloque national sur la décentralisation et le partage des pouvoirs, les 15–17 octobre 1993, à St. Andrew's, au Nouveau-Brunswick, nous avons contacté des fonctionnaires supérieurs de neuf provinces afin d'obtenir des documents et des avis sur l'évolution recente des réformes administratives et des révisions de programmes au début des années 1990 (pour l'Ontario, nous nous en sommes remis à un article récent de Lindquist et White). L'article a d'abord été présenté au Colloque national, puis a été analysé par quelques personnes au niveau provincial, qui ont suggéré des modifications supplémentaires. L'article couvre le terrain en partant de l'ouest vers l'est, et conclut par des observations concernant le niveau fédéral. Nous n'avions pas l'intention de nous occuper des questions autochtones et fédérales-provinciales puisque d'autres articles devaient en traiter, mais nous les avons quand même mentionnées lorsque des fonctionnaires signalaient ces questions comme étant à l'ordre du jour de Ieur réforme administrative. Ces analyses ne constituent pas l'histoire définitive des réformes au sein de chaque juridiction, mais elles reflètent bien les bouleversements qui ont frappé le secteur public au Canada. Les gouvernements canadiens sont aux prises avec une restructuration importante à tous les paliers, et notre survol de la question indique que cette situation se poursuivra.     

Adult psychopathology and intimate partner violence among survivors of childhood maltreatment

Childhood maltreatment is associated with psychopathology and revictimization in adulthood. Whether different types of childhood maltreatment have different long-term consequences, however, is largely unknown. The participants in this study included 42 female victims of intimate partner violence and 30 women with no history of serious trauma. These women completed measures of their trauma history, current psychological symptoms, and severity of current abuse. Regression-based techniques were used to assess the relationships among these constructs. Childhood maltreatment was associated with current distress and current conflict in relationships. There was a positive relationship between number of types of childhood traumatization and psychopathology. Symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression were negatively associated with current relationships involving physical assault. This work underscores the importance of assessing multiple types of childhood maltreatment and of considering the cumulative effects of such experiences.     

Results of the 2018 Rapid DNA Maturity Assessment

Three commercially available integrated rapid DNA instruments were tested as a part of a rapid DNA maturity assessment in July of 2018. The assessment was conducted with sets of blinded single-source reference samples provided to participants for testing on the individual rapid platforms within their laboratories. The data were returned to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) for review and analysis. Both FBI-defined automated review (Rapid DNA Analysis) and manual review (Modified Rapid DNA Analysis) of the datasets were conducted to assess the success of genotyping the 20 Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) core STR loci and full profiles generated by the instruments. Genotype results from the multiple platforms, participating laboratories, and STR typing chemistries were combined into a single analysis. The Rapid DNA Analysis resulted in a success rate of 80% for full profiles (85% for the 20 CODIS core loci) with automated analysis. Modified Rapid DNA Analysis resulted in a success rate of 90% for both the CODIS 20 core loci and full profiles (all attempted loci per chemistry). An analysis of the peak height ratios demonstrated that 95% of all heterozygous alleles were above 59% heterozygote balance. For base-pair sizing precision, the precision was below the standard 0.5 bp deviation for both the ANDE 6C System and the RapidHIT 200.     

Assessing Cognitive Bias in Forensic Decisions: A Review and Outlook

In recent years, a number of studies have demonstrated that forensic examiners can be biased by task-irrelevant contextual information. However, concerns relating to methodological flaws and ecological validity attenuate how much the current body of knowledge can be applied to real-life operational settings. The current review takes a narrative approach to synthesizing the literature across forensic science. Further, the review considers three main issues: (i) primary research on contextual bias within forensic science; (ii) methodological criticisms of this research; (iii) an alternative perspective that task-irrelevant contextual information does not always lead to error. One suggestion for future research is outlined, which is that studies on contextual bias in forensic decisions should be conducted in collaboration between forensic scientists and cognitive psychologists. Only then can rigorous and ecological valid experiments be created that will be able to assess how task-irrelevant contextual information influences forensic analysis and judgments in operationally valid settings.     

'Deeds and Words': The Woman's Press and the Politics of Print

The political and constitutional impact of the early twentieth-century British women's suffrage movement has been the subject of extensive research since the advent of second-wave feminism, yet the broader cultural impact of the movement remains a developing scholarly area. Murray examines the role of the Woman's Press, the publishing house established in 1907 as a strategic component of the Pankhursts' influential Women's Social and Political Union. The press is located within multiple and interpenetrative analytical contexts: examined in turn are its role in the various power struggles of the WSPU and the broader British suffrage movement; its significance as an independent means of cultural production around the contested site of the suffragette; and its ambiguity as a feminist publishing house run by male pro-suffragist and lobbyist, Frederick Pethick Lawrence. The Woman's Press and its central London retail outlet figured prominently in WSPU administration as a material concern-as literature packing department, revenue raiser and recruiting centre. Yet, symbolically, the Woman's Press was also integral to the campaigning of the WSPU to an extent that has generally remained under-examined. As an independent publishing house the press constituted a vital conduit guaranteeing the entry of suffrage arguments into public discourse, and a crucial tool for appropriating and refashioning the contested image of the suffragette in the wider politico-cultural landscape of the day. Acknowledging the significance of the Woman's Press provides both a necessary historical context for the post-1970 feminist press boom, as well as a counterpoint to the ongoing political-financial conundrums that beset its modern descendents.