"Holding the child down" for treatment in paediatric haematology: the ethical,legal and practice implications

Very little has been written about involuntary treatment for adult patients and even less about such treatment for paediatric patients. Ethical dilemmas for nurses in such situations have not been clearly articulated and there are no clear guidelines available in this area. The following findings from a qualitative, longitudinal study on the psycho-social aspects of treatment for childhood leukaemia and related diseases are offered as preliminary work on this important professional issue. The feelings of parents when confronted with the necessity of holding their child down so that they may receive probably curative treatments for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia are described and some of the ethical and legal issues confronting nurses who provide these treatments are explored.     

The patron system in academia: Alternative strategies for empowering academic women

In this paper we present an typology of the academic patron system which differentiates among its various functions in terms of the type of power academic patrons have (formal or informal) and the kind of faculty orientation they have (professional or organizational). Using the dichotomies of authority (formal power) or influence (informal power) and professional orientation (cosmopolitan) or organizational orientation (local), four types of academic patronage are identified: professional authority, organizational authority, professional influence, and organizational influence. For each type of academic patronage, associated strategies for empowering women are discussed. These strategies are considered in terms of the extent to which they affect not only ‘professional enfranchisement’, i.e. access, but also ‘professional efficacy’, i.e. a sense of personal power, of being in control, of having the ability to make a difference, for academic women. We conclude that the effective use of professional and organizational influence offers the best hope for the inclusion of women in academia and for changing the academic bureaucracy from a system of ‘participatory autocracy’ to a system of true collegiality.     

The relationship between the quantity of alcohol consumed and the severity of sexual assaults committed by college men

Researchers have suggested that intoxicated perpetrators may act more violently than other perpetrators, although empirical findings have been mixed. Past research has focused on whether or not alcohol was consumed, rather than the quantity consumed, and this may explain these inconsistent findings. The authors hypothesized that the quantity of alcohol consumed would have a curvilinear relationship to the severity of the assault. Data were collected from 113 college men who reported that they had committed a sexual assault since the age of 14. The quantity of alcohol that perpetrators consumed during the assault was linearly related to how much aggression they used and was curvilinearly related to the type of sexual assault committed. The quantity of alcohol that victims consumed during the assault was linearly related to the type of sexual assault committed. Strategies for improving assessment of alcohol consumption in sexual assault research are discussed.     

Liberalism and the Obligation to Military Service

This article argues that liberalism's failure to address systematically the question of citizens' obligation to military service is indicative of its wider failure to develop a satisfactory concept of citizenship. Whilst liberalism's individualist bias, implicit class assumptions and hope of transcending war have all contributed to neglect of citizen duty to bear arms, the most interesting reason, in relation to contemporary republican critiques, is liberalism's inadequate view of citizenship. This article examines the different approaches of the classical English liberals Locke, Bentham and J. S. Mill to international relations, forms of national defence and the role (if any) of citizens, and considers very briefly the views of some contemporary liberal theorists on military service and justified resistance to the draft. Finally, it comments on the implicit reliance of liberal polities on non-liberal models of citizenship, and the need for a coherent liberal concept of citizenship which includes an examination of responsibility for defence.     

The development of small-scale irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa

The performance of irrigation schemes in sub-Saharan Africa has generally been discouraging. This has been particularly true of large-scale formal smallholder developments. Recently attention has been turning increasingly to small-scale farmer-managed irrigation, generally utilizing simple, low-cost methods of water control. While not yet very prominent in Government planning and policy statements, small-scale irrigation has been espoused enthusiastically by farmers, non-governmental organizations and some international agencies. In this approach to rural development external agencies act as catalysts of change, technical advisors, channels for capital funding and intermediaries between farmer groups and other organizations. Although generally limited in physical size and sophistication of technology, small-scale irrigation nevertheless experiences the complexities inherent in the management of land and water, and of social, political and economic change. Research and development needs are wide-ranging, and attention to them is likely to be fruitful in terms of increasingly effective rural development strategies.