From patronage politics to community deliberation: the recent experience of democratic school management in Brazil

The article discusses the limits and possibilities of school empowerment within education systems plagued by pervasive patronage politics. The analysis focuses on reform initiatives implemented by Brazilian sub‐national governments throughout the 1980s and 1990s to allow for the election of school principals by parents, teachers and students. Until the implementation of this reform, state and local authorities had relied on the school system as a source of patronage resources, and principals were nominated according to political criteria. The new system of democratic school management was expected to undermine this patronage‐based system and foster community participation in school decisions. The article relies on secondary evidence to assess the impact of school elections in what concerns the participation of parents, students and teachers in school affairs and the relationship between schools, party politicians and education administrators. It concludes that high levels of social inequality and the lack of a universalistic and effective system of welfare provision constitute serious obstacles to the empowerment of disadvantaged groups in developing societies such as Brazil. On the other hand, the article argues that school empowerment has the potential to undermine resilient patronage structures, by introducing universalistic mechanisms of decision‐making and making school administrators more accountable to their constituencies. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Suicidal ideation and self-determination in institutionalized elderly

The right to self-determination is central to the current debate on rational suicide in old age. The goal of this exploratory study was to assess the presence of self-determination in suicidal institutionalized elderly persons. Eleven elderly persons with serious suicidal ideations were matched according to age, sex, and civil status with 11 nonsuicidal persons. The results indicated that suicidal persons did not differ from nonsuicidal persons in level of self-determination. There was, however, a significant difference between groups on the social subscale. Suicidal elderly persons did not seem to take others into account when making a decision or taking action. The results are discussed from a suicide-prevention perspective.     

Methamphetamine use in nonurban and urban drug court clients

Population-based surveys suggest that methamphetamine use and abuse may be rising in the United States. However, little is known about methamphetamine use in eastern sections of the United States, particularly nonurban areas. The purpose of the present study was (a) to explore reported methamphetamine use and its correlates among Kentucky drug court clients and(b) to determine whether differences exist between methamphetamine users by drug court location. Of the 500 drug court clients surveyed, approximately 32% n=161) reported lifetime methamphetamine use. Methamphetamine users and nonusers differed in their drug-use profiles, self-reported criminal history, and number of criminal offenses. Nonurban and urban methamphetamine users differed in their drug-use profiles, psychological functioning, self-reported criminal history, and number of criminal offenses. These results suggest that differences exist between these populations and clinicians, and criminal justice officials may need to consider these differences when planning treatment and rehabilitation strategies.     

Nondecision making and inertia in Portuguese health policy

Despite there having been a positive context for initiating health care reforms in Portugal in the past fifteen years (accompanied by political consensus on the nature of the structural problems within the health care system), there has been a lack of reform initiatives. We use a process-based framework to show how institutional arrangements have influenced Portuguese health care reform. Evidence is presented to demonstrate inertia and nondecision making in three critical areas of Portuguese health policy: clarifying the public-private mix in coverage and provision, creating financial incentives and motivation for human resources, and introducing changes in the pharmaceutical market. Several factors seem to explain these processes, namely, problems in the balance of power within the political system, which have contributed to a lack of proper policy discussion; a lack of pluralism in the formation of health care policies (with low participation from citizens and high mobilization among structural interest groups); and the low priority of health care in public sector reforms. Portuguese politicians should be aware of the pitfalls of the current political system that constrain participatory arrangements and pluralism in policy making. In order to pursue health care reform, future governments will need to counterbalance the strong influence of structural interest groups.     

Minimal Y-chromosome haplotypes plus DYS287 in Jewish populations

POPULATION: A total of 71 Jewish individuals obtained from the collection of The National Laboratory for the Genetics of Israeli Populations at Tel-Aviv University: 14 Ashkenazi, 21 Sephardic (from Turkey), 23 North African (from Morocco, Libya and Tunicia) and 13 Oriental (from Iraq and Iran).     

The determination of male adult age at death by central and posterior coxal analysis--a preliminary study

In forensic anthropological analysis, the pelvis is of particular interest as it is often a comparatively well-preserved part of the skeleton. This study in age determination uses the acetabulum, the central element of the pelvis, as a complement to the examination of the auricular surface. The test sample consisted of 30 individuals. First, the authors studied the auricular surface using the Lovejoy criteria. Second, they isolated four criteria based on chronological changes in the acetabulum. Third, they conducted an evaluation of each of these variables. The study examines the correlation between these criteria and the age of the individuals. A significant correlation was found between the acetabular criteria and age, and between the acetabular criteria and the Lovejoy criteria of the auricular surface. For forensic purposes, the acetabulum is an effective predictor in the determination of age. This newly proposed method explores the same criteria of ageing as the Lovejoy method. The combination of the two methods produces relatively consistent results in the estimation of age.     

Death by smothering following forced quetiapine administration in an infant

We present a case of smothering of a 2-year-old male infant by his schizophrenic mother who was having a psychotic episode. In addition to the initial autopsy findings of conjunctival petechial hemorrhages, facial linear abrasions and bruises, and mucosal abrasions and bruises, expert odontologic examination revealed indentations of the cusps of central incisors and molars, providing additional evidence of smothering. The postmortem and toxicological examination revealed features of forced quetiapine administration. The case presented is the first case of forced administration of quetiapine described. Our case also highlights the value of expert forensic odontological examination.