On the bottom rung: A discussion of women's work in sociology

Women, Women's Work and ‘Women's Studies’ are in a disadvantaged and marginal position within academic settings. This is a reflection of women's position in society in general, and it should be no surprise to find it to be the case in sociology as elsewhere. Women's studies has achieved some respectability within the social sciences, but rather than this being seen as a straightforward success, the disadvantages of this ‘respectability’ must be understood, as must the subtlety of male incorporation of feminist ideas not at a conscious level but within and through the male defined ethos of academia. The use of a qualitative methodology to get behind the ‘facts’ of qualitative differences in women's and men's positions is important. The lives of women postgraduates and researchers in Great Britain, those women on the bottom rung, can give us insights into the difficulties for women's studies and into the possibilities for the direction that attempts to redress the imbalances between men and women in academia might take.     

Renal artery bullet embolism.

Bullet embolism is a well-recognized phenomenon. While bullet embolism is not common, renal artery bullet embolism appears to be very rare. We report three cases of bullet embolism to a renal artery. Autopsy findings and bullet types are presented. Such cases are of particular interest to both the medical examiner and the clinician. Failure to consider this phenomenon clinically could lead to infarction of a kidney. A consideration of this phenomenon at autopsy could shorten the dissection time required to retrieve the bullet.     

A case of factitious pedophilia

Factitious disorder involves feigning, exaggerating, or self-inducing physical and/or psychological ailments with the goal of assuming the "sick" or "patient" role. In turn, the sick role entitles the factitious disorder patient to care, nurturance, and protection; it also exempts one from usual responsibilities. In this paper, we present the first reported case of factitious pedophilia. Although it seems counterintuitive, this middle-aged man has falsely claimed or exaggerated sexual desire for minors ostensibly to remain in a state hospital; indeed, he has remained in the same inpatient facility for more than 20 years as a result of his deceptions. At times, his reports have included disconfirmed claims of bizarre accidents and other physical travails. This case enlarges the literature on factitious psychological disorders and shows that some individuals may falsify paraphilic behaviors, although clearly minimization of these behaviors remains more common.     

What Can be Done About High-Risk Perpetrators of Domestic Violence?

This article addresses practical implications for preventing lethal and nonlethal domestic violence (DV) that stem from recent research on male domestic homicide perpetrators. The role of risk assessment and batterer intervention programs is emphasized, including specific programming for treatment-resistant perpetrators. Adjunct interventions for related problems (e.g., anger, suicidal behaviour, substance abuse) are offered, and risk management tactics are summarized. The article highlights the significance of safety planning for victims and teaching youth skills for forming and maintaining healthy relationships. Possible solutions to the problem of DV perpetrators who avoid arrest also are highlighted (e.g., public awareness campaigns). Additionally, this article discusses approaches for dealing with psychopathic DV perpetrators, including the possible benefits of community education on psychopathy and early intervention for youth at risk for developing these traits. Some policy implications concerning DV and psychopathy also are covered. The article underscores the importance of coordinated community responses to DV.     

A Comparison of Domestic and Non-Domestic Homicides: Further Evidence for Distinct Dynamics and Heterogeneity of Domestic Homicide Perpetrators

To facilitate a deeper understanding of domestic homicide (DH), the correctional files of 37 male DH perpetrators were examined. Victim, perpetrator and offense characteristics were compared against those from 78 non-domestic homicide perpetrator files to elucidate distinct dynamics. Risk factors preceding DHs were identified retrospectively using the revised Danger Assessment (DA; Campbell et al. 2009), and the role of psychopathy was explored via the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (Hare 2003). DHs exhibited distinctive dynamics, especially in terms of perpetrators’ predominant drives to inflict harm out of proprietary revenge. Most DHs did not occur “out of the blue”, as 82.9 % of cases showed elements of planning; and 86.5 % were identified as a homicide risk according to the revised DA. Psychopathic DH perpetrators were less likely to act suicidal prior to homicides and more likely to kill in a dispassionate, premeditated and gratuitously violent manner. The findings underscore the importance of coordinated community responses.     

Dangerous decisions: the impact of first impressions of trustworthiness on the evaluation of legal evidence and defendant culpability

Abstract

There is little support for the long-standing assumption that judges and jurors can accurately assess credibility. According to Dangerous Decisions Theory (DDT; Porter & ten Brinke, Legal and Criminological Psychology, 14, 119–134, 2009), intuitive evaluations of trustworthiness based on the face may strongly bias the interpretation of subsequent information about a target. In a courtroom setting, the assessment of evidence provided by or concerning a defendant may be fundamentally flawed if its interpretation is influenced by an initial, spontaneous assessment of trustworthiness. In an empirical test of DDT, participants were presented with two vignettes describing major or minor crimes, accompanied by a photograph of the supposed defendant, previously rated as highly trustworthy or untrustworthy in appearance. Participants evaluated culpability following the presentation of evidence in each case. Participants required less evidence to arrive at a guilty verdict and were more confident in this decision for untrustworthy-appearing defendants. The current evidence supports DDT and has implications for legal decision-making practices.     

Will get fooled again: Emotionally intelligent people are easily duped by high‐stakes deceivers

Purpose. There is major disagreement about the existence of individual differences in deception detection or naturally gifted detection ‘wizards’ (see O'Sullivan & Ekman, 2004 vs. Bond & Uysal, 2007 ). This study aimed to elucidate the role of a specific, and seemingly relevant individual difference – emotional intelligence (EI) and its subcomponents – in detecting high‐stakes, emotional deception. Methods. Participants (N= 116) viewed a sample of 20 international videos of individuals emotionally pleading for the safe return of their missing family member, half of whom were responsible for the missing person's disappearance/murder. Participants judged whether the pleas were honest or deceptive, provided confidence ratings, reported the cues they utilized, and rated their emotional response to each plea. Results. EI was associated with overconfidence in assessing the sincerity of the pleas and greater self‐reported sympathetic feelings to deceptive targets (enhanced gullibility). Although total EI was not associated with discrimination of truths and lies, the ability to perceive and express emotion (a component of EI), specifically, was negatively related to detecting deceptive targets (lower sensitivity [d′]). Combined, these patterns contributed negatively to the ability to spot emotional lies. Conclusions. These findings collectively suggest that features of EI, and subsequent decision‐making processes, paradoxically may impair one's ability to detect deceit.     

Mothers and daughters: Linking women's life histories in Grand Bank, Newfoundland, Canada

Grand Bank is a small fishing town on the southwest coast of Newfoundland, Canada. The oral history project, on which this paper is based, focussed on the “life stories” of women in three, four and sometimes five, different generations of families. My aim was twofold. First, I wanted to build a picture of the way to the economy, and the sexual division of labour has changed in the period 1890–present. Second, I wanted to see how, by focussing several accounts of the same family experience, I could break apart the ideological construction of the past. I could also use contrasting accounts of mothers and daughters to re-examine the role of “work” in the family and the construction of a sexual division of labour.This paper explores how women situate and construct both their past and present experience, and what the different accounts given by mothers and daughters and grandaughters tell us both about female family relationships and about the interaction of gender with economic, social and technological change. The paper also suggests why this particular oral history approach, using different generations of women in the same family, is especially relevant to feminist concerns.     

Observations from practice: support group membership as a process of social capital formation among female survivors of domestic violence

This article explores the authors' practice observations of female domestic violence survivors' journey from first agency contact to active participation in a support group process. The authors have witnessed female victims of domestic violence challenging the social isolation imposed by their dominant partners as they search for meaning in their lives. As practitioners, they have observed women building trustful relationships and establishing supportive networks during the group process. In this article, the authors suggest that the support group process facilitates trust and network formation indicative of social capital.