Monetary and financial cooperation in Asia: taking stock of recent ongoings

Ever since the currency crisis of 1997–98, there has beena great deal of interest in enhancing regional economic cooperationin Asia. It is important to keep in mind that economic regionalismis of multidimensional nature. The focus of this paper is onpolicy initiatives underway in Asia to enhance monetary andfinancial regionalism and the analytical bases for these initiatives,rather than on examining the de facto level of financial andmonetary links that already exists (which may or may not havebeen facilitated via regional policy mechanisms). There aremany gradations of monetary and financial regionalism, rangingfrom the weak form involving regional policy dialog and surveillance,on the one hand, to exchange rate and monetary coordination,on the other. To maintain focus, this paper concentrates morenarrowly on ‘medium forms’ of monetary and financialregionalism, broadly defined as the development of regionalliquidity arrangements and regional financial markets.     

Referrers' views of structured professional judgement risk assessment of sexual offenders: A qualitative study

Abstract

The Risk for Sexual Violence Protocol is a structured professional judgement (SPJ) tool that aids risk assessment of sexual violence. It is widely used internationally. The aim of this study was to explore the clinical practice of SPJ risk assessment and risk management through qualitative analysis of the accounts of users of these assessments. Questionnaires and semi-structured interviews were conducted with a sample of 31 criminal justice professionals in southeast Scotland. The participants' accounts were explored using the framework method. Five themes emerged from this analysis: informing risk management; confirming what was known and giving weight; understanding personality; treatment; and the usefulness and limitations of risk assessment. The participants reported that the assessments were influential with respect to risk management. The study revealed some important implications for service development. The authors suggest possible future use of the framework method in research investigating the risk assessment of sexual violence.     

Security dimensions of Soviet territorial disputes with China and Japan

The advent of Mikhail Gorbachev’sNew Thinking has produce a Soviet strategy toward East Asia that seeks a détente with China and Japan. An essential part of this task involves settling the territorial disputes that both countries have with the USSR. Present negotiations on the Sino-Soviet border have produced compromises, yet differences remain. Intractable positions by Japan and the USSR on the Northern Territories issue have resulted in a standstill that has prevented formal negotiations. This article analyzes the strategic-miliatary choices that Soviet leaders will have to make as they address the territorial disputes, examine possible compromises and their consequences for Soviet security, and assess the overall prospects for settlement. Rajan Menon is associate professor of international relations at Lehigh University and author ofSoviet Power and the Third World (Yale University Press, 1986). During the 1989⊋ash;90 academic year he is serving as a research scholar at the Kennan Institute for Advanced Russian Studies of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and as a Council on Foreign Relations international affairs fellow on the staff of Congressman Stephen J. Solarz (D-NY).     

Schizophrenia in a high-security hospital: long-term forensic,clinical, administrative & social outcomes

Objective: To determine forensic, clinical, social and administrative outcomes of high-security patients. Method: Prospective year follow-up study of 169 patients with schizophrenia, 1992–1993. Results: By the end of the study, 46 (27.2%) patients were in high security, 43 (25.5%) in medium- or low-secure units, 35 (20.7%) in an open ward, 3 (1.8%) in prison and 40 (23.7%) in the community. Violence occurred in 75% of patients over the 10-year follow-up period, and this was serious in 25%. Continuous positive symptoms of psychosis were present in over one-third. One-third had self-harmed during this period but there was only one known suicide and 11 (6.5%) deaths in total. At the end of the study, there was only one person in voluntary employment, 18 (12.7%) living independently and 10 (7.1%) in a relationship. Models were developed to determine factors relevant to these major outcomes. Conclusions: This is the first study providing comprehensive outcome data over a 10-year period. Forensic services appear good at managing the risk to the community but poor at promoting better social outcomes. The levels of violence within inpatient units are high.     

Trade liberalization and the new regionalism in the Asia-Pacific: taking stock of recent events

In the aftermath of the regional financial crisis of 1997–98,many Asian economies have underscored the need consciously andaggressively to explore alternative liberalization paths or‘fallback positions’. This is where the ‘newregionalism’ or new regional trade agreements (RTAs) becomerelevant. This paper explores some of the primary rationalebehind, and main concerns regarding, the proliferation of bilateraland plurilateral trade pacts in the Asia-Pacific region. Italso considers the ‘dynamic time path’ of AsianRTAs. Do they facilitate or hinder multilateral trade liberalization?     

A farm‐sizewise analysis of irrigation distribution in India

This article analyses and describes the relationship between the size of operational holding on the one hand and various irrigation and irrigation‐related variables, on the hand, using cross‐section regression analysis of farm‐sizewise/statewise Indian data. The overall conclusion that emerges from the analysis is that irrigation development in India as a whole seems to be such that its propagation and diffusion among agricultural households seems to be somewhat in favour of larger farms. Even though the government predominantly controls the development and distribution of flow‐sources of irrigation, especially of canal irrigation, it does not seem to have produced any significant positive impact on reducing the level of inequity involved in the distribution of irrigation across farm‐size groups.