Technical Management in an Age of Openness: The Political,Public, and Environmental Forest Ranger

Modern bureaucracy faces trade‐offs between public and congressional input and agency expertise. The U.S. Forest Service offers an opportunity to quantitatively analyze whether an agency that is required to be more open to the public and congressional input will be forced to ignore its technical expertise in managing resources. This study uses data on 83,000 hazardous fuels reduction activities conducted by the Forest Service from 2001 to 2011. Although the results show that managers are responsive to public and congressional considerations, this has not prevented them from utilizing their technical knowledge to restore lands most deviated from natural conditions. This suggests that managers can balance responsiveness to public and political principals with technically sound management.     

Mothering earth? Gender and environmental protection in the Jharkhand,India

With reference to field‐based evidence from the Jharkhand region of India, this article seeks to problematise the assumption of a simple women‐environment link and outline the pitfalls of translating such ideas into development policy‐making. Following the work of Bina Agarwal and Cecile Jackson (amongst others), it challenges the perception of women as environmental guardians. In particular, it highlights the fluidity and localised nature of inter‐and intra‐community variations in work allocation and identifies significant gender variations in decision‐making and control over environmental resources. Specific emphasis is placed on the impact of patrilineal inheritance systems and patrilocal residence patterns on women's familiarity with and control over local environments.     

Evidence and Contestation in the Indigenous Policy Domain: Voice,Ideology and Institutional Inequality

There is a tension in the evidence‐based policy paradigm as it concerns Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, particularly with regard to their standing as evidence providers. Aboriginal people in Australia have primarily been seen as a ‘problem to be solved’ and racialised views of Aboriginal competence have allowed for past policy, now recognised as harmful, to be justified as being ‘for their own good’. This article considers some of the complexities of the evidence‐based policy paradigm as it applies to the Indigenous policy domain, arguing that in such a turbulent field the use of evidence is inevitably ideological and selective. The article concludes that, in light of persistent institutional inequalities, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices and perspectives in genuine dialogue about policy is the only way to navigate this difficult terrain with any chance of success.     

Editorial

Abstract

This paper assesses some of the self-report and empirical evidence regarding the risk that rapists of adults present to children. Etiological theory is reviewed. An empirically-derived classificatory scheme is presented to show the relative risk presented by various rapist types. Self-report andphallometric data from both rapists and normals are presented to show that there is strong evidence of multiple paraphilic interest in both populations. Reports from four treatment centres support these data. Several methods of assessing risk to adults and children are presented. It is concluded that a significant, and probably underestimated proportion of rapists (and possibly some normals), present a risk of sexual violence toward children.     

Premature detachment of the placenta due to kicks to the lower abdomen

An 18-year-old woman in an advanced stage of pregnancy was admitted to hospital for gynaecological emergency treatment with pain after kicks to the lower abdomen. Premature detachment of the placenta was diagnosed and an immediate Caesarian section was performed. Although the newborn was resuscitated at once by the medical team, it died two days later in the paediatric hospital from multiorgan failure. The autopsy results together with the pathological findings of the palcenta proved the causal context between the kicks, the premature detachment of the placenta and the hypoxia requiring postnatal resuscitation, so that the perpetrator was found guilty.     

Not enough help for themselves--the risk of physicians to commit suicide

Physicians seem unwilling to deal with their own suicidal problems professionally. Suicide is a repressed topic. According to international studies, medical students and physicians are clearly over-represented among suicide victims. Committing suicide stands in sharp contrast to the positive image physicians enjoy as competent, strong helpers transmitting positive energy. Various studies and meta-analyses show that physicians use knowledge specific to their profession and are therefore "more successful" than the general population in committing suicide. Moreover, the data reveal a number of risk factors specifically correlating with medical practice. This is confirmed by an increased number of suicides during medical training and professional life in comparison with the general population. Gender-specific analyses show an even higher suicide risk for female physicians. In this context it cannot be excluded that out of "professional respect" cardiovascular causes of death are sometimes falsely documented in death certificates instead of suicide. Despite their special education, physicians are not very good at diagnosing their own emotional disorders and asking colleagues for adequate professional help. They rather tend to camouflage their own psychological problems also because they are afraid of occupational and personal discrimination.