The EU's Climate Leadership: Reconciling Ambition and Reality

This article argues that while the EU aspires to and is capable of structural, directional and instrumental leadership in the global climate regime, it thus far has not fully utilized this potential. Partly this is because the EU's shortcomings with respect to implementation have reduced the credibility of its leadership, partly because the complex internal negotiations tend to divert attention away from consideration of the impacts of its negotiation position on other countries. Nonetheless, the EU is moving the regime-building process forward. It is recommended that if the EU wishes to continue acting as a leader, it then needs to combine the three types of leadership with a short, medium and long-term strategy.     

Latent fingermark pore area reproducibility

The study of the reproducibility of friction ridge pore detail in fingermarks is a measure of their usefulness in personal identification. Pore area in latent prints developed using cyanoacrylate and ninhydrin were examined and measured by photomicrography using appropriate software tools. The data were analysed statistically and the results showed that pore area is not reproducible in developed latent prints, using either of the development techniques. The results add further support to the lack of reliability of pore area in personal identification.     

A study of fatal strangulation cases in Varanasi (India)

Strangulation is one of the oldest and widely used methods of committing murder in the Indian subcontinent. It is usually carried out by constricting the neck either with the hands, elbow, or other parts of body or by ligature, stick, and the like. In this paper we report a study of 26 cases of fatal strangulation occurring in the district of Varanasi (India) during 1982-1983 and analyze their epidemiological, medicolegal, and forensic pathological aspects. The paper also projects the mentality of perpetrators who, after strangling their victims, tried to hide the crime by disposing of the dead bodies by burning, burying, hanging, throwing them into water, or concealing them in distant places in most of the cases.     

A typology of incest and possible intervention strategies

Recent research on incest suggests that it is a complex phenomenon which assumes a variety of forms in different situations. A tentative typology based on prior research and clinical reports is presented. A preliminary framework for recognizing and dealing with various types of incest is outlined and a discussion of intervention and prevention strategies is provided.     

Deficits in Theory of Mind,empathic understanding and moral reasoning: a comparison between young offenders and non-offenders

Previous research suggests a lack of pro-social skills is characteristic of an antisocial or offending personality. It is therefore reasonable to assume that an inadequate understanding of another's mental state may contribute to antisocial or offending behaviour. Forty-six young-adult male offenders and a control completed measures to assess: Theory of Mind (ToM), empathic understanding (EU) and moral reasoning. Significant differences in the performance of young-adult offenders and the control group were detected in ToM, EU and moral reasoning with young-adult offenders scoring lower than the control group. A positive association was also found between ToM, EU and moral reasoning. These findings contribute to a further understanding of how individuals make sense of, and respond to, the social world around them. The ability to measure ToM, EU and moral reasoning and subsequently identify any specific deficits, as well as recognise the link between these three key skills, is not only useful for researchers but it will also allow practitioners to tailor existing (or develop new) interventions specific to the needs of an individual. This could be particularly useful in terms of recidivism when applied to those involved in antisocial or offending behaviour.     

Structural violence and politics

Abstract

In Red Tape, I do not use the term “arbitrary” in opposition to “systematic”, as is alleged by Harriss and Jeffrey. Arbitrariness accompanies systematic forms of discrimination, and is the result of both, the indifference to outcomes and to the chaotic style of functioning of Indian bureaucracies. Interpreting structural violence, or explaining injustice, requires understanding what the state means to different people. The chief argument that poverty is a form of violence, and represents the killing of the poor, underlines the injustice that results from treating poverty as a biopolitical fact. I employ a notion of politics that is not restricted to parties and mobilization, but which saturates all relations of inequality. Despite voicing dissatisfaction with the analysis presented in Red Tape, Harriss and Jeffrey fail to forward an adequate and coherent alternative.