UNDERSTANDING CONFLICT AND HUMAN CAPACITY The Role of Premises in Mediation Training

In this article, the authors points out that underlying mediator practices and techniques, there are deeper premises and values that guide and shape practice. The authors argue that mediation training should include articulation and explanation of the premises that underlie the form of practice being taught. They describe the particular premises that underlie the transformative orientation to mediation practice and give examples of how those premises can be conveyed within an overall training design, how doing so enriches the teaching of skills and techniques themselves.     

SUPPORTING FAMILY STRENGTH: THE USE OF TRANSFORMATIVE MEDIATION IN A PINS MEDIATION CLINIC

This article describes, and explains the rationales for, the establishment of an innovative program in which a law school and two social services agencies are collaborating in a mediation clinic that uses the transformative model of mediation to serve clients in cases that seem ideally suited to benefit from this approach to practice—so-called "PINS" (persons in need of supervision) cases involving conflict within families, between parents and their adolescent children. The article first describes the evolution of the PINS system and the changing views of its purpose, especially in New York State. It then offers a brief introduction to the unique features of the transformative approach to mediation and explains why that approach in particular is likely to mesh with current understandings of the needs of the families involved in these cases. Finally, the article describes the innovative "Family Solutions Program" and how it uses transformative mediation to help these families and suggests that experience of this program shows how use of the transformative model, in particular, could be valuable not only for clinical education but also for effective volunteer training and supervision in mediation programs generally.     

A novel method for extraction and analysis of gunpowder residues on double-side adhesive coated stubs

A study was conducted to develop an efficient method for extraction and analysis of gunpowder (propellant) residues from double-side adhesive coated stubs, which are used for sampling suspects or their clothing for gunshot (primer) residues (GSR). Conductive and non-conductive double-side adhesives were examined, and the analysis was carried out by gas chromatography/thermal energy analyzer (GC/TEA) and ion mobility spectrometry (IMS). The optimal procedure for the extraction, as was developed in the present study, employs two stages: (1) extraction of the stubs with a mixture of 80% v/v aqueous solution of 0.1% w/v of sodium azide and 20% v/v of ethanol employing sonication at 80 degrees C for 15 min. and (2) residues from the obtained extract were further extracted with methylene chloride. The methylene chloride phase was concentrated by evaporation prior to analysis. Extraction efficiencies of 30-90% for nitroglycerine (NG) and for 2,4-dinitro toluene (2,4-DNT) were found. No significant interferences in the analysis were observed from the adhesives or skin. Interferences were observed in the analysis by the GC/TEA of the samples collected from hair. The method enables analysis of propellant residues on a double-side adhesive coated stub after it was examined for primer residues by scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM/EDX). Thus, the probative value of the evidence may be increased.     

Realizing the Potential of International Conflict Work: Connections Between Practice and Theory

The author reviews the insights of four expert practitioners of international conflict resolution, pointing out a common theme that signals a major shift in the way we conduct and conceive of international conflict intervention. In addition to traditional top-down interventions, leading conflict resolution practitioners are advocating a bottom-up approach, a complementary effort that includes development of conflict resolution potential among the parties themselves, without external imposition. This increased emphasis on the kinds of structures, understanding, and relationships that help to transform international conflict situations reflects the impact the developing field of conflict studies has had on practice.     

Lifting shoeprints using gelatin lifters and a hydraulic press

A method for lifting two-dimensional dust footwear marks on rough or porous surfaces, such as cardboard or cloth, using a hydraulic press, was examined. It was found that exerting pressure on the lifter by the press usually improves the quality of the results. When the shoeprints were on rough or soft surfaces, the prints transferred to the gelatin lifters were better than those obtained by the conventional method. In other cases, using the press did not improve the results but was much simpler to apply. Based on the results of this study, the hydraulic press/gelatin lifter method (the "press method") is used at the authors' laboratory, depending on the surface from which the shoeprint is to be lifted. It is the authors' intention to apply the method to other surfaces after finding the optimal pressure for surfaces with loose fibers.     

Transferring technology into and within the third world

This article is based on Jordan J. Baruch's talk at the banquet at this year's Technology Transfer Society's annual meeting on the occasion of his being named winner of the society's Thomas Jefferson Award. As recipient of the award, he was cited for outstanding achievements in technology transfer in three categories:1. Exemplary success in managing actual transfer (Baruch invented and managed transfer of many civilian and military technologies in acoustics.).2. Leadership in technology-transfer public policy (He has been a frequent expert in Congressional testimony on such issues as consortia in technology development and commercialization. He also led efforts to develop formal organizations to promote technology transfer between the US and other nations such as Israel, Jordan, India, China, and several African countries.).3. Significant contributions to professional knowledge in technology transfer (Baruch has promoted the use of computer conferencing and was the conceptual and political driving force for the formation of the Center for Utilization of Federal Technology.). Jordan J. Baruch, who has a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), is a consultant (Jordan Baruch Associates). He served as assistant secretary for science and technology at the US Department of Commerce in 1977–81. A professor at Dartmouth, The Harvard Business School, and MIT, he also was a founding partner of the engineering firm Bolt Beranek & Newman. Baruch is a member of the National Academy of Engineering.     

Non‐fiction reviews

Behind the Wall: a journey through China by Colin Thubron, London: Penguin. 1988. 308pp. £4.99pb

Riding the Iron Rooster: by train through China by Paul Theroux, London: Penguin. 1989. 512pp. £4.99pb

Lords of Poverty: the free‐wheeling lifestyles, power, prestige and corruption of the multi‐billion dollar aid business by Graham Hancock, London: Macmillan. 1989. 234pp. £14.95hb

Does Aid Work in India? by Michael Lipton and John Toye, London: Routledge. 1989. 276pp. £35.00hb

The Fortunate Isles: a study in African transformation by Basil Davidson, London: Hutchinson. 1989. 221pp. £7.95pb

Modernising Super‐Exploitation: restructuring South African agriculture. Tessa Marcus, London: Zed. 1989. 207pp. £32.95hb/£12.95pb

Facing the Storm: portraits of black lives in rural South Africa by Tim Keegan, London: Zed. 1988. 170pp. £22.95hb/£6.95pb

Banking on Apartheid: the financial links report. Intergovernmental Group of Commonwealth Ministers, London: James Currey. 1989. 94pp. £4.95pb

South Africa: the sanctions mission by James Mutambirwa, London: Zed. 1989. 135pp. £6.95pb

Sanctions against Apartheid. Edited by Mark Orkin, London: Catholic Institute for International Relations. 1989. 328pp. £4.95pb

South Africa: the sanctions report. Intergovernmental Group of Commonwealth Ministers, London: Penguin. 1989. 273pp. £4.99pb

Contemporary West African States. Donal B Cruise O'Brien, John Dunn and Richard Rathbone, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990. £30.00hb/£9.95pb

Power, Class and Foreign Capital in Egypt: the rise of the new bourgeoisie. Malak Zaalouk, London: Zed. 1989. 178pp. £29.95hb/£8.95pb

Pity the Nation: Lebanon at war by Robert Fisk, London: André Deutsch. 1990. 662pp. £17.95hb

Colombia: inside the labyrinth by Jenny Pearce, London: Latin American Bureau. 1990. 312pp. £18.99hb/£8.99pb

The Brazilian Economy: growth and development (third edition) by Werner Baer, New York: Praeger. 1989. 432pp. £47.30hb/£17.50pb

Samora Machel: a biography by Iain Christie, London: Zed Press. 1989. 181pp. £26.95hb/£7.95pb

A Future Preserved: international assistance to refugees by Zefime Zarjevski, Oxford: Pergamon. 1988. 326pp. £42.00hb

Third World Television Access to US Media: distributing television programs from developing countries in US television, new electronic and nontheatrical markets by Claus Mueller New York: Friedrich Naumann Foundation. 1989. 125pp

Power, the Press and the Technology of Freedom by Leonard R Sussman, New York: Freedom House. 1989. 496 pp. $24.95hb

Security and Economy in the Third World by Nicole Ball, London: Adamantine Press. 1988. 432pp. £32.50hb