Body and Self: learning to be modern in 1920s–1930s Britain

Observing the divergent tracks taken by historians of the ‘modern self’ and those of the ‘modern body’ the article focuses on health and fitness movements in Britain, c.1920s–1930s. Asking whether there is a place for the body in the history of women performing ‘the self’ in this context, the article suggests a way in which contemporaries found a way to have a ‘self’ in the body. Contemporary notions of the body emphasised its interdependence with ‘the mind’, health and happiness being functions of each other. In the language of health and beauty was a language of inner vitality and outer radiance, a modern formulation of the individual as a ‘self’ equipped to embrace the exciting but uncertain possibilities of the ‘modern world’. Popular print culture on ‘healthy living’, reports by the BMA and the National Fitness Council are considered along with more extensive discussion of the Women's League for Health and Beauty founded in 1930 by Mollie Bagot Stack and inherited by her daughter, Prunella, ‘Britain's Perfect Girl’, in 1935.     

Colouring Within the Lines: How the International Legal Operating System Influences Rule Creation∗

Some of the most visible changes in the international legal system occur when treaties specify new rules or norms of behaviour for its members. Each of these is a component of what has been referred to elsewhere as the “normative system”, or the part of the international legal system that is quasi-legislative in character by mandating particular values and directing specific changes in state and other actors' behaviour. Yet the normative system is only part of the international legal system; we adopt the term “operating system” to refer to the other segment. This article identifies six different ways that extant provisions or changes in the international legal operating system condition international rule creation: (1) setting the parameters of acceptability, (2) clarifying credible commitment, (3) providing flexibility, (4) actor specification, (5) forum specification and (6) direct law-making.

     

The importance of appropriate allocation to offending behavior programs

This study examined the impact on reconviction of appropriate allocation to three general offending behavior programs involving adult male offenders in the English and Welsh Probation Service. Appropriate allocation was defined by level of risk for reconviction. There were three allocation groups: too low, appropriate, and too high. Using a quasi-experimental design, the reconviction rates of offenders who were allocated to and completed a program, offenders allocated to a program who failed to start, and a comparison group were compared. It was found that the appropriateness of allocation affected reconviction independently of treatment group. Furthermore, in line with the risk principle, there was an interaction between treatment group and the appropriateness of allocation.     

Determining the Method Threshold of Identification via Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry of Weathered Gasoline Extracted from Burnt Nylon Carpet,

The Organization of Scientific Area Committees defines threshold of identification as the minimum concentration of ignitable liquid identifiable from gas chromatographic‐mass spectrometry data using accepted pattern identification criteria. We propose a method for determining this threshold for gasoline based on base peak to qualifier ratios of six compounds. The ion ratios were established for each compound in the neat gasoline. These ratios were then compared to those obtained for gasoline and 98% weathered gasoline both spiked onto burnt nylon carpet at 20 ppt down 0.50 ppt, and recovered from the carpet using headspace extraction (ASTM 1412). Identification was confirmed if the compounds’ ion ratios fell within ±25% of that in the neat sample. We found that ion ratios for all samples were acceptable for six compounds at 1.60 and 0.80 ppt for extracted neat and extracted 98% weathered gasoline, respectively, illustrating potential for incorporating into Quality Assurance Programs.     

Considering forensic science: individual differences,opposing expert testimony and juror decision making

Two experimental studies examined the effect of opposing expert testimony on perceptions of the reliability of unvalidated forensic evidence (anthropometric facial comparison). In the first study argument skill and epistemological sophistication were included as measures of individual differences, whereas study two included scores on the Forensic Evidence Evaluation Bias Scale. In both studies participants were assigned to groups who heard: (1) no expert testimony, (2) prosecution expert testimony, or (3) prosecution and opposing expert testimony. Opposing expert testimony affected verdict choice, but this effect was mediated by perceptions of reliability of the initial forensic expert's method. There was no evidence for an effect on verdict or reliability ratings by argument skill or epistemology. In the second experiment, the same mediation effect was found, however scores on one subscale from the FEEBS and age also affected both verdict and methodological reliability. It was concluded that opposing expert testimony may inform jurors, but perceptions of the reliability of forensic evidence affect verdict, and age and bias towards forensic science influence perceptions of forensic evidence. Future research should investigate individual differences that may affect perception or bias towards forensic sciences under varying conditions of scientific reliability.     

Absorptive capacity in child welfare: measurement challenges and item development

Promoting successful implementation of evidence-based practices within child welfare agencies necessitates accurately measuring absorptive capacity (i.e., the ability to acquire, assimilate, transform, and exploit knowledge) through valid and reliable assessment. However, a measurement tool does not exist for child welfare agencies. As such, this exploratory study identified existing measures and items relevant to absorptive capacity in child welfare. The study resulted in 12 identified measures, comprising 98 applicable items. This research is a first step toward creating a measure for use in child welfare settings that will guide practice and administration decisions through valid measurement.     

Fighting for the right to play: women’s football and regime-loyal resistance in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

This paper seeks to contribute to the scholarship on women and social change in Saudi Arabia through the case of female football players in Riyadh. Officially, there has been no women’s football in the kingdom, but beneath the surface women have been playing for more than a decade. The women are actively promoting and engaging in change and women’s opportunities to practise sport by building organisations, creating awareness, and negotiating norms and regulations. They are not in opposition to the regime, but supportive of reforms in favour of increased rights for women, while seeing conservative elements in the society as their opponents and the royal family as their allies. They are thus engaging in what O’Brian and Li termed ‘rightful resistance’, by deploying the language of the rulers to express their perspectives and aims, and are engaged in a three-party game with the rulers and conservatives, where divisions within the state and elite allies matter greatly.     

Is Co-decision Good for the Environment? An Analysis of the European Parliament's Green Credentials

The European Parliament (EP) has long been regarded as a positive force for environmental change in the EU, but there has been little detailed empirical scrutiny to determine whether its reputation as a green champion is deserved. Nor has there been any evaluation of the environmental impact of the increase in EP powers under co-decision. These oversights are rectified by an evaluation of the EP's amendments to environmental legislation using typologies that rank them in terms of their level of ecological commitment and importance. EP amendments proposed under three procedures of decision making are compared in order to determine whether recent increases in the EP's powers under the co-decision procedure have affected its ability and willingness to adopt 'green' amendments. It is clear that the EP has consistently tried to strengthen environmental legislation but there is some ambiguity as to whether co-decision has been good for the environment.