Consequence Management in the 1995 Sarin Attacks on the Japanese Subway System

In the early to mid-1990s, a group known as Aum Shinrikyo amassed, and used against innocent civilians in Japan, an arsenal of chemical and biological weapons. Two examples are the use of sarin gas in Matsumoto in 1994 and in Tokyo in 1995. The attacks claimed a total of 19 lives and caused thousands of injuries. A review of the scenario, starting in 1994 and early 1995 with the sarin attacks, reveals potential opportunities to preempt such an attack or to mitigate its effects. The Aum Shinrikyo case study is a good learning tool for policymakers and emergency response professionals seeking to form a coherent domestic preparedness strategy.     

Family Law,Parents with Disabilities,and the Americans with Disabilities Act

Parents with disabilities contend with bias within the family law system, often threatening their custody and visitation rights. The overarching goal of this article is to explore the experiences of parents with disabilities involved in custody and visitation disputes and the application of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in these cases. This article begins with an overview of parents with disabilities and their interactions with the family law system. Next, the article examines the ADA and its applicability to custody and visitation disputes. Finally, the article offers thoughts about strategies that can be utilized by attorneys to ensure that the rights of parents with disabilities are protected.     

Understanding juror perceptions of forensic evidence: investigating the impact of case context on perceptions of forensic evidence strength

The most widely accepted model of juror decision making acknowledges the importance of both the case-specific information presented in the courtroom, as well as the prior general knowledge and beliefs held by each juror. The studies presented in this paper investigated whether mock jurors could differentiate between evidence of varying strengths in the absence of case information and then followed on to determine the influence that case context (and therefore the story model) has on judgments made about the strength of forensic DNA evidence. The results illustrated that mock jurors correctly identified various strengths of evidence when it was not presented with case information; however, the perceived strength of evidence was significantly inflated when presented in the context of a criminal case, particularly when the evidence was of a weak or ambiguous standard. These findings are discussed in relation to the story model, and the potential implications for real juries.     

Books

The Chinese Army after Mao, by Ellis Joffe. Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, 1987. 210 pp. £20. ISBN 0 6745 4849 3

Centre and Province in the People's Republic of China: Sichuan and Guizhou 1955–1965, by David S. G. Goodman. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1986. 257 pp. £22.50. ISBN 0 5213 2530 7.

The China Challenge, by David S. G. Goodman, Martin Lockett and Gerald Segal. (Chatham House Papers 32) Routledge and Kegan Paul, London, New York and Andover, 1986. 86 pp. £5.95 paperback. ISBN 0 7102 1111 2.

Understanding Communist China: Communist China Studies in the United States and the Republic of China, 1949–1978, by Tai‐chun Kuo and Ramon H. Myers. Hoover Institution Press, Stanford, California, 1986. 179 pp. £17.50 hardback, £9.95 paperback. ISBN 0 8197 8341 4 and 0 8179 8342 2.

The Myth of Japanese Uniqueness, by Peter N. Dale. Croom Helm, London, 1986. xi + 233 pp. £25. ISBN 0 7099 0899 7.

Mongolia: Politics, Economics and Society, by Alan J. K. Sanders. Francis Pinter, London, and Lynne Reinner, Boulder, 1987. xxii + 179 pp. £22.50 hardback, £6.95 paperback. ISBN 0 86187 430 7 and 0 86187 431 5.     

Getting The Right Mix: Unpacking Integration Meanings and Strategies

Integration has emerged as having an increasingly significant role in public policy discourse and practice in many jurisdictions across the globe. In providing a different framework for establishing relationships between service providers and citizens and government, horizontal integration arrangements offer the prospect of delivering new ways of working and providing solutions to seemingly insolvable social problems. Ways of achieving horizontal integration have been variously described by linkage terms such as cooperation, coordination, and collaboration. These terms have been typically used interchangeably to describe the coming together of individuals to work in concerted effort to achieve common goals.We argue that each of these terms, expressed as the “3Cs,” are different and consequently achieve different objectives. This paper explores the use of the “3Cs” and examines the differences highlighted by practitioners in the human services arena to extend the understanding of constructs relating to integration mechanisms. It is contended that in focusing on the experiences of integration and unpacking the use and expectations of the related “3Cs,” public administrators and practitioners will gain an enhanced understanding of each of the processes of integration as a coherent framework. As a consequence, there will be improved ability to match appropriate integration mechanisms with contexts and strategies.