Questions of gender in a multicultural society

The relationship between multiculturalism and feminism has been hotly debated both theoretically and politically. This article approaches the issue through a critical assessment of Susan Moller Okins article, "Is multiculturalism bad for women?" (1999) and argues that some forms of feminist critique of multiculturalism run the risk of upholding and strengthening monoculturalism in its most excluding form. Norwegian integration politics are critically evaluated in light of this discussion.     

Did the Egalitarian Reforms of the Swedish Educational System Equalise Levels of Democratic Citizenship?

In the mid‐1990s an extensive reform of the Swedish educational system was initiated in order to create a ‘school for everyone’ intended to function like a ‘social equaliser’. The new unified gymnasium initiated longer educational programmes with an extended curriculum of social science courses. This article examines whether the well documented gap in levels of democratic citizenship indicators between students in theoretical and vocational gymnasium study programmes persisted after this massive reform. Given the vast amount of empirical research that has shown that education promotes democratic citizenship, the reform could be expected to result in a decreased civic gap. However, contrary to the conventional wisdom in research on the impact of education, little evidence is found linking the initiation of longer educational programmes with more social science courses to an increase in the levels of the examined dimensions of democratic citizenship. The egalitarian reform of the Swedish gymnasium, which provided more civic education, did not produce hypothesised positive effects on any of the dimensions under study (i.e., political participation, political knowledge and political attentiveness). Rather, results support the pre‐adult socialisation models since the gap between citizens from theoretical and vocational gymnasium study programmes remained after the unification of the educational system.     

Merged municipalities, higher debt: on free-riding and the common pool problem in politics

This paper uses the Swedish municipal amalgamation reform of 1952 to study the common pool problem in politics. The amalgams were common pools and the municipalities had incentives to free-ride on their amalgam partners by increasing debt prior to amalgamation. We find that municipalities that merged in 1952 increased their debt between 1948 and 1952 when the reform could be anticipated. The increase amounted to 52% of new debt issued or 1.5% of total revenues in the merged municipalities. But contrary to the “law of 1/n”, free-riding did not increase in common pool size.     

Post-mortem stability and redistribution of carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (CDT)

Post-mortem diagnosis of chronic alcohol abuse is a challenge for forensic experts due to the lack of pathognomonic morphological findings and often also inadequate background information. Objective methods demonstrating chronic excessive alcohol consumption would therefore be a useful tool for forensic pathologists. In clinical practice, several markers of chronic alcohol abuse have recently been introduced, among which carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (CDT) is the most accepted, but the use of these markers in autopsy has not yet been established. We examined post-mortem stability and possible post-mortem redistribution of CDT and compared two analytical methods, capillary zone electrophoresis and high-performance liquid chromatography. According to our results, CDT remains stable for an appreciable time after death. The results further indicate that CDT is not subject to major post-mortem redistribution.     

A Unique Fatal Moose Attack Mimicking Homicide

Fatalities caused by animal attacks are rare, but have the potential to mimic homicide. We present a case in which a moose attacked and killed a woman who was walking her dog in a forest. Autopsy showed widespread blunt trauma with a large laceration on one leg in which blades of grass were embedded. Flail chest was the cause of death. The case was initially conceived as homicide by means of a riding lawn mower. A review of the case by moose experts and analyses of biological trace material that proved to originate from moose, established the true source of injury. The dog probably provoked a moose, which, in response, stomped and gored the victim to death. The injuries resembled those previously reported from attacks by cattle and water buffalo. Fatal moose attacks constitute an extremely rare threat in boreal areas, but can be considered in traumatic deaths of unknown cause.     

Does the three-factor model of psychopathy identify a problematic subgroup of young offenders?

The present study tests the utility of the personality-based three-factor model of psychopathy according to the Hare Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version (PCL:SV). This model of psychopathy excludes aspects of criminal behavior as opposed to other models of psychopathy. The main research question was to what extent the three-factor model of psychopathy can identify a problematic subgroup of young offenders. The sample consisted of 148 incarcerated young male criminal offenders, between 15 and 25 years of age (mean=19.07, SD=2.11) who were recruited from a central detention center for young offenders in a northern German county. Model-based cluster analysis of the three psychopathy factors showed that three different clusters labeled: (i) Unemotional/Impulsive-Irresponsible, (ii) Low traits, and (iii) Psychopathic personality, had the best fit to the data. The psychopathic personality cluster with high scores on all three factors of the PCL:SV exhibited, as expected, a significantly higher prevalence of conduct disorder and substance use problems, but was not significantly different from the other clusters on past criminality and previous incarcerations. In conclusion, the results showed that the three-factor model of psychopathy can be useful in identifying a problematic subgroup of young offenders.     

Converging Markets

The crucible in this scenario for the international climate regime is the emergence of an effective and liquid international carbon market with participation of private entities. In order to make the carbon market effective a bilateral negotiation track will develop, operating in parallel with the multilateral track under the UNFCCC. The purpose of the bilateral track is to integrate the various emissions trading schemes involving private actors. This bilateral track feeds into the UNFCCC negotiations, which still represents the main arena for the international climate negotiations. Through the bilateral, bottom-up negotiations, a multistage system develops, with differentiated rights and duties, complemented by a package of coordinated support mechanisms. The advantages of such a bottom-up approach prove to be, inter alia, fewer negotiating parties, new negotiation arenas, and a new set of selective incentives. The result is a continuously evolving agreement with the potential to gradually broaden participation and deepen the reduction commitments of the international climate regime. Moreover, the bilateral agreements for linking schemes with private actors also represent a fallback in the event of a collapse in the multilateral negotiations.The article has been written by funding from the Central Research Institute for the Electric Power Industry in Tokyo and the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It also represents an output of research financed by the Research Council of Norway, project no. 144768/520. The authors thank all three institutions for the funding, as well as the many participants at the workshops where the ideas in the paper have been presented. Their criticism and suggestions have been very stimulating, indeed.     

Injuries due to deliberate violence in areas of Denmark. I. The extent of violence

As part of a transcultural investigation of violent behavior in Denmark and South America an analysis was made during a one year period of the incidents involving deliberate violence as registered at 3 Danish emergency wards, and at the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Copenhagen. In the three emergency wards a total of 1316 victims of deliberate violence were observed corresponding to a rate of about 3.3/1000 per year in a provincial/rural district, the catchment region of Holbaek County Hospital, 5.5/1000 per year in a mainly middle income area of the metropolis Copenhagen, the catchment region of Frederiksberg Hospital, and 7.6/1000 per year in a mainly low income area of Copenhagen, the catchment region of the Rigshospital. The highest risk, 28/1000 per year, was found for young men between 15 and 19 years of age living in the low income area of Copenhagen. The risk was low for people greater than or equal to 60 years of age in all three areas investigated, ranging from 0 (men) to 1.3/1000 per year (women). Skilled and unskilled workers were greatly over represented as victims of violence, considering their share of the background population. Seventy percent of the victims were men. At least 44% of the men and 32% of the women were alcohol intoxicated when arriving in the emergency ward. The incidents took place in restaurants or in the vicinity of restaurants for 30% of the male and 11% of female victims respectively, while 45% of the women had been subject to deliberate violence at home. The rate of fatal cases of deliberate violence in the Eastern part of Denmark, the catchment area for the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Copenhagen, was found to be 0.02/1000 per year. The risk of becoming a victim of deliberate violence has not increased during the last 4 years comparing with similar investigations from other parts of Denmark. However, the rate of homicide seems to have increased, and so has the severity of the injuries caused by deliberate violence. The pattern of deliberate violence appears to be associated with socio-economic and cultural factors, and to be closely linked with alcohol intoxication.