Some facts about “weapon focus”

“Weapon focus” refers to the concentration of acrime witness's attention on a weapon, and the resultant reduction in ability to remember other details of the crime. We examined this phenomenon by presenting subject-witnesses with a series of slides depicting an event in a fast-food restaurant. Half of the subjects saw a customer point a gun at the cashier; the other half saw him hand the cashier a check. In Experiment 1, eye movements were recorded while subjects viewed the slides. Results showed that subjects made more eye fixations on the weapon than on the check, and fixations on the weapon were of a longer duration than fixations on the check. In Experiment 2, the memory of subjects in the weapon condition was poorer than the memory of subjects in the check condition: In Experiment 1 similar, though only marginally significant, performance effects were obtained. These results provide the first direct empirical support for weapon focus.     

Differences among sexually abused and nonabused youth living with HIV

Risk behaviors were compared between sexually abused and nonabused youth living with HIV (YLH). Abused YLH were significantly more likely to have attempted suicide, to have been admitted into an alcohol and/or drug treatment program, and to have engaged in crack cocaine use than were nonabused YLH and had a greater number of sexual partners. A significantly higher proportion of abused YLH had been incarcerated in contrast to nonabused youth. There were also significantly greater conduct problems among abused YLH. Finally, abused YLH had significantly higher scores on positive action and social-support coping styles than nonabused youth. Consistent with previous research, abused youth are at higher risk for a variety of negative outcomes and are also similar in many respects to sexually abused youth who are not HIV-positive. The high frequencies of two positive styles of coping among abused YLH were also observed.     

White women as burden: On playing the role of feminist “experts” in china

This article explores the problems of international, collaborative feminist research by telling the story of two Canadian academics who embarked on a journey to do feminist research with a group of Chinese academics. The literature warns of the difficulties of collaboration and the dangers of power imbalances that are positional, procedural and representational. In this instance, the Canadians, despite their positional advantages, experienced little power in the planning of the research, feeling themselves as a burden rather than a boon at many points during the process. They analyze the reasons for this, and conclude that the content of their conversation mattered less than the form in which it was delivered. Despite a number of difficulties, the project was of value for the collaborators. For the Chinese, it was a chance for women faculty in less privileged universities to work together, with new resources, on a topic that needed validation. For the Canadians, it resulted in an increased appreciation for the specificity of North American feminism, varieties of Chinese feminism and the contextual nature of research methodologies. The article concludes with a discussion of the value and limits of universities' new emphasis on internationalism and its meaning for feminists with an emphasis on the value of such projects, if appropriately conceived and managed.     

Turmoil in Assam

Abstract

Thousands of Assamese have perished in ethnic, religious, and linguistic clashes. The native population has been outnumbered by Bengali‐speaking immigrant Hindus and Muslims, reducing the Assamese to a minority status in their home state. This human onslaught and the failure of the state and central governments to formulate a viable solution have given rise to an upheaval in the form of militant activities, largely headed by the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA). Two military operations have been conducted in the last 18 months to rout the separatist Maoist militants. In December 1991, ULFA declared a unilateral indefinite ceasefire. Negotiations for a permanent solution to the turmoil are currently underway. This article traces the origin, nature, and content of these developments.     

Rural industry and uneven development: The significance of gender in the Irish Linen industry

From the middle of the eighteenth century, the Irish linen industry grew on the basis of unequal relations of exchange between spinning and weaving households. This regional division of labour in turn depended on unequal relations of production between women and men within rural industrial households. The ‘proto‐industrialisation’ thesis has tended to obscure this process by focussing on the household as a bounded entity, and by failing to recognise the significance of inequalities within the household production unit. Once gender relations are made central to the thesis, it can be expanded to explain regional differences in rural industrialisation and deindustrialisation.     

Remembering Leonore Davidoff (1932–2014)

This appreciation looks at the life of Leonore Davidoff (1932–2014), an influential figure in the development of gender and women's history in Britain, from the 1970s.