Takamure Itsue: The first historian of Japanese women

Takamure Itsue was born in a small mountain village on the southern island of Kyushu. Cherished by her parents as a child given by Kannon Buddha, she was educated to be a teacher. Her stormy marriage to Hashimoto Kenzo paralleled her career as a poet, writer, and anarchist. Through a spiritual crisis she came to the decision to study the history of Japanese women. Exchanging a pledge with her husband who promised to support her in every way possible, she engaged in the task of identifying the path that Japanese women had taken. From the day in 1931 when she was 37, till the day she died, she literally dedicated herself to this goal by never leaving her study. Her findings about the matriarchal tradition of Japan were revolutionary and provided a unique historical framework for feminists of the 60s and 70s as well as an invaluable legacy for historians, sociologists, and anthropologists. Both because of her scholarly achievements and the poignant relationship she wove with her husband. Takamure Itsue remains a star that Japanese women seek in the dark sky.     

The parental problem-solving measure: Further evaluation with maltreating and nonmaltreating parents

Inability to solve problems related to parenting and other aspects of daily living is hypothesized to result in frustration or inability to cope, and contribute to the occurrence of problematic parental behavior such as physical abuse or neglect. The present investigation evaluated the Parental Problem-Solving Measure (PPSM), a procedure for measuring parental problem-solving skill of maltreating and nonmaltreating parents. Subjects were 60 parents with at least one child between the ages of 2 and 12. Subjects belonged to one of three groups: (a) physically abusive and/or neglectful parents (n=27); (b) nonmaltreating clinic parents seeking help for child behavior problems (n=12); and (c) nonmaltreating, non-help-seeking community parents (n=21). Results demonstrated the interrater reliability, internal consistency, and temporal stability of the PPSM and its five subscales. Support is also provided for the convergent and discriminant validity of the measure.     

Federal technology transfer: Teaching it

This paper recommends development of teaching materials and cases on technology transfer for undergraduate and graduate courses in business and engineering. Its focus is the process of transferring technology from the federal laboratories to business organizations.     

Death by obstruction: sudden death resulting from impromptu ingestion of drugs

Over an 18-month period, the department of Forensic Medicine and Science at the University of Glasgow investigated four rather unusual drug-related deaths. In all cases, death was due to the obstruction of the airway by a foreign body after an attempt to evade arrest. In all cases, the obstruction was drug packages of various shapes and sizes. Results of toxicology revealed levels of drugs that may have had a significant respiratory effect on the deceased in three of the cases. Rupturing of the packages and hence leakage of drugs being conducive to death was obvious in only one case.     

Sentencer and offender factors as sources of discrimination in magistrates' penalties for drinking drivers

This study examined the contributions of sentencer and case (legal and extralegal) factors to magistrates' sentences for 678 drink-drivers at 2 courts. Qualitative codings of magistrates' sentencing orientations were incorporated with case factors in a multivariate statistical model of differences in fines and disqualifications. Discriminations in penalties were related to offenders' legally relevant prior offenses and blood alcohol concentrations, and extralegal variables of offender age, gender and employment status. Men were treated more harshly than women, and young offenders more harshly than all other offenders except those over 56 years. Unemployed offenders were fined less, but disqualified for longer than offenders in the workforce. Magistrates' orientations and court interacted with offense categories to produce further differences related to blood alcohol concentration and recidivism. Sentencers responded to offender characteristics but also relied on their own mental images of stereotypic drink-drivers and their individualized sentencing orientations to exercise their discretionary powers. Results are discussed in relation to issues of warranted or justifiable discriminations and the just distribution of penalties.