Late Colonial Development in British West Africa: The Gonja Development Project in the Northern Territories of the Gold Coast, 1948–57

La publication de récits de vie de marginaux par des chercheurs occidentaux offre un point d'entrée intéressant dans le discours sur l'Afrique. Cet article démontre que les deux récits de vie publiés par John Chernoff, Hustling is not Stealing et Exchange is not Robbery,mettant en scène une jeune prostituée du Burkina Faso et l'ouvrage d'Adama Dramé et Arlette Senn-Borloz, Jéliya: être griot et musicien aujourd'hui, autour de la vie marginale d'un griot, tout en ravivant la soif de connaissance occidentale sur l'Afrique, offrent un contraste frappant dans la présentation de leur projet d'écriture et dans la question du pacte auctorial. Je montre que la démarche de Dramé et Senn-Borloz présente en définitive un modèle réussi de ce que l'on a appelé "l'autobiographie en collaboration," à la suite de Philippe Lejeune.     

Testing Times Ahead: Non‐Invasive Prenatal Testing and the Kind of Community We Want to Be

This article reviews the Nuffield Council on Bioethics’ report on Non‐Invasive Prenatal Testing (NIPT); and introduces two general questions provoked by the report – concerning, respectively, the nature and extent of the informational interests that are to be recognised in today's ‘information societies’ and the membership of today's ‘genetic societies’. The article also considers the role and nature of the Nuffield Council. While the Council's report identifies a range of individual and collective interests that are relevant to determining the legitimate uses of NIPT, we argue that it should put these interests into an order of importance; we sketch how this might be done; and we suggest that, failing such a prioritisation of interests, the Council should present its reflections in a way that engages public debate around a number of options rather than making firm recommendations.     

Crisis (hostage) negotiators weigh in: the skills,behaviors, and qualities that characterize an expert crisis negotiator

This research identified what skills, behaviors, and qualities experienced crisis (hostage) negotiators believe enhance or harm their success during negotiation. 188 negotiators from various countries (primarily United States) voluntarily completed an online survey in which they listed the aforementioned characteristics and reported on various aspects of their own background and behaviors. Open-response questions were coded and quantitative methods revealed what qualities were listed most frequently by negotiators. Active listening, displays of empathy, effective communication, and remaining calm and collected appear at the top of their to-do lists. Conversely, being confrontational, arguing, yelling, and interrupting were reported as behaviors to be avoided. Most negotiators attend trainings multiple times a year and read on the topic of crisis negotiation. About half follow a model during negotiations, typically the FBI’s Behavioral Change Stairway Model. Findings are discussed with relevance to future research directions and improvement of negotiator trainings.     

Homeless Youth Seeking Health and Life-Meaning Through Popular Culture and the Arts

This pilot study demonstrates the roles of popular culture, media and the arts in the health and self-esteem of homeless youth. Reflecting focus group findings from a representative sample of street and sheltered youth, this article provides a qualitative assessment of what they advocated as an effective intervention that would promote the receipt of health services within their vulnerable community. Unlike alienating disease models where adverse health behaviors and outcomes determine intervention success or failure, a culturally-sensitive approach which provided skills mentoring and engaged the youth as health advocates seemed likely to produce important recovery incentives and enhanced health outcomes.