Books in review

co-author of The Dilemma of American Immigration: Beyond the Golden Doorand author of Catholic High Schools and Minority Students,published by Transaction. He has also written The Catholic Myth.     

Support for emergency department screening for intimate partner violence depends on perceived risk

Emergency department (ED) screening for intimate partner violence (IPV) faces logistic difficulties and has uncertain efficacy. We surveyed 146 ED visitors and 108 ED care providers to compare their support for ED IPV screening in three hypothetical scenarios of varying IPV risk. Visitor support for screening was 5 times higher for the high-risk (86%) than for the low-risk (17%) scenario. Providers showed significantly more support for the need for ED IPV screening than visitors. Controlling for confounding by gender, race, experience with IPV, hospital, and marital status did not affect comparisons between groups. These responses indicate greater support for IPV screening in the ED for high-risk than for low-risk cases, particularly among visitors.     

Reconciliation between Korea and Japan

Although Japan and Korea formally normalized their relationsin 1965, these neighbours remain wary of each other becauseof their awkward history during the first half of the twentiethcentury, when Japan annexed Korea and oppressed the Koreansin many ways. Korean scholars believe strongly that this annexationwas "illegal" and that it constituted a violation of internationallaw when it occurred. Japanese scholars tend to admit that theJapanese occupation of Korea was brutal and caused enormoussuffering, but they are reluctant to acknowledge that the annexationwas "illegal", because other great powers were annexing smallcountries during that period. The US action supporting the overthrowof the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1893 and annexing Hawaii in 1898may be helpful in finding an appropriate resolution to the Japan–Koreastandoff. In 1993, the US Congress enacted a joint resolutionformally apologizing to the Native Hawaiian people and callingfor a "reconciliation" between the United States and the NativeHawaiians. This resolution acknowledged that the US diplomaticand military support for the 1893 overthrow was "illegal" andwas in violation of "international law". This strong statementseems to be an application of "intertemporal law", whereby presentviews of international law are applied to the events of the1890s, but, in any event, it is a powerful acknowledgment thata wrong occurred, causing injuries that can still be felt today.The reconciliation process between the United States and NativeHawaiians is now under way and, to be complete, it will requirethe restoration of the sovereignty of the Native Hawaiians anda return of land and resources to them. Japanese officials haveoffered apologies to the Koreans, but the reconciliation betweenthe two countries can become complete only if these apologiesare accompanied by a transfer of items of real value. This paperproposes that proper payments to the Korean comfort women anda renunciation by Japan of its claim to Dokdo/Takeshima (thetiny islands claimed by both countries) could serve to formalizethe reconciliation between these two neighbours.     

Inferring the population of origin of DNA evidence within the UK by allele-specific hybridization of Y-SNPs

Marked differences in Y-SNP allele frequencies between continental populations can be used to predict the biogeographic origin of a man's ancestral paternal lineage. Using 627 samples collected from individuals within the UK with pale-skinned Caucasian, dark-skinned Caucasian, African/Caribbean, South Asian, East Asian or Middle Eastern appearance we demonstrate that an individual's Y-SNP haplogroup is also strongly correlated with their physical appearance. Furthermore, experimental evaluation of the Marligen Signet Y-SNP kit in conjunction with the Luminex 100 detection instrument indicates that reliable and reproducible haplogrouping results can be obtained from 1 ng or more of target template derived from a variety of forensic evidence types including, blood, saliva and post-coital vaginal swabs. The test proved highly male-specific with reliable results being generated in the presence of a 1000-fold excess of female DNA, and no anomalous results were observed during degradation studies despite a gradual loss of typable loci. Hence, Y-SNP haplogrouping has considerable potential forensic utility in predicting likely ethnic appearance.     

Representing Theory and Theorising in Criminal Justice Studies: Practising Theory Considered

The author considers the role and place of theory in criminal justice studies. The argument is that the operation and interrogation of fundamental categories is integral to social scientific enquiry and if criminal justice studies is to resist a technocratic “protective service” orientation it must promote theorising and thinking conceptually via the texts which represent the discipline to undergraduates. Although theory is situated at the core of social science curricula, there is little or no agreement on its role or place in research and pedagogy. The dominant understanding of theory within criminal justice studies (including its sociological and criminological incarnation) is that it is something to be referred to. What is seldom emphasised in theory or methods texts is the practice of theorising. Texts that are designed to be the student’s first contact with the field of criminal justice studies, and which reflect broader attitudes toward social enquiry, seldom consider the methodological and pedagogical issues related to the production and role of analytic concepts and do not present social science as an imaginative or reflexive practice. Drawing on critical realist metatheory, this paper advances a distinction between social and sociological problems and social science and protective service toward illustrating that a social science approach to the study of criminal justice demands the operation and interrogation of analytic categories and explicit consideration of issues of epistemology and ontology. Works which seek to avoid this serve only to foster a passive rather than active engagement with their subject matter.     

PTSD Symptoms Experienced and Coping Tactics Used by Crime Scene Investigators in the United States

Few investigations have assessed the prevalence of posttraumatic stress experiences among Crime Scene Investigators (CSIs). We recruited a nationwide sample of 225 CSIs to complete online questionnaires assessing PTSD symptoms, use of specific coping tactics, perceived social support, trait resilience, and demographics. Seven symptoms had been experienced by at least 50% of participants during the previous month, and 9.3% had total checklist scores suggestive of PTSD. A significant regression analysis revealed that higher PTSD scores were associated with drinking alcohol more frequently to deal with stress, admitting more frequently one could not deal with stress and not trying to do so, lower social support, getting angry and letting emotions out more frequently, lower resilience, and finding comfort in one's religious beliefs. Given the proportions of CSIs that experience exposure‐related stress, more should be done to mitigate the prevalence and severity of these symptoms.     

Jeremy Wallace,Cities and Stability: Urbanization,Redistribution, and Regime Survival in China

Journal of Chinese Political Science -