The “microwave oven” practice in Brazil

This article presents a forensic case of an unusual illegal cremation of a person using a process colloquially known as the “microwave oven” practice in Brazil. The microwave process involves two actions: placing the victim in a tire stack and then setting the structure on fire using flammable substances to accelerate the progression. A similar practice, identified as “necklacing”, has also been reported in other countries such as South Africa. This report presents a case of microwave oven cremation of a body found in a rural area of Minas Gerais, Brazil. The forensic work helped determine the biological profile and identity of the victim using radiological comparisons. Although the microwave oven cremation practice is rare, it can impose challenges for investigators. Therefore, fully understanding this practice can be helpful to the academic and forensic communities.     

A Comparative Analysis of Foiled and Completed Mass Shootings

American Journal of Criminal Justice - This study provides a comparative analysis of foiled and completed mass shootings in the United States between 2000 and 2019. Specifically, this work...     

Las funciones de los consejeros independientes de las sociedades en México: Recomendaciones para el cambio a partir de las asimetrías existentes entre la práctica y la ley

The legal notion of an independent board member was introduced to the Mexican legislation in 2005. The goal was to improve the corporate governance of the corporations listed on the stock exchange. It was thought that including the independent board members would help to better represent the interest of the minority holders, as well as to increase the level of accountability. This article challenges these ideas based on 10 interviews carried out with independent board members. It finds that what the law says is far from what actuatly occurs: they lack of an adequate level of knowledge to perform their tasks, their degree of independence is severely limited by the criteria used to appoint them and they usually ignore essential corporate information, which impede them from participating effectively in the board sessions. The article suggests the creation of an independent board member’s association, a mechanism that, along with a mandatory certification system, would improve the way in which they perform their duties.     

Never the twain shall meet? Women's organisations and trade unions in the maquila industry in Central America

The garment and textile factories and assembly plants in the Central American free trade zones, or maquila industry, have given rise to new actors on the labour scene, as women's organisations and local monitoring groups now work alongside the traditional trade union sector. Furthermore, some of these new organisations are linked to networks based elsewhere, mainly in the USA and Europe, and are actively involved in transnational campaigns to improve working conditions in the maquila. To date, attempts between trade unions and these new labour actors to collaborate have been disappointing and often characterised by conflict. Challenging the idea that trade unions and NGOs are in competition for the same limited ‘space’, by looking at the relations between trade unions and women's organisations, this paper asks whether such conflicts are inevitable, and suggests ways in which the two kinds of organisation could work together to improve the conditions of workers in Central America.     

Capital and the Lagos Presidency: Business as Usual?

Business-state relations in Chile's new democracy had been relatively tension-free for the first two governments of the centre-left Concertación de Partidos por la Democracia. However, during the first two years of the third Concertación administration, under the presidency of Ricardo Lagos, the relationship soured dramatically. At first glance, an ideological shift in the ruling coalition's centre of gravity would seem to explain the change in business-state relations. During the first two governments more conservative factions of the centrist Christian Democratic party had controlled the Concertación. Lagos, on the other hand, represented the left pole of the coalition and his socialist credentials brought the long shadow of the past on his presidency. This, however is an insufficient cause, three additional conditions must also be taken into account. The first one considers changes in the institutional and economic context that eroded the private sector's confidence in the Concertación's commitment to maintain the free-market socioeconomic model imposed under military rule. The second and third conditions are a decline in the electoral fortunes of the Concertación in favour of conservative parties and a shift in power relations among employers' associations towards more confrontational factions.     

From Bandung to Brasilia: IBSA and the political lineage of South–South cooperation

This article aims to trace South–South cooperation political lineages connecting the Non-Aligned Movement and the IBSA (India, Brazil, South Africa) Forum. In order to determine whether IBSA could be considered the ‘heir’ to Bandung's principles, we analyse the concepts of ‘Third World’ and ‘Global South’ as well as their current applicability, the interpretations provided by existing literature on the IBSA grouping, and its member countries' shared views on different issues of the international agenda. The article also considers the historical evolution of ‘Southern’ diplomatic thought and actions. IBSA's actions and history, as well as its members, are studied to grasp how they are related to the Third World movement in the Cold War.     

Security in the Interparental Subsystem (SIS) Scale: Psychometric Characteristics in a Sample of Portuguese Adolescents

The Security in the Interparental Subsystem Scale (SIS) is based on emotional security theory. This study examined the psychometric properties of an adaptation of the SIS to a sample of Portuguese adolescents (60.3 % girls; 10 to 18 years old; Mage?=?13 years; N?=?229), recruited in public schools. Discriminant and concurrent validity were assessed by analyzing SIS dimensions associations with adolescents’ exposure to interparental conflict (IC), and psychological adjustment, respectively. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses of the SIS supported a six-factor solution, with satisfactory internal consistency. Evidence for discriminant and concurrent validity was provided: most SIS dimensions significantly discriminated between adolescents exposed to higher vs. lower levels of IC; and a significant positive association between emotional reactivity and adolescents’ externalizing symptoms was found. These findings suggest that the SIS is a reliable tool for assessing adolescents’ emotional insecurity in the interparental relationship within the context of this sample.