The tone of laughter and the strangely warm comedy of Hagimoto Kin'ichi

Featuring the comedian Hagimoto Kin'ichi as on-screen father, the hybrid drama-variety show Kinchan no doko made yaru no! (How far will Kinchan go! 1976–1986) won a loyal following of viewers and critics who praised the ‘warmth’ of its parodic television family, describing it as affectively more real and compelling than depictions of the family in traditional dramatic portrayals. Through close readings of scenes from the show and the critical discourse surrounding it, I consider how the show created a consensus that its laughter was tonally warm, and thus well fitted to the domestic space in which television would be viewed. Further, I argue that the show's producers created this impression by inserting the show and Hagimoto's public persona within contemporary discourses on laughter, domesticity, and normative femininity. In doing so, my analysis highlights the ascendant role commercial television played in shaping and harnessing these discourses, and re-assesses, through the lens of the affective experience of 1970s and ’80s media culture, the cultural shifts taking place in Japan during these decades.     

The Balfour Declaration and the Palestine Mandate, 1917–1923: British Imperialist Imperatives

The article sets the Balfour Declaration of 1917 and the final confirmation of Britain's Palestine Mandate in 1923 within the context of national imperial concerns: in particular, anxieties over the security of the Suez Canal and the country's sea-route to its economic and military power-base in India. In 1917 strategic issues were paramount in the progressive annexation of Palestine by the Lloyd George coalition, this the essential territorial precondition for the pursuit of the Zionist project. In 1923 these global considerations were again to the fore when the new Conservative administration, less Zionist than its predecessor, decided finally to accept and implement the League of Nations Mandate for Palestine and the obligation therein to advance the cause of a Jewish national home. And throughout this period there was a widespread sense in official circles that Zionist settlers might perform as direct agents of Empire, acting as grateful, loyal, and developmental servants of the British imperial interest. Paradoxically, however – and largely on account of the ill-informed and reflexive manner in which plans were formulated in London – the entire exercise was, in the long-term, to prove a source of profound weakness to Britain's strategic authority in the East. Palestine policy, like so much imperial reasoning in the twentieth century, was to prove intrinsically delusional.     

Enduring Love? Attitudes to Family and Inheritance Law in England and Wales

This paper reports on the findings from a large-scale study of public attitudes to inheritance law, particularly the rules on intestacy. It argues that far from the assumption that the family' is in terminal decline, people in England and Wales still view their most important relationships, at least for the purposes of inheritance law, as centred on a narrow, nuclear family model. However, there is also widespread acceptance of re-partnering and cohabitation, producing generally high levels of support for including cohabitants in the intestacy rules and for ensuring that children from former relationships are protected. We argue that these views are underpinned by a continuing sense of responsibility to the members of one's nuclear family, arising from notions of sharing and commitment, dependency and support, and a sense of lineage.     

Macroscopic characteristics of hacking trauma

Hacking trauma is often encountered in forensic cases, but little experimental research has been conducted that would allow for the recognition of wounds caused by specific weapon types. In this paper, we report the results of a hacking trauma caused by machete, cleaver, and axe weapons and the characteristics of each weapon type on bone. Each weapon type was employed in multiple trials on pig (Sus scrofa) bones and then the wounds were examined macroscopically for several characteristics that serve to differentiate the weapons.     

A survey of research foci and paradigms in media and communication Master's dissertations and doctoral theses in South Africa

This study set out to evaluate the foci and paradigms of research in media and communication at Master's and doctoral levels in South Africa. A sample of 241 dissertations and theses in the communication, journalism and media studies programmes of nine universities, from 2004 to 2013, categorised into historically black, historically white Afrikaans-medium and English-medium, were obtained from the databases of the National Research Foundation and some of the universities. The findings show that the production of PhD theses is far lower than that of Master's dissertations. Qualitative design tended to be the dominant approach adopted, followed by a mixed methods approach, and the quantitative approach. The focus of most of the theses is journalism, followed by general media studies. The findings further show that historically black universities bottom the table in the production of related theses and dissertations, while white English-speaking universities top the list. Also, there is evidence of a relationship between the historical origin/language of the universities and the research designs adopted, as well as the research focus of the theses. The article recommends, among others, the need for a clear-cut statement of research methodologies and designs in such theses and dissertations, greater motivation for enrolment in PhD programmes, a strengthening of historically black universities for better performance in postgraduate research, and the incorporation of the experimental method in media research in South Africa.     

Intimate Partner Violence in Cohabiting Families: Reports by Multiple Informants and Associations with Adolescent Outcomes

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is common, particularly in families with children. Observing such verbal and physical aggression has consistently been linked to unfavorable outcomes for affected children. Although cohabiting families are becoming increasingly prevalent and preliminary data suggest that rates of IPV may be high in these families, little is currently known about IPV and its impact as experienced by adolescents living in cohabiting families. This study used data from low-income urban Black cohabiting families (N = 92) to (1) examine agreement of reports of verbal and physical IPV between the adolescent and the mother and between the adolescent and the male cohabiting partner (MCP) and (2) test associations between IPV and youth mental health. A higher percentage of adolescents reported the occurrence of IPV, particularly physical violence, than did mothers and MCPs. Relative to those living in minimally violent or verbally violent homes, adolescents living in verbally and physically violent homes reported higher rates of internalizing and externalizing problem behaviors. These youth also reported higher levels of self-blame for the conflict and a worse relationship with the MCP but not the mother.     

The use of liquid latex as a pre-treatment to recover debris-covered latent fingerprints from exterior surfaces of vehicles

This study evaluated the effectiveness of using liquid latex as a pre-treatment for fingerprint recovery from the exterior surfaces of vehicles in summer. The sample of this study was 540 sebaceous latent fingerprints deposited on the lower body of three vehicles. Thirty control and thirty experimental fingerprints were deposited on each vehicle, and the experiment was repeated three times. The three vehicles were driven daily for either 2, 3, or 4 weeks after the deposition of fingerprints. After the vehicles reached their designated debris accumulation duration, the latent fingerprints in the control groups were developed with black fingerprint powder. Liquid latex was applied onto the fingerprints in the experimental groups, and they were subsequently developed with black fingerprint powder. A chi-sure test indicated that there was a significant difference in fingerprints recovery performance between two methods (X² = 4.903, d.f. = 1, p = 0.027). An odds ratio test indicated the control method increases the probability of fingerprint recovery by 1.54 times. A Fisher's exact test was used to evaluate the quality of fingerprints recovered from both methods and it indicated that there is no significant difference in quality using the two methods (p = 0.058). This study indicated that the traditional fingerprint powder method performed better for fingerprint recovery from exterior surfaces of vehicles in summer.