Research capacity building through twinning: experiences from a Danish–Malaysian twinning project

Twinning and its contribution to institutional capacity building in developing countries is the theme of an ongoing debate in Public Administration and Development. Unlike earlier contributions this article focuses on twinning in the context of research capacity enhancement. Using a 3 year Danish–Malaysian twinning research project as case our objective is to evaluate whether the general premises regarding a twinning project, as formulated by the Danish Development Cooperation Agency (Danida), appropriately support the twinning ambitions when the capacities in focus concern research. Besides institutional capacity building, twinning is expected to favour local ownership, involvement of the Danish resource base and continuing of cooperation after termination of funding. From 21 semi‐structured interviews with project participants it was found that although new research capacities had been gained, the prospects on continued cooperation are rather discouraging, both sides pointing to the lack of truly joint research experiences as the main reason. To care for this important incentive, the twinning premises are recommended to be modified to allow for the Northern resource base to advance its own research, and for Southern partner to demonstrate in‐house research capacities. Further, the North–South balance in project management needs to be more equal. This apart, the twinning premises appear sound. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

HELP: an educational forensic psychiatric assessment program

This paper describes the establishment of an educational group, Health through Education in Law and Psychiatry (HELP), within an inpatient forensic psychiatric assessment service. Until recently HELP sessions have been provided twice weekly to suitable patients during their stay of some 30 days at the Metropolitan Toronto Forensic Service (METFORS). We first outline very briefly the function of METFORS, then describe the HELP project broadly, and finally discuss the rationale of the program in greater detail. Our point is that programs of this type form an added resource in assessment and in the early stages of treatment. We also argue that, along with the accepted clinical role in assessment, forensic psychiatrists and colleagues in related disciplines can serve a valuable role as teacher and therapist.     

Crisis and contract breach: The domestic and international determinants of expropriation

The Review of International Organizations - In this paper we address how external factors shape government decisions to break or uphold contracts, specifically focusing on how economic shocks and...     

Mass media attention to welfare state reforms: evidence from Britain, 1996–2014

One of the core questions facing political scientists is how politicians are able to implement cutbacks without suffering electoral backlash. A possible explanation might be that the mass media refrain from reporting on welfare state reforms in a consistent way. In order to explore this, two unique datasets have been collected: one contains information on all policy reforms of British old age pensions and unemployment protection from 1996 to 2014, and the other contains hand-coded media articles that allow the tracking on a monthly basis of what reforms are picked up. It is found that the mass media report on cutbacks, but not on expansions, and that they prioritise easy-to-understand cutbacks over cutbacks that are more technical in nature.     

Public Management on the Ground: Clustering Managers Based on Their Behavior

Public management research has identified a dizzying array of management variables that affect organizational performance. While scholars have learned much by analyzing one or a few specific behavioral dimensions of public management at a time, we argue for the value of a more holistic and inductive approach that uses data on several aspects of public management for identifying manager types. Such an approach accounts for both the cognitive processes of people affected by management and the reality that managers’ individual behavioral decisions are interrelated. We examine the overlap of 21 aspects of public school management behavior using cluster analysis. We identify four different manager types (“firefighters,” “laissez-faire managers,” “administrators,” and “proactive floor managers”), each reflecting a distinct constellation of managerial behaviors. The manager types we call “administrators” and “proactive floor managers” are associated with relatively better outcomes, while “firefighters” are associated with relatively worse outcomes.     

Reliable Gait Recognition Using 3D Reconstructions and Random Forests – An Anthropometric Approach

Photogrammetric measurements of bodily dimensions and analysis of gait patterns in CCTV are important tools in forensic investigations but accurate extraction of the measurements are challenging. This study tested whether manual annotation of the joint centers on 3D reconstructions could provide reliable recognition. Sixteen participants performed normal walking where 3D reconstructions were obtained continually. Segment lengths and kinematics from the extremities were manually extracted by eight expert observers. The results showed that all the participants were recognized, assuming the same expert annotated the data. Recognition based on data annotated by different experts was less reliable achieving 72.6% correct recognitions as some parameters were heavily affected by interobserver variability. This study verified that 3D reconstructions are feasible for forensic gait analysis as an improved alternative to conventional CCTV. However, further studies are needed to account for the use of different clothing, field conditions, etc.     

Cumulating the Intellectual Gold of Case Study Research

Two criticisms of public administration research have been leveled. First, knowledge in the field is not being cumulated. Second, the research has low quality. A preference for case studies as a form of scientific inquiry is behind both criticisms. The authors propose a solution to the first problem by showing how meta-analysis can be used to cumulate knowledge using case study evidence. Viewed cumulatively, case studies comprise an intellectual goldmine awaiting discovery. The authors challenge the second criticism, proposing that quality judgments should be based on the important principle of knowledge cumulation, which acknowledges the value of all research methods.     

PTSD and female military returnees from Iraq and Afghanistan： What does the evidence tell us？

In the United States of America, women make up almost 15% of active duty forces, while they form 11% of the soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is also the first time in history that women have been directly involved in torturing men, with sexual identity and gender being used as instruments of torture. This paper focuses on post-traumatic stress disorder （PTSD） and female veterans by reviewing the available literature. Studies examining the psychological and physical health of women veterans as well as women＇s working and living conditions in the army are presented. The paper highlights the psychological processes women marines go through to establish themselves in the male dominated army environment and the implications such processes may have on their perception of female identity and on their psychological well-being. Studies on deployment experiences in relation to the emergence of PTSD in female military personnel are presented. Finally, the effects of veterans＇ PTSD on their familial relationships and psychological adjustment of family members are also considered, stressing the lack of relevant research with female veterans. In this new historical reality and as these women are called on, upon their return home, to resume female care giver roles, to become the primary caregivers to children, the elderly and those who are ill, we conclude by highlighting the urgent need for further research into the emergence of PTSD in female military returnees from and on their families. Iraq and Afghanistan and the effects this may have on them and on their families.