Mediation and Genre

This paper examines the constitutive elements of the genre of melodrama and relates them to typical Western conflict stories. It demonstrates why a conflict narrative based on the genre of melodrama tends to work against the resolution of the conflict and proposes tragedy as a more constructive genre for a conflict narrative. The paper also discusses how the mediation situation itself can constrain the possible genres that can be constructed in the process and explores the implications of those constraints for people in conflict and for the mediators facilitating a resolution.     

Penalty notices for disorder: influences on police decision making

This research examined, via a multi-method linked design, the influences over police decision making when disorderly behaviour is being dealt with in the context of a new type of offence disposal, the penalty notice for disorder (PND). The results of a multivariate analysis of the factors predicting the real-life issuance of PNDs to offenders formed the basis of an experiment (using serving police officers as participants) that probed officers’ decision-making processes in disorder scenarios. This approach presents an opportunity to gain insight into how police use the power of arrest when an alternate, less-punitive, option is available.     

Outsmarting the Liars: The Benefit of Asking Unanticipated Questions

We hypothesised that the responses of pairs of liars would correspond less with each other than would responses of pairs of truth tellers, but only when the responses are given to unanticipated questions. Liars and truth tellers were interviewed individually about having had lunch together in a restaurant. The interviewer asked typical opening questions which we expected the liars to anticipate, followed by questions about spatial and/or temporal information which we expected suspects not to anticipate, and also a request to draw the layout of the restaurant. The results supported the hypothesis, and based on correspondence in responses to the unanticipated questions, up to 80% of liars and truth tellers could be correctly classified, particularly when assessing drawings.

Gender Bias and Selection Bias in House Elections

We demonstrate that female incumbents areof higher average candidate quality than maleincumbents. This quality difference is the result ofbarriers to entry faced by potential femalecandidates, although the observed effects of thisquality differential on vote share are partiallymasked by the fact that female incumbents are alsomore likely to be opposed or to be opposed by highquality challengers. Using data from House electionsfor 1984–1992, we estimate that the gender-baseddifferential in candidate quality yields an extra sixpercentage points of vote share for femaleincumbents.     

Performance Testing of a Semi-Automatic Card Punch System,Using Direct STR Profiling of DNA from Blood Samples on FTA™ Cards

The 1.2 mm Electric Coring Tool (e-Core™) was developed to increase the throughput of FTA^™ sample collection cards used during forensic workflows and is similar to a 1.2 mm Harris manual micro-punch for sampling dried blood spots. Direct short tandem repeat (STR) DNA profiling was used to compare samples taken by the e-Core tool with those taken by the manual micro-punch. The performance of the e-Core device was evaluated using a commercially available PowerPlex™ 18D STR System. In addition, an analysis was performed that investigated the potential carryover of DNA via the e-Core punch from one FTA disc to another. This contamination study was carried out using Applied Biosystems AmpflSTR™ Identifiler™ Direct PCR Amplification kits. The e-Core instrument does not contaminate FTA discs when a cleaning punch is used following excision of discs containing samples and generates STR profiles that are comparable to those generated by the manual micro-punch.     

Viewing The Biggest Loser: modes of reception and reflexivity among obese people

This article builds on previous reception research and scholarship on makeover TV through an analysis of obese people's views of The Biggest Loser (TBL). TBL involves obese people competing to lose weight as personal trainers push them through dietary and physical activity regimes. We articulate four themes characterizing responses to TBL: “That's not reality,” “Public ownership and judgment of the fat body,” “The lure of the transformation,” and “A guilty pleasure.” We consider how these themes are reflected in participants' movement between mediated, discursive, transparent, and referential modes of reception. While some were adamant in their rejection of the program, others were ambivalent in accepting and identifying with the desire for weight loss but questioning TBL's aesthetic dimensions and moralizing undertones. We argue that the reflexivity of viewers complicates appraisals of TBL as governing at a distance and offer some alternative readings of the impact and appeal of the program.     

Radiocarbon dating as tool to assist in triaging cases of unidentified human remains in Victoria,Australia: A case series

In cases where human remains are unidentified because there is no initial identification hypothesis, limited contextual information, and/or poor preservation, radiocarbon (¹⁴C) dating may be a useful tool to further assist with identification. Through measuring the amount of ¹⁴C remaining in organic material, such as bone, teeth, nail, or hair, radiocarbon dating may provide an estimated year of birth and year of death for a deceased person. This information, may assist in, establishing whether a case of unidentified human remains (UHR) is actually of medicolegal significance and therefore, requires forensic investigation and identification. This case series highlights the application of ¹⁴C dating to seven of the 132 UHR cases in Victoria, Australia. Cortical bone was sampled from each case and the level of ¹⁴C was measured to provide an estimated year of death. Four of the seven cases analyzed contained the levels of ¹⁴C consistent with an archeological timeframe, one contained a level of ¹⁴C consistent with a modern (i.e., of medicolegal significance) timeframe, and the results for the remaining two samples were inconclusive. Applying this technique not only reduced the number of UHR cases in Victoria but also has investigative, cultural, and practical implications for medicolegal casework in general.     

Auricular Surface Aging: Comparing Two Methods that Assess Morphological Change in the Ilium with Bayesian Analyses

Modern standards in forensic anthropology require rigorous testing and evaluation of methods used for aging skeletal remains. Age estimation has been criticized for bias, inaccuracy, and population specificity; issues which are minimized by the application of Bayesian methodology. Using Bayesian statistics, we compare the Lovejoy et al. (Am J Phys Anthropol, 68, 1985, 15) (original) and Buckberry and Chamberlain (Am J Phys Anthropol, 119, 2002, 231) (revised) auricular surface aging methods. Transition analysis parameters derived from American males (n = 372), in combination with a Thai male (N = 37) informative prior, statistically model age in Portuguese males (n = 221). Cumulative binomial tests assess the accuracy of the generated age ranges. Overall, the application of transition analysis and Bayesian statistics significantly improved age estimation with both methods (also outperforming Suchey‐Brooks pubic symphysis aging). Moreover, the accuracy of the original method was low without statistical modeling, whereas the revised method can be applied accurately without further statistical analysis. Additionally, reference tables for aging Portuguese males are provided.