The effect of the method of burial on adipocere formation

A controlled laboratory experiment was conducted in order to investigate the effect of the method of burial (i.e. the presence of coffin and clothing) on the formation of adipocere. This study follows previous studies by the authors who have investigated the effect of physical conditions on the formation of adipocere present in a controlled burial environment. The study utilises infrared spectroscopy to provide a preliminary lipid profile of the remains following a 12 month decomposition period. Inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry was employed as a technique for determining the salts of fatty acids present in adipocere. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was used as the confirmatory test for the identification and determination of the chemical composition of adipocere which formed in the controlled burial environments. The results suggest that coffins will retard the rate at which adipocere forms but that clothing enhances its formation. The results concur with previous observations on adipocere formation in burial environments.     

Lineup Identification by Children: Effects of Clothing Bias

This study examined effects of clothing cues on children's identification accuracy from lineups. Four- to 14-year-olds (n = 228) saw 12 video clips of individuals, each wearing a distinctly colored shirt. After watching each clip children were presented with a target-present or target-absent photo lineup. Three clothing conditions were included. In 2 conditions all lineup members wore the same colored shirt; in the third, biased condition, the shirt color of only one individual matched that seen in the preceding clip (the target in target-present trials and the replacement in target-absent trials). Correct identifications of the target in target-present trials were most frequent in the biased condition, whereas in target-absent trials the biased condition led to more false identifications of the target replacement. Older children were more accurate than younger children, both in choosing the target from target-present lineups and rejecting target-absent lineups. These findings suggest that a simple clothing cue such as shirt color can have a significant impact on children's lineup identification accuracy.     

Self-image complexity and identity formation in adolescence: Longitudinal studies

Using a specially designed Q-sort technique, multiple self-images which were held by each of 60 adolescents were studied. Sixty normal and psychiatrically hospitalized adolescents were tested initially and then every 6 months for 12–18 months. Each subject's self-images were analyzed in terms of their complexity. Results showed that, as predicted, the patients and normals differed significantly. The patients had consistently lower complexity scores on each trial. The patients' and normals' patterns of complexity scores are discussed in terms of their reflecting the ego identity configurations described clinically by Erikson and operationally defined herein.This study was supported in part by a Research Scientist Development Award (Kl-70-178) from the National Institute of Mental Health.Received his medical training at Yale University School of Medicine and his psychiatric training at Massachusetts Mental Health Center. Currently continuing graduate training in personality and development in the Psychology and Social Relations Department at Harvard University. Present research interests are in the interplay between fantasy and nonverbal process in interracial adolescent dyads; and in the longitudinal study of adolescent identity development.     

How the East Was Won: Transnational Social Forces and the Neoliberalisation of Poland's Post-Communist Transition*

The article proposes a Gramscian account of Poland's transition to a market economy. It considers what has generated, sustained, and legitimated neoliberal hegemony and illustrates how neoliberal ideas attained a hegemonic position through the development of a particular class and national state project. It uncovers where the agents of this process are visible by contrasting two waves of post-communist reform that have contributed to the reconfiguration of the Polish political economy in the current conjuncture of global restructuring. Firstly, it focuses on the centrepiece of neoliberal efforts to constitute hegemony in the shape of the “shock therapy” reform programme and then on the later application of a highly selective form of Europeanisation. Finally the article considers which social forces have offered the most effective resistance to neoliberalism in an appraisal of the recent populist turn in Polish politics.