Fictions of Humanitarian Responsibility: Narrating Microfinance

This article explores competing narratives of humanitarian responsibility that emerge in the digital life writings of Westerners who seek to mitigate global poverty through the American microfinance website Kiva. Using word maps to identify dominant rhetorical gestures, data analysis to detect emergent patterns, and close readings to interpret individual tone and genre, I look at a range of ways in which individuals on Kiva narrate their understanding of humanitarian motivation. In addition to conventions of an ethics of care, norms of reciprocity, and perceptions of worldliness, these digital life writings include an increasing emphasis on the responsible lender as the antiheroic, perverse subject who impersonates a responsible citizen without fully claiming or accepting full responsibility for humanitarian actions. These different modes not only work to articulate connections between givers and receivers of aid but also to seek to recalibrate the grounds of what aid givers consider their own community. These different modes offer a window into what I call the fictionalization of humanitarianism, or the way in which humanitarian responsibility constitutes a layered anthology of collaborative and competing stories.     

The Rituals of Public Meetings

Public meetings are often referred to as “rituals” to denote a largely symbolic activity with little concrete meaning. This essay explores how public meeting rituals may produce very real impacts on participants and pragmatic outcomes. Whereas tangible outputs of rituals are not always evident, ritual theory suggests that participants can derive latent meaning and significant comfort from their application. Although rituals serve to reify certain norms or control behaviors, they may also reaffirm civic values and encourage group cohesion. A deeper appreciation of public meeting rituals will enable participants and officials to respond more effectively to restructured or nontraditional formats as well as better deal with the challenges of maintaining participation when rituals lose their meaning.     

Does Mirror Imaging a Radiograph Affect Reliability of Age Assessment Using the Greulich and Pyle Atlas?*

Abstract: Age estimation is routinely undertaken by comparing radiographs of the individual in question to published reference samples of individuals of known age. This study examines the reliability of age estimation utilizing the Greulich and Pyle atlas in relation to both left‐ and right‐hand/wrist radiographs and explores whether reversing right‐hand/wrist radiographs, so that they are in the same anatomical orientation as those images used in the atlas affects reliability. A total of 403 left‐hand/wrist radiographs and 415 right‐hand/wrist radiographs were age assessed using the Greulich and Pyle atlas. Analysis showed that there is no significant loss in reliability when radiographs of the right hand (women R² = 0.887 and men R² = 0.907) are utilized instead of the left (women R² = 0.939 and men R² = 0.940) or when they are assessed as mirror images to those printed in the reference atlas (reversed female left hand R² = 0.929 and reversed male left hand R² = 0.931).     

Body recovery from hostile environments--a test of three kits

Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) procedures and protocols have largely been standardised through the creation of, and amendments to, the INTERPOL DVI Guide. Whilst robust in addressing the recovery of mass fatality victims resulting from natural disasters, accidents and acts of terrorism, the guide does not explore the problematic issue of recovery of fatalities during active conflicts or peacekeeping operations where the environment may be hostile and the time taken to perform the task may impact significantly on the risk of injury or additional fatalities. This study tested the viability of the current UK style body recovery kit for use in a hostile environment simulation and compared its performance to two new bespoke kits specifically designed by the first author for this purpose. The aim was to recover the maximum amount of available physical evidence to support possible future judicial review, maintain respectful dignity for the deceased and focus on the safety of those fulfilling this task who may be operating on the front line. The kits were tested by military personnel experienced in hostile environment deployment. The trials showed that the time taken to record and recover the deceased could be reduced from 40 min using the standard DVI kit to just over 2 min using a bespoke kit. It was also shown that evidential recovery was not adversely affected and it is suggested that personal safety could be significantly enhanced if the proposed methodology and kit were adopted.     

When risk‐based regulation aims low: A strategic framework

This article develops a strategic framework for regulators to employ when choosing intervention strategies for dealing with low risks and reviewing performance, building on the analysis by the same authors in the previous edition of this journal. The framework occupies the operational “middle ground” between risk analysis and formal enforcement action. At its core is a matrix, the Good Regulatory Intervention Design (GRID), which provides a framework to categorize sites or activities on the basis of two factors: the nature of the risk and the nature of the regulatee. Using GRID, regulators can select which intervention tools to use, and determine the overall level of regulatory intensity that should apply. GRID is accompanied by the Good Regulatory Assessment Framework (GRAF) for agencies to use in reviewing their performance and provides a step‐by‐step process for enabling “double loop learning.” The article also argues that the process of developing such a framework highlighted the extent to which “low risk” and “high risk” regulation are distinct. “Low risk” means “low priority.” Justifying why certain risks should not receive much regulatory attention requires a particular type of engagement, and has a bearing on the regulatory strategies that are adopted.     

The five capabilities of socially responsible companies

This paper develops and tests a model that integrates processes of public affairs management with stakeholder engagement and dialogue, business ethics and social reporting to explain social responsibility capabilities in organisations. The model, called Corporate Social Responsibility Management Capacity, describes social responsiveness as arising from a firm's social responsibility orientation and its public relations orientation. The paper shows how the model can be used by managers to measure, manage and improve their company's ability to be socially responsible. Copyright © 2004 Henry Stewart Publications