Bi-polar Disorder? Is Bioprospecting an Emerging Issue for the Arctic as well as for Antarctica?

Bioprospecting has recently emerged as a new challenge for environmental governance in Antarctica. While considerable attention now surrounds this issue in Antarctica, there has been little, if any, debate on the question of whether bioprospecting is also an issue requiring a policy or regulatory response in the Arctic. This article briefly considers the emerging debate with respect to bioprospecting in Antarctica. It then provides a detailed survey of the nature and extent of bioprospecting in the Arctic, with a focus on the Nordic countries. It goes on to outline legislative developments in several Nordic countries concerning the regulation of access and benefit sharing in relation to naturally occurring biological materials of actual or potential value commonly referred to as wild genetic resources. It concludes by highlighting some potential disputes raised by the creation of such regimes, especially around the disputed waters of Svalbard. This analysis suggests that a more coordinated regional response may be warranted in the Arctic in the future.     

Problem Drinking, Jealousy, and Anger Control: Variables Predicting Physical Aggression Against a Partner

Alcohol use and intimate partner violence (IPV) are significantly related, but only a subset of individuals who drink are aggressive and relatively little is known about what moderates this relationship in community samples. Two risk factors, anger control and jealousy, were hypothesized to moderate the relationship between IPV and problem drinking in a sample of 453 community couples. A significant three-way interaction indicated that men with jealousy problems, but not anger control problems, were most likely to show the strongest association between problem drinking and IPV. In accord with the multiple threshold model of IPV, specific combinations of risk factors appeared to represent different thresholds in which problem drinking influenced the likelihood of IPV.     

A Special Section: Negotiating and Psychoanalysis: Some Common Aspects of Practice

Negotiation Journal -     

Developing relevant data for a prison organizational development program

A project to develop a set of techniques for bringing about change in an existing prison is described. The effort concentrated primarily on the managers of the statewide system, and the staff and inmates of one prison were the focus of a set of intervention experiments. Methods for modifying the network of human and organizational relationships in that system were objects of this project. The research instruments used, their use, and some of the things learned about them is given in detail.     

Test–Retest Reliability of the Revised Conflict Tactics Scales (CTS2)

The Revised Conflict Tactics Scales (CTS2) are widely used to measure intimate partner aggression. Various aspects of the CTS2 and its subscales have been examined, e.g. factor structure, internal consistency, and validity, but little or no evidence exists regarding the stability of the self-report of aggression on the CTS2 This study examines the stability of reports of aggression against a partner on the CTS2 among 82 men court-mandated to a batterer intervention program. At both testing times men reported on aggression occurring in the year prior to beginning treatment. Using variety scores, stability of report was strong for psychological aggression (r = 0.69), physical assault (r = 0.76), injury (r = 0.70), and negotiation (r = 0.60), but weaker for sexual coercion (r = 0.30). Implications for the use of the CTS2 in court-mandated populations are discussed.

Differentiating Between Generally and Partner-Only Violent Subgroups: Lifetime Antisocial Behavior,Family of Origin Violence,and Impulsivity

The present study examined self-reported lifetime antisocial behavior, family of origin violence, and impulsivity/behavioral disinhibition of 73 men entering treatment for partner violence. Participants were designated as generally violent (GV) (n = 46) or partner only violent (n = 27), based on self-reported violence against non-intimate individuals during the year prior to intake. As hypothesized, GV men reported more conduct disorder/delinquent behaviors, lifetime antisocial behaviors, and family of origin violence. The GV men also reported more behavioral disinhibition, however, group differences on impulsivity only approached statistical significance. In addition, as hypothesized, GV men reported they were more psychologically abusive toward their intimate partners. However, contrary to expectations, the subgroups did not differ on reports of physical violence toward their partners. This study employed a fairly simple technique of dividing men into groups based on self-reports of violence over the past year, thereby producing subgroups that differed on a number of important characteristics that may have implications for treatment. An advantage of this technique is that it would be relatively easy for other treatment programs to apply.

Critical Moments as Relational Moments: The Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue and the Conflict in Aceh, Indonesia

Comments about the role of the mediator made by Lakhdar Brahimi, United Nations Special Envoy to Afghanistan, frame this inquiry into the relational milieu favorable to dialogue that explores a series of facilitated discussions between the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and the Republic of Indonesia convened by the Henry Dunant Centre (HDC). Participants were interviewed as part of an oral history project investigating critical moments in negotiation. This method permitted an in-depth study of a dialogue process as it was understood by the parties themselves, and highlighted the distinctive perspectives practitioners bring to bear with respect to accounting for decisive shifts in negotiation. Critical moments, for this dialogue community, included both macrolevel turning points and microlevel relational exchanges. Attention to the microprocess of exchanges deemed critical by participants suggests the crucial roles played by the practitioners' attitudes and relational dispositions.