‘This coconut was the one that finally worked’: Cursing for peace and justice in Sri Lanka

This article analyses how Sandya Ekneligoda re-purposes cultural and religious cursing rituals to challenge disappearances, impunity, and illiberal peacebuilding in post-war Sri Lanka. Drawing on several cosmologies (principally Buddhist and Hindu), she invokes archetypal female deities/demons for healing and revenge. She uses performances of ritual cursing not only to keep her husband’s disappearance in the public eye and to critique domestic justice processes, but also to connect with other families of the disappeared across Sri Lanka’s ethnic, religious, and linguistic divides. In January 2022, she performed a cursing ritual against the ruling Rajapaksa clan, which ended with smashing a coconut. Six months later, a popular uprising had ejected the Rajapaksas from power. The article makes an original empirical contribution to the peacebuilding and transitional justice literature, which highlights the need to pay greater attention to (female) cosmological power, negative emotions, and non-liberal forms of resistance to illiberal peacebuilding

Leaving no-one behind? Social inequalities and contrasting development impacts in rural Rwanda

Two polar viewpoints have emerged regarding Rwanda’s post-genocide development: (1) that economic development has improved the wellbeing of Rwandans and (2) that repressive policies have negatively impacted many. Assessing the impacts and inclusiveness of policies through trends among different social groups is timely in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals’ pledge to ‘leave no-one behind’. This study examines rural Rwandans’ perspectives on the changes affecting them. A multidimensional wellbeing approach was applied through mixed-method research involving 115 rural households in two locations in western Rwanda, in 2011–12. Findings reveal that the household-level impact was heavily influenced by socio-economic power and socio-ethnic grouping. Negative impacts, including restricted freedom and loss of material and cultural resources are disproportionately felt by the poorest. The indigenous Batwa suffer particularly detrimental impacts. The findings suggest that strategies deemed successful in making progress towards the Millennium Development Goals in Rwanda need, as a minimal measure, to be supported by social protection programs that specifically target the landless, vulnerable and cultural minorities. However, to align Rwanda’s development policies with the ambitions of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a dramatic strategic shift is required to ‘leave no-one behind’ and avoid the reproduction of poverty and exacerbation of inequality

Femur-Sparing Pattern of Abnormal Fetal Growth in Pregnant Women from New York City After Maternal Zika Virus Infection

BACKGROUND: Zika virus (ZIKV) is a mosquito-transmitted flavivirus, which can induce fetal brain injury and growth restriction following maternal infection during pregnancy. Prenatal diagnosis of ZIKV-associated fetal injury in the absence of microcephaly is challenging due to an incomplete understanding of how maternal ZIKV infection affects fetal growth and the use of different sonographic reference standards around the world. We hypothesized that skeletal growth is unaffected by ZIKV infection and that the femur length can represent an internal standard to detect growth deceleration of the fetal head and/or abdomen by ultrasound. OBJECTIVE: To determine if maternal ZIKV infection is associated with a femur-sparing pattern of intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) through analysis of fetal biometric measures and/or body ratios using the INTERGROWTH-21st Project (IG-21) and World Health Organization Fetal Growth Chart (WHO-FGC) sonographic references. STUDY DESIGN: Pregnant women diagnosed with a possible recent ZIKV infection at Columbia University Medical Center after traveling to an endemic area were retrospectively identified and included if a fetal ultrasound was performed. Data was collected regarding ZIKV testing, fetal biometry, pregnancy and neonatal outcomes. The IG-21 and WHO-FGC sonographic standards were applied to obtain Z-scores and/or percentiles for fetal head, abdominal circumference (HC, AC) and femur length (FL) specific for each gestational week. A novel IG-21 standard was also developed to generate Z-scores for fetal body ratios with respect to femur length (HC:FL, AC:FL). Data was then grouped within clinically relevant gestational age strata (34 weeks) to analyze time-dependent effects of ZIKV infection on fetal size. Statistical analysis was performed using Wilcoxon signed-rank test on paired data, comparing either AC or HC to FL. RESULTS: A total of 56 pregnant women were included in the study with laboratory evidence of a confirmed or possible recent ZIKV infection. Based on the CDC definition for microcephaly after congenital ZIKV exposure, microcephaly was diagnosed in 5% (3/56) by both the IG-21 and WHO-FGC standards (HC Z-score ≤ -2 or ≤ 2.3%). Using IG-21, IUGR was diagnosed in 18% of pregnancies (10/56; AC Z-score ≤-1.3, <10%). Analysis of fetal size using the last ultrasound scan for all subjects revealed a significantly abnormal skewing of fetal biometrics with a smaller AC versus FL by either IG-21 or WHO-FGC (p<0.001 for both). A difference in distribution of fetal AC compared to FL was first apparent in the 24-27 6/7 week strata (IG-21, p=0.002; WHO-FGC, p=0.001). A significantly smaller HC compared to FL was also observed by IG-21 as early as the 28-33 6/7 week strata (IG-21, p=0.007). Overall, a femur-sparing pattern of growth restriction was detected in 52% of pregnancies with either an HC:FL or AC:FL fetal body ratio less than the 10th percentile (IG-21 Z-score ≤-1.3). CONCLUSIONS: An unusual femur-sparing pattern of fetal growth restriction was detected in the majority of fetuses with congenital ZIKV exposure. Fetal body ratios may represent a more sensitive ultrasound biomarker to detect viral injury in nonmicrocephalic fetuses that could impart long-term risk for complications of congenital ZIKV infection

Miscarriage and stillbirth following maternal Zika virus infection in nonhuman primates.

Zika virus (ZIKV) infection is associated with congenital defects and pregnancy loss. Here, we found that 26% of nonhuman primates infected with Asian/American ZIKV in early gestation experienced fetal demise later in pregnancy despite showing few clinical signs of infection. Pregnancy loss due to asymptomatic ZIKV infection may therefore be a common but under-recognized adverse outcome related to maternal ZIKV infection

A combined intervention strategy to increase linkage to and retention in substance use treatment for individuals accessing hospital-based services: study protocol

BackgroundIn 2020, New Mexico had the highest alcohol related death and the 11th highest drug overdose rate in the U.S. Towards the long-term goal of addressing this public health problem, we are implementing and evaluating an multi-level intervention designed to identify adults at risk of substance use disorder (SUD) and encourage linkage to and retention in treatment. The first level includes equipping the ED and medical inpatient units of a safety-net hospital with a method to screen individuals at risk of a SUD. The second level includes Seeking Safety (SS), a trauma-specific treatment for PTSD and SUD; and pharmacotherapy for SUD. Motivational Interviewing (MI) is used throughout both levels. Using the SPIRIT guidelines and checklist, this study protocol describes the multi-level intervention and the methodology we are using to assess feasibility and effectiveness.MethodsWe are using a Type 1 hybrid implementation design with a non-randomized approach (ISRCTN registration # ISRCTN33100750). We aim to enroll 110 adults (≧18) who screen positive for unhealthy use of alcohol, prescription medications (used nonmedically) and/or illicit drugs. Peer support workers are responsible for screening, using MI to increase engagement in screening and treatment and delivery of SS. Pharmacotherapy is provided by addiction clinical specialists. Treatment is provided post hospital discharge via telehealth to increase access to care. Participants are identified through (1) review of electronic health records for individuals with a chief or secondary complaint or mental health condition relating to alcohol and/or other drug use, (2) referrals from clinical staff and (3) screening in the ED and medical inpatient units. Feasibility is being measured through process data. Effectiveness will be determined by changes in two primary outcomes: (i) PTSD symptom severity; and (ii) substance use.DiscussionOur study will expand on research related to the implementation of treatment strategies for patients presenting at EDs and admitted to medical inpatients units wherein there is a significant window of opportunity to link patients with follow-up behavioral and clinical services for alcohol and/or drug misuse. The challenges associated with implementation and strategies that have been helpful to address these challenges will further inform the field

A Q-methodological study of 'smoking identities'

publication-status: Publishedtypes: ArticleIn contrast to the psychological literature on adolescent smoking, little research has investigated the social identities of adult smokers. This study aimed to identify shared ‘smoking identities’ amongst a sample of 64 British smokers from different socio-economic groups using Q-methodology. Participants were asked to sort 70 items concerning smoking and smokers according to their agreement/disagreement with them. The 64 Q-sorts were then subjected to a by-person factor analysis yielding six factors, with the first four interpretable factors being presented here. Each factor is understood to represent a distinct ‘identity position’. The first two, the ‘addicted’ smoker, and the ‘in control’ smoker, oriented around a biomedical model of smoking as an addictive health risk. The final two, the ‘no big deal’ smoker and the ‘proud’ smoker reflected alternative understandings and values. The identity positions also differed in the extent to which smoking was considered a core part of self-identity. Unpacking the ‘smoking identities’ of current smokers offers the opportunity to devise targeted health promotion.Economic and Social Research Counci

The Rachel Carson Letters and the Making of Silent Spring

Environment, conservation, green, and kindred movements look back to Rachel Carson’s 1962 book Silent Spring as a milestone. The impact of the book, including on government, industry, and civil society, was immediate and substantial, and has been extensively described; however, the provenance of the book has been less thoroughly examined. Using Carson’s personal correspondence, this paper reveals that the primary source for Carson’s book was the extensive evidence and contacts compiled by two biodynamic farmers, Marjorie Spock and Mary T. Richards, of Long Island, New York. Their evidence was compiled for a suite of legal actions (1957-1960) against the U.S. Government and that contested the aerial spraying of dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT). During Rudolf Steiner’s lifetime, Spock and Richards both studied at Steiner’s Goetheanum, the headquarters of Anthroposophy, located in Dornach, Switzerland. Spock and Richards were prominent U.S. anthroposophists, and established a biodynamic farm under the tutelage of the leading biodynamics exponent of the time, Dr. Ehrenfried Pfeiffer. When their property was under threat from a government program of DDT spraying, they brought their case, eventually lost it, in the process spent US$100,000, and compiled the evidence that they then shared with Carson, who used it, and their extensive contacts and the trial transcripts, as the primary input for Silent Spring. Carson attributed to Spock, Richards, and Pfeiffer, no credit whatsoever in her book. As a consequence, the organics movement has not received the recognition, that is its due, as the primary impulse for Silent Spring, and it is, itself, unaware of this provenance

A future without forgiveness: beyond reconciliation in transitional justice

This article questions the promotion of reconciliation in transitional justice contexts. The article puts forward a critique of reconciliation in practice and questions mainstream definitions of reconciliation. The principle that these forms of reconciliation are desirable is also questioned. It is argued that examples of genuine reconciliation are difficult to find, that the promotion of reconciliation is frequently emphasised at the expense of substantive societal change, that emphasis on reconciliation (narrowly defined) risks taking agency away from those affected by conflict and that emphasis on reconciliation may obscure injustice and may promote acceptance of the status quo. The article suggests that reconciliation is not a necessary condition of, and should be de-emphasised in, transitional justice and, if it is promoted at all, that a different, less prescriptive notion of reconciliation is necessary

A Cell of One’s Own? Incarceration and Other Turning Points in Women’s Journeys to Desistance

Research has shown the importance of turning points in desistance from criminal behavior. Using qualitative data from a sample of 100 formerly incarcerated mothers interviewed about their criminal behavior, this article explores their descriptions of transition moments and whether and how those moments affected their criminal behavior. The findings indicate that whereas parenting emerges as a turning point, the practical difficulties of reentry may reduce the impact of mothering on women’s desistance. More self-focused turning points, such as those due to incarceration, arrest, and sobriety appeared to be particularly important to the women’s desistance. This article emphasizes the need for research into the subjective and environmental factors that affect women’s desistance behaviors

"‘We just want to be treated with respect!’: Using restorative approaches and the dramatic arts to build positive relationships between the police and young people"

This article explores the application of an ambitious arts-based restorative intervention that has been applied in a direct response to perceived issues with procedural justice, legitimacy and community relations between police and young people. The research focuses on a series of Youth Forums that took place in the West of England, employed as an attempt to improve strained relationships between both parties. It reports on detailed ethnographic research of the Forum processes and procedures presenting this primary evidence in light of the existing literature on police legitimacy and procedural justice in police-youth encounters. The findings suggest that community-based arts programmes can be a powerful and effective tool for challenging entrenched views with the potential to improve future encounters between police and young people; and that the relevance and effectiveness of arts-based interventions can be increased by combining with restorative justice principles