The Romani Place in Kosovar Space: Nationalism and Kosovo’s Roma

On February 17, 2008,Kosovo declared its independence. The path to independence and the claim to Kosovo was a long process that developed in three primary phases: A) the fostering of territorial solidarity under direct rule and an emphasis on historical ties to the territory; B) the foundation of the national idea within the realms of proto-nationalism; and C) the emergence of peripheral and mass nationalism. This research seeks to define the development of nationalist ideologies in Kosovo and to explore where Roma fit within those ideologies. An historical and sociological approach to nationalism in Kosovo is critical in understanding the current situation of Roma living in, and deported to, Kosovo, including the recent phenomenon of ethnic scapegoating of the Roma by both Serbs and Albanian

The Westray Mine Incident: Corporate Violence and Governmental Crime as the Roots of Disaster

This paper addresses the catastrophic Westray mine disaster that rocked the East Coast of Canada in Plymouth, Nova Scotia, in May 1992 and outlines the causes and factors of the deadly explosion that resulted in the death of 26 miners. From a perspective of white-collar crime, particularly governmental crime and corporate violence, this paper asserts that the negligent actions of inspectors from the Nova Scotia Department of Labour and managers from Curragh Resources Inc., the corporation in charge of the Westray mining operation, led to the conditions in the mine that caused the explosion to occur. Despite there being no convictions in the criminal trial that followed the disaster, the report from the Westray Mining Inquiry clearly indicates numerous incidences in which the failure of Curragh managers to implement provincial health and safety regulations created an unsafe work environment for the Westray miners, and because of which a methane explosion was only a matter of time. A comprehensive analysis of the disaster, including theoretical explanations for the negligent actions of government inspectors and mine managers and the structural conditions that may have contributed to a criminogenic environment within the agency and corporation is also included, followed by an analysis of legislation that has been enacted by the Canadian government in the aftermath of this event

Street Art & Graffiti Art: Developing an Understanding

While graffiti is revered as an art form to some, it is often seen as an unwanted nuisance by others. While vibrantly rich in history, graffiti has a controversial past, present, and future that will likely continue to be the subject of debate, especially with the insurgence of street art, an art form that often overlaps graffiti art in subject matter, media, aesthetic appearance, and placement as a public form of art. Distinguishing between street art and graffiti art proves quite challenging to the undiscerning eye, yet through a series of interviews and thorough investigation, I questioned the contexts of street art and graffiti art. By introducing non-traditional forms of art that are engaging to adolescent students, street art and graffiti art can expand the secondary art curriculum by helping students become more cognizant of current social, visual and cultural aesthetics in their own visual world

Future Mandated Reporters: Understanding the Role

Graduate students in the medical, mental health, and educational fields have in common that they all will become future mandated reporters. As part of their graduate training, these professionals receive minimal training at best as to how to proceed when faced with reasonable suspicion that maltreatment has occurred. Unfortunately, specific training is not common, leaving graduates exposed and putting the children they serve at further risk. The purpose of this pilot study was to obtain direct feedback from graduate educators and graduate students as to the way the topics of child maltreatment and mandated reporting are incorporated into training programs. Using a survey questionnaire tailored to the level of training for the different respondents, researchers seek to delineate and document the critical need for direct training in these areas. The long-term goals are to provide an exploratory and evaluative study of the strengths and weaknesses of current training practices, all serving to provide a basis to develop and disseminate necessary recommendations to improve preservice training, protect graduates from liability, and reduce placing children and families at further risk of harm

Advancing the Future of Family Violence Law Pedagogy: The Founding of a Law School Clinic

This Article advocates for law schools to integrate family violence law further into their curricula and proffers reasons why family violence training is critical in preparing students to practice law. The authors posit that although live-client specialty clinics are the most in-depth way to teach family violence law, the topic should also be offered through doctrinal courses, externships, or general subject matter clinics. The Article then describes the authors\u27 own experiences in cofounding a child advocacy clinic in New York City, outlining the steps taken to transform a vision into the actual formation of a clinic. Finally, the authors conclude with thoughts about the future of family violence law in legal academia, including mandating family violence law education for all law students

The Effects of Perspective Taking and Victim Impact Statements on Courtroom Decisions

This research examined the influence of perspective taking with a defendant and emotionality of victim impact statements on courtroom decisions. We hypothesize that perspective taking with the defendant will limit the effects of emotionality within victim impact statements. In Study 1 a statement prompted participants to perspective take with a defendant in a murder trial. Participants also viewed either flat or high emotionality victim impact statements. Study 2 replicated study one, but instead primed participants to perspective take with the defendant using a sentence unscrambling task. The results of Study 1 were inconclusive. Study 2 found that perspective taking with the defendant diminished the influence of the emotionality of the victim impact statements on sentencing and empathy

Primed to Adjust: An Investigation of Chronic Collectivist Social Tuning

The present study investigates a possible factor leading to chronic social tuning in collectivist cultures. Participants were primed to either adjust to others or influence others, and were then asked to evaluate images that either represented no views, the perceived egalitarian views of the experimenter, or the views of other participants. Results suggest that participants tuned towards the egalitarian views of the experimenter and expressed significantly lower levels of implicit and explicit prejudice when primed to adjust to others

Differences in Literacy Scores among Students Who Attended School-Based Prekindergarten, Head Start, and No Prekindergarten

With no state-funded prekindergarten program in Mississippi, some school districts have chosen to divert Title I funds to the creation of school-based prekindergarten programs. This study looked at archival data to determine differences in the beginning of the year kindergarten scores between students who attended local Head Start programs (n = 41), students who attended school-based prekindergarten programs (n = 64) in schools that use Title-I funds to support such programs, and students who did not attend prekindergarten (n = 31). The study sought to examine the question of whether a difference existed in the overall scaled score of the STAR Early Literacy test of these three groups of students at the beginning of the kindergarten year. This study also examined whether or not there was any interaction between the type of prekindergarten education received and the gender of the students. This study used data from a district administered test to examine STAR score results, and thus used an ex post facto design. Analysis was conducted using a Two-Way ANOVA and a significant difference was found among students who attended these three program types differed in their STAR Early Literacy score. Post-hoc analysis concluded that significance differences existed between Head Start and school-based prekindergarten. No differences based on gender were found. Future research should look at the specific aspects of school-based programs to determine what characteristics contribute to their effectiveness

A molecular phylogeny of Southeast Asian Cyrtandra (Gesneriaceae) supports an emerging paradigm for Malesian plant biogeography

The islands of Southeast Asia comprise one of the most geologically and biogeographically complex areas in the world and are a centre of exceptional floristic diversity, harbouring 45,000 species of flowering plants. Cyrtandra, with over 800 species of herbs and shrubs, is the largest genus in the family Gesneriaceae and is one of the most emblematic and species-rich genera of the Malesian rainforest understorey. The high number of species and tendency to narrow endemism make Cyrtandra an ideal genus for examining biogeographic patterns. We sampled 128 Cyrtandra taxa from key localities across Southeast Asia to evaluate the geo-temporal patterns and evolutionary dynamics of this clade. One nuclear and four chloroplast regions were used for phylogenetic reconstruction, molecular dating, and ancestral range estimation. Results from the dating analysis suggest that the great diversity of Cyrtandra seen in the Malesian region results from a recent radiation, with most speciation taking place in the last five million years. Borneo was recovered as the most likely ancestral range of the genus, with the current distribution of species resulting from a west to east migration across Malesia that corresponds with island emergence and mountain building. Lastly, our investigation into the biogeographic history of the genus indicates high levels of floristic exchange between the islands on the Sunda shelf and the important role of the Philippines as a stepping stone to Wallacea and New Guinea. These patterns underlie much of the plant diversity in the region and form an emerging paradigm in Southeast Asian plant biogeography