Complete Strangers Research Articles

Psychopathy and Gender in Three Faces of Homicide

ABSTRACT Few existing studies have explored the relationship between facet-levels of psychopathy and different types of homicide. This study analyzed Korean homicide offenders’ psychopathic traits that were assessed by the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) and compared family homicide offenders to those who killed complete strangers, and to those who killed nonfamily acquaintance victims. The study used the four psychopathy facet scores, age, education, and gender as predictors to postdict the three types of homicide. Multinomial logistic regression as well as Somer’s d tests revealed that psychopathic traits differentially contributed to the different forms of deadly violence. Compared to family homicide, stranger homicide scored higher on facet 2 (affective), facet 3 (lifestyle), and facet 4 (antisocial), but lower on facet 1 (interpersonal). In the similar sense, nonfamily homicide scored higher on facets 3 and 4, but lower on facet 1, when compared to family homicide. Family homicide offenders’ higher deficit in interpersonal traits (higher scores on facet 1) has been discussed, but merits further analysis. In addition, homicides by men tended to be extrafamilial, whereas killings by women were more likely to be intrafamilial. The study suggests interesting insights on differences in psychopathy and gender in the typology of homicide.

Abortion, Full Faith and Credit, and the "Judicial Power" Under Article III

Interstate judgments enforcement is governed by the Full Faith and Credit Clause of Article IV of the Constitution, together with its implementing statute, 28 U.S.C. 1738. Although a highly technical area of the law, interstate judgments enforcement has important social repercussions for some very modern problems of great cultural significance. One of the currently significant applications is the interstate enforcement of judgments rendered in civil suits based on state anti-abortion laws. For example, Texas statute S.B. 8 gives anyone who wishes to sue a civil cause of action against persons who facilitate abortions. Even complete strangers to the abortion can decide to become a plaintiff in such an action and can sue for money “damages” despite having suffered no injury. Non-experts seem to have the impression that the Full Faith and Credit Clause presents an ironclad requirement that judgments of sister states must always be enforced. If thatwere the case, states that recognize reproductive freedom would be obliged to enforce judgments entered into in states like Texas, despite their strong public policy against such actions. This Article shows why this impression is mistaken. First, the full faith and credit principle has for centuries been subject to exceptions,several of which are potentially relevant in the reproductive freedom context. Theseinclude lack of subject matter jurisdiction, the public policy exception, and the penallaw exception. In addition, a uniform law adopted in forty-eight states (the UniformEnforcement of Foreign Judgments Act) permits the state enforcing the judgment to applyits own judgments law to an interstate enforcement proceeding. The enforcing state will therefore apply to foreign state judgments any exceptions to judgments enforcement lawthat it has as a general matter for its own domestic judgments. Second, and more importantly, the Clause and statute both contain an important qualification: they apply only to “judicial” actions. This exception prevents a state from requiring sister-state enforcement of decisions that do not meet the usual tests for a judicial “case or controversy” (as defined in Article III of the Constitution). Article III and Article IV both use the word “judicial” to specify the standard necessary for the exercise of federal power. These two neighboring constitutional provisions are supported by a common historical origin (they were drafted at the same time and by some of the same people at the constitutional drafting convention) and fulfill comparable functions. If the two constitutional provisions are treated the same, judgments under statutes like Texas S.B. 8 would not be given mandatory force in other states because such cases would not meet the standing requirement imposed by Article III.

“Complete Strangers Can Get through Your Front Door”: The Carly Ryan Murder, Teen Girls and the Internet in 2000s Australia

ABSTRACT On 21 February 2007, 15-year-old Carly Ryan’s body was found in the waters at Port Elliot in South Australia. A highly public investigation and trial followed, during which it was revealed that 48-year-old Melburnian man Garry Francis Newman had used a false online identity to seduce and lure Ryan to her death. In its coverage, the Australian media scrutinised Ryan’s online profiles and dramatised the dangers that cyberspace posed to young women. Examining these reports reveals wider anxieties over the internet blurring the boundary between public and private—a boundary historically assumed to keep young women safe. Journalists presented the online world as being both entirely public and inappropriately hidden from adult view. Cyberspace was framed as a place where young women could “act out” (self-sexualise) outside parents’ control and invite the “wrong” kind of attention. In this article, I contextualise this coverage within historic fears about stranger danger. I demonstrate how journalists drew from the contemporary debate in Australia surrounding the sexualisation of children in media—and its gendered nature. Further, I argue that the Australian media framed the internet as disrupting the idea of the family home as a safe haven and upsetting traditional parent–child relationships.

Identification of Bacteria from Public Toilets of Modern Market (Goico) in Musanze Town, Rwanda

Background: Bacteria are present on all surfaces, to which they were carried by many direct and indirect methods of transmission. A toilet is simply a receptacle into which both solid and liquid waste of human origin, in the form of urine and excreta are discharged. In public toilets, complete strangers mix and use the same sanitary facilities, with all the related risks of bodily fluid exchange, contamination and organism transmission. Unhygienic use of the toilet’s facilities may cause urine and fecal residues after use to serve as a major reservoir or source of human pathogen, which may in turn bring about disease outbreak. Aim: This study aimed at Identification of Bacteria from Public Toilets of Modern Market (Goico) In Musanze Town, Rwanda Method: This cross-sectional study was conducted to identify bacteria from GOICO market toilets. About 40 samples; 20 from male and 20 from female toilets were collected and transported to INES-clinical microbiology laboratory for microbiological analysis. Laboratory techniques including culture, gram stain, biochemical tests and antibiogram were performed. Results: The most predominant bacteria isolated was S. aureus (31.43%), followed by S. typhi (20%), Streptococcus(15.71%), E. coli(12.86%), P. aeuriginosa(10%), P. mirabilis(7.14%), C. freundi(1.43%), S. epidermidis (1.43%). It was noted that female toilets were more contaminated (51.43%) than male toilets (48.57%). All gram positive and gram-negative bacteria were sensitive to Gentamicin. Almost all bacteria except P. mirabilis were sensitive to Norfloxacin, gram negative showed a resistance to Vancomycin and Novobiocin. Conclusion: These results should alert public toilets users that extreme caution must be executed while using these toilets, as they may be a source of pathogenic bacteria. The best way to keep a toilet and its seat free of bacteria is to clean it with bleach. Otherwise, keep the bacteria at bay by washing your hands, and if you just don't trust that toilet seat, wipe it down with a disinfectant or antibacterial wipe before you sit. Keywords: Bacteria, Public toilets, E. coli, S. typhi, Urinary tract

Knowledge, Attitudes, and Perceptions of Medical and Paramedical Students Toward Human Milk Banks and Breast Milk Donation.

Background and objectives Human milk benefits for both mothers and babies are widely acknowledged. Human milk banks (HMBs) are essential in providing newborns who would not otherwise have access to pasteurized and stored human milk. The objective of this research was to investigate the understanding, opinions, and outlooks of medical and paramedical students regarding breast milk donation and the concept of an HMB. Material and methods A total of 398 professional female students specializing in physiotherapy, nursing, and medicine were given an online self-administered questionnaire as part of a descriptive cross-sectional study. Data on the characteristics, HMB knowledge, awareness levels, and attitudes toward HMB and breast milk donation were to be gathered through the questionnaire. Every student's answer to the survey was kept private and confidential. Result According to the survey, 188 students (47.24%) belong to the medical college, 126 students (31.66%) belong to the physiotherapy college, and the remaining 84 students (21.11%) are from the nursing college. A total of 294 students (74.12%) had heard about human milk banking before and received information from health professionals (195 students, 48.99%), the news (67 students, 16.83%), and family and friends (61 students, 15.33%). However, only 224 students (56.28%) are willing to feed their babies with HMB milk in the future. On the other hand, 216 students (54.27%) are ready to donate breast milk to HMB. The majority of students have a favorable opinion of breast milk donation. A staggering 394 students (98.99%) think that donating human milk can save babies. Furthermore, 379 students (95.23%) think that all the nutrients needed for a baby's healthy development are found in human milk. Merely 350 students (87.93%) think that breastfeeding does not result in malnourishment for either the mother or the baby. When there is an excess of milk, the majority of students (378 or 94.97%) think that there is nothing wrong with donating it. Moreover, 312 (80.41%) students are happy to donate milk in the future. A total of 373 students (93.71%) are overjoyed that a sick baby will survive because of their donated milk. Only 100 students (25.12%) will give milk, though, and only to the infants of their friends and relatives, never to complete strangers. Conclusion A dearth of knowledge pertaining to human milk banking is rampant among medical and paramedical female students, yet the gravity of the circumstances remains concealed. Consequently, it is imperative to extensively educate all Indian communities about the concept of human milk banking to gain widespread acceptance. This research sheds light on the issue and promotes scientific knowledge of HMB, as many students are unaware of it.

Hospitality towards European travellers in Latin America in the colonial middle

ABSTRACT Hospitality was considered a Christian and humanitarian virtue in the early modern period. This article studies hospitality in eight travel reports by Europeans who travelled Latin America in the colonial middle, i.e. the long seventeenth century. We show that even though an infrastructure of paid lodging had been established, hospitality in private homes continued to be a central form of accommodation. In contrast to early modern Europe, tourism had not yet emerged, despite some travellers’ motives being mainly curiosity. We show how the travellers got to know their hosts, what they expected from them and how they expressed their gratitude. Hospitality could be provided by countrymen but also by complete strangers, the latter sometimes being the last resort for travellers in need. Hospitality was central for travellers rich and poor. Hospitality happened mainly among Europeans. Hospitality without consent, we argue, should no longer be referred to as such.

Secondary acute myeloid leukemia and de novo acute myeloid leukemia with myelodysplasia-related changes - close or complete strangers?

To compare the main features of patients with secondary acute myeloid leukemias (AMLs) after post-myelodysplastic syndrome (AML-post-MDS) or post-myeloproliferative neoplasms (AML-post-MPN) and myeloid blast crisis of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML-BC) vs. de novoAMLs with myelodysplastic characteristics (dn-AML-MDS).

A Short Fieldwork Report on the Nuba Mountains

This is a review on a fieldwork undertaken among the Nymang ethnic community residing on the legendary Nuba Mountains of southern Kordofan, Sudan, in 2005. It is a result of participatory observation, and the view taken on it is retrospective. The author was able to study the social and cultural life, rituals, taboos, musical traditions, and many more, which are discussed in detail in a later book, thanks to her Sudanese hosts. The description carried out in the writing reflects personal perspectives as a human being, a woman, and a complete stranger entering an unknown and distant world. Indeed, it must have been one of the best experiences the author had in her nearly 3 decades of scholarly experience.

Cooperating with Different Types of Strangers: The Influence of Guanxi Perception, Trust, and Responsibility.

This study explored people's estimation of cooperative intention when paired with people with different types of relationships, and the mediating roles of trust and responsibility between guanxi perception and the estimation of cooperative intention. We recruited 398 university students from the Greater Bay Area of China to complete two public goods dilemma experiments. Study 1 manipulated the type of partner to be either family member, classmate, and stranger, representing different types of guanxi. Study 2 manipulated the type of partner to be either stranger with intermediary, stranger within ingroup, and complete stranger. In both studies, the mediating roles of trust and responsibility in the relationship between guanxi perception and the estimation of cooperative intention were tested. The results of study 1 showed that the participants' estimation of cooperative intention with a family member was higher than with acquaintances or with strangers. In study 2, the estimation of cooperative intention with stranger with intermediary was higher than with a stranger within one's ingroup or with a complete stranger. Multivariate analysis verified the mediating effects. The results are discussed with reference to why Chinese people treat different types of guanxi distinctly, especially to different types of strangers, and how guanxi perception, trust, and responsibility work together to the influence of the estimation of cooperative intention.

"Keeping a Safe Confession Distance between Strangers": The Spatial Structure of Social Accessibility in Networked Communities and Risk Avoidance of Stranger Confessions

This study focuses on the spatial structure of stranger social accessibility in networked communities and risk avoidance when socializing with strangers. Using Confession Wall as an example, this study contends that community social media fosters new connections by compensating for accessibility issues between strangers in local communities through flexible mediation of online and offline social interactions. This connectivity minimizes the costs and risks of emotional interactions between strangers in semi-acquaintance communities. This compensation for social accessibility highlights the value of digital media, especially community social media as a geomedia, in energizing communities and facilitating interactions between strangers. This is crucial in understanding the emotional interactions between strangers and how they are mediated by community social media in settings where acquaintances and complete strangers intermingle.

C. S. Lewis as Spiritual Mentor by Mail

Lewis’ published correspondence provides a kind of autobiography-in-progress, and it offers a revealing glimpse of his opinions as a literary and culture critic. But perhaps the letters of most permanent value are those which Lewis saw as a part of his Christian vocation: his insights to friends, casual acquaintances and complete strangers about questions of theology, faith, spiritual formation, and even marriage and family relationships. In his later years, letter-writing became a burdensome task for Lewis. In one note, he mentions that he had composed thirty-five letters that day. In another, he mentions that he had just spent nine hours catching up on his correspondence. Yet, for Lewis, answering letters and inquiries, even from children, was not just a courtesy; it was a part of his Christian calling. Noting to one friend that many of those who wrote to him were “in great need of help and often in great misery,” Lewis felt it a duty and a form of ministry to respond to each and every individual inquirer. In another letter, Lewis explicitly identified letter-writing as a part of his vocation, explaining “every human being, still more every Christian, has an absolute claim on me for any service I can render them without neglecting other duties.”

The Nightmare Island: Representations of St. Barthélemy in Swedish Novels

The Nightmare Island: Representations of St. Barthélemy in Swedish Novels

On being entirely ordinary

On being entirely ordinary

Effect of Structured Teaching Programs (STP) on Knowledge Regarding the Impact of Internet Addiction (IA) among Adolescents of Selected Nursing College, Mangalore

Background Continuous and easy access to the Internet provides tremendous opportunities for adolescents to socialize connect with their peers as well as complete strangers from across the world. The problem of Internet addiction has plagued several nations particularly India. The effects of Internet addiction include feelings of loneliness increased anger despair and anxiety. Aim To assess the effect of structured teaching program STP on knowledge regarding impact of Internet addiction IA among adolescents of a selected nursing college Mangaluru. Methodology One group pre-test post-test design was adopted for the study and a stratified random sampling method was used to select 60 nursing students. A structured knowledge questionnaire was used to assess the levels of knowledge on the impact of Internet addiction. Results The pre-test scores showed that 56 91.8 had poor knowledge and 4 6.6 had average knowledge. After the structured teaching program the post-test scores showed that 49 80.3 had good knowledge 10 16.4 had average knowledge and 1 1.6 had poor knowledge. Conclusion The study concludes that adolescents have Internet addiction issues and health education to adolescents about the psychosocial impact of Internet addiction would help to promote healthy habits towards usage of the Internet and social media.

Tempus Fugit

Who deserves to live the longest? How do you know if you should give or take extra time from others? In this philosophical short story fiction, Shelia gets a strange letter in the mail on her 69th birthday, along with a pamphlet from a strange company she has never heard of. She ignores the mailer, but a few weeks later, two salesmen arrive at her door. They explain to her that “everyone gets 70 years of life,” on average, but that it’s possible to give, or take, extra life from others. Life can be given, or taken, from those you know, or complete strangers. Perhaps some are more (artists, scientists) or less (criminals, drug addicts) deserving of the life they were naturally given. This is all too much for Shelia, who decides to simply put off the question for another day. Her 70th birthday eventually arrives, and the salesmen are back, asking for her decision. Should she give a few years to a loved one? If she does nothing, they explain to her, the community deficient will be taken from society as a whole. After due consideration, Shelia tears up the contracts, and decides to make no decision at all.

There is chemistry in social chemistry.

Nonhuman terrestrial mammals sniff themselves and each other to decide who is friend or foe. Humans also sniff themselves and each other, but the function of this is unknown. Because humans seek friends who are similar to themselves, we hypothesized that humans may smell themselves and others to subconsciously estimate body odor similarity, which, in turn, may promote friendship. To test this, we recruited nonromantic same-sex friend dyads and harvested their body odor. We found that objective ratings obtained with an electronic nose, and subjective ratings obtained from independent human smellers converged to suggest that friends smell more similar to each other than random dyads. Last, we recruited complete strangers, smelled them with an electronic nose, and engaged them in nonverbal same-sex dyadic interactions. We observed that dyads who smelled more similar had more positive dyadic interactions. In other words, we could predict social bonding with an electronic nose. We conclude that there is indeed chemistry in social chemistry.

The stranger within: Israeli religious women lead social change in community web-series

ABSTRACT This study analyzes Israeli Zionist-religious women’s representation in community web-series and their reception as a minority group within a minority community. To reveal their social role and the mechanisms that stimulate interaction and encourage social change, thematic and textual analyses were conducted. It was found that religious-Zionist women emerge as meaningful characters manifesting liberal and egalitarian values within a conservative religious community. They expand community boundaries and norms using their authentic and challenging voices and by their unique symbolic role as Strangers, according to Georg Simmel’s term, which this study differentiates into two new types—“Complete Stranger” and “Close Stranger”. Their representation also encourages reflexivity among viewers. These results show that web-series amplify social change and become a vehicle for its visual expression, which viewers endorse. These representations make it possible to develop a theoretical model of media representation of the other in community media available to all.

Long-term effects of the ‘love potion’ oxytocin

Throughout human history, pining lovers have sought so-called aphrodisiacs to win over affection. From oysters and dark chocolate to rhinoceros horns, these reported love potions sometimes have questionable ties to truth. However, scientists are beginning to unravel the genuine biology of ‘love’ by studying the neuroscience of monogamy and bonding. The monogamous love lives of titi monkeys (Plecturocebus cupreus) have been a fruitful focus. These non-human primates share an equal role in raising their young and mate for life, often romantically entwining their tails in their slumber. Only about 3% of mammals – including humans – exhibit this kind of social monogamy and we know that these strong attachments are cemented by powerful hormones, such as oxytocin and vasopressin. In fact, oxytocin is being explored as a potential treatment for disorders such as autism. Given the potential for the hormone to transform lives and the strong bonds that titi monkeys form, Rocío Arias-del Razo and colleagues from University of California Davis, USA, examined the long-term behavioural and neural effects of oxytocin treatment on the loyal animals.Initially, the researchers dripped oxytocin dissolved in salt water into the nostrils of young titi monkeys daily for 6 months. Each monkey lived with their parents and siblings for another full year after the oxytocin treatment ceased, before they were rehoused with a stranger who would become their mate. Of the original 15 treated, only one monkey did not take kindly to his arranged ‘marriage’, showing some initial signs of aggression, but even this ornery fellow quickly settled into his new role.To examine how oxytocin treatment affects animal behaviour, the researchers observed the couples each day during their first 4 months together. They found that monkeys treated with oxytocin exhibited more tail twining (a more ‘intimate’ form of affection) at the expense of proximity and contact with their mate. The hormone seemed to affect how the monkeys interacted with their mates, rather than the total time spent interacting.Besides these daily observations, the researchers also tested the behavioural responses of the monkey couples, 4 months after they were introduced. First, they presented each monkey with either their mate or a complete stranger in an adjacent cage. Both male and female monkeys spent more time touching their partner’s cage than that of the stranger, but the males that had been treated with oxytocin as youngsters showed a stronger preference for their partner. The second test examined the monkeys’ reactions to strangers. As titi monkeys lack self-recognition, they respond to their own reflection as if they were a stranger of the same sex, while they react to their partner's reflection as a stranger of the opposite sex. Testing the monkeys’ responses to these reflections, the team found that the oxytocin-treated male monkeys were friendlier towards the strangers in the mirror, making more curious approaches, contacts, movements and lip smacks.Finally, the researchers PET scanned the monkeys’ brains, both before and after forming a relationship with their partner, to examine the long-term effects of oxytocin in the brain. The scientists discovered brain activity patterns that confounded their expectations. Although they had anticipated that the long-term oxytocin treatment would increase activity in the regions of the youngsters’ brains that are associated with attachment and social skills, the activity levels remained unchanged. However, the team did find that the females that had been treated with oxytocin had higher brain activity than the males.Oxytocin seems to sit at the epicenter of social monogamy, potentially regulating social engagement and the formation of long-term relationships as adults. Further research on the hormonal ties that bind could also have implications for how to treat autism and may even help us to be more successful in love.

Cooperation with Strangers: Spillover of Community Norms

Why do leaders of organizations cooperate with players with whom they may never transact again? Such transactions can involve the incentives to exploit the other party because these interactions are not recurrent or embedded in networks. Yet, in a market economy, organizational actors learn to cooperate with strangers; otherwise, they risk closure from new ideas and business opportunities outside of their local community. With a large random sample of CEOs of manufacturing firms in the Yangzi River Delta region of China, we measured social norms using vignettes that describe hypothetical situations illustrating the social mechanisms of norm enforcement in respondents’ local communities. Several years later, in a laboratory-in-the-field experiment, we asked the same participants to play a one-shot Prisoner’s Dilemma (PD) game with a complete stranger. Our findings suggest that belief in the reliability of robust norm enforcement is positively associated with a higher probability of cooperation with strangers. To our knowledge, this mixed-method study is the first to explore the relationship between social norms and cooperation with strangers using a large sample of leaders of organizations outside the environment of the laboratory. Finally, to explore the generalizability of our behavioral findings, we experimentally manipulated norm vignettes and study the PD game in online experiments with managers in the Yangzi River Delta region. History: This paper has been accepted for the Organization Science Special Issue on Experiments in Organizational Theory. Funding: V. Nee gratefully acknowledges funding for research from the John Templeton Foundation (2005-2009 and 2015-2018), and from the College of Arts and Sciences at Cornell University. H. Holm thanks the Jan Wallander’s and Tom Hedelius’ Foundation for funding lab-in-the-field behavioral game. Supplemental Material: The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2021.1521 .

Shostakovich After Midnight

Shostakovich After Midnight Jerome Blanco (bio) Every so often, I happen across a person who reminds me of someone I once knew. I'd see a woman in a checkout line at my local grocery store and think, she looks an awful lot like my English teacher from the 8th grade. Nearly every time, the person turns out to be a complete stranger, who, upon closer inspection, looks nothing like who I thought them to be. When I saw Henry Wong board the BART at the 24th Street Mission Station, I thought this to be one of those occasions. But as I stared—what else was I to do on a long underground train ride?—I had no doubt that he was the same guy from ten years ago. He was older, of course, a couple more lines on his face and much shorter hair. He was dressed better, too, in a nice coat with gray slacks. But he was surely the same Henry Wong who'd changed my life. I wanted to run up to him right then but thought better of it, because I didn't want to be mistaken for one of those lunatics on the train. People were very on edge these days about strange men causing a ruckus on public transit. Instead, I said his name, quietly first, and then a bit louder. He didn't hear me. I didn't even hear myself. The train screeched too deafeningly along the tracks. After five stops, Henry positioned himself by the door, to get off at the Montgomery stop. I was meant to go all the way across the Bay, to Berkeley where I lived. Instead, I got out of my seat and readied myself to exit the train with him—and then to tap him on the shoulder when we wouldn't be bothered by all the noise. I would be late for dinner, but I knew that my wife would understand. ________ I'd encountered Henry Wong only once before that moment on the train. It happened in the second semester of my senior year of college, a time when I was a very different person than the one I am now. We both studied at a small liberal arts school in the Midwest, where they had real winters, unlike the ones we have here. I was walking across campus after midnight, towards the south end of the school where the train tracks ran east to Chicago and west to somewhere else. Minutes before, I'd been sitting in my apartment, tearing my hair out over a research paper on St. Augustine and his Confessions, thinking that I couldn't stand to type one more word. My mother was very sick then, and an ex-girlfriend had just broken up with me. My friends were set for fancy careers in Manhattan and D.C., while I languished and scratched my head about what to do with a degree in English. That existential dread that struck many seniors plagued me in feverish degrees, and on top of everything else, I admit that [End Page 63] I often walked towards the train tracks at night and watched the trains go by, imagining what it might be like to lay down on the cool steel rails, with nobody around to see. That night, I'd shut the Confessions, and thought, enough is enough. Why were we reading this man's prayers to God hundreds of years later anyway? If anyone were to read my prayers a hundred years from now, they'd probably be very disappointed. I went outside, under the falling snow, and found myself walking to the tracks. I never did intend to hurt myself, although hearing that churning on the rails did set my mind going. The snow was light, the sort that melted the second it touched my fingers. I wasn't wearing gloves, and the dry air made my skin rough and raw. The ground was still visible, only sprinkled with white, the way dandruff settles on my grandfather's jackets. Halfway across campus, I heard the music. Behind the soft rumble of the approaching freight train, piano keys glittered in the...