The Africa Commission Report: What About the Politics?

Book reviewed: Our Common Interest: The Report of the Africa Commission. By the Commission for Africa. London: Commission for Africa, 2005. 462pp. £10.00 pb. (forthcoming in June 2005 from Penguin Books Ltd, Our Common Interest: An Argument. 192pp. £5.00 pb.).     

Transition Shock and the Relocation of People from Mental Handicap Hospitals and Hostels

The process of deinstitutionalisation has been gathering momentum in Britain and the United States since the mid-1970s. A discussion of these trends provides the background to an examination of “transition shock” as it affects people relocated from mental handicap institutions. The paper explores the theoretical underpinnings of the concept of transition shock and links them to the findings of a follow-up study of the behavioural consequences of relocation.     

Influence of vegetation composition on runoff in two simulated green roof experiments

Despite the fact that green roofs are based upon living systems, the majority of published research literature contains little specific information on the contribution of plants to the various functions and properties of green roofs. Furthermore, there has been little investigation of the influence of the composition of vegetation on the physical properties of a green roof system. This paper reviews previously published material that throws light on the role of vegetation composition on green roof function, with particular regard to rainwater runoff. Two experiments at the University of Sheffield, UK, are considered in detail: (a) An outdoor lysimeter experiment that investigated the quantity of runoff from trays containing 100 mm of growing medium and combinations of grasses and forbs, together with bare substrate, and (b) a greenhouse experiment using simulated rainfall to estimate the amount of rainfall intercepted by different vegetation types. In both cases the vegetation ranged from simple monocultures of forbs and grasses through to complex mixtures of both. In both cases, the composition of the vegetation was found to significantly affect both the amount of water retained and released from the system.     

Sounds of Silence: narrative research with inarticulate subjects

This article addresses the challenge of using narrative methods with people who have learning difficulties. Such informants present four particular interview problems: inarticulateness; unresponsiveness; a concrete frame of reference; and difficulties with the concept of time. The authors focus on the first two of these problems and argue that neither of them constitutes an insuperable barrier to people telling their story. Drawing on detailed interview material from an informant with learning difficulties, the authors set out to show in practical terms how these problems might be tackled, emphasising in particular the importance of being attentive to what goes unsaid. They conclude that researchers should put more emphasis on overcoming the barriers that impede the involvement of inarticulate subjects in narrative research instead of dwelling on their limitations as informants.