Beyond Nuclear Deterrence: the concept of a retributive policy

ABSTRACT The primary aim of the paper is to apply the concept of retribution to nuclear defence policy. Nuclear defence policy, as I conceive it, is concerned with addressing the threat Soviet nuclear weapons pose for Western security. I argue that, contrary to popular opinion, MAD is not a retributive doctrine—that in fact it violates two constitutive principles of retribution: culpability and proportionality. After explicating these constitutive principles, I apply them to retaliatory strategy—showing that the culpability criterion restricts retaliation to the agents of aggression while the proportionality criterion requires a just measure of retaliation. The result is a defence policy continuous with the just war tradition—one which rules out deterrence based on threats against the civilian population. I show why a retributive policy requires non-nuclear forces and discuss the feasiblity of replacing all nuclear forces with conventional weapons. I anticipate and answer major objections to the denuclearization of U.S. and NATO forces. Finally, I conclude that an advocate of a retributive policy—specifically, a policy calling for a proportional or measured response against combatants only—must be willing, in the name of justice, to accept the risk of making war more thinkable by making it less horrible.     

Comparison of Schizophrenic Patients' Families and Normal Families in China,Using Chinese Versions of FACES-II and the Family Environment Scales

The lack of measures that systematically evaluate the characteristics and functioning of Chinese families is hindering the development of appropriate family interventions for schizophrenia in China. We assessed the reliability and validity of revised and adapted Chinese versions (CV) of the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scales (FACES-II-CV) and the Family Environment Scales (FES-CV) and administered these instruments to 120 respondents from families with a schizophrenic member and 126 respondents from control families. The psychometric properties of the FACES-II-CV and of the FES-CV Cohesion, Conflict, Intellectual-Cultural Orientation, and Active-Recreational Orientation scales are satisfactory, so they are appropriate for use in China; the remaining six FES-CV scales require further culturally appropriate revision. Compared to control families, families with schizophrenic patients in China have higher conflict, lower cohesion, poor adaptability, and are less likely to be involved in intellectual and recreational activities. These differences remained significant after adjusting for family and respondent characteristics.     

Use of Self: A Brief Report

One of the effects of crisis in a family is that the members become fixed in rigid attitudes with strong, narrow limits imposed on the free flow of feelings. A way for the family therapist to free up the members of such a system is to introduce his own affect into the structure. A child may be required to help the therapist gain entry.     

Counseling Rejected Applicants: Feedback for Career Development

In this article the author points out the need for more adequate counseling with an often neglected segment of the population: rejected applicants to higher education. He delineates the roles, functions, and problems of the counselor in this situation, using as an example current procedures for counseling rejected applicants in the Yale Physician's Associate Program. The article contains recommendations for counselors, so that they might become more familiar with the problems and functions of admissions committees, and for admissions committees, so that they might enlist the aid of those with counseling training in both the admissions process and the counseling of rejected applicants.