Socialization and Individual Antecedents of Adolescents’ and Young Adults’ Moral Motivation

Socialization and individual differences were examined as antecedents of moral motivation in representative samples of 15-year-old adolescents (N = 1,258; 54% female) and 21-year-old young adults (N = 584; 53% female). The adolescents’ primary caregivers (N = 1,056) also participated. The strength of moral motivation was rated by participants’ responses to two hypothetical moral dilemmas in terms of action decisions, emotion attributions, and justifications. Socialization was measured by the perceived quality of friendship, parent–child relationships, and educational background. The importance attached to social justice and various personality traits were also assessed. Adolescents’ moral motivation was positively associated with the quality of their parent–child relationship and the importance of social justice. Young adults’ moral motivation was predicted by the perceived quality of friendships, the importance of social justice, and agreeableness. For both groups, moral motivation was greater in females. The theoretical implications of the findings for the development of moral motivation are discussed.     

Intentional torts claims in medical cases

Civil liability legislation enacted in each Australian jurisdiction following the Ipp Report recommendations created a clear divide between "negligence" and "intentional" torts. The common law action for trespass to the person is to varying extents maintained in the approaches taken by the State and Territory legislatures. This article explores the potential application of intentional torts claims in a medical context in light of recent case law. It identifies advantages for plaintiffs who plead intentional tort claims, including onus of proof, causation, remoteness, the quantum of compensatory damages and the availability of aggravated and exemplary damages.     

Economic Inequality and Intolerance: Attitudes toward Homosexuality in 35 Democracies

Using hierarchical linear models fitted to data from the World Values Survey and national statistics for 35 countries, this article builds on the postmaterialist thesis by assessing the impact of economic inequality across and within nations on attitudes toward homosexuality. It provides evidence that tolerance tends to decline as national income inequality rises. For professionals and managers, the results also support the postmaterialist argument that economic development leads to more tolerant attitudes. On the other hand, attitudes of the working class are generally less tolerant, and contrary to expectations of the postmaterialist thesis, are seemingly unaffected by economic development. In other words, economic development influences attitudes only for those who benefit most. These findings have political implications, suggesting that state policies that have the goal of economic growth but fail to consider economic inequality may contribute to intolerant social and political values, an attribute widely considered detrimental for the health of democracy.     

Citizen Participation in Public Administration: Views from Lebanon

This article examines citizen participation in Lebanon. Specifically, we apply the International Association for Public Participation Spectrum of Public Participation (2007) and use survey, interview, and archival data to understand how and why Lebanese government agencies use citizen participation. In addition to reviewing survey data, we present short cases about citizen participation in the three Lebanese agencies. Our findings indicate that the majority of public agencies in Lebanon use basic forms of citizen participation that span the inform-consult categories on the IAP2 spectrum. The article concludes with a discussion about the challenges of and prospects for citizen participation in the Lebanese public sector.     

Faster? Cheaper? Better? Using ADR to Resolve Federal Sector EEO Complaints

This article examines the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's Management Directive 110, which requires all federal agencies to offer alternative dispute resolution (ADR) to employees with equal employment opportunity (EEO) complaints. Specifically, the article examines federal sector EEO complaint processing before and after the passage of Management Directive 110 and compares the traditional EEO procedure with the use of ADR on several indicators of case processing and case outcomes. Findings are reported in three sections: an overall analysis, an analysis of the informal stage of the process, and an analysis of the formal stage of the process. The article concludes with a discussion and directions for future research.     

Religious-Related Abuse in the Family

Religion provides directives for positive moral action and the promotion of human welfare; but religious beliefs can also foster and justify abusive behavior in the context of family life and child rearing. Parents, who are emotionally distraught and cannot control their responses to their child’s needs or misbehavior, might wield religious ideas to intimidate and control their children. In our paper we set forth two fundamental types of religion-related emotional abuse and discuss the complex role that religion can play in perpetuating abusive family relationships. We address the emotional aspects of religion-related abuse and also its transgenerational transfer. We present a case illustration focusing on how such abuse leads to dysfunctional patterns of behavior in family relationships and disruptions in emotion regulation processes. Applying a Relational Family Therapy model, we consider select therapeutic implications for addressing and overcoming religious abuse and restoring functional emotion regulation processes in families.