Interpersonal violence in adolescence: ecological correlates of self-reported perpetration

Although growing attention is being paid to the problem of teen dating violence, to date less is known about perpetrators of victimization. The current article used a subset of 980 adolescents aged 11 to 19 who were surveyed as part of a statewide community service coordinated through Cooperative Extension to survey all youth in target communities about risky health behaviors. The current article examined correlates of perpetration of either physical dating violence or sexual abuse across all levels of the ecological model (individual, family, and community factors). At the bivariate level, individual factors including substance use and low social responsibility, family factors including divorce, low parental monitoring, and low social support, and community variables such as low school attachment and neighborhood monitoring were associated with self-reported perpetration. At the multivariate level, gender and history of victimization were most significant in explaining variance in perpetration.     

Multiplex PCR and minisequencing of SNPs--a model with 35 Y chromosome SNPs

We have developed a robust single nucleotide polymorphism (SNPs) typing assay with co-amplification of 25 DNA-fragments and the detection of 35 human Y chromosome SNPs. The sizes of the PCR products ranged from 79 to 186 base pairs. PCR primers were designed to have a theoretical Tm of 60 +/- 5 degrees C at a salt concentration of 180 mM. The sizes of the primers ranged from 19 to 34 nucleotides. The concentration of amplification primers was adjusted to obtain balanced amounts of PCR products in 8mM MgCl2. For routine purposes, 1 ng of genomic DNA was amplified and the lower limit was approximately 100 pg DNA. The minisequencing reactions were performed simultaneously for all 35 SNPs with fluorescently labelled dideoxynucleotides. The size of the minisequencing primers ranged from 19 to 106 nucleotides. The minisequencing reactions were analysed by capillary electrophoresis and multicolour fluorescence detection. Female DNA did not influence the results of Y chromosome SNP typing when added in concentrations more than 300 times the concentrations of male DNA. The frequencies of the 35 SNPs were determined in 194 male Danes. The gene diversity of the SNPs ranged from 0.01 to 0.5.     

Using military forces under international auspices and democratic accountability

This article reports on a research project that deals with howto ensure democratic accountability when military forces areused under the auspices of international institutions. The internationalcommunity has developed a range of ways in which military forcescan be used. States have also decided that in some cases militaryforces can be deployed to pacify intra-state as well as inter-stateconflicts. States have developed a mixed system to deal withthe issues of democratic accountability. Although military operationsare conducted under the auspices of international institutions,states maintain control over decisions to deploy their troops. Democraticcontrol and accountability have been maintained through national institutionsand procedures. International authorization, preferably by theUN Security Council, is important to establish internationaland domestic legitimacy, but it is not the essential mechanismfor ensuring democratic accountability.     

Romantic Relationships and Body Satisfaction Among Young Women

In the present study we examined associations between young women's romantic relationships and their body image. Ninety-five heterosexual couples (women's mean age=22.46 and men's mean age=24.38) participated in this study. We examined young women's satisfaction with their own bodies, their perceptions of their significant others’ satisfaction with their bodies, and their significant others’ actual satisfaction with their bodies using the Contour Drawing Rating Scale women's weight status was assessed using body mass index (BMI). Relationship constructs examined included relationship quality and the length of couples’ romantic relationships. Results indicated that females were more dissatisfied with their bodies than they perceived their significant others to be and were more dissatisfied than their significant others actually were. Analyses further indicated that the longer women had been in a relationship with their significant other, the more likely they were to incorrectly believe that their significant other wanted them to look thinner.Assistant Professor at Rutgers University. She received her PhD in psychology from the University of California at Riverside in 2002. Her research focuses on the development of body image and dieting behaviors and on understanding relations between personality and health.Assistant Professor at Villanova University. He received his PhD in psychology from the University of California at Riverside in 2002. His research focuses primarily on interpersonal theory.     

Evaluation of structured cognitive–behavioural treatment programmes in reducing criminal recidivism

This paper reports the outcome of a 17-month follow-up of structured, community-based, offence-focused, intervention programmes designed to reduce rates of re-conviction amongst adjudicated offenders under probation supervision. Three separate programmes were examined, all derived from a cognitive social learning model of risk factors for repeated involvement in crime. Using a quasi-experimental design, the study compared male offenders who had completed programmes (n = 215) with a non-completion group (n = 181), a group allocated to programmes but who had not commenced them (n = 339), and a control sample (n = 194) not allocated to the programmes. Outcome data analysis employed (a) an “intent to treat” between-group comparison, (b) “treatment received” methodology. In order to take account of selection bias, data were further analysed using instrumental variables and propensity scores; results suggested a possible treatment effect for moderate and higher-risk cases. Factors influencing different interpretations of these findings were considered.

‘A Real Woman Waits’ – Heteronormative Respectability,Neo-Liberal Betterment and Echoes of Coloniality in SGBV Programming in Eastern DR Congo

ABSTRACT

Drawing on archival and field research, this article critically examines the production and distribution of gender roles and expectations in SGBV programming, in particular in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). We find the underlying currents in some of these programmes reinscribe heteronormativity and focus on individual betterment which resonates with regulating gender and sexuality during colonialism. In some cases, strongly western-inspired norms of individual agency have been introduced, disregarding structural constraints of people’s lives. To conclude, we explore alternative approaches to SGBV prevention, ones in which international approaches are re-defined and vernacularized for local use – but which also at times inform global understandings.