Gender,General Strain Theory,Negative Emotions,and Disordered Eating

Much of the prior work on General Strain Theory (GST) has focused on how strain and negative emotions interrelate to produce criminal—especially violent—activity. Very little research has extended GST to examine other types of non-criminal, negative behavior, such as self-harming behaviors associated with disordered eating, a traditionally female-specific self-directed outcome. Using a sample of 338 young adults (54% female, 95% white), this article applies GST to disordered eating by examining how strain and negative emotions relate to this particular outcome across gender. Findings indicate that two types of strain measures predict depressive symptoms among males and females, that inequitable strainful experiences relate to disordered eating among females but not males, that depressive symptoms but not anger increase disordered eating for both males and females, and that membership in Greek organizations (sororities or fraternities) is associated with disordered eating but only for males. Implications for theory and directions for future research are highlighted.     

Managing governance complexity and knowledge networks in transparency initiatives: the case of police open data

Public organisations are often described as being subject to types of complexity that result from the interorganisational structure of governance networks. Transparency programmes add another level of complexity due to increased information openness. However, neither the nature of this complexity nor the network management approaches needed for transparency programmes has been conceptually developed. To address this gap, this article brings together governance complexity theory and knowledge management theory. An empirical model is tested using the case of police open data with regression analysis and 22 expert interviews. The results show that institutional and environmental complexity such as budget pressures, legal-normative constraints, and task complexity exert a negative influence on police information openness. However, network knowledge management practices including developing mission focus on people and communication and overcoming organisational boundaries through interorganisational collaboration can counteract these problems of complexity.     

Ned Cobb's children: A new look at white supremacy in the rural southern US

Many scholars regard segregation in the US South as part of urbanization and modernization. Yet few have examined race relations in the countryside. The Rural Face of White Supremacy shows that absolute separation based on race proved poorly adapted to rural life. Inspired by the sociological studies of the rural South done in the 1930s and the 1940s, this book uses oral history to show that interracial social life in mid-twentieth century rural Georgia was ‘marked by intimacy as well as white supremacy.’ Race relations reflected the paternalism and dependence of an agrarian labour system that reduced black workers to the status of a peasantry.     

“Spin-In” Technology Transfer for Small R&D Bio-Technology Firms: The Case of Bio-Defense

This study investigates the types of factors which can lead to government acquisition, or the “spin-in” of bio-defense technologies from small bio-technology firms. Empirical findings suggest that for small biotechnology R&D firms desiring to increase “spin-in” technology transfer, there appears to be two distinct and important influence groups—the scientific community within federal agencies, institutes, and centers, and the more managerial, policy-oriented decisions makers. We found that personal communication and networking appear to be the primary factor that leads to a successful technology transfer, however, the form and substance of personal communication and networking will differ between the two influence groups.