Inmate family functioning

Two-hundred-nine noninmates and 169 inmates completed questionnaires that assessed retrospective perceptions of 12 dimensions of family life and one overall assessment of quality of family life. Between the inmates and noninmates, means for all dependent variables differed significantly except for self-reliance; however, meaningful eta-squares were found only for dimensions of bridging, disengagement, and quality of life. Among the independent-samples t tests for gender, eta-squares were not meaningful. Implications for family life interventions in correctional facilities are suggested.     

Between the lines: Surf texts,prosthetics, and everyday theory

The texts of surfing have been largely neglected in serious cultural commentary. Surfing, as with other texts in popular culture, cannot be adequately explained through the deployment of existing theoretical and analytical paradigms. We must move beyond de Certeau's psychoanalysis and Fiske's semiotic essentialism in order to explain satisfactorily the ideo‐political and consumer dimensions of textual surfing.     

The Spaces of Social Movements: O Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra from a Socio-spatial Perspective

This paper considers the social movement O Movimento dos Trabalharores Rurais Sem Terra (The Movement of Landless Rural Workers, often referred to as the MST). Based on empirical data collected in Ceará, Brazil during 2005, it explores the social and spatial practices that shape MST communities. Using Henri Lefebvre's theory of spatial production, a framework is developed for conceptualising Brazilian agrarian reform within the context of spatial appropriation and the tactics of counter-hegemonic ideology. Through an examination of emergent MST communities, the paper considers the production and constant rearticulation of space. This spatial analytic, it is suggested, offers new insight into the attributes that frequently distinguish individual MST communities.     

Comparing Extremist Perpetrators of Suicide and Non-Suicide Attacks in the United States

ABSTRACT

This study explores differences in perpetrators of suicide attacks and non-suicide attacks in the United States. The study uses data on far-right and Al Qaeda and affiliated/inspired terrorists between 1990 and 2013 from the United States Extremist Crime Database. Our analysis estimates logistic regression models to test whether suicide attackers were more likely to have exhibited specific risk factors for suicidality, while examining other prominent claims regarding patterns of suicide terrorism. Suicide attackers were no more likely than non-suicide attackers to have previously attempted suicide or to have been diagnosed as mentally ill. Suicide attackers were more likely, though, to have a history of substance abuse, to be loners, have served in the military, participated in paramilitary training, and be more ideologically committed to the cause. We found that Al Qaeda affiliated/inspired attackers were more likely than far-right attackers to have engaged in a suicide mission. With the current focus on Americans traveling to Syria and Iraq to receive training and fight for jihadist movements (e.g., the Islamic State), our findings appear relevant. Observers have expressed concern that these fighters may return and then commit attacks in their homeland. Law enforcement could make use of this study’s findings.     

固相萃取-气相色谱法检测全血中佐匹克隆

目的采用固相萃取-气相色谱法检测全血中佐匹克隆。方法采用Oasis HLB固相萃取柱对样品进行前处理,去离子水、0.5%氨水-甲醇/水((V/V 40∶60)溶液先后淋洗,二氯甲烷/异丙醇(V/V 75∶25)洗脱后进行GC/NPD检测。结果血液中佐匹克隆在50～5 000ng/mL范围内线性良好(R2=0.998 8),平均萃取回收率为96.9%,检出限为30ng/mL,日内RSD为2.1%～5.7%,日间RSD为3.3%～6.2%,结论固相萃取-气相色谱检测法灵敏度高,重现性好,可在血液中佐匹克隆的检测中选用。     

New Millennium,New Public Management and the New Zealand Model

Recently the much‐discussed ‘New Zealand model’ of new public management (NPM) has become significantly revised. It now lacks the theoretical coherence and the market‐led focus that it relied on between 1987 and 1996. Labour‐led governments since 1999 have undertaken gradual and pragmatic – yet significant – changes in public management structures and principles, refining and sometimes reversing the model implemented in the late 1980s and early 1990s. This article does a ‘stock‐take’ of public management developments in New Zealand from 1999 to 2008, and argues that New Zealand can no longer be viewed as a leading exponent of market‐led NPM. Some NPM principles have been refined, but others have been quietly abandoned. The new National‐led government appears unwilling to undertake radical reforms, and, while it may seek a greater role for the private sector, looks set to continue with the ‘gradual and pragmatic’ approach adopted since 1999.     

UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE IN SURVEY AND ADMINISTRATIVE DATA

Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits were a central part of the social safety net during the COVID-19 recession. UI benefits, however, are severely understated in surveys. Using administrative tax data, we find that over half of UI benefits were missed in major survey data, with a greater understatement among low-income workers. As a result, 2020 official poverty rates were overstated by about 2 percentage points, and corrected poverty reached a six-decade low. We provide data to correct underreporting in surveys and show that, compared to UI benefits, the UI exclusion tax expenditure was less targeted at low incomes.