An Examination of the Relationship Between Media Exposure and Fear of Victimization: Implications of the Superpredator Narrative on Juvenile Justice Policies

The media allow crime to infiltrate the public’s consciousness in every conceivable way, thereby playing a major role in shaping the public’s opinion and attitude toward crime and crime issues (Barak, 1995; Fields & Jerin, 1996; Kappeler & Potter, 2005). Reporters constantly talk about crime, and crime related stories dominate the headlines of local and national newspaper outlets (Dowler, 2003; Pizarro et al, 2007). Some of the most highly rated television programs are based on crime plots and people across social, political, and racial demographics are constantly engaged in crime dialogue generated from local or national news stories. When the focus of these mediums is on youth they become even more profound and contentious. The images portrayed conjure up stereotypes that lead to fear and inflammatory remarks that become entrenched into the national lexicon. The current study uses data from the National Opinion Survey of Crime and Justice to test the relationship between crime-related media viewership and fear of victimization within a nationally representative adult sample. Approximately 42.67% of respondents reported regularly watching crime shows and about the same proportion (42.83%) believed their local media paid too much attention to violent crime. In addition to regular crime-show viewership, confidence in the police, gender, and recent contact with the police were associated with fear of victimization. This article adds to an existing body of research through a largely unexplored area in the administration of justice. It does so within the context of the U.S. juvenile justice system.     

Towards Indigenous Feminist Theorizing in the Caribbean

This attempt to develop an indigenous reading of feminism as both activism and discourse in the Caribbean is informed by my own preoccupation with the limits of contemporary postmodern feminist theorizing in terms of its accessibility, as well as application to understanding the specificity of a region. I, for instance, cannot speak for or in the manner of a white middle-class academic in Britain, or a black North American feminist, as much as we share similarities which go beyond the society, and which are fuelled by our commitment to gender equality. At the same time, our conversations are intersecting as a greater clarity of thought emerges in relation and perhaps in reaction to the other. Ideas of difference and the epistemological standpoint of ‘Third World’ women have been dealt with admirably by many feminist writers such as Chandra Mohanty, Avtah Brah and Uma Narayan. In this article I draw on the ideas emerging in contemporary western feminist debates pertaining to sexual difference and equality and continue my search for a Caribbean feminist voice which defines feminism and feminist theory in the region, not as a linear narrative but one which has continually intersected with the politics of identity in the region.     

The Contribution of Donor Support Programs to Decentralized Development: Learning from the District Level in Ghana

Donor aid has over the years turned out to be a very decisive development component for most developing nations, but aid is often criticized for ineffectiveness. This article seeks to share perspectives on the relevance of direct project or program support and the need to refrain from homogeneity in aid research by assessing the contribution of the Government of Ghana/European Union (GoG/EU) Micro-Projects Programme in the Nadowli District of Ghana from 1997–2009. The findings acknowledge positive impacts of the program in the district. There are sector consistencies between the donor interest and local development priorities in health, education and the water and sanitation sectors. However, selectivity of project within and among sectors brings potential conflicts of interest and tradeoffs between the program and local community needs. The results imply a reexamination of decentralized development through a lens of new partnership between donors’ interest and local needs. Stepping up community awareness to ensure full participation in project design, execution, operation, and maintenance could serve as a start-up platform for new partnerships. It is imperative to align donor interest with local realities, which prompts a rethinking of adoption of new project approaches such as co-development, design, and implementation.     

Senior Public Managers’ Engagement: A Person–Situation-Interactionist Perspective

This article examines the engagement of senior public managers by developing a person–situation-interactionist perspective. It integrates the literature on social exchange theory and person–organization fit to explore the effects of decision autonomy and shared vision on the engagement of more than 2,000 senior public sector managers in the central government agencies of three continental European countries: France, Germany, and The Netherlands. Then, it examines whether the locus of control of those managers moderates the decision autonomy–engagement and shared vision–engagement relationships. The structural equation modeling results suggest that there are positive relationships between both decision autonomy and shared vision and employee engagement. Further analysis revealed that an internal locus of control strengthened the decision autonomy–engagement relationship, but that it weakened the shared vision–engagement relationship.