Predicting Customer Service Employees’ Job Satisfaction and Turnover Intentions: The Roles of Customer Interactional Injustice and Interdependent Self-Construal

Research has primarily examined supervisors and coworkers as sources of unfair interpersonal treatment (i.e., interactional injustice) in the workplace. Unfair treatment, however, can also originate with customers. Using a cross-sectional, correlational research design (N = 172), we examined the associations among customer injustice, employee job satisfaction, and turnover intentions. Drawing on relational theories of fairness, we also examined whether employees who more strongly define themselves through their interpersonal relationships (i.e., those with stronger interdependent self-construals) would exhibit stronger injustice-attitudes associations. Results showed that, overall, greater injustice was associated with lower job satisfaction but not greater turnover intentions. Moreover, as expected, the strength of employees’ interdependent self-construals moderated the injustice-attitudes relations: Relationship-oriented employees showed significant associations between injustice and both job satisfaction and turnover intentions, whereas those with weaker relationship orientations did not. Implications and future research directions are discussed.

A critical review of past studies on China’s corrections and recidivism

This article reviews studies of China’s correctional system and recidivism in approximately the last two decades. Studies on the Chinese correctional system may be grouped into two subfields, one on studies of the correctional system itself (e.g., the composition and the function of the system), and the other on studies of prison inmates in other related topics (e.g., their criminal behavior). Studies on China’s recidivism showed a very low recidivism rate, and China’s crime prevention strategies were closely related to its societal structure and social control. Future studies in these two areas need to focus on the most recent changes in the Chinese criminal justice system, and gain more access to Chinese prisons to do empirical testing.

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Juvenile delinquency and justice in contemporary China: a critical review of the literature over 15 years

The study reviews research on juvenile delinquency and justice in China since 1990. The review covers three issues that have been studied in the publications: (1) the nature and scope of China’s juvenile delinquency; (2) individual, group, and institutional factors and their roles in delinquency involvement; and (3) the development of China’s juvenile justice. Because Hong Kong is a special region of China and has a different social, political, and legal system, the study reviews the publications on Hong Kong’s juvenile delinquency and justice in a separate section. It summarizes the findings derived from the review, analyzes and discusses the limitations of the reviewed studies, and provides prospects for future research in the area.

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Institutionalized corruption: power overconcentration of the First-in-Command in China

Among various kinds of corruption in China, corruption of the First-in-Command (FIC) is most pernicious, threatening the legitimacy of the Chinese Communist Party and the stability of the state. This paper examines several specific institutional arrangements under China’s current political structure, including the people’s congress, the ruling party system, and the collective leadership team system, to see how they have contributed to power overconcentration in the hands of FICs. This is done in a two-round process: first through the collective leadership team and then by the gestating decision-making rule. The paper also assesses four institutional innovations designed to prevent FIC corruption.

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China in the Asia–Pacific Partnership: consequences for UN climate change mitigation efforts?

This article discusses China’s motives for participation in the Asia–Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate (APP), and whether this has or will have consequences for its participation and efforts in the UN track of international climate governance. In order to discuss these issues, it also provides an outline of key national priorities and explains the nature of China’s involvement in both the UN track and the APP. It suggests that the APP is a complement to the UN process, not a competitor, in the case of China. APP participation represents a win–win situation in terms of the transfer of technology and know-how for solving challenges related to energy security and greenhouse gas emissions. For the Chinese leadership, this seems preferable to taking on UN commitments which it fears would impede economic development. The APP’s projects also seem to complement the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism project in China. This article argues that there is little indication that China would make less of an effort under the UN track.

Old wine in new bottles: a county-level case study of anti-corruption reform in the People’s Republic of China

This paper examines the role of the target-based responsibility system for building upright Party style and clean government in combating corruption in local China. It argues that the effectiveness of the target-based responsibility system in corruption control is compromised by a number of implementation hurdles in practice. Based on a close examination of one county, Shaanxi Province in the northwest China, this study shows that low measurability of the targets, the conflict between anti-corruption work and other evaluation targets, and the impact of patronage politics account for the implementation failure of the target-based responsibility system. The fundamental problem lies in that under China’s unified cadre personnel management system, political will can interfere with the handling of corruption on a case-by-case basis, no matter what kind of anti-corruption mechanism is employed. Under this context, the adoption of the target-based responsibility system in fighting corruption results in nothing more than “pouring old wine into new bottles.”

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Effect of China’s rise on East Asian economic integration

This article discusses the effect of China’s economic rise on East Asian economic integration and concludes that the emergence of China as an increasingly important economic power has made a great contribution to Asian economic integration mainly through four channels: being a main importer and FDI destination country for most Asian countries under the processing export pattern; the renminbi’s more active image in the regional currency cooperation and its potential role as one of the core regional currencies in the future; playing a more important role in the regional political affairs and having an increasing potential to be part of the political core power (together with Japan); the demonstration and stimulative effects made by the motion of the FTA between China and ASEAN.

On special protections for rescuers and helpers

There is something intuitively correct about singling out emergency workers for legal protection, and for criminalizing not just assault, but obstruction. Moreover, at least one sophisticated theory of right and wrong – Scanlon’s—indicates some deep reasons for endorsing these intuitions. After applying Scanlon’s theory in the relevant way, I want to argue that the same grounds it provides for recent Scottish legislation and UK sentencing guidelines can also be given for punishing more seriously offences that current English law trivialises.

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Familias con Voz</Emphasis>: Community Survey Results from an Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) Prevention Project with Migrant Workers

The Migrant Clinicians Network’s Familias con Voz (Families with a Voice) project aims to train migrant men and women to become intimate partner violence (IPV) peer educators in their communities. In preparation for implementing educational activities, a community survey was conducted with 298 participants in three Texas border counties. Verbal abuse, such as name calling, was the most frequent type of violence reported. Men perceived anger as a cause of partner violence significantly more than women. Only 22% of respondents reported knowing of a shelter they could turn to for help. Surprisingly, a majority of participants cited “seeking help from the police” when asked about ways to decrease partner violence. Survey results offer insight into developing effective intervention programs by capturing the intended audiences’ beliefs and attitudes. Additionally, survey results reveal possible strategies for how to tackle IPV in U.S.-Mexico border migrant farmworker communities.

Corruption in China’s economic reform: a review of recent observations and explanations

Corruption is a universal phenomenon of public institutions. It is markedly more pervasive in developing and transitional societies. China, with rapid economic growth for two decades, has been deeply troubled by the problem of official corruption at all levels in the public sector. The paper reviews the literature in the last 15 years which examines Chinese corruption from either a theoretical or empirical approach, by qualitative or quantitative methods in observation. Based on more than 30 studies with a focus on the related topic, the review covers issues of Chinese corruption data and statistics, theoretical explanations and China’s strategies of fighting corruption as well as critique.

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The dual nature of anti-corruption agencies in China

As the pace of modern life quickens considerably and changes come fast and furious in public affairs, the qualifications based on which public servants are recruited, the skills they are required to master in order to deal with the new situation, the challenges they are faced with, and the administrative behavior they demonstrate are all no longer the same. Bureaucrats in anti-corruption agencies are no exception. This article will review the latest development in China’s public administration, as unethical bureaucratic behavior in anti-corruption agencies has been among the increasingly vexing pathologies the authorities have to cope with.

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Symbolic Hate: Intention to Intimidate,Political Ideology,and Group Association

In Virginia v. Black (123 S.Ct. 1536, 2003), the Supreme Court ruled that the First Amendment did not bar statutes that prohibit cross burnings in which defendants acted with intention to intimidate others. Using a variety of symbols including cross burnings, swastikas, confederate flags, and skin fists, the current research tested how mock jurors used alternative actor intentions to judge culpability in symbolic hate speech cases. Only partially validating the Court’s assumptions, participants rated guilt certainty highest when they believed the speakers conveyed direct threats, sometimes regardless of whether defendants intended to intimidate others. Further, results showed the level of perceived intimidation only partially mediated the relationship between type of fact pattern and guilt certainty ratings. While alternative intentions did produce different levels of intention to intimidate, path analysis showed that the participants’ ratings of the defendant’s intention to convey a direct threat influenced guilt certainty ratings in all cases. Perceived intimidation levels predicted culpability in only some of the cases and not for cross burning on private property.

Researching the use of force: the background to the international project

This article provides the background to an international project on use of force by the police that was carried out in seven countries. Force is often considered to be the defining characteristic of policing and much research has been conducted on the determinants, prevalence and control of the use of force, particularly in the United States. However, little work has looked at police officers’ own views on the use of force, in particular the way in which they justify it. Using a hypothetical encounter developed for this project, researchers in each country conducted focus groups with police officers in which they were encouraged to talk about the use of force. The results show interesting similarities and differences across countries and demonstrate the value of using this kind of research focus and methodology.

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Philosophy of Law Against Sovereignty: New Excesses,Old Fragmentations

The only way of entering the world of ‘fragmented law’ (or ‘societal constitutionalism’) is arguably to make normative fragmentation correspond with constituent excess. As Foucault would say, once we are involved in an ‘epistemic crisis’, we must then modify those systems that organise knowledge in conjunction with the very forms that produce it. This contribution considers some privileged forms of critique and reconstruction beyond normative fragmentation and essentially argues in favour of governance dynamics, as well as for ontological devices engaged in the production of subjectivity.

A Participant Evaluation of the U.S. Navy Parent Support Program

This study reports on the results of a program evaluation of the U.S. Navy New Parent Support Program (NPSP). NPSP is comprised of two components: center-based parenting classes and home-based visits. Data are presented on: (a) satisfaction with program quality, (b) how well the program met its primary objectives (e.g., helps reduce parenting stress), (c) how well the NPSP met its Reasons for Being (RFBs; e.g., Helps service members concentrate on their job), and (d) program impact on mission-related outcomes (i.e., quality of life (QOL), readiness, and program impact on their decision to remain in the military). Results indicate that parents who take part in both the parenting classes and home-based visits report that the program exceeded their expectations, the program improved their perceptions of their parenting and coping skills, they perceived that the program demonstrated the Navy’s concern for Sailors and their families, and the program enhanced the family’s quality of life. Implications of study findings are discussed.

White-collar,organised and cyber crimes in the media: some contrasts and similarities

This article examines the media reportage of white-collar crimes, organised crimes and cybercrimes, principally in the British but also in the US media. It illustrates the ways in which different newspapers depict crime seriousness and how some defendants adapt to these portrayals. It examines competing explanatory models and suggests that although reportage has an ideological component, ‘news values’ and production pressures as well as ‘action triggers’ such as prosecutions or regulatory interventions are important.

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Financing the Athenian state: public choice in the age of Demosthenes

The present essay analyses Athenian finances during the fourth century BC, the ‘Age of Demosthenes’, from both the revenue and expenditure points of view. It examines how Athenians practiced the concept of ‘economic democracy’ on matters of public choice, and the sometimes ingenious solutions they adopted for financing public goods such as defense, education and ‘social security’. Ancient Athens, the ‘prototype’ political democracy, was advanced also in matters of public administration, finance and institutions, on which political democracy was based and without their smooth running could not have functioned.

Toward a clean government in China: does the budget reform provide a hope?

Fighting corruption has proven to be a difficult task in many countries. In this paper, using China as a case study, we argue that a properly designed budgetary institution helps remove many institutional incentives and opportunities for corruption in financial management and regulatory activities of the government. As a result of recent budget reforms, China’s anticorruption effort has shifted from its earlier emphasis on exhortation and periodic crackdowns, which have been found to be ineffective, to the more fundamental issues of institutional incentives and opportunities for corruption. We propose that one consequence of the budget reform is the hope that China’s effort to create a clean government will be advanced. However, there is still a long way to go since it will take time for the new budgetary system to be institutionalized. This study is supported by Sun Yat-sen University 982–2 International Exchange Fund. The authors wish to thank Professor Ting Gong, Professor Stephen Ma, and Dr. Alfred Ho for their assistance and suggestions in editing and refining this essay. We are also grateful to Dr. Oliver M. Rui for his valuable comments. Lastly, we want to thank Dr. Andrew Wedeman for sending us his paper for reference.

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Torn between two targets: German police officers talk about the use of force

Considering earlier research into police use of force as well as the judicial and practical frame of police work in Germany, the article presents the results of an empirical study on the individual and collective legitimization of the use of force by German police officers. There are numerous justifications for the use of force expressed by focus group participants in eight German Federal States who were responding to a hypothesized scenario. In the discussions observed within the groups, reference is first made to the state’s duty to prosecute alleged offences and the measures or formal actions to do this—hence, the legal authority to use force. In the course of the discussions, however, it became obvious that illegal violence may occur, although it was not perceived as such by the officers. Overall, and after an intensive analysis of the focus group discussions, it can be stated that use of force (whether legal or not) depends on the police officer’s perception of the resistance of the person being engaged with. In this regard, different social–cultural or physical–material factors can be identified. They have different influences on the individual legitimization of police actions, intertwined with the perception of the situation as constructed by the officer. Three ways of perceiving the situation can be deduced, resulting in different patterns of justification for the use of force.

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Social Justice and Communication: Mill, Marx, and Habermas

This article concerns how one may theorize a social justice of communication. The article argues that the theory of democracy cannot neglect an analysis of communication and that, indeed, a social justice of communication can be identified in the discourse ethics of Jürgen Habermas’s “deliberative” theory of democracy. The socio-political analyses of communication in John Stuart Mill and Karl Marx are examined as precursors to Habermas’s position because they are useful for setting off the unique synthesis of the liberal and critical traditions that Habermas develops. Such a social justice of communication shows how the communicative mediation of the public sphere can ameliorate the tension between individual autonomy and the solidarity of group membership by communicatively empowering individuals under conditions of mutual respect and equal dignity.