Raising wages in the controlled sector: A comment on Elliott

This case study from Eastern Zambia challenges the thesis that after independence an elite of privileged farmers entrenched itself through domination of the local political arena and a coalition with the civil service. It argues that such a view may be a reification due to misplaced assumptions about historical continuity and the uniformity of social behaviour; a lack of attention to the actual operation of government departments at the lowest levels; and neglect of how people construct ways of life on the basis of different interpretations of the world.     

Book reviews

This paper posits that a great deal of cross-national variation in clientelistic investment strategies can be explained through an examination of the different forms of risk faced by the political elite of different types of regimes. It also maintains that demand from clients/potential clients is, by itself, insufficient to explain the level or scope of clientelistic investments. The argument is advanced through an examination of the linkages (and non-linkages) between patrons/potential patrons and clients/potential clients amongst the ethnic Uzbek populations of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. In Kyrgyzstan, a semi-authoritarian state, electoral risk predominates; however, the character of electoral risk in Kyrgyzstan provides Uzbek members of the political elite with an incentive to diversify their clientelistic investments. Consequently, many engage in direct exchanges with their constituents while simultaneously investing in private, cultural organizations that serve party-like functions. Alternatively, in contemporary Tajikistan, best described as an authoritarian state, electoral risk has been replaced with the risk of expulsion from the presidential clientelistic network. As a result, members of the Tajikistani political elite have a disincentive to publicly invest in constituent clients as this investment may increase the risk of expulsion.     

Biological protective factors for antisocial and criminal behavior

Purpose

Although risk factors are typically the focus of criminological research, increasingly researchers are interested in identifying protective factors that reduce the probability of antisocial behavior, either in the presence or absence of risk factors. Biosocial researchers are in an opportune position to research factors that protect against the development of antisocial behavior in high-risk individuals, given biosocial criminology’s focus on the interaction between biological and social factors. The purpose of this article is to review neuropsychological and psychophysiology research into protective factors.

Results

Of the neuropsychological factors, high IQ has the best-replicated protective effects, though executive functioning is also a promising candidate as a protective factor. High resting heart rate, as well as enhanced autonomic fear conditioning and attentional processing may also have protective effects.

Conclusions

Though research into biological protective factors is currently limited, there is promising evidence that biological factors could help us to better understand why some individuals do not become antisocial or criminal in the presence of high social risk. Neuropsychological and psychophysiological measures are relatively easier and less costly to operationalize than other biological measures, making them promising candidates for criminological researchers who would like to incorporate biological measures into their research designs.     

Engaging With Criminal Prosecution: The Victim's Perspective

Despite more than a decade of policies that encourage prosecutors to proceed without the victim's input or actions in cases of intimate partner violence (IPV), prosecutors still often rely on the victim's participation to move a case forward. The purpose of this study was to identify the barriers and motivators influencing female IPV victims' engagement with the criminal justice system and their preferences regarding prosecution. Findings from focus groups with women who had experienced police response to IPV revealed that women wanted the violence to end but faced numerous barriers to engaging with the criminal prosecution process. The dominant voice favored police and prosecutors taking action toward prosecution without depending solely or heavily on the victim's active participation.     

APPLYING CASE STUDY METHODOLOGY TO CHILD CUSTODY EVALUATIONS

The child custody evaluation (CCE) can play a critical role in the resolution of custody disputes in the Family Court. There have been a number of significant methodological advances made in this field by various researchers over the past 20 years. It is timely that a scientifically‐based, integrative, methodological framework be developed within which existing methods might be situated. In this paper, case study methodology is proposed as an appropriate methodological framework for CCEs. The application of this methodology to CCEs is explicated with particular attention being paid to the methodological tasks of data collection and data interpretation. An orienting model is proposed to guide the collection of data, and strategies are described for applying population level research findings to individual cases in the form of risk and resilience models. Finally, coherence, analogy, and making methodology explicit are proposed as evaluation criteria for the CCE process and reports, and suggestions are made about outcome research.