Portrait of the North American runaway: A critical review

Runaway behavior has been viewed as a psychopathological problem by many. However, a review of the available research literature questions this perspective. An examination of the reported psychological profile of runaways suggests no clear relationship between personality and runaway behavior. Further, a multiplicity of factors can be noted which are potential causal agents for running away. These factors range from sociocultural values to school problems. Runaway research is shown to be methodologically limited by several factors, but the data are suggestive. Also, the authors conclude that future research on this growing social problem might utilize an “alternative values” or “deindivuation model” in generating testable hypotheses about runaway behavior.     

Erratum to: Trends in Psychological/Psychiatric Injury and Law: Continuing Education, Practice Comments, Recommendations

This literature review of the major topics in the field of psychological/psychiatric injury and law is aimed at developing practice in the area. The field is a fast-developing one, with over ten major topics that it needs to integrate. In particular, the present review focuses on current work on: law (evidence, tort); forensic psychology; assessment and testing; psychological injuries (posttraumatic stress disorder, chronic pain, traumatic brain injury, other); the APA DSM-5 draft (Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders; American Psychiatric Association 2010); malingering; causality; multicultural considerations; disability; the American Medical Association (AMA) Guides to the evaluation of permanent impairment (Rondinelli et al. 2008); models; and treatment. At the end of each section of the article, practice comments introduce critical issues in applying the research to psychological work in the area. Whether undertaking tort evaluations, disability, and treatment plan assessments or treating individuals with psychological injuries, the professional needs state-of-the-art information in all the areas listed in order to remain scientifically informed, comprehensive, and impartial. The article concludes with recommendations for an integrated field in psychological/psychiatric injury and law, study in the field, research in its major areas, best practice policies, for example in assessment and treatment, and model building.     

Reflections on modern terrorism∗

There has been an historic transition through which Type I terrorism and Type II terrorism are being combined. Type I terrorism consists of acts that attempt to impose terror by individuals or small groups on other individuals and groups, and through them indirectly on their governments. Type II terrorism is the imposition by governments on individuals or on groups of local or foreign populations, e.g., the use of atomic weapons, poison gas, Nazi camps for genocide. The new type of terrorism—Type III—has all the components for success. The article deals with how this new terrorism disrupts personal and historic memory through large‐scale catastrophe organized for that purpose. It is pointed out that this type of terrorism is met with self‐protection on the conscious level and has very little psychic cost on the perpetrators. Type III terrorism results from states disseminating high‐level technology. Target nations will not have open to them the conventional responses and will have to devise new methods. The danger of technical failure in the use of new methods of terrorism is very real.     

Repeated Transaction in Rural Grain Markets of Ethiopia

This article uses the theory of repeated transaction to model exchange in rural grain markets. We examine the theoretical and empirical drivers of repeated transaction, as well as potential problems that may arise as a result of its widespread use. We develop a structural repeated game to represent buyer-seller relations in a developing country grain market, motivated by observations in Ethiopia. The model generates hypotheses regarding the logic that drives long-term tied transactions, as governed by information access, screening and investment costs, and time preferences. The model's predictions are tested using market transaction data collected in Ethiopia in 2009. Results support the view that a relational contract is driven by access to information and the costs of screening. Our major finding is that trust in relational trading can emerge through costly repeated interaction.     

American federal deficits and its international economic effects

One of the critical issues facing the United States is whether federal deficits will have not only a deleterious effect on the U.S. economy but on the rest of the world economy as well. This paper focuses on how federal deficits have, in large part, been responsible for keeping interest rates high, which has resulted in creating economic conditions that could severely affect world economic growth. It will be argued that U.S. policymakers need to take into account how the world economy has become increasingly interdependent. This interdependence of the world economy will inevitably require a rethinking of present economic policies and how a new national strategy must be developed sensitive to this new reality.