The Perceptions of Academic Lawyers Concerning the Effects of the United Kingdom's Research Assessment Exercise

In this article, the authors analyse quantitative and qualitative data compiled from a large-scale postal survey of legal academics concerning the United Kingdom's Research Assessment Exercise. The purpose of the study was to measure the attitudes of academic lawyers affected by the RAE rating process and institutional responses to that process. The study reveals that a substantial number of respondents lack faith in the objectivity of the rating process, believe institutional responses to the RAE have caused damage to academic working environments, and perceive that the RAE has failed to improve the quality of legal research.     

Assessing Covariates of Adolescent Delinquency Trajectories: A Latent Growth Mixture Modeling Approach

Using data from a community sample of 1218 boys and girls (mean age at the first wave was 15.5 years), this longitudinal study examined several covariates—adjustment problems, poor academic achievement, negative life events, and unsupportive family environments—of distinctive trajectories of juvenile delinquency. Latent growth mixture modeling analysis revealed 6 trajectory groups: rare offenders, moderate late peakers, high late peakers, decreasers, moderate-level chronics, and high-level chronics. Several factors discriminated between more normative groups and high-level chronic offenders, including poor academic achievement, unsupportive family environments, life events, and substance use, whereas almost no differences were found between groups with more serious offending trajectories. Overall, there was more specificity in correlates of distinctive offending trajectories than expected by general theories of crime (e.g., Gottfredson, M. R., and Hirschi, T., 1990, A General Theory of Crime. Stanford University Press, Stanford, CA).     

Interparental Conflict and Late Adolescents' Sensitization to Conflict: The Moderating Effects of Emotional Functioning and Gender

The present study examined the extent to which individuals exposed to frequent and intense interparental conflict (IPC) across childhood and adolescence are sensitized to conflict during late adolescence. Late adolescents' perceptions of their exposure to IPC while growing up were examined in relation to their self-reported emotional and social-cognitive reactions to simulated conflict. Emotional functioning and gender were expected to moderate the relations of IPC to late adolescents' reactions. IPC exposure had stronger effects on the negative emotional reactions of adolescents low in emotional functioning and males than on the emotional reactions of adolescents higher in emotional functioning and females, respectively. Moreover, IPC was positively related to females' negative beliefs about conflict implications but unrelated to males' beliefs. Results are discussed in terms of the sensitization hypothesis and gender differences in sensitivity to conflict.     

“Man plans,God laughs”: Canada's national strategy for protecting critical infrastructure

Critical Infrastructure Protection seeks to enhance the physical and cyber‐security of key public and private assets and mitigate the effects of natural disasters, industrial accidents and terrorist attacks. In 2009, several Canadian governments published the National Strategy and Action Plan for Critical Infrastructure (NS&AP), a framework for governments and the owners and operators of critical infrastructure – largely in the private sector – to collaborate on the security and increased resiliency of Canada's critical assets. Drawing on the social science risk literature, audits, and a three‐year research and education project, this article argues that the strategy of relationship building, collaborative risk management and information sharing is under‐developed and limited by market competition, incompatible institutional cultures, and legal, logistical and political constraints. The NS&AP should better delineate risks and identify how governments can work with industry, and acknowledge the paradox between trust and transparency, the role of small‐ and medium‐sized enterprise, and how risk management processes can vary.     

Social Health Insurance and the Use of Formal and Informal Care in Developing Countries: Evidence from Ghana’s National Health Insurance Scheme

This paper studies the relationship between the use of formal and informal health care in a developing country setting by examining the introduction of a social health insurance scheme in Ghana. We estimate the effects of gaining coverage on changes in care seeking behaviour and show how these effects differ by age and wealth status. District-level differences in the implementation of the insurance scheme provide exogenous variation in access to insurance and allow us to address issues with selection into coverage. Results indicate that insurance access strongly increased use of formal care and reduced out-of-pocket expenditures on health services.     

Counter-Intelligence for counter-revolutionary warfare: The South African police security branch 1979–1990

In counter-revolutionary warfare strategy, political action forms the overwhelming part; however, also central as an off-shoot of the tenets of counter-revolutionary warfare is the elimination of insurgent structures – generally a euphemism for assassination. In reality, assassination is a subset of covert paramilitary action, implemented as a consequence of counter-intelligence or even counter-terrorism. South Africa's Security Branch presents one of the best recent examples of the use of counter-intelligence techniques for counter-revolutionary warfare. While politico-constitutional intelligence was gathered by the National Intelligence Service to support constitutional efforts to achieve a settlement of the conflict and bring about a new political dispensation in South Africa, the apartheid government relied on the covert operational capabilities of the security forces (especially the Security Branch) to not only halt the ‘Revolutionary Onslaught’ of the liberation movements, but to eliminate them as a viable political and revolutionary force. In attempting to support an unwinnable political objective, the ultimate corruption of the intelligence process and the reliance of individuals overseeing it far and away on the covert operational intelligence capabilities of the state, the apartheid government brought about its own downfall. The Security Branch was at the heart of these efforts.     

What is a Community Service Obligation (CSO)? An Analysis of the Issues Involved in Identifying and Accounting for CSOs within Public Sector Organisations

he meaning of the term 'community service obligation' (CSO) has been a point of conjecture in recent years. This paper highlights the importance of CSOs within the context of the accountability of public sector organisations. In particular the paper advocates the need to formulate an agreed definition of a CSO. The paper seeks to distil such a definition by using academics and GBE representatives as authoritative opinions.