Shifting the Status Quo: Constitutional Reforms in Chile

This article outlines the factors that explain changes in the rules of the game in Chile after the restoration of democracy in 1990. It looks particularly at the reasons why the right‐wing parties—strong defenders of the constitution imposed by General Augusto Pinochet in 1980—accepted reforms that eliminated many of what the literature has termed authoritarian enclaves. The article explains this shift by observing significant changes in the political context that, in turn, affected the priorities of veto players. In this context, short‐term strategic calculations by the right‐wing parties, aiming to achieve a new balance of power less detrimental to their interests, opened a window of opportunity that led to congressional approval of important reforms. Particular institutional features of the Chilean political system—party discipline and a balance of power in favor of the executive—also helped the political actors to reach agreement.     

Contributions of the dark triad to moral disengagement among incarcerated and community adults

Previous research has revealed a strong association between moral disengagement (MD) and criminal behaviour. However, few studies have attempted to examine the contribution of dark personalities to MD. This study aims to first analyse the differences between forensic and community samples in the use of MD strategies and then replicate the factorial structure of the Dark Triad Dirty Dozen scale in an incarcerated sample as a pre-condition to examine the relationship between dark triad (DT) traits (i.e. Machiavellianism, psychopathy and narcissism) and MD. The sample comprised 160 incarcerated and 160 community adults. Comparisons between these two groups demonstrate that the incarcerated sample scored higher in MD and DT than the community sample. Furthermore, different MD strategies were related to each of the DT traits in the forensic and community samples. The results of exploratory factor analysis for the incarcerated sample indicate adequate fit indices for a bifactorial model of the DT (a latent factor of the shared variance of these constructs named the global DT and three specific latent factors for each component of the DT). The SEM analysis for this bifactorial model and MD disclosed direct and significant relationships between the global DT and MD in the incarcerated adults, while the Machiavellianism factor was directly and significantly related to MD in the community adults. These results highlight the relevance of cognitive (i.e. MD) strategies in forensic contexts, especially in incarcerated adults who present high levels of this DT profile.     

Lessons from urban risk assessments in Latin American and Caribbean cities

This paper draws on the results from a recent World Bank-funded project designed to inform policy-making and climate change adaptation planning in small and medium-sized cities in Latin America and the Caribbean. The focus was on floods and landslides, which are the two most common climate-related risks in cities across the region. The project allowed the application of the Urban Risk Assessment (URA) tool developed by the World Bank and the drawing of valuable lessons which may also be applicable to the many methods and tools available for climate change adaptation planning in the rapidly urbanising cities of developing countries.     

Experiences of Incarcerated Veterans in an All-Veterans Housing Unit: a Qualitative Study

Many US veterans leave military service with a variety of psychosocial risk factors stemming from readjustment to civilian life, and there is increased public concern about the incarceration of veterans given ongoing conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Prisons are playing instrumental roles in developing interventions to address the problems justice-involved veterans face both psychologically and environmentally in the form of veterans’ service units (VSUs), dormitories developed to assist with community reintegration, and connecting veterans to medical and mental health services. This study uses qualitative data from 87 veterans on a VSU who participated in a program improvement survey asking about their programming and reentry needs, experiences on the unit compared to other units, and any suggestions for improvement. Qualitative analysis of responses identified several themes including veterans’ needs around physical fitness, job training, education, and mental health and substance abuse treatment; positive experiences on the VSU compared to traditional units; the positive partnership role with the State Department of Corrections and the local Veterans Affairs (VA) medical center; and concerns on the unit about VA eligibility, combat status, and “real veterans.” These results are some of the first to capture the experiences of veterans on a VSU and the findings highlight potential benefits and challenges with implementing VSUs. Greater research and evaluation are needed to develop more treatment-oriented, rehabilitative models of justice and to continue to refine the VSU model.     

Opinions and Experiences of Primary Healthcare Providers Regarding Violence against Women: a Systematic Review of Qualitative Studies

The aim of this systematic review of qualitative studies is to explore the opinions and experiences of primary care providers regarding violence against women. Structured searches were conducted in nine bibliographic databases (March 2016). Study identification, critical appraisal (using the CASP tool), and analyses (thematic synthesis) were conducted. 46 qualitative studies were selected. Three main themes were identified: 1) Defining violence against women and its causes; 2) Awareness of violence against women and disclosure, with subthemes: 2.1.) Barriers experienced by primary care providers; 2.2) Facilitators for providing appropriate help; 3) Actions taken by providers to help women. Violence against women was generally considered as an unacceptable act with important health consequences. Barriers to address violence against women included organizational factors, providers’ subjective feelings and perceived role, and providers’ perceptions about women facing violence against women. Facilitators included a trusting relationship with women, attentive non-judgmental listening, participate in the community, team-work and continuing education. Providing emotional support and offering information about resources were the main actions taken by primary care providers. Women-centred care, respecting women’s decision making processes and a biopsychosocial approach may provide direction to more compassionate and supportive care while strengthening primary healthcare response.     

Geographic proximity and university–industry interaction: the case of Mexico

This paper analyses whether geographic proximity favours specific channels of university–industry interaction when firms collaborate with universities and with government research centres. Our study also provides insights regarding the relationship between the associated channel and the role of firms’ absorptive capacities. Our results show that firms with higher levels of absorptive capacities tend to interact more independently of their location. Additionally, interaction with non-local universities generally includes the transfer of codified forms of knowledge, while links with local universities includes more tacit forms of knowledge. Policy implications derived from this analysis focus on fostering interaction at local and non-local levels.     

The role of mitigation and strengthening cognitive operations in brand names design: a case study of Spanish and American wine brands

Despite the relevance of powerful brands in the present-day market, research on the process of brand name design from a cognitive perspective focuses almost exclusively on the effects of the use of conceptual metaphor, and to a lesser extent, metonymy, overlooking the role played by other cognitive strategies. This paper analyzes the potentiality of mitigation and strengthening cognitive operations as tools for the systematic, risk-free design of new brand names with highly predictable and felicitous connotations. In particular, it focuses on their role in the systematic generation of axiologically positive brands in both Spanish and American wine labels, thus largely reducing the need for the costly and time-consuming cultural checks that branding companies need to run on new brand names before their commercial launching. In so doing, the interaction of the two aforementioned cognitive operations with a number of pragmatic principles and cultural models of social interaction, and their subservience to other cognitive operations, like those of comparison, correlation, and domain expansion and reduction, are also considered. The results of the study offer new insights on the semantics of commercial brand names which should prove useful for branding professionals, as well as data of interest to linguists dealing with inter-linguistic issues and cognitive modeling alike.     

Lifestyle Preferences and Strategies of Spanish Working Mothers: A Matter of Choice?

There is a rich debate surrounding the causes of women’s heterogeneous work–life orientations and strategies. This article focuses on the debate between postmodern individualistic approaches and gender approaches that emphasise the pervasiveness of socio-structural factors. After offering a profile of Spanish women in the twenty-first century, we present the results of qualitative research based on 30 semi-structured interviews with working mothers from different social backgrounds. We discuss Hakim’s ‘preference theory’ by exposing how social class shapes Spanish working mothers’ work–life attitudes and behaviour and how these further change over the life cycle or as a result of changing contexts.     

Barriers and Supports to Dating Violence Communication between Latina Adolescents and Their Mothers: A Qualitative Analysis

Few Latinx parents and adolescents talk with one another about dating violence, yet communication with parents could help adolescents make better decisions about dating relationships. Seventeen Latina adolescents (15–17 years old) and their mothers living in Washington D.C and central Virginia participated in semi-structured interviews to explore their perceptions of dating violence behavior and communication with parents about dating violence. Interviews were digitally recorded, transcribed, and coded for emergent themes using a grounded theory approach. Seven themes emerged and were grouped into three domains: (a) Parental Messages about Problems in Dating Relationships; (b) Barriers and Supports for Parent-Adolescent Communication about Dating Problems; and, (c) Cultural Values and Differences. The results of this study can be used to inform future work focused on improving parent-adolescent communication about dating violence and to enhance healthy adolescent Latina dating decisions.