At-risk factors for the adolescent mother and her infant

This article describes some at-risk features for the adolescent mother and her infant. The inadequacies of the adolescent mother may be manifest in her inability to provide for herself or her infant, and in difficulties in relating to a mate in a suitable fashion since she is still dependent on and, to some extent, symbiotic with her own mother. Complications, such as the increased possibility of having crises in pregnancy, a premature birth, giving up the baby for adoption, malnutrition, decreased stimulation, and divided mothering, are detailed. Compared to infants of adult mothers, offspring of adolescent mothers have a greater risk later on of conduct disorders, absence of both parents, and placement in foster homes or institutions. The adolescent mother's dynamics seem related to oedipal conflicts, wishes to mother and be mothered, and a predominance of symbiotic or other preoedipal conflicts. Becoming a mother in adolescence may be based on efforts to separate from infantile objects, an attempt to make up for the loss thereof, or substitution and avoidance of separation-individuation conflicts; or it might be an accident to avoid regression. At-risk factors are listed for the psychiatrist and pediatrician to observe in the adolescent mother and her infant in order to be alert to the possibilities of increased complications.Past President of American Society for Adolescent Psychiatry. Received his M.D. from the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine in 1948. Trained in psychiatry and child psychiatry in New Orleans. Main interests include group and family therapy, separation and attachment processes, and early child development, particularly in prematures.     

Factors associated with college crimes: Implications for campus police

A considerable amount of attention is now being paid to the serious nature of campus crime. However, little information is available with regard to those factors that might be closely associated with such incidents. This paper discusses security features and demographic characteristics of a select number of colleges throughout the country. It also describes the extent to which these factors are related to campus crimes. Conclusions and recommendations for campus police officials are discussed.     

Officer work orientations, perceptions of readiness and anticipated effectiveness of an agency-wide community policing effort within a county Sheriff’s office

Across occupations of every form, including those in criminal justice, administrators, managers, and supervisors frequently introduce changes to the structure and/or processes of the work environment. These changes may be seen as necessary to enhance worker productivity, but may be viewed by some workers as an unwanted disruption to their routines. Should employees interpret changes in such a manner, they can, and often do, negate these reforms. Employee work orientations (i.e., philosophical approaches toward work) undoubtedly play a role in such an interchange because they influence both how employees behave on the job and how they perceive their job. The move toward community-oriented policing constitutes a major paradigm shift to the practice of law enforcement. This structural and procedural change to the routines of policing could be perceived as threatening to those law enforcement officers whose work orientations are inconsistent with the philosophical foundation of community-based policing. The presence of a sufficient number of such officers could doom this movement to failure. This study uses survey data collected from a sample of sheriff’s deputies involved in an agency-wide community policing effort. In this study we examine the effects of deputies’ work orientations on their perceptions of the agency’s readiness for and the anticipated effectiveness of this initiative. The findings suggest interesting differences in the efforts of a traditional crime control orientation versus a more progressive community service orientation toward policing.     

Validation of Tool Mark Comparisons Obtained Using a Quantitative,Comparative, Statistical Algorithm

Abstract: A statistical analysis and computational algorithm for comparing pairs of tool marks via profilometry data is described. Empirical validation of the method is established through experiments based on tool marks made at selected fixed angles from 50 sequentially manufactured screwdriver tips. Results obtained from three different comparison scenarios are presented and are in agreement with experiential knowledge possessed by practicing examiners. Further comparisons between scores produced by the algorithm and visual assessments of the same tool mark pairs by professional tool mark examiners in a blind study in general show good agreement between the algorithm and human experts. In specific instances where the algorithm had difficulty in assessing a particular comparison pair, results obtained during the collaborative study with professional examiners suggest ways in which algorithm performance may be improved. It is concluded that the addition of contextual information when inputting data into the algorithm should result in better performance.     

Leadership Matters: The Effects of Targeted Killings on Militant Group Tactics

Targeted killings have become a central component of counterterrorism strategy. In response to the unprecedented prevalence of this strategy around the world, numerous empirical studies have recently examined whether “decapitating” militant groups with targeted killings is strategically effective. This study builds on that research program by examining the impact of targeted killings on militant group tactical decision-making. Our empirical strategy exploits variation in the attack patterns of militant groups conditional on whether a government’s targeted killing attempt succeeded against them operationally. In both the Afghanistan-Pakistan and Israel-West Bank-Gaza Strip theaters, targeted killings significantly alter the nature of militant group violence. When their leaderships are degraded with a successful strike, militant groups become far less discriminate in their target selection by redirecting their violence from military to civilian targets. We then analyze several potential causal mechanisms to account for these results and find strongest evidence that targeted killings tend to promote indiscriminate organizational violence by empowering lower level members with weaker civilian restraint.     

Is Russia the Emerging Global ‘Breadbasket’? Re-cultivation,Agroholdings and Grain Production

Expectations of Russia becoming a global ‘breadbasket’ have been nurtured by its rise to the top group of global wheat exporters, the abundance of abandoned land, assumed yield gaps and the apparent ‘success’ of agroholdings. It is argued here that becoming a global breadbasket is hindered by substantial costs of re-cultivating abandoned land, management and financial problems of megafarms and agroholdings, lack of infrastructure for exports and increased domestic demand for feed grains as input for the meat sector. Furthermore, as Russian wheat production is extremely volatile it might increase global price volatility, rather than contributing to global food security.     

Assessing the practical implementation of the EU’s values in EU–China dialogues

Asia Europe Journal - Literature debating the role of the EU’s values in its external relations has neglected to adequately define and empirically explore the practical promotion or...     

Exploring the Intersection of Theory and Practice of Arts for Peacebuilding

A rising number of public and nongovernmental organisation (NGO) leaders are employing the arts in efforts aimed at encouraging social change. Meanwhile, scholars have offered a number of theories concerning the character of political agency and its exercise, and contended that effective use of the arts may result in individual and group epistemic change. Far fewer analysts, however, have married such theorisations of aesthetics with empirical investigations of how professionals actually use the arts to promote such shifts. This article addresses this concern by studying the strategies adopted by two international nongovernmental organisations (INGOs), American Voices and Bond Street Theatre, that have worked to encourage peace through music and theatre-making in light of changing conceptions of agency and the power of aesthetics to stimulate its exercise. We outline the approaches these NGOs adopt to do so and the mechanisms by which their leaders believe their work catalyses changes in values at the individual and community levels. We argue that understanding these dynamics more thoroughly and in light of conceptions of agency and aesthetics leads to a stronger theorisation of whether and how arts-based peacebuilding efforts can lead to sustainable community cultural change.