Shirking and political support in the U.S. Senate, 1964–1984

Several empirical studies have suggested that legislators engage in a surprisingly large degree of on-the-job consumption, or ideological behavior. These findings cast doubt on the hypothesis that legislators can be modelled as though they seek to maximize political support. This paper attempts to determine whether commonly used proxies for ideology in fact represent behavior to which voters are averse. The results show that legislators who engage in more of this behavior lose general-election support without generally receiving compensating increases in partyprimary support. A corollary to this result is that voters punish shirking legislators significantly.     

Mothers' and Fathers' Attitudes Toward Their Children's Academic Performance and Children's Perceptions of Their Academic Competence

Journal of Youth and Adolescence - Do mothers' and fathers' attitudes towards their children's academic performance influence children's perceptions of their academic competence?...     

Discrimination Distress During Adolescence

Amidst changing patterns of accommodation and conflict among American ethnic groups, there remains a paucity of research on the nature and impact of racial and ethnic discrimination on development in multiethnic samples of youth. The Adolescent Discrimination Distress Index along with measures of caregiver racial bias preparation and self-esteem was administered to 177 adolescents drawn from 9th–12th graders self-identified as African American, Hispanic, East Asian, South Asian, and non-Hispanic white. Youth from all ethnic backgrounds reported distress associated with instances of perceived racial prejudice encountered in educational contexts. Instances of institutional discrimination in stores and by police were higher for older youth and particularly for African American and Hispanic teenagers. Encounters with peer discrimination were reported most frequently by Asian youth. Reports of racial bias preparation were associated with distress in response to institutional and educational discrimination and self-esteem scores were negatively correlated with distress caused by educational and peer discrimination. The importance of research on discrimination distress to understanding adolescent development in multiethnic ecologies is discussed here.     

Differences in Empathy Between Offender and Nonoffender Youth

The purpose of this study was to examine differences in empathy between offender and nonoffender youth. Seventy-six male and 33 female juvenile offenders between the ages of 12 and 18 years and 33 male and 33 female nonoffenders between the ages of 15 and 19 years comprised the samples for this study. Measures of empathy, altruism, and social support were administered to all participants and then the participants were analyzed for status group differences. Only 1 dimension of empathy, emotional tone, was found to be significantly different based on group status. Gender differences were found for both status groups for another dimension of empathy, personal distress. Among offender and nonoffender youth, females yielded higher scores in personal distress than did males. Emotional tone and family structure were found to be the most predictive variables of offender status. Findings were discussed based on previous research and implications for interventions were addressed.Evaluation and Special Programs     

The United States and Cuba: Future security issues

The purpose of this highly speculative article is to assess a broad range of possible developments in Cuba over the next five to seven years that could directly and adversely affect U.S. interests. By definition, therefore, it does not provide equal treatment to more optimistic and, salubrious scenarios. A key assumption is that the Cuban economy will not sustain a strong rebound to high levels of growth. Specific observations about how security challenges might impact certain U.S. government activities are also included according to the article’s terms of reference. No attempt is made to assign numerical or other probabilities to the counterfactual cases discussed. Finally, the future time frame examined includes treatments of a continuation of Fidel Castro's regime as well as the emergence of one or more successor governments. Brian Latell has been teaching courses on Cuba and Latin America at, Georgetown University for the past twenty-one years. He has written and lectured on Cuba, Mexico, and U.S. Foreign Intelligence Issues. In 1998 he co-editedEye in the Sky: The Story of the Corona Spy Satellites, published by the Smithsonian Press. He served as National Intelligence Officer for Latin America at the National Intelligence Council between 1990–1994. From 1994–1998 he was Director of the Center for the Study of Intelligence at CIA and chaired the Editorial Board ofStudies In Intelligence. Last year he retired from government service, and was awarded the Distinguished Intelligence Medal.