Dutch cocaine trade: The perspective of Rotterdam cocaine retail dealers

This article based, on 38 in-depth interviews with Rotterdam cocaine retail dealers, aims to present a clearer picture of how cocaine supply lines in the Netherlands are organized in order to fine-tune policy with respect to crime, public order and safety on the different trade levels. On the retail level the market for cocaine is strictly separated in a market for crack cocaine versus a market for powder cocaine. The crack dealers are often hard drug users themselves living in relatively poor circumstances. Although dealing cocaine is their main activity, they tend to be involved in other activities related to the drug scene, e.g. smuggling cocaine via Amsterdam airport. The cocaine distribution line for supply on the local market is seldom more than two steps. Because the supply for the Rotterdam cocaine retailers comes mainly from small-scale imports, successful police operations against large-scale imports of cocaine will have little influence on the local cocaine supply in the Netherlands.     

Bankruptcy around the World: Explanations of Its Relative Use

The law and finance literature highlights the role of investorrights in financial development, firm corporate governance,and financing patterns. For a panel of 35 countries, we investigatehow bankruptcy use relates to countries’ creditor rightsand judicial efficiency. Bankruptcies are higher in countrieswith more creditor rights, except for a "no automatic stay onassets" provision. Higher judicial efficiency is associatedwith more bankruptcies and appears as a substitute with morecreditor rights. Although only a first step, our findings suggestcreditor rights are complex, balancing prioritization of claims,ex ante risk-taking incentives, and an efficient resolutionof distressed firms.     

Testing a Theoretical Model of the Relationship Between Impulsivity,Mediating Variables,and Husband Violence

The present study involved a multimethod assessment of impulsivity among 86 men. Using two questionnaires and four performance-based measures of impulsivity, the factor structure of the impulsivity data was examined. Four constructs that theoretically mediate the relationship between impulsivity and husband violence (i.e., substance abuse, anger/hostility, marital dissatisfaction, and psychological abuse) were assessed to examine a mediational model predictive of husband violence. Substance abuse and marital dissatisfaction mediated the relationship between impulsivity and psychological abuse. Psychological abuse mediated the relationship between substance abuse and marital dissatisfaction and husband violence. Although anger/hostility was not a mediator, there were bivariate associations between anger/hostility and impulsivity, psychological abuse, and husband violence. The results of the regression analyses were virtually identical when controlling for the effect of intelligence on the model variables. The implications of the findings for the assessment of impulsivity and for future husband violence research are discussed.     

Perception of and Satisfaction with Relationship Power,Sex, and Attachment Styles: A Couples Level Analysis

Eighty heterosexual dating couples provided information about their gender, individual histories of abuse in their current relationship, attachment styles, perception of and satisfaction with relationship power. Partner report of physical abuse was the dependent variable. APIM actor results suggest that an individual's gender interacts with perceived level of relationship power and satisfaction with relationship power for physical abuse. Both dimensions of attachment interacted with perceived relationship power for physical abuse. Partner effects were also found. One's partner's sex interacted with perceived power and satisfaction with relationship power. Finally, the partner's avoidant attachment interacted with satisfaction with relationship power. These findings generally replicate and extend the work of H. M. Ronfeldt, R. Kimerling, and I. Arias (1998, J. Marriage Fam. 60: 70–78) by showing how attachment styles, perception of relationship power, and satisfaction with relationship power are related in predicting aggression against a romantic partner.     

Violence and Aggression in the Lives of Homeless Children

The present research examined the role of violence and aggression in the lives of children in homeless families, focusing on possible connections among family violence, children's aggression, and children's problems with social isolation and rejection. Measures were obtained from structured interviews with 93 sets of mothers and children. Consistent with past research, average estimates of specific violent incidents experienced by mothers (as adults) were quite high. Measures of this family violence were reliably correlated with children's behavior problems as well as with measures of aggression in peer relationships (victimization, ease of resolving fights with friends).Finally, results of regression analyses were most consistent with a model in which family violenceand economic distress contributed to problematic aggressive behaviors among children; that aggression, in turn, appeared to lead to social isolation and avoidance. The overall results emphasized the need to address violence and aggression in any intervention programs for homeless children and families.     

The relationship between life satisfaction, risk-taking behaviors, and youth violence

This study builds on existing criminological theories and examines the role of life satisfaction and self-control in explaining youth violence. Using data from a stratified cluster sample of 5,414 public high school students who responded to the South Carolina Youth Risk Behavior Survey, the study examines the relationship between adolescents'perceptions of life satisfaction, behavioral risky acts, and self-reported acts of violence. Analyses indicate that higher levels of life satisfaction are associated with lower violence. Participation in work and involvement in health-related risk-taking behaviors pertaining to sex, drugs, and alcohol are also associated with increased violence. The implications of these findings for criminological theory and for school-based violence prevention programs are discussed.     

Detecting Spatial Movement of Intra-Region Crime Patterns Over Time

Many of the traditional measures of the degree to which crime patterns change over space and time have limitations. In particular most are unable to determine any change in spatial crime pattern within an areal unit. Usually studies measure the change in crime levels in contiguous areas (expressed as discrete sub-divisions of a study area), but this can become problematic due to difficulties such as the Modifiable Areal Unit Problem (MAUP). This paper describes a technique developed to allow researchers to examine intra-study region changes in crime patterns between two time periods without the need to aggregate crime counts to within-city areal boundaries. The method presented uses a random point nearest neighbor test combined with a Monte Carlo simulation. The process resolves problems of patterning and the MAUP that are common with a number of spatial displacement and pattern movement studies. This technique is demonstrated with example data from a city-wide police burglary crackdown in the Australian capital.     

Comparing the Validity of Prospective,Retrospective, and Official Onset for Different Offending Categories

Using data from the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development, a prospective longitudinal study of 411 London males, the main aim of this research is to compare the age of onset of six types of offenses according to different methods of measurement – prospective self-reports, retrospective self-reports, and official records – and also to explore self-reported and official onset sequences. Results showed that ages of onset reported in retrospective accounts generally tended to be higher than those reported prospectively. Agreement rates between prospective and retrospective accounts were lowest for minor forms of offending, and highest for more serious offenses such as theft of vehicles. Males with heavy substance use habits were less likely to report the same age of onset retrospectively compared with prospectively. Denial rates were substantial in all comparisons, particularly for minor forms of offending. Comparisons between self-reported and official measures of onset revealed that there was a greater degree of agreement between the two measures for serious offenses. Whereas self-reported onset sequences suggested that minor crimes were committed before more serious offenses, official onset sequences suggested the reverse. The findings show that retrospective reports are not suitable to address research questions requiring detailed information (i.e., most criminal career parameters: age of onset, frequency, age of termination, etc.), for studying minor forms of offending, and for samples of individuals with serious substance use habits. Furthermore, official measures of offending can also produce misleading results, particularly when studying minor forms of offending.     

Prior Experiences as Temporal Frames of Reference in Social Justice: The Influence of Previous Fairness Experiences on Reactions to New and Old Supervisors

This paper focuses on the psychology of social change and social justice. Specifically, we focus on subordinates’ reactions to new and old supervisors, and we argue that in evaluating these different types of supervisors, subordinates may rely on prior fair or unfair experiences as temporal frames of reference. We further propose that a result of these frames of reference may be that previous fairness experiences have a bigger impact on subordinates’ reactions to subsequent neutral communications when an old rather than when a new supervisor is the source of that communication. Findings of two empirical studies indeed show that subordinates who had had fair experiences with a particular supervisor reacted more positively toward subsequent neutral messages when the communication was coming from the old supervisor rather than from the new supervisor. Subordinates who had had unfair experiences, however, reacted more negatively toward the communication when the source was the old rather than the new supervisor. Some evidence was also found for contrast effects such that people who react to a new supervisor may react more positively with the neutral demand from this authority figure when they have earlier experienced unfair as opposed to fair treatment by a different supervisory agent. These findings were obtained on subordinates’ satisfaction with the supervisors’ communication and their acceptance of the supervisor. Finally, we discuss the implications for the psychology of social change and social justice.     

Cracking Through Hegemonic Ideology: The Logic of Formal Justice

In this analysis I argue for the independent effects on social change of the internal logic of formal justice. Institutionally, oppositional ideas that challenge the legitimacy of a hegemonic system emerge in “safe spaces” that subordinate groups create within a culture dominated by hegemonic ideas. The oppositional ideas derive in part from an existing informal culture of opposition, access to repertories of contention, and favorable openings in the political system. In addition, however, these ideas are often propelled independently by the logic of formal justice, in which, when the reasons for separate treatment have been discredited, equality is the default option. The analysis demonstrates the power of this logic and suggests that it spreads through the mechanism of “organized activist” variation and “everyday activist” selection.