Looking East The reemergence of a multi-polar world

For millennia, Chinese society, one of Earth's greatest and most advanced, subsisted just fine on its own set of values. Chinese politi-cal philosophy is rooted in the ancient teachings of Confucius. A key tenet of this is filial piety.     

‘Enoch Powell Speaks for Britain’: The Press,the Public and the Speech

This article explores popular reactions to Enoch Powell's speech in Birmingham on 20 April 1968. It describes the protests by sympathetic workers, such as the Smithfield meat porters, and the responses of the press, both nationally and in the West Midlands. It considers the speech's impact on immigrants themselves and it makes the case that Powell's real significance was as an early champion of a particular kind of anti‐Establishment populism, which has now become a very familiar feature of our political landscape.     

The Characterization of 3,4-Dimethylmethcathinone (3,4-DMMC)

Analogs and derivatives of traditional illicit drugs are ever increasing in variety and creativity. Staying abreast of the new developments is a constant challenge for every forensic laboratory. Recently, a seizure from Australian Customs Service presented our laboratory with the designer cathinone 3,4-dimethylmethcathinone (3,4-DMMC). Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS), liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, infrared (IR) spectroscopy, and ultraviolet (UV) spectrophotometry were employed to analyze the spectroscopic characteristics of this cathinone. As an analog, 3,4-DMMC exhibits similar if not identical IR and UV profiles to mephedrone (4-MMC) and methcathinone; however, the retention time from GC is unique as expected, and the electron impact fragmentation pattern is consistent with the fragmentation pattern of other cathinones. The chemical shifts of the carbons and hydrogens were assigned by both one- and two-dimensional NMR techniques, while the molecular weight was confirmed by LC/MS.     

Evaluating the Violence Prevention Program: group and individual changes in aggression,anger, self-control,and empathy

While youth violence reduction program is a necessity to prevent long-term criminal and violent offending, its effectiveness in youth violent offenders is not well researched. This study investigated the effectiveness of the Violence Prevention Program (VPP) in addressing the aggression, anger, self-control, and empathy of youth violent offenders. One hundred and seventy youths (mean age 15.8 years) who completed VPP from 2008 to 2014 completed self-report measures on study outcomes both before and after the intervention. Repeated measures analyses revealed significant improvement in youths’ anger, aggression, and self-control at post-treatment, but changes in youths’ empathy were not significant. Subsequent analysis found that only youths with lower empathy scores at pre-treatment showed significant increase in empathy post-treatment. Overall, the results suggest that VPP can reduce aggression and mitigate the criminogenic needs of youth offenders. But its effect on empathy may be contingent on youths’ pre-treatment profiles. Limitations and implications for future studies are discussed.     

Effects of Trait Anger and Negative Attitudes Towards Women on Physical Assault in Dating Relationships

The present study investigated the combined effect of trait anger and negative attitudes towards women (i.e., hostility towards women, calloused sexual beliefs) on frequency of physical aggression in premarital relationships. A total of 263 college-aged men who reported that they were either currently involved in a romantic relationship or had been involved in at least one romantic relationship during the past 12 months were recruited. Participants completed a battery of questionnaires, including the Conflict Tactics Scale-2, Trait Anger Scale, Hostility Towards Women Scale, and Hypermasculinity Inventory. Correlational analyses indicated that trait anger, hostility towards women, and calloused sexual beliefs were positively associated with frequency of physical assault. Further, hierarchical regression analyses indicated that both hostility towards women and calloused sexual beliefs moderated the relationship between trait anger and frequency of physical assault, such that in men who possess more negative attitudes towards women, higher levels of trait anger lead to increased physical assault. Results provide initial support for the role of trait anger in dating violence and suggest the existence of a subgroup among premaritally violent males who possess negative attitudes toward women and also possess a strong tendency to experience intense levels of anger.     

Envisioning life "on the outs": exit narratives of incarcerated male youth

In this article, the author explores the significance of "exits" for juvenile male offenders who are preparing to leave correctional institutions. The analysis focuses on practical and cognitive exit strategies, anticipated challenges, and future visions based on qualitative interviews with 20 juvenile males (ages 15-17 years) from two correctional facilities in the upper Midwest region of the United States. At the juncture of exit, all of the youth were involved in practical preparation for reentry and shared an emphasis on the theme of "individual responsibility" for their futures. However, the cognitive strategies they used to prepare for exit were strongly differentiated by level of motivation or expressed "openness" to change. Youth who had little motivation to change tended to deny the potential challenges associated with their return to the community, whereas those who expressed a greater openness to change were contemplating how to achieve an alternative, law-abiding future while realistically considering the potential pitfalls of crime temptations. Ambivalence about change was the most common pattern, expressed as a desire to move toward desistance but lacking the internal confidence or sense of social support to achieve such change. From these findings, implications for theory and practice are proposed.     

The Arsenal of Insurrection: Explaining Rising Support for Rebels

Recent scholarship has established several key dynamics in civil wars: since the nineteenth century, rebel victories have increased in likelihood; external support is one of the most significant predictors of rebel victory; and rebel groups have become increasingly likely to receive foreign backing. What is missing is an explanation of why patterns of third-party aid to rebels changed over time. Data on foreign assistance to rebels over the last two centuries reveals the odds of groups receiving aid increased from about one in five to about four in five. The nature of the patron also altered significantly, from great powers, to lesser states, and then nonstate actors. We explain these patterns using three variables: (1) great-power competition; (2) norms of national self-determination; and (3) globalization. This paper explores this theory with a case study of aid to rebel groups in Algeria since the 1830s.     

The new ancillary offenses

This paper was originally presented at the first conference of the Society for the Reform of Criminal Law, Inns of Court, London, England, July 26–29, 1987. It constitutes part of a chapter in a larger work in progress.     

Evaluating Stranger and Acquaintance Rape: The Role of Benevolent Sexism in Perpetrator Blame and Recommended Sentence Length

In most jurisdictions, the law does not recognize the distinction between stranger and acquaintance rape. However, these two types of rape seem to elicit different responses from both lay observers and legal practitioners. Two studies investigating the role of benevolent sexism (BS) in accounting for participants' responses to acquaintance vs. stranger rape perpetrators are reported. Participants were presented with vignettes describing either an acquaintance rape or a stranger rape. As predicted, relative to low-BS individuals, participants who scored high in BS attributed less blame (Study 1) and recommended shorter sentences (Study 2) for the acquaintance rape perpetrator. Benevolent sexism was unrelated to reactions to the perpetrator in the stranger rape condition.