Parenting and Internalizing and Externalizing Problems in Moroccan Immigrant Youth in the Netherlands

This study explores the relationship of parenting to internalizing and externalizing problems in Moroccan immigrant youth in the Netherlands. Interviews were conducted with 713 Moroccan immigrant parents, using the Child Behavior Checklist and the Nijmegen Rearing Questionnaire. Child rearing varied with socioeconomic status and psychological acculturation level of the parent, and gender and age of the child. In accordance with studies in Western populations, high levels of affection and monitoring were associated with low levels of problem behavior and high levels of discipline were associated with high levels of problem behavior. However, in contrast to studies in Western populations, a positive relationship was revealed between affection and discipline, and the univariate associations between discipline and problem behavior were modest. Discipline and internalizing problems were unrelated in low SES families, whereas a positive relationship was found in high SES families. The relationship between monitoring and externalizing problems was age-specific: We found a negative association for adolescents and no association for children. Assistant Professor at the department of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences of the University of Utrecht. She received her Ph.D. in Child & Adolescent Psychiatry at the Erasmus MC/Sophia, Rotterdam. Her research interests concern the psychological development of immigrant children and adolescents. Interdisciplinary Social Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences Professor of Developmental Psychopathology at the department of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences of the University of Utrecht. Her research in the past years has been focused on mental health problems and addiction in adolescents and adults, and on the importance of the risk factors related to migrant status and ethnicity. Interdisciplinary Social Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences Received her Ph.D. at the University of Leiden in 1991. She is a Senior Researcher and head of the research group ‘Multicultural Questions’ at the Verwey-Jonker Institute. Her field of study is socialization and psychological development of children of ethnic minorities. Verwey-Jonker Institute, Kromme Nieuwegracht 6 Dutch Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist and Associate Professor at the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at ErasmusMC/Sophia, Rotterdam. His research examines levels of emotional and behavioral problems as well as predictors of these problems in Turkish and Moroccan immigrant youth in the Netherlands. Dr. Crijnen is also the principal investigator in studies on the prevention of disruptive behavior and substance use in children and adolescents through school- and parent-based interventions. Department of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry     

The UK's electoral reform referendum of May 2011

The UK's second nationwide referendum, held in May 2011, offers rich opportunities for analysing the dynamics of a referendum campaign. The articles gathered together in this symposium address three themes. The first concerns the determinants and dynamics of public opinion during a referendum campaign, the second relates to the potential for interaction between the referendum and simultaneous elections, and the third focuses on coverage of the referendum in the media. Following a brief outline of the background to the referendum, this paper introduces the contribution that each article makes to these themes.     

Developmental and offence-related characteristics of different types of adolescent sex offender: A community sample

Abstract

Offence-related and developmental characteristics were compared in subgroups of a sample (n=184) of male sex offenders aged between 10 and 21 [mean=16.07; standard deviation (SD)=2.09] referred to a specialist community facility. Important differences were observed on key developmental and offence-related variables between adolescents who targeted peers/adults and those who targeted children. These differences support the validity of the distinction between these two groups. Much smaller subgroups with mixed (i.e. peer and child) victims, internet child pornography and indecent exposure offences are also described. The sample was followed-up for a mean period of 4 years 6 months (SD=30.5 months), during which a small number re-offended sexually (n=13) and many more re-offended non-sexually (n=90). Relationships between engagement with treatment and some background and offence-related variables were identified and these are discussed.     

A Capacity for Central Coordination: The Case of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet

For the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (PM&C) the year 1987 can now be seen as pivotal in marking a clear end to a period of transition in coordinating structures in the Australian Public Service (APS) that had lasted roughly 20 years. The abolition in 1987 of the Public Service Board, formerly a powerful coordinating agency, is the most obvious marker of the change. The PSB's departure left the Secretary of PM&C with a role that is now often described as ‘head of the public service’. More broadly, the 1987 changes to the machinery of government both formalised and enabled a sea‐change in PM&C's role. Before 1987 a large policy initiation and development project would usually have been considered as beyond PM&C's scope. Since then, extensive and direct policy development work by PM&C has become common. The continuing debates have been over whether PM&C actually delivers in these roles (an empirical question) and how far it should play them (a normative issue). In this article we itemise the capacity, both continuing and developing, which PM&C has to support policy development. Traditional coordination mechanisms are an important part of this armoury and PM&C has long experience of most of them. However policy initiation and development calls for other tools which PM&C has had to develop over the past few decades. There is scope for conflict between the coordination and initiation/development roles. Understanding how a central agency like PM&C carries out each of them and balances the two can potentially contribute to debates on organisational design. We also address the normative issue: whether the growth of prime ministerial impact is a result of an increase in public service support or a cause of its increase ( Walter and Strangio 2007 ) and whether it should be restrained. We accept that the new developments give prime ministers the capacity to oversee policy arenas where once they could not, but regard this as a consequence as much of demand from above as of ambition within the department.