Size doesn't matter: emotional content does not determine the size of objects in children's drawings

Abstract

In Experiment 1 we examined whether children spontaneously alter the size of objects in their drawings of emotionally-laden events. To do this, we evaluated children's drawings of their own personal, past experiences. Children were asked to draw a picture of an event that had made them happy and an event that had made them sad. We found no differences in the size of object that children drew in their positive and negative emotional events. In Experiment 2, we asked adults with and without clinical training to discriminate children's drawings of happy events from their drawings of sad events. There was no difference in the accuracy of raters as a function of clinical expertise. Moreover, performance for both groups was at chance when we removed drawings with specific emotional indicators from the set (e.g. smiles or tears). We conclude that the emotional interpretation of drawings on the basis of the size of objects in that drawing is fraught with difficulty. We question the projective use of drawings in forensic and clinical practice.     

Anti-triad legislations in Hong Kong: issues, problems and development

One way to tackle triad societies is through effective legislation. The present article first describes and reviews the legislation dealing with triad activities in Hong Kong – The Societies Ordinance – and highlights the main issues and problems. Four issues are discussed, namely ambiguity in the definition of triad membership, doubtful neutrality of triad experts, outdated triad-related literature cited in the court, and the contradiction with human rights and freedom of expression. The article further examines the effect of the ordinance in suppressing triad activities and argues that the law is not very effective in penalizing senior triad members, thus justifying the need for a new legislation to contain the growth of triad activities and organized crime.     

Constructing Victims and Villains: Unintended Outcomes of Contact Prohibition Orders

Contact prohibition orders (besöksförbud) are by now an institutionalized form of preventing violence and protecting the integrity of individuals from non‐strangers' intrusion in their lives. On the basis of an analysis of, primarily, in‐depth interviews with people intended to be protected by such orders, it is argued that this legal practice has unintended consequences for the parties' interaction and relationship. In order to obtain and maintain CPOs, the individuals have to regard and present the other party's acts as criminal cases and watch their own behaviour to preclude accusations of having provoked violations. They are also expected to evidence the other's crimes. In court they have to present themselves as credible witnesses and at the same time as suffering victims in order to retain the victim role. To make sense of the new situation, they tended to re‐construct the other party as inherently criminal, and they accounted for their common past as based upon the other's deception. Hence, it is claimed that the encounters with the criminal justice system have a decisive impact on the individuals' understanding of themselves, the other party, their relations and interaction.     

Building party organisations and the relevance of past models: The communist and socialist parties in Spain and Portugal

This article explores the development of the party organisations of the communist and socialist parties in contemporary Spain and Portugal. An attempt is made to answer the question of whether these parties resemble the western European mass party model of organisation, which is characterised by the representation and integration of a particular segment of society within the organisational structure. From the contrasting western and southern European paths towards democracy, a hypothesis is generated contending that the limited opportunities and the lack of necessity diminish the likelihood for southern European working‐class parties to build mass organisations. The empirical findings, analysing the nature and size of individual membership, as well as the nature of the linkages between parties and trade unions, reveal that, with the possible exception of the Portuguese communists, the classic mass party is not reproduced in southern Europe. At the same time, however, the model of the party as a membership organisation apparently has not lost its legitimacy.     

Einleitung: Subsidiäres Staatshandeln in modernen Gesellschaften

En s'interrogeant sur la manière dont un Etat central, dans un système fédéraliste, parvient à redéfinir la réalité sociale, l'article analyse la dimension symbolique de l'action publique et ses modes de légitimation. L'auteur présente la transformation de la politique de protection de la nature et du paysage qui se manifeste tant au niveau de la répartition du pouvoir fédéral, qu'au niveau de la représentation symbolique du territoire. A l'aide d'une étude de cas, il analyse la démarche mise en place par l'administration fédérale et cantonale en vue de légitimer cette politique auprès des communes et des groupes d'intérêts locaux. Celle-ci était basée sur des procédures discursives. Si ces modes de légitimation secondaires conduisent à la reproduction des inégalités propres au champ de la politique, ils favorisent néanmoins une transformation de la perception de la nature et du paysage à l'aide d'échange de normes et de valeurs entre les différents acteurs. Un tel mode d'intervention de l'Etat central au niveau local peut être interprété comme un type de subsidiarité réflexive.     

Hydrogen: Fueling EU-Morocco Energy Cooperation?

The war in Ukraine and the looming threat of climate change are driving the strategic need to diversify sources of energy, including renewables. Therefore, the European Union aims to develop energy relations with non-EU member states, and Morocco has become a key priority. Both Brussels and Rabat are pursuing ambitious green policies and cooperation initiatives, including on hydrogen. Drawing on theories of international institutions and political economy, this article analyzes hydrogen-related relationship patterns and explains demand and supply factors as drivers of institutionalized energy cooperation. We examine the EU's hydrogen approach and development, its relations with Morocco, and the political interests of both sides. Our analysis shows that the complex interdependencies in the evolving EU-Morocco hydrogen relations indicate that demand can be met by supply. However, challenges remain, including the need to deepen the partnership and prepare the market for commercial hydrogen production.     

Changes in Patterns of Social Role Combinations at Ages 25–26 among Those Growing Up in England between 1996 and 2015–16: Evidence from the 1970 British Cohort and Next Steps Studies

Journal of Youth and Adolescence - Changes across education, employment, and family life over the past 20 years challenges the capacity of previously established social role combinations to...