Radicalization in Adolescence: the Identification of Vulnerable Groups

European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research - Given that the normative search for identity and belonging, as well as political socialization, plays an important role during adolescence, this...     

Youth bulges,insurrections and labor-market restrictions

This paper analyzes the link between large youth cohorts and violent conflicts when labor-market restrictions are present. Such restrictions are expected to limit the youth cohort’s access to income opportunities in the formal economy, and thus lower the youth-specific opportunity cost of insurrection activities. We develop a theoretical model of insurrection markets and integrate the youth cohort’s relative size. In equilibrium, a binding labor-market constraint interacts with the youth bulge in determining the level of insurrection activities within the society. We test the implications of our model on a sample of 135 non-OECD countries in the post-Cold War period and find the effect of the youth cohort’s relative size on conflict onsets to be moderated by changes in the labor-market conditions as measured by unemployment rates. Generally, the results provide evidence that the underlying institutional setting shapes the conflict potential inherent in a given demographic structure.     

Mapping the black box of intraministerial organization: An analytical approach to explore structural diversity below the portfolio level

This article explores the structural diversity of intraministerial organization over time. Based on organization theory, it proposes a generic typology for intraministerial units applicable to any hierarchically structured government organization. We empirically investigate the critical case of the German federal bureaucracy. By classifying its subunits, we analyze the longitudinal development of structural differentiation and its correspondence to denominational variety. The data stem from a novel international dataset, covering all ministries between 1980 and 2015. We find that intraministerial structure differentiates over time, across and within ministries. A stable core of traditional Weberian structure is complemented by structurally innovative intraministerial units. We conclude that the German federal bureaucracy is more diverse than suggested in previous literature. Our findings indicate that less Weberian bureaucracies are at least as structurally diverse and that more reform‐driven bureaucracies will have experienced at least as many changes in structural diversity.     

A tale of firsts: the 2019 Austrian snap election

Abstract

The 2019 Austrian snap election, held on 29 September 2019, was preceded by a series of scandals. Most prominent among them was the so-called ‘Ibizagate’ involving the former Vice-Chancellor and FPÖ party leader, Heinz-Christian Strache. The scandal eventually led to the collapse of the ÖVP-FPÖ coalition in May 2019 and the formation of a caretaker government. The election day in September brought a clear victory for the ÖVP with an increase of almost six percentage points, compared to its vote share in the 2017 election. The second big winner was the Green party which scored the best result in the party history with 13.9 per cent of the vote. Amid scandals, the FPÖ saw its support fall to only 16.2 per cent; the election also resulted in an all-time low for the SPÖ achieving only 21.2 per cent. The article presents the background, the election campaign and the results of the 2019 Austrian election, discussing the wide range of ‘firsts’ that characterized them, including the formation of the first ÖVP-Green coalition government in Austria.     

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder does not predict criminal recidivism in young adult offenders: Results from a prospective study

As the state of research on the relationship between attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and recidivism can be considered controversial, our prospective study investigated whether ADHD predicts recidivism in a sample of 283 male, German, young adult prisoners. Currently existing ADHD symptoms and symptoms that were present in childhood were screened according to the DSM-IV checklist criteria. Information on general and violent recidivism was gathered using government records with a follow-up period of up to five years. The prevalence of adult ADHD was six times greater than in the general population, and the number of participants who retrospectively met the criteria for a diagnosis with ADHD in childhood was ten times greater than found in community samples. Survival analyses did not identify ADHD as a predictor of recidivism. Controlling for conduct disorder, substance dependence, and other relevant variables did not alter results. However, among individuals who were released from prison and then reconvicted for a new crime, offenders diagnosed with ADHD were found to reoffend sooner after release. These findings stress the necessity of differentiating between risk factors for delinquency and risk factors for recidivism.     

Deradicalisation,disengagement, rehabilitation and reintegration of violent extremists in conflict-affected contexts: a systematic literature review

ABSTRACT

This article identifies, assesses and synthesises existing literature on deradicalisation, disengagement, rehabilitation and reintegration (DDRR) in conflict-affected states through a systematic literature review. While existing research has methodological shortcomings and determining the outcomes of DDRR programmes is challenging, 12 common themes surfaced in the synthesis. According to the studies selected, varying experiences of the individuals in violent extremist organisations, including form of engagement, role in the organisation and experiences of insecurity and disillusion, may affect DDRR processes. Capacity and resource constrains may pose challenges to DDRR programming in conflict-affected contexts, but engaging former extremists, their families and communities at large mitigates the issues characteristic for conflict-affected contexts and contributes to wider peace-building objectives.     

Framing the revolution: the role of social media in Ukraine’s Euromaidan movement

The role of social media as a tool of mobilization, communication, and organization of social movements has been well documented since the Arab Spring. The public information posted on social media sites also presents researchers with a unique tool to study protests movements from within. The proposed study utilizes the theoretical foundation of issue framing literature and examines the social media framing of the Ukrainian Euromaidan protest movement. The original dataset traces the activities of the users on the social media site Facebook from 21 November 2013 to February 2014. While foreign media sources portrayed the Ukrainian crisis as a geopolitical struggle, the results of our analysis show that the participants of the protest conceptualized their movement in terms of domestic issues and an anti-regime revolution rather than a geopolitical crossroad between the EU and Russia. This study contributes to our understanding of the role social media sites play in the activities of protest movements, such as Euromaidan. Furthermore, it highlights the importance of social media as a tool of issue framing on par with the traditional sources of framing such as mass media and political elites.     

Europe and the Information Society: Problems and Challenges for Supranational1 Intervention

This article proposes that European intervention for the enhancement of the information society is legitimate and appropriate but, despite recent improvements, very difficult to design and implement. Intervention has taken three forms: 1. European-wide deregulation and liberalization of public procurement, to stimulate competition and specialization; 2. R&;D incentives, which have improved European capabilities and given academic research a chance to take off in poorer regions but which have also favored oligopolies and increased barriers to entry; and 3. Incentives offered to the less favored European regions to improve their infrastructure and to adopt strategies that would facilitate the stimulation of demand. Despite their ambitions to help the Union as a whole rapidly close the gap with the U.S. or level internal imbalances, these interventions appear insufficient as yet to do so. But even if policy results are not (yet?) visible, these interventions have put a process in motion that acts in parallel with the market forces of globalization. Although European ambitions are limited by jurisdiction due to the subsidiarity principle imposing action at the lowest possible level, supranational policies demonstrate interesting features of development policies and suggest some innovative schemes of intervention for less favored regions.     

“It Is So Swedish That You Have to Work”. Returning Swedish Migrant Women’s Negotiations of Gender Equality and Heterosexuality

Notions of gender equality are strongly linked to the Swedish self-image. This article explores returning Swedish migrant women’s negotiations of heterosexual gender equality ideals based on their experiences of being housewives to middle- and upper-class men with work contracts abroad. From fieldwork conducted within two networks for returning Swedes, the article provides an analysis of the ways in which the women talk about work, gender equality, and domestic workers.

The analysis of the women’s accounts of gender relations shows that different ways of doing femininity are central in their narratives. By using the concepts “emphasized femininity” and “gender-equal femininity” the article highlights the different forms of femininity that can be traced in the women’s narratives. Drawing from the empirical examples, it is shown that the women are troubled by Swedish gender equality ideals and express a feeling of not “fitting in” after returning to Sweden. I suggest that the women’s articulations of not “fitting in” to (imagined) gender-equal Sweden tend to downplay the fact that they still have advantages that assist with “fitting in” from social positions such as class, whiteness, and (hetero)sexuality: positions which may create space for negotiating social norms in Sweden.