Israeli adolescents' self-image profile

Seven hundred and seventy-two Jewish Israeli male and female high school students (aged 14–18) responded to a Hebrew version of the Offer Self-Image Questionnaire (OSIQ). Results show that, much like the American adolescents, the majority of the Israeli respondents are happy and well-adjusted, although a noticeable minority experiences some personal trouble. Gender and age differences show that males hold a more positive self-image than do females, and that age differences among males are larger than among females. Comparisons with the American norm sample indicate that the Israeli and American self-image profiles differ significantly on only three scales. Israelis report a higher impluse control, and lower morals and vocational and educational goals. These results are discussed in terms of ecological and cultural explanations, and the need for extending OSIQ research to additional sectors of Israeli society is noted.Received Ph.D. from Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Research interest is adolescents' psychosocial development.Received Ph.D. from the University of Manchester, England. Major research interest is personality development in adolescents.     

How well is the United States competing? A comment on Papadakis

We contend that Papadakis's inferences regarding past and future competitiveness crises cannot be made on the basis of the evidence she has presented. We support this assertion in three ways. First, we argue that the import penetration ratio is not a reasonable measure of national competitiveness in international markets. Second, we show that conventional macroeconomic models can explain the deterioration in the trade balance during the 1980s. Third, we present data demonstrating that, as of 1990, the United States had very low unit labor costs relative to other developed countries, and had the highest level of aggregate productivity in the world.     

Suicide Risk in Emerging Adulthood: Associations with Screen Time over 10 years

Journal of Youth and Adolescence - Suicide rates have increased over the past decade, and screen media (and social media in particular) are often blamed for this marked increase. However, there is...     

Staff transfer and management in the government health sector in Balochistan,Pakistan: problems and context

Despite the existence of rigid civil service systems in many developing countries providing relative stability of public officials, staff posting and transfers are often based on short‐term political criteria. This means high staff circulation in key government posts, leading to a situation of ‘instability within stability’. This article analyses high staff circulation in the government health services in Balochistan, Pakistan. The analysis is based on literature review, a small pilot study and authors' experience in the province. The article notes that high staff turnover and, more specifically, circulation are context‐specific. Four issues are raised. Firstly, the extent of staff turnover is analysed and references are made to its frequency, the organization and cadre. Secondly, the social and political underpinning of high staff circulation is outlined: political patronage, low implementation of rules, staff preferences and public sector control. Thirdly, the problems of staff turnover are raised with specific reference to the problems of continuity, change and participation. Fourthly, the issue of solutions is raised at two levels: structural change to lessen high staff turnover, and dealing with it on a day‐to‐day managerial level. Lastly, substantive and methodological issues are raised with respect to taking the analysis further. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Redemption and reproach: Religion and carceral control in action among women in prison

Criminologists are increasingly interested in how a variety of justice-adjacent institutions scaffold surveillance and punishment in the U.S. criminal justice system. A relevant but understudied institution within the carceral state is that of religion. Drawing on 12 months of ethnographic fieldwork inside a U.S. state women's prison, I interrogate how religion—predominately conservative and evangelical Protestantism—served dual purposes in light of carceral control. Religion offered redemptive narratives to counter punitive carceral narratives promulgated by the state. At the same time, this narrative shift from “flawed” to “faithful” prescribed particular forms of embodiment: avoiding fights and rejecting sexual relationships with women. These forms of Protestant embodiment aligned with carceral purposes, such that women who reprimanded others for breaching religious norms were simultaneously enforcing prison rules. Although rhetorically challenging official prison narratives on the meaning of incarceration, Protestant narratives in practice regulated women's emotional and sexual behaviors and fostered a system of informal surveillance among incarcerated women. These findings illuminate how organizational narratives are linked to individual action. More broadly, they suggest how an institution such as religion can undergird state authority within an intractable context of carceral control.     

Fast Discrimination of Marijuana using Automated High-throughput Cannabis Sample Preparation and Analysis by Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry

In the United States, federal law and many state laws differentiate between marijuana and industrial hemp through delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) levels, whereby the latter is defined as ≤0.3 percent THC on a dry weight basis. Many traditional cannabis identification methods employed by crime laboratories cannot accurately determine total THC quantities in accordance with federal and state regulations, or do so with increased time, labor, and risks of instrument damage. In order to quickly distinguish positive marijuana samples, a method was developed to identify plant material with a total THC level >1%. This novel, automated dispersive pipette extraction (DPX) method uses tip-based technology and an automated liquid handler to enable fast, hands-free selective isolation of THC and its precursors for downstream gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis. The workflow proceeds with no repetitive manual effort and reduced need for instrument maintenance while enabling crime labs to legally identify marijuana through the detection of total THC above 1%. Recovery of THC using the DPX extraction method was 93% at 30 µg/mL and 78% at 500 µg/mL. Similarly, THCA-A recovery was 100% at 30 µg/mL and 74% at 500 µg/mL. Samples evaluated in a blind study (proficiency, hemp, and nonprobative case samples) were all accurately identified as greater than or less than 1% THC, with samples containing <1% THC being identified as “cannabis” and subjected to more discriminative analysis as needed.     

Legal corruption?

Public Choice - “Legal corruption” may strike many scholars as a contradiction in terms, but in fact the concept can be essential if we are to understand the sources and consequences of...     

Linking Social Anxiety and Adolescent Romantic Relationship Functioning: Indirect Effects and the Importance of Peers

Peer relationships undergo dramatic shifts in form and function during adolescence, at the same time the incidence of socially evaluative fears sharply rises. Despite well-established links between social anxiety and broader interpersonal functioning, there is a dearth of research evaluating the impact of social anxiety on functioning in close relationships during this developmental stage. The present study examines the impact of social anxiety on functioning in close friendships and romantic relationships during adolescence. From a developmental psychopathology perspective, it was expected that social anxiety would influence functioning (quality, length, satisfaction) in romantic relationships through its influence on functioning in same- and other-sex friendships. Participants included 314 adolescents (60.5 % female, 14–19 years of age) with a prior or current history of romantic relationship involvement. Structural equation modeling was used to test a mediation model positing an indirect pathway from social anxiety to romantic relationship functioning through functioning in close same- and other-sex friendships. Given known gender differences in social anxiety and relationship functioning, gender also was explored as a potential moderator. Results supported the hypothesized indirect pathway whereby social anxiety was associated with impairment in same-sex friendships; functioning in same-sex friendships was associated with functioning in other-sex friendships, which was associated, in turn, with functioning in romantic relationships. While the hypothesized indirect pathway was significant among both boys and girls, there was greater continuity of functioning between same- and other-sex friendships for girls. These findings highlight the importance of examining the multiple downstream effects of social anxiety on perceived social functioning in adolescence, and suggest that continuity may exist for maladaptive patterns of socialization, particularly across developmentally salient close relationships.