District Magnitude and Home Styles of Representation in European Democracies

How political representatives interact with constituents is contingent on the conditions under which they compete for re-election. It has been the assumption that intra-party competition shapes legislators’ incentive to cultivate a personal reputation and thereby the incentive to engage in any constituency-oriented action that reputation may be built on. Using data from the PARTIREP cross-national survey among regional and national legislators in 12 European democracies, the assumption is proven to be inaccurate: focusing on more than one action at a time, it becomes clear that district magnitude increases the time representatives spend on some constituency-oriented actions and decreases the time they spend on others (even when the electoral incentive to nurture a personal reputation is strong). The article demonstrates that representatives’ choice to engage in four constituency-oriented actions is related to the nature of these home styles and their electoral utility in a given context.     

Differences in Effects of Domestic Violence Between Latina and Non-Latina Women

There has been much research on the effects of domestic violence on women; however, little research has focused on possible differences in reactions to domestic violence between Latina and non-Latina women. Comparable samples of Latina and non-Latina women were obtained and analyses revealed that there were no significant differences between the two samples with regard to the nature and severity of the domestic violence to which they were exposed. However, results indicated that Latina women who had been victims of domestic violence had significantly greater trauma-related symptoms, depression, lower social and personal self-esteem, and were less likely to make global attributions for positive events than were non-Latina women. They also reported more parenting stress due to their child's behaviors than did non-Latina women. The implications of these results in light of cultural differences between Latina and non-Latina women are discussed.     

Confinement as a two‐stage turning point: Do changes in identity or social structure predict subsequent changes in criminal activity?*

Scholars frequently characterize incarceration as a possible turning point in criminal activity. This implies a two‐stage process: 1) change in life‐course mechanisms around confinement and reentry result in 2) subsequent change in criminal activity relative to preconfinement. Following this model, we examine change in criminal activity, criminal identity, and social/structural challenges using data from the Prison Project, a cohort of adult males with short‐term confinement in the Netherlands in 2010–2011. Results of a novel test for within‐individual change in arrests from preconfinement to post‐reentry show that most individuals are stable—yet there is a substantial group who go down meaningfully and a much smaller group who go up. Even though changes in criminal identity from the intervening period do not predict these change groups, increases in social/structural challenges predict those who go up in criminal activity. We build from prior work on desistance and reentry, contrasting our findings and highlighting the unique insight gained from, as well as challenges of, measuring individual change within our two‐stage turning point model. Although life‐course mechanisms often correspond with changes in criminal activity concurrently, identifying individual changes that are predictors of subsequent shifts in criminal offending remains elusive.     

“Commitment Through the Work of Art,” “Commitment Through the Name”: The Case of French Directors of “Social Films” in the 1990s–2000s

What is the commitment of left-leaning artists and intellectuals in a context where the legitimacy of politics and party activism is being called into question? The analysis of the case of the French directors who have made films dealing with social issues in the 1990s–2000s shows the complexity of the boundaries between art and politics and of the possible modes of commitment through their works and/or their name. Some directors who have made one or several films dealing with the working classes in France in this period have been associated with the label “social cinema” by the critic, as well as social scientists or “anti-globalization” activists. Despite the differences in their social and professional backgrounds, they all have in common the rejection of this label, opposing “social cinema” to artistic recognition and carefully distinguishing their artwork from commitment. In order to stabilize their careers and meet professional success, they often have to move from working class issues to more valued topics and from a realistic aesthetic to a more distinguished one. They mostly commit their names for the defence of the “independence of cinema” and for humanitarian causes, rather for more overtly political or partisan issues. More generally, this case study illustrates the forms and repertoires of commitment open to artists and intellectuals in the 1990s–2000s, showing how they try to use their professional skills and resources (including their notoriety) in the service of certain causes without jeopardizing their artistic autonomy, by distancing themselves both from partisan politics and from “commercial cinema.”     

Fatal accidental hanging by a high-chair waist strap in a 2-year-old girl

High chairs are commonly used to feed children after 6 months. Related injuries are oftentime minor and rarely leading to death. We describe a case of a 2-year-old female child who used to jump alone on her high chair and also had the habit to fasten the straps by herself. Her mother found her hanging by the waist straps. A thorough investigation showed that she climbed her high chair and fastened the waist straps but not the crotch one. The girl slid down into the seat, trapping her neck in the waist straps and thus resulting in hanging. In here, we concluded that the victim's death was caused by asphyxia, itself, caused by accidental hanging. The present case is of a special interest because of the rare similar cases reported. This case suggests that a correct restraint use and a close supervision would have prevented such a fatal issue.     

Depressive Symptoms in Young,Urban Schoolchildren: Environmental,Social, and Cognitive Risk

This study examined relations among stressors, perceived social competence, attributional style, and depressive symptoms in young urban schoolchildren. Data were collected from 85 5- to 11-year-olds, mostly African American, who attended a public elementary school in a low-income urban area. Social competence was examined as a potential mediator, and attributional style was examined as a potential moderator of the relation between stressful life events and depressive symptoms. Separate analyses were conducted by age and gender. For older children and girls, main effects were found for stressful life events as predictors of depressive symptoms. Mediational analyses indicated that perceived peer acceptance served as a mediator of the relation between stressful life events and depressive symptoms for girls. In addition, attributional style moderated the relation between stressors and depressive symptoms in the older children. Together, findings suggest that significant relations exist among stressful life events, social and cognitive processes, and depressive symptoms in young urban children and that these relations are influenced by gender and development.