Genetic and environmental contributions to stability and change in levels of self-control

Purpose

There has been an emerging body of research estimating the stability in levels of self-control across different sections of the life course. At the same time, some of this research has attempted to examine the factors that account for both stability and change in levels of self-control. Missing from much of this research is a concerted focus on the genetic and environmental architecture of stability and change in self-control.

Methods

The current study was designed to address this issue by analyzing a sample of kinship pairs drawn from the Child and Young Adult Supplement of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (CNLSY).

Results

Analyses of these data revealed that genetic factors accounted for between 74 and 92 percent of the stability in self-control and between 78 and 89 percent of the change in self-control. Shared and nonshared environmental factors explained the rest of the stability and change in levels of self-control.

Conclusions

A combination of genetic and environmental influences is responsible for the stability and change in levels of self-control over time.     

Hymns (Nasheeds): A Contribution to the Study of the Jihadist Culture

This article deals with militant Islamist hymns (anasheed jihadiya; in the following simply referred to as nasheeds) as an expression of jihadist culture. In this context jihadism is regarded as a militant fraction within the Salafi movement, with which it shares goals but not means. ¹ 1. Roel Meijer, ed., Global Salafism. Islam's New Religious Movement (New York: Columbia University Press, 2009), pp. 24–27; Jarret Brachman, Global Jihadism—Theory and Practice (London and New York: Routledge, 2009), p. 11 f; Quintan Wiktorowicz, “Anatomy of the Salafi Movement,” Studies in Conflict & Terrorism 29(3) (2006), pp. 207–239. The jihadist culture as a tool to create a common jihadist identity and to mobilize new recruits is probably as important as its ideology is. In 2004 Marc Sageman made the following remarks in his book Understanding Terror Networks: “… social bonds play a more important role in the emergence of the global Salafi jihad than ideology.” ² 2. Marc Sageman, Understanding Terror Networks (Philadelphia: University of Philadelphia Press, 2004), p. 178. The history of nasheeds will be traced back as well as an analysis of its contents and usage will be given.     

The European Trips-Plus Model and The Arab World: From Co-Operation to Association— A New Era in the Global IPRS Regime?

The advocation of stronger and higher levels of Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) protection has been on the rise in recent years, particularly since the establishment of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in 1995. Although its establishment signalled the beginning of a new phase in the protection of IPRs internationally, no more than a decade later, it is seen that such a regime is still undergoing a number of significant changes. In this regard, the rise of bilateralism and the retreat of multilateralism resulted in the so-called ‹TRIPS-Plus’ recipe in which developing countries are increasingly giving way to the demands of the industrialised countries through incorporating higher levels of IPRs protection domestically. Although the USA has often been viewed as the primary advocator and enforcer of the TRIPS-Plus recipe globally, this article shows that in fact the European Union (EU) advocated the TRIPS-Plus recipe long before the USA. Thus, this article discusses the case of the European TRIPS-Plus model with the Arab World as a clear demonstration of such a trend. Developing and Arab countries are now faced with two determined superpowers acting at both the unilateral and bilateral levels to achieve their desired higher standards of IPRs protection worldwide. This will further erode the flexibilities of the TRIPS Agreement, and will entail grave repercussions for both the developing and Arab countries. LLM, PhD, Lecturer in Law, University of Central Lancashire (UCLAN), UK. The author may be contacted at mel-said@uclan.ac.uk     

Navigating entangled terrain: The Supreme Court's impact and the dismissal powers of human rights tribunals

The human rights justice system is a politically and legally complex area to navigate with legislative changes and judicial decisions shaping the administration and governance of human rights policies. This article provides a comprehensive examination of the complexities and intricacies of this system by measuring the impact of judicial rulings on the discretionary decision-making of the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal (HRTO). The impact of the Supreme Court of Canada's relevant jurisprudence in Figliola and Penner on the HRTO's discretionary powers to dismiss claims pursuant to section 45.1 of the Ontario Human Rights Code is measured by examining the outcomes of decisions made by the Tribunal. The article presents new empirical data on all early dismissal decisions (N = 1479) from 2008 to 2021 and demonstrates the effects of the Supreme Court's rulings in Figliola and Penner. The findings in this article reveal that both Figliola and Penner had significant impacts on the Tribunal's discretionary decision-making powers.     

The Role of Beliefs,Attitudes and Adverse Childhood Experiences in Predicting Men’s Reactions Towards Their Spouses’ Violence

The purpose of the present article was to determine the ability of cognitive factors (beliefs and attitudes) and adverse childhood experiences to predict men’s reactions towards their spouses’ violence. To do so, 120 males who had referred to family court to seek divorce due to spouses’ violence were randomly selected and an author’s -made questionnaire containing 27 subscales was administered to them. Four of the 27 subscales comprised of 22 questions regarding “types of reactions towards spouses’ violence”, “attitudes towards spouse”, and “experiencing family violence during childhood”. Our results showed that witnessing violence during childhood could positively predict reactions such as “cessation of relationship” and “reprisal”. Men’s beliefs regarding “permission to use violence” could positively predict reaction such as “cessation of relationship”. Furthermore, factors such as “Believing his wife is more knowledgeable” and “Wife’s Physical Appearance” negatively predicted reactions such as “Cessation of relationship” and “Tolerance”. Also “Man’s perceived career success” positively predicted the reaction of “Attempts to Resume Relationship”. These results are discussed in the context of the existing literature.     

A policy-selection/ goal-formulation model for public systems

This paper attempts to present an analytical framework of analysis of problems relating to public systems. Current optimization models, which originated in the private sector, are not adequate to handle the complexity of the decision making processes in public policy analysis. The proposed model aims at lessening ideological debates over statements of goals, and it emphasizes policy selection through goal redefinitions where both goals and policies are formulated simultaneously. The model is based on an iterative process where consensus over policies is arrived at between the policy maker and the constituents of the public system. The principal feature of the model is that it incorporates political debates and bargains, and provides for the development of insight.