The cultural revolution and modernity: The contradictory political implications of postmodernism in China

In order to understand the modern‐postmodern controversy in China, it is important to understand the contradictory political implications of postmodernism in that special context. Emerging in China as a post‐Cultural Revolution discourse, postmodernism has elicited both anticipation and distrust. The former comes from the promise of being liberated from the dogmas of modernity; the latter from concern about postmodern disregard of different orientations of modernity, especially conflicting totalitarian and democratic modes of modernity. While attacking modernity in general, Chinese postmodernism has so far failed to address the particular mode of modernity crystallized in the violence and brutality of the Cultural Revolution and the Tiananmen massacre. To undermine the modernist notions of universality, subject and grand narratives without acknowledging and accenting the oppressive deeds done under the aegis of these notions is to practice a politically conservative postmodernism which endorses the existing order while pretending to be theoretically radical and avant‐garde.     

论青少年不良群体的成因和对策——根据群体动力学原理

预防青少年不良群体的形成以及减少他们对社会的危害 ,一直以来都是教育工作者和社会工作者所关注的问题。依据社会心理学的群体动力理论 ,分析青少年中不良群体的形成原因和他们可能造成的危害 ,并就防止不良群体对青少年造成负面影响提出治理措施 ,是一种能够较好地瓦解青少年中已经形成的不良群体的有效方法     

Pandora's box: Women guards in men's prisons

The assignment of women guards to security positions in men's prisons in the United States is increasingly a correctional reality. This article considers the problems these women face in entering a previously all-male, “front-line” occupation. The discussion focuses on (1) how well female officers meet the security demands of security work, (2) the nature of, and basis for, difficulties in relating to male co-workers, and (3) occupational socialization and advancement. Drawing on available empirical and anecdotal data on women officers in male prisons and on the more general prison guard literature, the intent is to present what is known about these women officers. A research agenda is offered to guide inquiry into the problems of the sexual integration of correctional institutions.     

Using similarity judgments to conduct a mugshot album search

Mugshot searches fail because the witness must be shown too many photos. Current methods to reduce the number rely too heavily on verbal reports of individual features. This research reports three tests of a new system that augments the presently used tools by having the witness choose photos that are subjectively similar to the target. Each photo thus chosen increases the ranking of every photo in the album that is similar to it, as determined by a similarity network in which the album photos are embedded. Because the ranking of the target itself is usually thus increased, it is soon displayed. The tests used familiar targets, an incidental one, and unfamiliar videoed ones. From 76% to 84% of the “witnesses” reached the target, having viewed 2.4 to 8.5 times fewer photos than they would have had they simply leafed through photos as is traditionally done.     

On assessing the mood of the public toward the police: Some conceptual issues

The use of attitudinal surveys has become a widely accepted method for the incorporation of public opinion in public policy decisions. Because of the assumption that the interpretation of such surveys is straightforward and clear, little critical attention has been devoted to the methodological and theoretical problems encountered when translating these findings into public policy. A case in point involves the proliferation of surveys aimed at assessing the mood of the public toward the police. A review of the literature reveals that the research findings about the public mood are contradictory and thus lack convergent validity. The findings of this study indicate that this lack of convergent validity in the images of the public toward the police can be explained on both methodological and theoretical grounds. More specifically, the findings indicate that the mood of the public is very different depending on the level of specificity of the items used to tap that mood. Items eliciting evaluations of a general nature show the public as supportive of the police, while items of a specific nature show much less public support. This apparent paradox is explained through the use of a theoretical framework developed by Easton (1965), which emphasizes diffuse and specific support as external influences on institutions.     

The Assignment Convention: how will it affect IP licensors?

The Assignment Convention designed to liberalize the marketfor credit and to increase the ability of businesses to raisecredit on the back of their income flow, may be set to havea negative impact on IP owners/licensors.