Different methodologies in the assessment of identity: Congruence between self-report and interview techniques?

Convergent-divergent validity and reliability estimates for clinical interview and self-report measures of ego identity were obtained. Twenty-three males and 25 females completed an extended version of the Ego Identity Interview [H. D. Grotevant, W. Thorebecke, and M. C. Meyer (1982) An Extension of Marcia's Identity Status Interview into the Interpersonal Domain,Journal of Youth and Adolescence 11: 33–48] and the extended version of the Objective Measure of Ego Identity Status [H. D. Grotevant and G. R. Adams (1984) Development of an Objective Measure to Assess Ego-Identity in Adolescence: Validation and Replication,Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 13: 419–438]. While the two measures were expected to converge, little convergence was observed. The findings suggest that the two measures may be (a) assessing relatively distinct forms of ego identity, or (b) that the ego-identity construct as measured by the process (exploration) and outcome (commitment) dimensions needs further theoretical examination.Partial support for this project was provided through fundings to the second author from the Utah State Agricultural Experiment Station, Logan, Utah. This paper was presented earlier in a symposium titled Identity Development from Adolescence to Adulthood at the biennial meetings of the Society for Research on Child Development, Toronto, Canada, April 1985.Received M.S degree in Psychology from Utah State University. Research interests include identity development and social relations.Received Ph.D. from the Pennsylvania State University in 1975. Research interests include personality and social development in adolescence, family psychology, and research methodology.     

More, Less, or More of the Same? Trends in State Social Welfare Policy in the 1990s

Major reforms to cash assistance and other welfare programsin the 1990s raise questions about whether states gained newflexibility in setting social policies, and, if so, how theyexercised this flexibility. We extend prior research on statesocial policy by examining trends during the middle to late1990s in five areas of cash or near-cash policy affecting theeconomic security of low-income families. We find evidence ofsubstantial change in the generosity and the availability ofthese benefits between 1994 and 1999, along with evidence ofgreater divergence or cross-state variation in policy choices.By considering several forms of assistance simultaneously, wealso find evidence that states constricted traditional welfare-basedassistance while expanding some forms of non-welfare supportfor the working poor.     

The Pleasure is Mine: The Changing Subject of Erotic Science

Pleasure, the defining object of kāmaśāstric scholarship, is harmonious sensory experience, the product of a “good fit” between the self and the world. It comes about when one moves in a world of fitting sense objects, and one has made oneself fit to enter that world. The bulk of kāmaśāstric literature is devoted to developing, enhancing, and enacting specific bodily and sensory capabilities in order to maximize one’s ability to affect and be affected by the world. This article examines the model of subjectivity implied by kāmaśāstra, tracking two sorts of changes to the self assumed by this body of texts. First, it presents and analyzes the ways in which the social actors described in this literature come into being in and through the cultivation and performance of particular bodily and social acts; the “artifactual” nature of the self is presumed. Second, it considers the changing set of acts that are described and prescribed over the course of kāmaśāstric history, noting the increasing place of physiognomy and of magico-medical alterations of the body, and the elision of the social sphere of sensual activity. Finally, this article situates the kāmaśāstric model of subjectivity in relation to the larger śāstric project, drawing out the model of empiricism that it presupposes, and speculating upon the epistemological/ontological implications of kāmaśāstra as a science.     

Hiding in plain sight – using signals to detect terrorists

This paper studies the interaction between a governmental security agency, as the Transportation Security Agency, or the Immigration and Naturalization Service, and a terrorist organization, like Al Qaeda. The governmental agency wants to stop the terrorists, but first must infer whether a visa applicant or an airline passenger is a terrorist on the basis of some observable signal. The terrorist organization's objective is to get past security to commit murder and mayhem. We derive the equilibrium strategy for this signaling model, and evaluate specific anti-terrorist policies, as the creation of the new Homeland Security Agency and increased airport security screening.     

Drug intelligence based on MDMA tablets data: 2. Physical characteristics profiling

One of the tasks of the European project entitled “Collaborative Harmonisation of Methods for Profiling of Amphetamine Type Stimulants” (CHAMP) funded by the sixth framework programme of the European Commission was to develop a harmonised methodology for MDMA profiling and the creation of a common database in a drug intelligence perspective. Part I was dedicated to the analysis of organic impurities formed during synthesis in order to investigate traffic tendencies and highlight potential links between samples, whereas this part focuses on physical characteristics of the MDMA tablets. Diameter, thickness, weight and score were demonstrated to be reliable and relevant features in this drug intelligence perspective. Distributions of samples coming from the same post-tabletting batch (post-TB) and samples coming from different post-TB were very well discriminated by using the squared Euclidean or the Manhattan distance on standardised data. Our findings demonstrated the possibility to discriminate between MDMA samples issued from different post-TB and to find out links between samples coming from a same post-TB. Furthermore, the hypothesis that most of the MDMA samples found on the international market come from the same countries was supported.     

Variability of the Entire Mitochondrial DNA Control Region in a Human Isolate from the Pas Valley (Northern Spain)

Abstract: In this study, we analyzed the entire mtDNA control region in 61 unrelated individuals from the Pas Valley (Cantabria), a human isolate from northern Spain, to evaluate the suitability of this analysis to increase the power of discrimination of this locus for forensic purposes in human isolates. Low values obtained for the diversity parameters confirmed the relative isolation of this human group. The main findings of this study indicated that even the analysis of the entire mtDNA control region may have important limitations for use in forensic casework when dealing with human isolates: none of the 44 individuals who exhibited identical HVI‐HVII haplotypes could be further differentiated by analysis of segment HVIII. Nevertheless, analysis of the entire mtDNA control region proved to be useful to determine the ancestry of the samples examined, by contributing to the confirmation, and, on occasion, even to the refinement of the haplogroup assignment.