Multiple stressors,violence in the family of origin,and marital aggression: A longitudinal investigation

The negative perception of stress is significantly associated with marital aggression, as is violence in one's family of origin. However, most individuals experiencing stress do not engage in family violence. The present study tests an aspect of social learning theory, proposing that violence in one's family of origin predisposes one to react to stress by aggressing against one's spouse. Two hundred and seventy five couples completed questionnaires measuring multiple (work and life) stress, and marital aggression 6 and 18 months following their wedding. Information on violence in their family of origin was collected 1 month prior to their wedding. Moderated multiple regressions showed that for women, stress predicted marital aggression 1 year later after controlling for age, education, and initial marital aggression. No effects emerged for violence in the family of origin for either men or women. Conceptual implications for further studying the role of violence in the family of origin and the relationship between multiple Stressors and physical aggression are advanced.     

Transnational Cultural Studies: What Price Globalisation?

One of the most significant aspects of globalisation has been the developing focus upon local resistances, of various types, and the ways in which these resistances seek to carve out specific spaces that both maintain and construct cultural difference. Performing cultural studies in those spaces, particularly those not determined by the philosophical and ideological underpinnings of cultural theories that are traditionally highly resistant to orthodoxies, is both challenging and exciting. Questions of whether a transnational cultural studies is possible in such contexts have been exercising a number of scholars in the past few years. This paper reviews some of those concerns and considers some of the issues involved in the developments of cultural studies within a transnational humanities context, which often operates in ways unfamiliar with the anti-establishment beginnings of Anglo-American/Australian cultural studies.     

Military Cuts and Conversion in the Defense Industry

The partial reorientation of the Soviet defense industry toward civilian production is examined by a prominent Western specialist in the context of the overall reduction in military spending. Provisions of the current program for conversion in the defense complex are analyzed with due consideration of anticipated effects on the economy at large. The author discusses the expected mix between civilian and military production within the defense industry, and notes the range and number of enterprises affected. Also outlined are the implications of the conversion program for military R&D and for the size and compensation of the workforce in the defense complex, journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: P20, H56.     

Editorial

This article addresses Pierre Bourdieu's work on the principal logics under which human beings negotiate fields and engage in practice: either practical or reflexive knowledge. Bourdieu argues that reflexivity is capable of being taught and learned, and consciously incorporated into different levels of praxis. We describe and analyse the paths Bourdieu takes in arriving at this notion via both the usual suspects associated with his body of theory (field, habitus, illusio, capital) and the theoretical specificities associated with reflexive knowledge--most importantly, the distinction made between science, practical reason and the 'scholastic point of view'. Drawing particularly on his recent (translated) works Weight of the World and Pascalian Meditations , we extend his discussion of agency as it relates to habitus, the objectivities engendered by fields, and the 'game' of social intercourse.     

Exploring poverty traps and social exclusion in South Africa using qualitative and quantitative data

Recent theoretical work hypothesises that a polarised society like South Africa will suffer a legacy of ineffective social capital and blocked pathways of upward mobility that leaves large numbers of people trapped in poverty. To explore these ideas, this paper employs a mix of quantitative and qualitative methods. Novel econometric analysis of asset dynamics over the 1993–98 period identifies a dynamic asset poverty threshold that signals that large numbers of South Africans are indeed trapped without a pathway out of poverty. Qualitative analysis of this period and the period 1998–2001 more deeply examines patterns of mobility, and confirms the continuation of this pattern of limited upward mobility and a low-level poverty trap. In addition, the qualitative data permit a closer look at the specific role played by social relationships. While finding ample evidence of active social capital and networks, these are more helpful for non-poor households. For the poor, social capital at best helps stabilise livelihoods at low levels and does little to promote upward mobility. While there is thus some economic sense to sociability in South Africa, elimination of the polarised economic legacy of apartheid will ultimately require more proactive efforts to assure that households have access to a minimum bundle of assets and to the markets needed to effectively build on those assets over time.     

A Molecular Method to Detect Wound Cells in Bloodstains Resultant of Sharp Force Injuries for Crime Scene Reconstruction

Previous research by the authors on an animal model showed that bloodstains can contain additional information about their somatic origin in the form of wound cells. Bloodstains produced by a gunshot wound to the head were distinguished from bloodstains produced by a gunshot wound to the chest by testing the stains for a brain microRNA marker. In this study, the effectiveness of the technique was examined on blood drops shed externally from a stab wound to the liver of rat carcasses. Specifically, investigations were conducted on the liver microRNA marker, rno‐mir‐122‐3p, with the QIAGEN miScript System, and PCR analysis. Between the two stabbing methods used, 67% of the scalpel blades and 57% of the blood drops tested positive for rno‐mir‐122‐3p; however, other samples tested negative giving inconclusive results as to the wound‐of‐origin. The amount of the liver cells in the bloodstains appeared to be related to the extent of trauma.     

A Field Experiment on the Effects of Ethnicity and Socioeconomic Status on the Quality of Representation

The principle of equal representation is the cornerstone of modern democracy, yet there have been concerns that the benefits of representation can be skewed, advantaging some over others. We argue that elected officials will be more responsive to constituents whom they perceive as more like themselves and more likely to be politically active. We examine inequalities in representation in a parliamentary democracy where, intrinsic to the institutional framework, there is a long‐standing reputation for serving constituent needs: the United Kingdom. We also advance the literature by focusing on the expediency of responsiveness and the helpfulness of response. Drawing on a field experiment, we find both an overall high level of responsiveness and helpfulness but also biases affecting MP's responsiveness. Our findings raise important questions about equal access to representation, even in a political system where constituency service is the norm and expectation.