Threat Perception and American Support for Torture

When do Americans support the government’s use of torture? We argue that perceptions of threat undermine the extent to which American public opinion serves as a bulwark against government torture. Although surveys demonstrate that a slim majority of the American public generally opposes torture, using a nationally-representative survey experiment, we show that Americans are considerably more supportive of government abuse when it is directed at individuals who they perceive as threatening: specifically, when a detainee has an Arabic name and when the alleged crime is terrorism. Given the malleability of public opinion as a potential constraint on abuse, our results underscore the importance of institutional protections of human rights.     

Determining Volumetric Shrinkage Trends of Burnt Bone Using Micro-CT

Understanding the degree and pattern of shrinkage undergone by bone when subjected to heating is crucial to accurately deduce a biological profile from incinerated remains. X-ray microtomography (micro-CT) enables a nondestructive insight into hard tissue structural changes, while allowing for an accurate documentation of volumetric and trabecular shrinkage. Sheep ribs were experimentally burned at temperatures between 400 and 1000°C in 100°C increments and their volumetric shrinkage was calculated. Observed shrinkage ranged from 14.0% at 400°C to 45.5% at 1000°C. Bones burned at temperatures up to 600°C showed no significant difference, whereas the 700 and 800°C samples exhibited higher shrinkage. Bones burnt at 900 and 1000°C showed significantly higher shrinkage than the other temperature groups. Findings signify the potential of micro-CT in research on the effects of factors such as diagenesis or burning on the bone density, morphology and microarchitecture.     

idPAD: Paper Analytical Device for Presumptive Identification of Illicit Drugs

As drug overdose deaths across the United States continue to rise, there is increasing interest in field testing of illicit substances. This work discusses a paper-based analytical device (idPAD) that can run a library of 12 colorimetric tests at the same time, each detecting different chemical functional groups and materials found in illicit drugs, distractor substances, and cutting agents. The idPAD requires no electricity, costs less than $2 USD, and requires minimal training to operate. The results of the 12 tests form a color barcode which is “read” by comparison to standard images. The accuracy of the idPAD was assessed using samples of heroin, cocaine HCl, crack, and methamphetamine at concentrations of 25%–100% in a lactose matrix, as well as pure lactose. Based on 840 “reads” by three different users, the idPAD showed 95% sensitivity and 100% specificity for detecting these drugs; the most common error was mistaking cocaine HCl for crack or crack for cocaine HCl. In a second step, samples of heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine (n = 30) and distractor substances (pharmaceuticals, cutting agents, and other illicit drugs, n = 64) were tested by two readers, yielding a sensitivity of 100% and specificity of 97%. Targeted substances were detected reliably at 55–180 μg/lane, and the idPAD was found to be stable for at least 3 months when stored at room temperature. The library approach used in the idPAD may provide the accuracy and robustness necessary for a presumptive field drug test.     

Real Solutions for Fake News? Measuring the Effectiveness of General Warnings and Fact-Check Tags in Reducing Belief in False Stories on Social Media

Political Behavior - Social media has increasingly enabled “fake news” to circulate widely, most notably during the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign. These intentionally false...     

The Impacts of Paid Family Leave Benefits: Regression Kink Evidence from California Administrative Data

We use 10 years of California administrative data with a regression kink design to estimate the causal impacts of benefits in the first state-level paid family leave program for women with earnings near the maximum benefit threshold. We find no evidence that a higher weekly benefit amount (WBA) increases leave duration or leads to adverse future labor market outcomes for this group. In contrast, we document that a rise in the WBA leads to an increased likelihood of returning to the pre-leave firm (conditional on any employment) and of making a subsequent paid family leave claim.     

How can network leaders promote public value through soft metagovernance?

The aim of this article is to explore the opportunities and challenges of employing ‘soft’ metagovernance to promote public value in governance networks. Soft metagovernance can be defined as a form of relational leadership that is exercised through face‐to‐face contact. This involves making an emotional connection with people to exert influence through a collaborative endeavour, rather than employing bureaucratic authority. Drawing on a case study of a local social enterprise—The Bristol Pound—in the UK, this article examines how soft metagovernance can be used by non‐state actors as a form of leadership to create public value. Evidence reveals that relational forms of leadership are a powerful asset in helping leaders of networks to create public value. Moreover, if network leaders understand how soft metagovernance functions they can use it more purposefully to maximize public value creation and mitigate the risks of public value destruction in governance networks.     

Organizational Identity,Image, and Reputation: Examining the Influence on Perceptions of Employer Attractiveness in Public Sector Organizations

The active management of an organization’s image, identity and overall reputation can result in a range of benefits including attracting larger and higher quality job applicant pools, fostering an improved overall impression of the firm in potential employees’ minds and retaining and engendering loyalty amongst current employees. How these concepts apply in the public sector remains nascent. This paper reviews the extant literature on identity, image, and reputation and identifies how and why these concepts are salient for exploring current and potential employees’ perceptions of the public sector as an employer. A conceptual model is developed through reviewing organizational characteristics of public sector entities and proposing how these may influence employees’ image, identity and reputation perceptions of the employer attractiveness of the sector.     

Municipal Activism on Irregular Migrants: The Framing of Inclusive Approaches at the Local Level

Abstract

This article explores the ways in which city policymakers in Europe frame the reasons for provision of welfare services to migrants with irregular status. In the context of restrictive national legal and policy frameworks, the article explores a tendency toward municipal activism in extending access to services, providing a typology of six policy frames used by policy makers that identify the intended beneficiaries and stated policy aims. Drawing on interviews with local policymakers and documentary sources, the article contributes to our understanding of the reasons why some European cities provide services to this particular section of the migrant population.     

The Chilean exception: racial homogeneity,mestizaje and eugenic nationalism

Scholarship on race in Latin America has overwhelmingly characterized racial mixture as a unique feature of the political and social landscape there. Studies of eugenics in Latin America especially highlight the relative pragmatism regarding race mixing in contrast to eugenics elsewhere. However, an acceptance of race mixing did not preclude the persistence of racial hierarchy among Latin American racial theorists. Examining the development of eugenics in Chile, this article reveals how notions of racial plasticity existed alongside that of racial superiority. Specifically, it contends that Chilean racial exceptionalism in the early twentieth century was predicated on the idea that some types of racial mixture were better than others. Conveniently for Chileans, their mostly indigenous and European ancestry was one such preferred combination. Yet, racial mixing was only desirable insofar as it resulted in a homogeneous national population. This combination of ideas functioned much like white supremacy in other parts of the world. Using historical texts, popular and medical periodicals, and visual images produced between 1900 and 1950, this paper will demonstrate how race science in Chile reconciled the nation’s history of racial mixture with its claims to racial homogeneity and superiority relative to the rest of Latin America.     

Dating Violence, Bullying, and Sexual Harassment: Longitudinal Profiles and Transitions Over Time

Although there is growing recognition of the problem of dating violence, little is known about how it unfolds among young adolescents who are just beginning to date. This study examined classes (subgroups) and transitions between classes over three time points based on dating violence, bullying, and sexual harassment perpetration and victimization experienced by youth. The sample was ethnically diverse, consisting of 795 seventh-grade students from schools that were part of a multi-site, longitudinal evaluation of a dating violence initiative (50 % female; 27 % White, 32 % African American, 25 % Latino, 16 % other or multiple races). Results from latent transition analyses revealed five classes of students with distinct behavioral profiles: multi-problem (victimization and perpetration), bullying and sexual harassment (victimization and perpetration), bullying (victimization and perpetration) and sexual harassment (victimization only), bullying (victimization and perpetration), and a least problem group. The majority of classes were characterized by reports of both perpetration and victimization for at least one behavior. Girls were more likely to be in the less problematic classes. Class membership was fairly stable across the three time points. When students transitioned to a different class, the shift was most often from a more problematic to a less problematic class, particularly for girls. The findings support understanding dating violence within a dynamic, developmental process that recognizes related behaviors within and across individuals. Overall, the findings highlight the utility of person-oriented approaches to enhance our understanding of longitudinal profiles and transitions over time for dating violence and related behaviors.