Adolescents Values Clarification and Development: A Model for Group Counseling

Youths involved with the juvenile justice and child welfare systems report higher rates of early initiation of sexual intercourse, more sexual partners, and lower rates of condom use compared with the general adolescent population. Such risky behaviors leave system-involved youths with volatile behavioral challenges and negative sexual health outcomes, such as unintended pregnancy. These effects can be attributed to detached support systems and a lack of early interventions, such as group therapy. This dynamic fosters further inquiry into asking, can delinquent teenagers who adopt a values clarification approach and understanding exhibit positive prosocial thoughts and behaviors? The intent of this paper is to discuss an alternative education program for pregnant, delinquent adolescents and young mothers allowed a social worker and his associates to implement a group counseling program. The counseling was intended to emphasize values clarification and values development. The counselors focused on attitudes, social views, and desired behaviors related to values. A unique aspect of the program was the development of a four-phase cognitive process related to values clarification and development. This process includes the discovery and awareness of values, the claiming and reclaiming of values, the acceptance of core values, and the appreciation and advocacy of the values phase. A content analysis methodology was used to analyze a self-report methods so that insights into cultural trends and experiences could be understood. Findings from the adoption of this program suggest a psychoeducation humanistic model can not only buffer teenage pregnancy risk and delinquency but also strengthen values and the moral development of troubled youth.     

A strategic view of South African trade policy in relation to the future global trading environment

This paper puts forward a strategic view of what South African trade policy should be doing in relation to the future global trading environment. The future is uncertain, but if the past is prologue, South African trade policy needs to be positioned for a continuation of the commodity cycle, and to exploit markets in emerging economies, including Africa, more fully. Simultaneously, it needs policies to spur labour-intensive services and manufacturing exports, both because these will be needed if commodity markets are less robust and because of their employment-creating potential. South Africa's current strategy, however, is inflexible, heavily focused on domestic concerns and is in danger of placing South African exporters at a disadvantage in accessing the growing emerging economies. It also gives rise to an inherent tension between the interests of South Africa and the African region in trade negotiations. Having as the central tenet of trade policy a commitment to deal with tariffs on a case-by-case basis will not serve South Africa well in the global economy that is likely to emerge over the next 15 years. A simpler tariff structure would facilitate the conclusion of free trade agreements and actually make industrial policy more effective.     

Abandoning Armed Resistance? The Ulster Volunteer Force as a Case Study of Strategic Terrorism in Northern Ireland

This article explores the Ulster Volunteer Force's (UVF) decision in May 2007 to abandon its campaign of “armed resistance” and pursue “a non-military, civilianized, role” in Northern Ireland. It does so by analyzing the UVF's actions in light of the academic literature on strategic terrorism. The central argument advanced in the article is that the UVF's decision to put its weapons “beyond reach” and re-structure its organization along civilian lines is (a) internally consistent with its stated policy of countering “violent nationalism,” (b) symptomatic of the transformation in the sociopolitical context since the 1994 paramilitary cease-fires, and (c) the logical outworking of the group's lack of popular legitimacy among its core Protestant working-class support-base. The article concludes with an assessment of the risks and possible dividends that the end of UVF terrorism holds for the Northern Ireland peace process.     

Remittances and the Brain Drain: Evidence from Microdata for Sub-Saharan Africa

Based on unique microdata from five Sub-Saharan African countries that contain comprehensive information on both migrants and their households at the origin country, we investigate the effect of migrants’ education on their remittance behaviour. Our results reveal that migrants’ education has no impact on the likelihood of sending remittances, but a positive effect on the amount of money sent, conditional on remitting. The latter effect holds for internal migrants and migrants in non-OECD countries, while it vanishes for migrants in OECD destination countries once characteristics of the origin household are controlled for.     

The Normative Bases of the Global Territorial Order

This article analyses states' support for international norms relating to the location of international boundaries. The key norms relate to the legitimacy of the international use of force, the placement of boundaries relative to previous international boundary accords, the views of populations, and broadly accepted ethical standards. These norms have become stronger over recent centuries, but their relative strength has varied. In comparing the influence of these norms in territorial disputes, this study aims to contribute to the understanding of international territorial politics and of the evolution of state sovereignty. Of particular note is that self-determination and human rights have achieved some modest but historically significant gains since the end of the Cold War.     

Book reviews and notes etc.

HOW TO STUDY LAW. By A. Bradney, V. Fisher, J. Masson, A. Neal and D. Newall. [Sweet & Maxwell. 1986. 237 pp. (inc. index) £5.95 (paperback); £9.50 (cloth).]

READING THE LAW: A CRITICAL INTRODUCTION TO LEGAL METHOD AND TECHNIQUES. By Peter Goodrich. [Basil Blackwell. 1986. xi and 229 pp. £27.50 (hardback); £9.50 (paperback).]

DIRECTION, OR PREPARATIVE TO THE STUDY OF THE LAW. By William Fulbeck. [Wildwood House. 1987. xviii, 12 and 255 pp. £6.95.]

CONCORD: FREE TEXT INFORMATION RETRIEVAL. Version 3.0. By Bytesmiths Ltd. [Bytesmiths Ltd., Stoney Close, Cambridge Road, Ugley, Bishop's Stortford, Herts. 1986. £395 or £495 with full site licence]

HERACLES’ BOW: ESSAYS ON THE RHETORIC AND POETICS OF THE LAW. By James Boyd White. [University of Wisconsin Press. 1985. xviii and 251 pp. (inc. index). £22.50.]

PUBLIC LAW AND POLITICS: Edited by C. Harlow. [Sweet & Maxwell. 1986. 255 pp. £28.00 (hardback).]

THE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS—PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES FOR THE CROWN PROSECUTOR. By G. Mansfield and J. Peay. [Tavistock. 1987. viii and 246 pp. £25.00 (cloth).]

POLICING INDUSTRIAL DISPUTES. By Roger Geary. [Methuen. 1986. 171 pp. £5.95 (paperback).]

SEX SHOPS AND THE LAW. By Colin Manchester. [Gower. 1986. xx and 264 pp. (inc. appendices and index). £18.50.]

CIVIL LIABILITY STATUTES. By F. D. Rose. [Financial Training Ltd. 1987. x and 150 pp. £8.50 (paperback).]

TORT. Fourth edition. By C. D. Baker. [Sweet & Maxwell. 1986. xxxii & 398 pp. £8.95 (paperback).]

AN OUTLINE OF THE LAW OF AGENCY. Second edition. By B. S. Markesinis and R. J. C. Munday. [Butterworths. 1986. xxi and 255 pp. £13.50 (hardback); £8.50 (paperback).]

CASES IN THE LAW OF BANKING 1983–1985. Second edition. By P. E. Smart. [Sweet & Maxwell. 1986. 95 pp. £6.95 (paperback).]

MAUDSLEY AND BURN'S LAND LAW CASES AND MATERIALS. Fifth edition‐. By E. H. Burn. [Butterworths. 1986. xcii and 865 pp. plus index. £21.95 (soft cover); £32.00 (hard cover).]

CASES AND STATUTES ON LAND LAW. Second edition. By E. L. G. Tyler. [Sweet & Maxwell. 1986. xxvii and 335 pp. £10.95 (paperback).]

DISCUSSIONS IN BIOETHICS. VHS Videos. [Educational Media International, 25 Boileau Road, London W5 3AL. £75.00 (sale); £20.00 (rental).]     

The Effectiveness of Inputs in Primary Education: Insights from Recent Student Surveys for Sub-Saharan Africa

With SACMEQ and PASEC there are now two large data bases available on student achievement, socio-economic background and school and teacher characteristics in both anglophone and francophone sub-Saharan Africa. A joint analysis of PASEC and SACMEQ in a common education production function framework allows us to estimate the impact of educational inputs on student achievement in 21 sub-Saharan African countries and to compare our results with those of earlier empirical studies for education systems in Africa and other world regions. In our analysis we focus on school equipment, teacher quality and class organisation. The issue of teacher and student incentives cannot be adequately addressed with the given data. Our results are based on a traditional retrospective analysis of student achievement in PASEC and SACMEQ countries. In contrast to the ‘nothing works’ result from most industrialized countries' studies we find robust positive correlations of achievement test scores and the possession of textbooks and negative correlations with teaching in shifts. The most striking result is the weak or even absent correlation of achievement test scores and teacher education and professional training. However, some differences between francophone and anglophone education systems can be observed in this context if differences in the sampling methodology are duly taken into account.     

Democracy and ‘punitive populism’: exploring the Supreme Court's role in El Salvador

El Salvador is characterized by the sad record of having one of the highest degrees of violence and crime in Latin America. Recent governments have tried to fight it with programmes called ‘mano dura’ or ‘super-mano dura’ with measures and practices that have often violated human rights and judicial guarantees. This paper aims to explore the Supreme Court's role in the application of these policies by the Salvadoran government. We discovered that the highest court in this country supports this kind of policies termed by some analysts ‘policies of punitive populism’. In this sense, the Constitutional Chamber acted in contrast to what is required by democratic theory. The paper proceeds as follows: in the first part we analyse the theoretical framework of public safety policies and frame the Salvadoran case. In the second part, we explore the Supreme Court cases that support (or not) these policies, examining the performance of the court in relation to these cases. The last part is a summary of our evidence.     

Universal Love or One True Religion? Experimental Evidence of the Ambivalent Effect of Religious Ideas on Altruism and Discrimination

Contrary to the expectations of secularization theory, religion remains socially important and affects politics in multiple ways—especially regarding conflict between religious communities. Theoretically, religion can increase altruism, but belief in the superiority of one's faith may facilitate intergroup discrimination and related conflict. Previous findings remain inconclusive, however, as specific religious ideas have hardly been tested. In this article, we argue that the content of religious ideas has causal effects on intergroup discrimination. We hence test the impact of two opposing, prominent religious ideas on altruism and discrimination: universal love and the notion of one true religion. Conducting dictator games with Christians and Muslims in Ghana and Tanzania, we find causal effects: Whereas the idea of one true religion increases intergroup discrimination, that of universal love fosters equal treatment. The policy implications hereof are obvious—promoting tolerant religious ideas seems crucial to avoiding conflict.