A 28-year (1963-90) study of homicide in Marion County, Oregon.

We describe 240 consecutive homicidal deaths that occurred in Marion County, Oregon, over a 28-year period (1963-90). An epidemiological assessment of the homicides yielded the following information: More than 91% of these deaths were primary homicides. In primary homicide, 63% of the victims and 88% of the offenders were male. In secondary homicide, 76% of the victims and all of the offenders were male. A high percentage of victims (83%) and offenders (84%) in primary homicide were Caucasian, as were 100% of victims and offenders in secondary homicide. About 12% of victims and 10% of offenders in primary homicide were Hispanic. Fifty-nine percent of primary homicides were intrasexual, as compared to 87% of secondary homicides. An intraracial pattern was found in 90% of primary homicides and in 100% of secondary homicides. The most frequent means of death in both primary and secondary homicides were firearms, physical beating, and stabbing. Strangers committed 80% of secondary homicides. This was in marked contrast to the victim-offender relationship found in primary homicides, where strangers were responsible for approximately 16% of the total, acquaintances for approximately 36%, and family members for approximately 48%. The overall clearance rate (i.e., the identification and charging of a suspect for the death) was 88%.     

The political consequences of thatcherism

While the economic changes effected by the British Conservative government in the 1980s are transparent, there is considerable debate as to whether there was a political dimension to the Thatcher Revolution. This paper argues that the Conservatives were successful in undertaking social structural reforms that effectively moved the political center of gravity in Britain to the right and toward the government's preferred market-oriented policy agenda. The government's strategy—manifest in the sale of council houses to tenants and of shares in privatized corporations to individuals, and its attack on organized labor—was narrowly targeted on the swing electorate among wealthier members of the lower socioeconomic strata. The Labour party has acknowledged the successes of the Conservatives' structural reforms, and has moved its policy platform, in Downsian fashion, to the right in order to regain electoral competitiveness.     

Leisure Behavior Pattern Stability During the Transition from Adolescence to Young Adulthood

Leisure is an important context in which human development occurs. Changes in leisure behavior patterns may indicate changing developmental needs or reflect contextual changes that impact leisure behavior. The transition from adolescence to young adulthood provides an excellent opportunity for the study of the stability of leisure behavior as individuals' contexts are changed with the adoption of adult roles and the potential for disruption of leisure patterns exists. Previous studies investigating leisure and the transition from adolescence to young adulthood have tended to be cross-sectional and focus on specific leisure behaviors rather than identifying patterns of leisure behavior. The present study involved a longitudinal investigation of leisure behavior patterns over a three-year period during the transition from adolescence to young adulthood, and determined the nature of leisure pattern stability and instability during this period. In general, leisure pattern stability was the most common pathway into young adulthood. The patterns of leisure behavior and the nature of the changes that occurred with the transition from adolescence to young adulthood differed to some degree for males and females, although similarities in patterns and transitions were also found.     

The Attitudes Towards Dating Violence Scales: Development and Initial Validation

This study describes the development and validation of three Attitudes Towards Male Dating Violence (AMDV) Scales and three Attitudes Towards Female Dating Violence (AFDV) Scales. These scales measure attitudes toward use of psychological, physical, and sexual dating violence, respectively, by boys and by girls. Eight hundred twenty-three students from grades 7, 9, and 11 participated in the validation study. All six scales have good internal consistencies. As predicted, students were more accepting of girls' use of violence than of boys' use of violence, and boys were more accepting of violence than were girls. The six scales were positively correlated with traditional attitudes toward gender roles and with each other, providing evidence for their construct validity. Higher scores on the AMDV Scales were related to boys' past use of violence in dating relationships and to their having aggressive friends, supporting their criterion-related validity. Higher scores on the AFDV Scales were associated with girls' past use of dating violence but not with their having aggressive friends, providing partial support for their criterion-related validity. Singly or in combination, the Attitudes Towards Dating Violence Scales can be used to increase our understanding of the development and maintenance of violence-supportive attitudes in adolescents of all ages.