Adolescent Self-Esteem and Gender: Exploring Relations to Sexual Harassment, Body Image, Media Influence, and Emotional Expression

Self-esteem plays a central role in mental health, yet not enough is known about how youth evaluate themselves as they move across adolescence. This study used a cross-sectional design to examine age and gender patterns in self-esteem and to explore how contemporary social influences relate to adolescent self-esteem. Self-reported influences on self-esteem involving the media, sexual harassment, body image, family and peer relationships, and emotional expression were evaluated with 93 boys and 116 girls in Grades 5, 8, and 12. Girls reported lower self-esteem than boys in early adolescence, and late adolescent boys reported lower self-esteem than younger boys. The predictors as a set accounted for a significant portion of the variance in self-esteem, while the best predictor of self-esteem varied by age and gender. Large gender differences were present for emotional expression, with boys becoming more restrictive across adolescence. Girls reported more negative body image and media influence scores than did boys in late childhood and early adolescence. Body image appeared to mediate the relationships between certain predictors and self-esteem for girls, while gender and grade appeared to moderate the relationship between media influence and self-esteem for girls and boys.     

The growing importance of Ukraine as a transit country for heroin trafficking: U.S.-Ukraine research partnership

This research was funded by the U.S.-Ukraine Research Partnership project, which began in November of 1999 when an agreement was signed between the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) and the Ukrainian Academy of Law Sciences (UALS). This partnership program was an integral part of the Gore-Kuchma Binational Commission, established in September 1996 to solidify the close ties between Ukraine and the United States. The increasingly global character of crime has created a mutual incentive for cooperation between the United States and Ukraine. In June of 1999, requests for proposals in the United States and Ukraine were concurrently announced by both NIJ and UALS. The proposals were to address the following crime areas: organized crime, corruption, drug trafficking, human trafficking, and economic crimes. The proposals were competitively reviewed by an expert working-group made up of both U.S. and Ukrainian representatives. The result was five U.S.-Ukrainian research teams, composed of twenty-two Ukrainian and five U.S. members. The size of each individual U.S.-Ukrainian team ranged from ten to three researchers. These teams met for the first time in November 1999 at a “kick-off” conference in Kiev, Ukraine. The greatest accomplishment of the conference was that researchers began the process of overcoming communication barriers and divergent methodological approaches to formulate a joint plan for their research. For this research, Layne worked with two Ukrainian research partners to jointly develop this paper. Khruppa was responsible for collecting Ukrainian data for the report and Muzyka supplied legislative expertise and background. Layne traveled to Ukraine (Kyiv and Kharkiv) four times over the course of two years and her Ukrainian counterparts came to the United States once. It was a challenge to collaborate across distance and language barriers, but a warm, collegial relationship developed and was maintained despite these obstacles.     

Women's accounts of their prison experiences: A retrospective view of their subjective realities

This article examines the subjective experiences of previously imprisoned women. Their retrospective narratives of prison life reveal overt behavioral and underlying structural tensions that create an atmosphere of fear and violence. Furthermore, attitudes of indifference between inmates and correctional staff often contribute to fostering an environment of neglect. The study, based on in-depth interviews with fifty-four female subjects, describes and analyzes several aspects of the socialization process for inmates as related by women on parole. The research shows that the “pains of imprisonment” for women are suffered to a greater degree than previously acknowledged. Prison for these women is a social world filled with anxiety and, perhaps, represents a punishment well beyond what the law intended.     

Towards more digital cities? Change in technology use and perceptions across small and medium-sized US cities

ABSTRACT

There is continuous pressure on public managers to adopt information and communication technologies (ICTs) to transform the way cities work. E-government research provides insights on the institutional, organisational, and individual factors that shape technology adoption and use. Yet most studies on small and medium sized cities use cross-sectional data or rely on small samples. We lack a systematic understanding of how technology use in smaller cities has changed over time and where these cities are lagging. Drawing from a multi-year, multi-method national study of city government technology use, we describe advancements and gaps in the enactment of a range of technologies, from social media to open data portals, and explore variation across city population, department type, and manager age. Our findings show that smaller cities still lag in the adoption of key features while local government managers are more inclined to adopt and positively perceive social media than traditional ICTs.     

The police education qualification framework: a professional agenda or building professionals?

ABSTRACT

Given the growing complexity in British policing, the College of Policing are implementing a Police Education Qualification Framework through a professionalization agenda. This aims to standardise entry to the police and allow serving officers to gain accreditation for their previous training and experience. Part of this process involves the development of a national police curriculum for higher education institutions to deliver to new recruits. Different definitions of what constitutes professionalism can impact on officers’ interpretations of this concept and how they subsequently engage with the proposed reforms. This paper, which is based on in depth qualitative interviews with serving officers who have undertaken an academic qualification in policing, suggests that the relationship between police education and the development of professionalism is complex. Officers need to be trusted and encouraged to use their learning in a way that develops their own personal sense of professionalism. However, this paper will argue that current perceptions amongst officers are sceptical of the wider agenda and brings into question the development of a standardised curriculum which may ultimately be viewed as further governance over officer behaviour.     

The economic impacts of the tobacco settlement.

Recent litigation against the major tobacco companies culminated in a master settlement agreement (MSA) under which the participating companies agreed to compensate most states for Medicaid expenses. Here the terms of the settlement are outlined and its economic implications analyzed using data from Massachusetts. The financial compensation to Massachusetts (and other states) under the MSA is substantial. However, this compensation is dwarfed by the value of the health impacts induced by the settlement. Specifically, Medicaid spending will fall, but only by a modest amount. More importantly, the value of health benefits ($65 billion through 2025 in 1999 dollars) from increased longevity is an order of magnitude greater than any other impacts or payments. The net efficiency implications of the settlement turn mainly on a comparison of the value of these health benefits relative to a valuation of the foregone pleasure of smoking. To the extent that the value of the health benefits is not offset by the value of the pleasure foregone, the economic impacts of the MSA will include a share of these health benefits.