Reaping What They Sow? Victim-Offender Overlap Perceptions and Victim Blaming Attitudes

Examining the tendency to attribute blame to crime victims reveals a striking dichotomy. Some types, such as children, elicit intense emotional reactions from the public. Alternatively, others, such as the typical victims of street crimes, garner substantially less concern. According to the “just world” hypothesis, these latter groups may be perceived by the public as criminally involved, and so “blameworthy” for their victimization. We test this hypothesis—specifically, we evaluate whether perceptions of the extent of victims’ involvement in crime are associated with dispositional attributions for victimization. Data from a recent national survey (N = 760) are analyzed. To extend generalizability, we replicate results with a college sample (N = 733). Findings indicate that victim-offender overlap perceptions vary consistently by crime type. There is also consistent evidence that perceiving a larger victim-offender overlap is associated with the view that the causes of criminal victimization are, in part, dispositional—and thus that crime victims hold personal responsibility.     

South–South cooperation and the future of development assistance: mapping actors and options

International development cooperation is undergoing fundamental changes. New – or often re-emerging – actors have gained importance during the past two decades, and are increasingly challenging the traditional approach to development cooperation associated with the members of the Development Assistance Committee of the oecd. Their supposedly alternative paradigm, ‘South–South cooperation’ (ssc), has been recognised as an important cooperation modality, but faces contradictions that are not too different from those of its North–South counterpart. ssc providers are highly heterogeneous in terms of policies, institutional arrangements, and engagement with international forums and initiatives. This article contributes to current debates on ssc by mapping the diversity of its actors – based on illustrative case studies from the first and second ‘wave’ of providers – and by presenting and discussing some possible scenarios for the future of ssc within the international aid system.     

Delayed privatization

This paper studies the timing of privatization in 21 major developed economies in the 1977–2002 period. Duration analysis shows that political fragmentation plays a significant role in explaining government’s decision to privatize: privatization is delayed longer in democracies characterized by a larger number of parties and operating under proportional electoral rules, as predicted by war of attrition models of economic reform. Results are robust to various assumptions on the underlying statistical model and to controlling for other economic and political factors.     

How politicians use performance information in a budgetary context: New insights from the central government level

This article looks at performance information use by legislators at the central level in a budgetary context. The multi‐method approach (interviews, quantitative and qualitative analysis of plenary speeches given during budget readings) allows us to draw a broader picture of the use of performance information. The findings provide new insights into different purposes of performance information use. We identify four general use types, that is, de‐legitimizing, legitimizing, improving and understanding, and deflecting, which together with the subjects addressed blend into different use purposes. Second, the study sheds light onto different factors affecting performance information use, that is, the attributes of users of performance information, the properties of performance, and the role of institutional support.     

The international macroeconomic picture

Evoluzione dei settori industriali nel 1988 / Confin‐dustria. Centra Studi. ‐ Roma: SIPI, 1989. ‐ 357p. ‐ (Industria italiana). ‐ ISBN 88–7153–051–9.

Guida al 1992 ‐ Roma: Unistampa, 1989. ‐ 4v.

L'idea d'Europa nelpensiero di Altiero Spinelli / Andrea Chiti‐Batelli. ‐ Manduria: Lacaita, copyright 1989. 379p. ‐ (L'ltalia e l'Europa; 15).

Impariamo l'Europa: guida al 1992 / Fabio Cavaz‐za Rossi. ‐ Milano: Fendac Servizio, 1989. ‐ 174p. ‐ (Tempo reale)

1992: Europa senza frontiere? / Pier Virgilio Dasto‐li. ‐ Bologna: il Mulino, copyright 1989. ‐ 179p. ‐(Coritemporanea; 31). ‐ ISBN 88–15–02305–4

Obiettivo Mediterraneo / Piero Baroni. ‐ 2.ed. ‐Trento: L. Reverdito, 1989. ‐ 221p. ISBN 88–342–4047–2.

Perestrojka e ristrutturazione produttiva: esperienze e prospettive economiche in Unione Sovietica e in Italia / edited by Abel G. Aganbegjan ... [et al.]. ‐ Bologna: il Mulino, copyright 1989. ‐ 344p. (Temi e discussioni). ‐ ISBN 88–15–02321–6

La prospettiva euro‐mediterranea: per una cooper‐azione globale nella ‘regione’ del Mediterraneo / Giovanni Bersani. ‐ Bologna: CEFA, [19989]. ‐102p.

I rapporto CSC: progresso tecnico, investimenti e politiche industriali / Confindustria. Centro Studi. ‐ Roma, SIPI, 989. ‐ 95p. (L'industria italiana). ‐ISBN 88–7153–065–9