Older adolescents' engagement in casual sex: Impact of risk perception and psychosocial motivations

The relationship between attitudes for casual sex and casual sex behavior was investigated for a group of older adolescents between the ages of 17 and 19. In addition, factors that influence casual sex orientations were studied. Models of behavior that emphasize disease issues as a primary determinant of casual sex behavior were compared with models that emphasize a broader range of social-psychological motivations. Results showed that the relationship between attitudes and behavior was stronger for females than males. In addition, disease-related variables were found to be correlated with behavior in a direction opposite to what traditional disease models would predict. The results were interpreted in the context of a behavioral inference model. It was found that casual sex behavior is more heavily influenced by a broad range of social-psychological motivations as compared to disease-based variables. Implications for educational interventions were developed.Received Ph.D. in education from Stanford University. Major research interests are in self-efficacy and adolescent sexual risk behavior.Received Ph.D. in social psychology from the University of Illinois, Urbana. Major research interests are in parent-adolescent communication and quantitative methods.Received M.A. in psychology from the University at Albany, State University of New York. Major research interests are in attitudes and attitude change.     

Alternate Routes to Autonomy in Federal and Quasi-Federal Systems

In late twentieth-century federal systems, provinces and stateshave sought greater autonomy because of economic neglect, distinctivenessof society and political culture, administrative inefficiency,and local efficacy. This article examines both structural andpolitical avenues to autonomy in six stable democratic federalsystems. In general, structural attempts to increase provincialor state autonomy in federal systems are found wanting. Becauseamendments to federal constitutions require extraordinary majoritysupport, they tend to centralize power. Referenda may be usedto retard centralization only under exceptional circumstances.Secession has been a successful strategy in only a small numberof cases. Political strategies, such as judicial interpretationof the constitution and conferencing, have been somewhat moreeffective; but political system characteristics impose restrictionson their use. Two types of decentralization that apply universally—devolutionand deconcentration—appear to enhance powers of subnationalunits. However, they require significant facilitating conditionson the national plane. The article calls into question the practicalvalue of structural arrangements, suggesting that alternatepolitical strategies sometimes produce more decentralized effects.     

Habermas: Discourse and Cultural Diversity

Habermas's vision of discourse ethics can be reconciled with many of the concerns of proponents of diversity whose demands for recognition are rooted in liberal values. However, his account underestimates the challenge that diversity poses to collective identity and the fundamental nature of value conflict. If discursive approaches to justice are to accommodate such claims, they must abandon the Habermasian search for consensus in favour of a vision of liberalism which acknowledges the plurality and incommensurability of fundamental values and which consequently accepts the pervasiveness of value conflict. Whereas Habermas fears that such a perspective will reduce political disputes to purely strategic struggles for power, such worries can be addressed through innovative forms of joint governance.     

Child sexual abuse: an Italian perspective

The problem of child sexual abuse is a growing reality in Italy. The experience of over 200 children seen by the SVS (Soccorso Violenza Sessuale) Centre in Milan (the first Italian large-scale study) may give more information on the European situation. This study is a retrospective study based on information contained in the files of children beneath the age of 14 seen at the SVS Centre between May 1996 and May 2003, who arrived with a suspicion of child sexual abuse. Over 80% of all cases fell within the normal-aspecific category according to Adams' 2001 classification. This first Italian survey, though not based on substantiated cases but only on cases of suspected sexual abuse, supplies a perspective on a large northern European city such as Milan. Data seem similar to those published in other non-European studies, particularly as regards clinical signs observed. Thus, the results of this study, with all their limitations, start to give a perspective on the frequency and type of child population reaching this Italian center, what the scenarios are, what signs the children present and how infrequent it is to find clinical anogenital signs concerning for sexual abuse.     

Y chromosome haplotypes in Central-South Italy: implication for reference database

One hundred and fifty individuals have been sampled across Central-South Italy and genotyped for Y chromosome STRs by PowerPlex Y system. Comparison with previous Italian databases revealed that majority of Y chromosome variation still need to be sampled. Identification of locus duplications, distribution of genetic variation and firstly identified alleles point to the necessity of more focused sampling strategies for reference databases.     

Investment sensitivity to interest rates in an uncertain context: is a positive relationship possible?

This paper shows a non-linear relationship between investment and interest rates under uncertainty. Since the interest rate’s variance is positively related to the investment’s value (through the discount factor) and, generally, is also positively related to the interest rate’s level, then, at the same time, a negative (classical) and a positive (through the interest rate’s variance) relationship links interest rates to investment. Hence, an ultimate and even positive relationship between investment and interest rates’ (expected) level may occur. A specific model is proposed and the conditions upon which the positive effect occurs are derived. Some estimates are also proposed.

Mr Cameron's New Language Initiative for Muslim Women: Lessons in Policy Implementation

As the government announces a programme to teach Muslim women to speak English, this article examines how such a policy can be implemented successfully, arguing that lessons can be drawn from both academic research, especially that carried out with Muslim women themselves, and previous successful policy application. It focuses on two projects carried out in the recent past for the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) and Jobcentre Plus, and outlines the key factors that led to their success. The LSC project involved one of the largest in‐depth surveys of Muslim women's attitudes towards work, and their views on life in Britain, that has ever been undertaken. The Jobcentre Plus project was a highly successful and innovative employment training initiative for ethnic minority women piloted in Sheffield, the very kind of ‘targeted’ approach that Mr Cameron has claimed his government's new language initiative will be.