The Influence of Individual and Partner Characteristics on the Perpetration of Intimate Partner Violence in Young Adult Relationships

This study examines individual and partner characteristics associated with the perpetration of intimate partner violence (IPV) in young adult relationships with opposite sex partners. Using data from Waves 1 and 3 of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, this study examined 1,275 young adults’ heterosexual romantic relationships. Controlling for the effects of family and school correlates measured in adolescence, we examined the extent to which participants’ general violent behavior in young adulthood and their partners’ use of violence in their relationship influence participants’ IPV perpetration. We found that both having general violent tendencies and being a target of violence in a relationship influenced one’s likelihood of young adults perpetrating IPV. We also tested whether the overall influence of participants’ general violent behavior on IPV perpetration was moderated by their partners’ use of violence in the relationship. We found that young women’s greatest expression of violent tendencies emerged when in relationships with violent men; yet, when partnered with non-violent men, young women’s own violent tendencies did not lead to IPV. We found little evidence for the interactive effect for young men in the study. The lack of a significant interaction in the model indicated that young men’s general aggression was not conditioned on their partners’ use of physical aggression in their relationships.

Airway obstruction by laryngeal masses in sudden and homicidal deaths

We present two cases of autopsy detection of laryngeal masses with medico-legal implications. The first is a 56-year-old man who died suddenly of asphyxia due to upper airway obstruction caused by a large glosso-epiglottic retention cyst and glottic oedema. Hypothesis of medical liability was raised, due to delayed tracheotomy as the result of repeated failed attempts at oral intubation by various physicians. Difficult oral intubation due to the presence of a laryngeal mass in an asphyxiating subject requires rapid tracheotomy. The second case deals with a 43-year-old woman who died of asphyxia due to airway obstruction, as a result of injury of a cavernous laryngeal haemangioma after homicidal manual strangulation, with severe haemorrhagic infiltration of the surrounding soft tissues. Damage to laryngeal/hypopharyngeal masses should be considered as a possible sign of manual strangulation, as well as neck skin bruises/abrasions and laryngeal haemorrhages.     

The mediational role of values in linking personality traits to civic engagement in Italian youth

In recent decades, given new forms of political participation, the involvement of young people in the civic domain begins to be a focus of many studies. The present study examined the role of personality traits and personal values in the prediction of civic engagement (CE) in Italian youth ranging in age from 19 to 29 years old involved in an ongoing longitudinal study. The multidimensionality of a scale tapping CE has been demonstrated with the examination of confirmatory factor analysis. Structural equation modeling corroborated a mediational model in which benevolence fully mediated the relationship of the traits of agreeableness and openness with civic associationism, whereas power fully mediated the relationship of the traits of agreeableness and openness with political associationism. In this mediational model men reported higher levels of power than women, whereas women reported higher levels of agreeableness and openness traits. Since basic personal traits have been identified as the root of any behavioral tendency and values have been recognized as the more flexible and changeable variables, future interventions aimed to foster CE in youth could be designed considering the strength relationship between the examined dimensions in the present study.     

Why Citizens Participate in Local Governance: A Case of Two Philippine LGUs

The well-established importance of citizen participation in local and community governance raises a number of problems, foremost of which has been the reduced level of citizens’ involvement and engagement in developing countries. Our study aims at exploring the factors that impact citizen participation in two local government units (LGUs) in the Philippines. We propose the models of LGU participation and regular attendance in meetings based on the regression results of our study and present policy implications and insights essential in designing strategies for a higher level of LGU constituents’ attendance in meetings and participation in local governance matters.     

Swedish Counterterrorism Policy: An Intersection Between Prevention and Mitigation?

The aim of this article is to analyze how and why Swedish counterterrorism policy has changed since 2001. It raises the issue of how counterterrorism interacts with other factors on the governmental agenda, which priorities are made, and how these can be understood. Although much empirical evidence on the real political influence of emergent interagency networks is still lacking in the case of Sweden, an attempt is made here to analyze the importance of focusing events. In the light of the Swedish national strategy for counterterrorism, the article analyzes the content of annual reports from the Swedish Security Service. The article also explores linkages between the counterterrorism and crisis management literatures, and argues that the reassuring overtones in Swedish counterterrorism policy of late can be understood not only as the result of changes in threat perception and policy, but also in institutional change.     

Effects of Family Violence on Child Behavior and Health During Early Childhood

Looking at families where children have been abused/neglected in early childhood, this study examined measures of child behavior and health to see if they tended to be worse when domestic violence is or has been present in a family. Further, caregiver and family characteristics as well as other case factors were examined, as possible moderators or mediators of the effects of domestic violence. Results indicate that domestic violence, of the type and severity occurring in our sample, does not have a direct effect on child outcomes by Age 6, when other associated variables are taken into account, but has considerable indirect effects. There is a pronounced impact of domestic violence on family functioning, the caregiver's general health and well being, and the quality of the caregiver's interaction with the child, which in turn are significantly associated with decrements of child functioning related to behavior problems and health. Some implications of this study for research in the area of domestic violence and child maltreatment are discussed.     

How people can influence government policy – stories from the Caucasus

It is very motivating to see vulnerable people becoming strong advocates for their own rights and persuading their government to act; or to see passionate young economists influencing the state and effecting positive change for tens of thousands of poor households. It is impressive to see dedicated work by a national NGO to build successful community health-care programmes that influence the health services of a whole country. The three stories from the Caucasus presented in this article show what can be done when people become strong advocates for their own rights or for the rights of others living in poverty.     

British decline or the politics of declinism?

Books reviewed in this article:
C. Barnett The Audit of War: The Illusion and Reality of Britain as a Great Nation
P. Clarke and C. Trebilcock (eds) Understanding Decline: Perceptions and Realities of British Economic Performance
B. Collins and K. Robbins (eds) British Culture and Economic Decline
A. Gamble Britain in Decline: Economic Policy, Political Strategy and the British State
W. Hutton The State We're In
P. Kennedy The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers: Economic Change and Military Conflict from 1500 to 2000
D. Marquand The Unprincipled Society
S. Pollard The Wasting of the British Economy: British Economic Policy 1945 to the Present
S. Pollard Britain's Prime and Britain's Decline: The British Economy 1870–1914