La Grande Nation and Agriculture: The Power of French Farmers Demystified

France is considered a strong state, but French governments have always fiercely defended the interests of French farmers in European and global negotiations. Why would a ‘strong state’ be unable to resist farm lobby pressure? Is agriculture an exception to the French ‘strong state’ rule? This article offers a structural model of varying state sensitivity to interest group pressure, and argues that farm lobby pressure cannot fully explain French foreign policy on agriculture, as governments often go against farmers' preferences and as the level of pressure varies more than the continuity of governmental preferences. From an analysis of the negotiations on the CAP and the GATT in the 1960s and in the 1990s it emerges that ideational constraints played a major role in French obstinacy. The defence of French identity as La Grande Nation, necessitating a presence in world agricultural markets, and the defence of a strong Europe under French leadership as a counterweight to the United States, have guided French preferences without regard to the farmers' positions.     

Early Adolescent Social Anxiety: Differential Associations for Fathers’ and Mothers’ Psychologically Controlling and Autonomy-Supportive Parenting

Journal of Youth and Adolescence - Although psychologically controlling and autonomy-supportive parenting are important indicators of social anxiety during early adolescence, less research has...     

Correction to: Intergenerational continuity of crime among children of organized crime offenders in the Netherlands

Crime, Law and Social Change -     

Criminal profiles of violent juvenile sex and violent juvenile non sex offenders: an explorative longitudinal study

Few studies have longitudinally investigated the criminal profiles of violent juvenile sex and violent juvenile non-sex offenders. To make up for this lack, this study used police records of juveniles to determine the nature of the criminal profiles of violent sex offenders (n = 226) and violent non-sex offenders (n = 4,130). All offenders committed their first offense in 1996 and were followed for 7 years. Results showed that violent sex offenders and violent non-sex offenders cannot be considered a homogeneous group because of different background characteristics and criminal profiles. Sex and violent offenses often constitute a small part of a broader criminal pattern. Further research is necessary to reveal in more detail the developmental and criminological patterns of violent and sexual delinquency. Treatment and intervention programs may benefit from this.     

Abuse behavior inventory: cutpoint, validity, and characterization of discrepancies

This study determines a clinical cutting score for the 29-item Abuse Behavior Inventory (ABI) developed by Shepard and Campbell (1992) to measure both physical and psychological abuse experiences. The authors report on a sample of 392 White and African American women from primary care waiting rooms, who completed the ABI and the revised Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS2). An ABI cutoff score of 10 maximizes validity and produces a sensitivity of 77% and a specificity of 81% compared to the CTS2. Cronbach's alpha is .92 for the entire scale, .91 for the psychological subscale, and .86 for the physical subscale. Correlation between the ABI and CTS2 is .76, with subscale correlations of .74 between ABI psychological and CTS2 verbal aggression, and .71 between ABI physical and CTS2 physical aggression, injury, and sexual coercion.     

Studies of the chronological course of wisdom tooth eruption in a Black African population

The importance of forensic age estimation in living subjects has grown over the last few years. In dental age estimation, tooth eruption is a parameter of developmental morphology that can be analyzed by either clinical examination or by evaluation of dental X-rays. In the present study, we determined the stage of wisdom tooth eruption in 410 male and 106 female Black South African subjects of known age (12-26 years) based on radiological evidence from 516 conventional orthopantomograms. Four eruption stages were determined (no emergence, alveolar emergence, gingival emergence, complete emergence). Statistical scores were determined for the individual stages separately for both sexes. The data presented here can be utilized for forensic estimation of the minimum and most probable ages of investigated persons.     

Violent and sexual offences: a validation of the predictive quality of the PCL:SV in Switzerland

Used to diagnose psychopathy, the Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version (PCL:SV) is still rarely used in the German-speaking part of Europe. The aim of the present study was to conduct a first-time evaluation of the predictive validity of the PCL:SV for sexual and violent recidivism in the German language area. PCL:SV scores for 96 violent and sexual offenders in Switzerland were assessed. These assessments were based on data taken from the forensic psychiatric expert opinions. The scores were then compared to subsequent recidivism as shown in the official criminal records. ROC analysis indicated a cut-off score of 14 for maximized overall predictive accuracy. Consistent with various results from past research in North America and Europe, the PCL:SV yielded a satisfying predictive accuracy (ROC area=.69). This degree of accuracy demonstrates the PCL:SV's usefulness for risk assessment of sexual and violent delinquency in the Swiss cultural and German language area.     

Executive federalism and Medicaid demonstration waivers: implications for policy and democratic process

Executive federalism emphasizes collaboration between the executive branches at the national and state levels to transform grant programs through the implementation process. In this regard, Medicaid demonstration waivers loomed large during the presidencies of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. This article documents and compares the volume and substance of section 1115 Medicaid waiver activity under the two presidencies. From the perspective of policy performance, Medicaid demonstration waivers provide modest support for the view that states serve as laboratories for policy learning in the health care arena. More broadly, the waivers have not yielded a major solution to the problem of the uninsured and are unlikely to do so. At the same time, they have not (as some have suggested) been a subterranean force for the erosion of Medicaid. To the contrary, these waivers have often enhanced health services for low-income people; above all, they have helped preserve Medicaid as an entitlement by undercutting support for those seeking to convert the program into a block grant. From the perspective of the democratic process, we find that Congress has been a more significant player in shaping waivers than the executive federalism model suggests. While the decision processes surrounding Medicaid waivers often fall short of democratic standards with respect to transparency and opportunities for public input, they still compare favorably to certain alternatives.     

Postmortem biochemistry

Postmortem biochemistry may provide significant information in determining the cause of death. Due to the rapid postmortem breakdown of metabolism and active membrane transport only analytes which are stable in blood can be determined on this fluid compartment, other parameters have to be analysed on other fluid compartments like vitreous humor (VH). However, using another fluid compartment as a mirror of blood at the moment of death involves severe methodical problems. The conceptual problems of reference values in vitreous humor as a mirror of blood are addressed. Additionally, the necessary steps to be taken before calculating the discriminating values between "normal" and "diseased" are described. For all chemical determinations, a clear definition of the site of sample acquisition is necessary. Up to now chemical determinations on alternative fluids have mainly been carried out using instruments calibrated for urine or serum. Developing calibrated methods for analysis of alternative fluids is a further task for the future.