Beliefs About Wife Beating Among Arab Men from Israel: The Influence of Their Patriarchal Ideology

Despite the recent increase in public and professional interest in the problem of wife beating in Arab society, in Israel, and in the rest of the Arab world, there is a serious lack of empirical research on different dimensions of the problem in those societies. This paper presents the results of a survey conducted among a systematic random sample of 362 Arab husbands from Israel, in an attempt to examine the contribution of patriarchal ideology toward explaining their beliefs about wife beating. Although about 58% of the participants indicated that there is no excuse for a man to beat his wife, 15–62% still justified wife beating on certain occasions (e.g., adultery, failure to obey husbands, disrespect for parents and relatives). In addition, although the participants tended to perceive abusive and violent husbands as responsible for their behavior, 52% still expressed understanding of that behavior and, on some occasions, 23–43% even blamed the wife for violence against her. Regression and multiple regression analyses revealed that over and above the participants' age and level of education, their masculine sex-role stereotypes, negative and traditional attitudes toward women, nonegalitarian marital role expectations, and familial patriarchal beliefs were the most significant predictors of beliefs about wife beating. Implications of the results and limitations of the study are also discussed.     

Dirty tricks of cross-examination

A mock jury study was conducted to test the hypothesis that perceptions of a witness can be biased by presumptuous cross-examination questions. A total of 105 subjects read a rape trial in which the cross-examiner asked a question that implied something negative about the reputation of either the victim or an expert. Within each condition, the question was met with either a denial, an admission, or an objection from the witness's attorney. Results indicated that although ratings of the victim's credibility were not affected by the presumptuous question, the expert's credibility was significantly diminished—even when the question had elicited a denial or a sustained objection. Conceptual and practical implications of these findings are discussed.This research was supported by funds provided to the first author by the Bronfman Science Center.     

COMPETITION AND PERFORMANCE IN THE AIRLINE INDUSTRY

The paper examines the airline industry ten years after the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978. A brief review of the historical background of regulation and the changes leading to the Airline Deregulation Act is presented. A number of studies are cited that conclude that airline perfor- mance has improved since the Civil Aeronautics Board days. The author agrees with these conclusions but goes on to suggest that it is time to begin comparing the airline industry today with the standards of performance associated with perfect competition instead of the previous regulatory period. A standard of competitive performance is suggested. The traditional p=mc=ac performance is complicated because mc and ac decline for any airline flight until the plane is full or has a 100% load factor. The author suggests p=acat load factors are not yet reaching loo%, it is suggested that some policy modifications might help improve performance further. An- titrust is examined and some other institutional policy changes are sug- gested.     

The relationship between education, experience, and police performance

This study used data from 299 police officers from 12 municipal police departments across the state of Virginia to determine the relationship between education and police performance. Performance was measured by supervisor evaluations of each officer's overall performance, communication skills, public relations skills, report writing skills, response to new training, decision making ability, and commitment to the police department. Significant correlations were found between education and most measures of performance. Most importantly, the results show a significant correlation between overall performance and education (r=24, p.<001). The only variables not proving to be significantly related to education were objective measures of the volume of arrests, number of times the officer required discipline, and number of accidents. Interestingly, the benefits of a college education do not become apparent until police officers gain experience. In addition, police, officers with only a high school diploma decreased in overall performance after five years of experience.     

Responding to the global tobacco industry: Canada and the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control

Abstract: In a continuing quest to build and defend world markets for tobacco products, tobacco companies have long been involved in international cooperation and information‐sharing through their own international corporate networks, as well as through national and international industry trade associations. This is evidenced in tobacco industry corporate documents now freely available on the internet. In order to institute effective tobacco control policy, policy‐makers needed to become equally astute at sharing information across national boundaries and at considering the cross‐national implications of policy and legislation. The World Health Organization has been instrumental in developing the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), and Canada has played an important part in this effort. The FCTC contains both demand‐reduction provisions and supply‐side provisions intended to reduce tobacco use worldwide. As a signatory to the FCTC, Canada has pledged to adhere to these provisions, thereby providing Canadian public administrators with effective tools to reduce tobacco use and its associated health burden both nationally and internationally. Sommaire: En cherchant continuellement à développer et à défendre les marchés mondiaux pour les produits du tabac, les sociétés productrices de tabac sont impliquées depuis longtemps dans la coopération internationale et le partage d'informations par le biais de leurs propres réseaux de sociétés internationales et d'associations professionnelles nationales et internationales. C'est ce qui ressort des documents des sociétés productrices de tabac auxquels on peut accéder librement sur Internet. Afin d'instituer une politique efficace de contrôle du tabagisme, les décideurs politiques ont dù devenir astucieux quant au partage d'informations et à l'étude des répercussions transnationales des politiques et des lois. L'Organisation mondiale de la santé a fortement contribuéà l'élaboration de la Convention‐cadre sur la lutte contre le tabagisme (CCLCT), et le Canada a joué un rôle important sur ce plan. La CCLCT contient à la fois des dispositions relatives à la réduction de la demande et d'autres relatives à l'offre qui visent à réduire la consommation de tabac dans le monde entier. En tant que pays signataire de la CCLCT, le Canada s'est engagéà respecter ces dispositions, fournissant ainsi aux administrateurs publics canadiens des outils efficaces pour réduire la consommation de tabac et le fardeau sur la santé qui lui est associéà l'échelle nationale et internationale.     

Scales for perceived risk of student-on-student victimization in grades 7 through 10: A psychometric analysis of the adolescent index on school safety

Although past research has developed scales for the incidence, prevalence, and fear of student-on-student victimization (SSV), little is known about the scaling of perceived risk (i.e., the cognitive appraisal of the chances of experiencing SSV). Hence, this study examined self-report survey data for the perceived risk of SSV as measured in the Adolescent Index for School Safety (AISS). Children in grades 7 through 10 (n=337) in a single Florida public school completed the AISS. Factor analyses using Maximum Likelihood Estimation with Oblimin Rotation identified nine unique factors for perceived risk. Reliability analyses found standardized Cronbach Alphas that ranged from .64 to .91, and seven out of the nine identified scales were above .80, which suggested good to excellent internal consistency. Future research should examine the content validity, construct validity, and predictive validity for the AISS and other self-report surveys of SSV dynamics. This publication was made possible by a grant [#97-MU-FX-KO12 (S-l)] from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (O.J.J.D.P.), United States Department of Justice (U.S.D.O.J.). This grant is administered through the Hamilton Fish National Institute on School and Community Violence at George Washington University. This specific study was developed and implemented by staff at: 1) East Carolina University’s Department of Criminal Justice; and 2) Florida State University’s Center for Educational Research and Policy Studies. All points of view and opinions in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of East Carolina University, Florida State University, the Hamilton Fish National Institute on School and Community Violence, the O.J.J.D.P., or the U.S.D.OJ. The authors would also like to thank Dr. Bill Doerner and Jennifer Jolley for their support, editorial feedback, and insightful comments regarding earlier drafts of this paper.