Self-Efficacy,Religiosity, and Crime: Profiles of African American Youth in Urban Housing Communities

Youth reporting independently elevated levels of religiosity and self-efficacy tend to abstain from externalizing behavior. However, little is known about the ways in which religiosity and self-efficacy interrelate to impact youth externalizing. Drawing from a sample of African American youth from public housing communities (N = 236), we use latent profile analysis to identify subtypes of youth based on self-reported religiosity and self-efficacy and, in turn, examine links with crime. Compared to youth in other subgroups, those classified as both highly religious and highly self-efficacious reported less involvement in minor and severe delinquency, but not violence.     

Determinants of the U.S. wheat producer support price: Do presidential elections matter?

The paper's focus is on the determinants of the U.S. wheat producer support price. The results of the time-series analysis suggest that this price is largely determined by the previous price, the expected U.S. share in world exports, and expected program costs. Presidential elections also influence U.S. wheat price policies. All other things being equal, the support price tends to be lower in election years than in other years. This suggests that small interest groups' relative political economic power may be less pronounced in election years if they do not succeed in positioning themselves on the political economic market such that they contain the potentially decisive voter.     

Effect of food insecurity on food purchases at home

Previous research has established a relationship between income and food security. In this article, we examine the effect of food security on food purchases, specifically on five food‐at‐home groups. Using a set of Tobit models, and after controlling for a set of confounding factors, we show that food security perception leads to the purchase of fruit and vegetables, meats and eggs, and dairy products while decreasing the purchase of fat and carbohydrates. However, we cannot be certain of the actual nutritional effect.     

"对欧洲一体化和东亚合作的再思考"会议综述

为研究欧洲和亚洲的新形势和地区一体化进程的最新进展,亚欧基金会(ASEF)、外交学院(CFAU)与中国国际关系学会(CNAIS)于2006年11月13-14日在中国北京共同组织了为期两天的题为“对欧洲一体化和东亚合作的再思考”的会议。来自39个亚欧会议成员国的近70名学者、政府官员和记者与会。会议开幕式由外交学院常务副院长秦亚青教授主持,中国外交部国际司吴海龙司长和亚欧基金会执行主席赵源一(Wonil Cho)大使致开幕词。欧洲委员会驻华代表团团长赛日·安博(Serge Abou)大使发表了主旨演讲,论述了欧洲地区一体化进程中政治和制度层面的问题…     

Land Cruising the Road to Hell

This article provides a preliminary assessment of the agroterrorism threat to Australia. Based on primary research conducted among Australia's biotechnology and agriculture sectors, it examines current threat scenarios and existing vulnerabilities within Australia. It argues that the threat of agroterrorism to Australia is real, and, for prudential reasons, should be taken more seriously by government authorities. The article concludes with a series of broad policy options to mitigate the threat of agroterrorism to Australia.     

The Female Jihad: Al Qaeda's Women

When women carry out a suicide attack they undermine the idea of who and what a terrorist is. What is generally not realized is the extent to which women are involved in terrorism. The purpose of this article is to explore and to analyze the multifaceted roles of the women in the movement of Al Qaeda. The argument is that the role of the women the world audience perceives is the one of a suicide bomber but the role of an ideological supporter and operational facilitator is more important for the maintenance of the operational capabilities and the ideological motivation for a terrorist organization. This article argues that the women follow a gender-specific interpretation of the radical ideology, the female Jihad. The concept of the female Jihad means that the women carry out a political act by supporting their male relatives, educating their children in the ideology and facilitating terrorist operations. The female Jihad is defective when the women follow the male Jihad interpretation of the Jihad by carrying out attacks. For the survival of a terrorists organization women are more important when they follow the female version of the ideology. Because the men could get arrested, die in an attack, or could get shot by the security forces, the women continue to take care about the financial issues of the organization and continue to educate the children in the “right” belief. To verify these arguments the article is divided into three parts. The first part will look at the motivation of women participation at a terrorism organization and the motivation of a terrorism organization to use women for its purposes. The second part tries to throw some light on the female suicide bombers who acted under the umbrella of the movement of Al Qaeda. In this part the female terrorist attacks will be analyzed. In the third part Sisterhoods will be explained and the concept of the female Jihad will be analyzed. The findings of this article about the involvement of women in the movement of Al Qaeda will bring us to conclusion that women do play an essential role in these organizations and groups. Following the argument that successful counterterrorism should address both the motivation and the operational capabilities of a terrorist organization there is an essential need for the national security forces to expand their capabilities to look more carefully at women.     

Notes on contributors

In the Kosovo crisis, Germany for the first time since 1955 joined NATO military combat operations in a major way. While this has often been interpreted as a fundamental major departure ('normalisation') in Germany's post‐war foreign policy, this article argues that Germany's willingness to contemplate joining a NATO war even without a mandate by the UN Security Council represents an evolution, rather than a fundamental change in Germany's foreign policy orientation. This evolution can be explained best as a logical and consistent response of Germany's foreign policy identity which reconciled, through modification, its traditional post war foreign policy identity as a ‘civilian power’ to a radically different security environment.     

Der Übergang von der GesbR zur OG gemäß § 8 Abs 3 UGB

Der Rechtsformwechsel zwischen der Gesellschaft bürgerlichen Rechts und den Personenhandels- sowie den eingetragenen Erwerbsgesellschaften war wegen der unterschiedlichen Eigentumsstruktur schon nach altem Recht nicht unproblematisch, wenngleich eine hM und Rsp hier einen identit?tswahrenden Rechtsformwechsel ebenso anerkannt hatten, wie er etwa im Verh?ltnis unter den Personenhandels- und Erwerbsgesellschaften von vornherein au?er Zweifel stand. Das UGB hat die Problematik in dreifacher Weise versch?rft: Zum einen wird den eingetragenen Personengesellschaften nun ausdrücklich die Rechtsf?higkeit zuerkannt, zum Zweiten der zwangsweise Rechtsformwechsel jetzt an einen klaren und relativ niedrigen Schwellenwert geknüpft, drittens schlie?lich der spezielle Fall des übergangs von der Vorgesellschaft zur OG eigens geregelt, wobei aber die gesetzessprachliche Aussage zu den hier einschl?gigen F?llen uneinheitlich und unpr?zise ist.     

Living in the Era of Digital Exhibitionism

Digitally mediated communication technologies have fundamentally changed the problem of child sexual abuse. Sexually explicit images of young people that can be found online range from those documenting offline abuse including adult-to-child and peer-on-peer violence, to self-generated images including those taken within the context of a coercive relationship or those that are shared online beyond the taker's control. Online availability of these images can have serious effects on victims. It is vital to identify what victims need, how youngsters are at risk online, how self-generated images may be shared online beyond the taker's control, and how children who have been traumatized by experiences of sexual abuse (offline as well as online) can be taught to stay safe online. This article summarizes the results of four different studies exploring these issues.