An Exploratory Study of Youth Mentoring in an Urban Context: Adolescents' Perceptions of Relationship Styles

The goal of this study was to empirically distinguish a range of mentor relationships and to evaluate their differential influence on adolescent outcomes. The study makes use of data that were collected as part of a national evaluation of Big Brothers/Big Sisters of America. The evaluation included 1138 youth, ranging in age from 10 through 16 (M=12.25), who were assigned randomly to either a mentoring relationship or a control group and followed for 18 months. A series of analyses, based on the matched youth's accounts of the relationships, suggested 4 distinct types of relationships (i.e., moderate, unconditionally supportive, active, and low-key). The 4 groups tended to distinguish themselves from one another on the basis of perceived support, structure, and activity. Relative to the controls, youth who characterized their mentor relationships as providing moderate levels of both activity and structure and conditional support derived the largest number of benefits from the relationships. These included improvements in social, psychological, and academic outcomes. Implications of the findings for research and intervention are discussed.     

Is It Bad to Be Good? An Exploration of Aggressive and Prosocial Behavior Subtypes in Adolescence

Research in aggressive behavior development has distinguished between proactive (i.e., intended to achieve an instrumental goal) and reactive (i.e., emitted as an emotional response to provocation) subtypes of aggression. A similar distinction has not been made with regard to prosocial behavior. In this study, subtypes of both aggressive and prosocial behavior and their relation to aggression-supporting social cognitions were examined in a sample of 250 early and middle adolescents. Adolescents completed behavior rating scales and a measure of their beliefs about the acceptability of responding aggressively. Principal components analysis identified 3 subtypes of aggressive and prosocial behavior: aggressive, prosocial, and proactive prosocial. Proactive prosocial behavior was positively correlated with aggression and aggression-supporting beliefs, while other prosocial behavior was negatively correlated with these constructs. Findings are discussed in the context of aggressive behavior development and with regard to traditional views of prosocial behavior as altruistic.     

Bright Lights,Big Cities? Metropolisation,Intergovernmental Relations,and the New Federal Urban Policy in Switzerland

Disparities between increasing urban economic power and cities' limited political autonomy have put pressure on intergovernmental relations in many countries. Some authors have claimed that this process leads to a strengthening of the position of cities with respect to higher state levels such as regions or the nation state. The aim of this article is to test this hypothesis for the case of Switzerland. In the first part, we show that, due to the existing intergovernmental framework, the current dynamics of urbanisation (which we describe as “metropolization”) have produced specific problems for governance in Swiss urban areas: spillovers in the distribution of costs and benefits, new political cleavages between core cities and surrounding communes, as well as increasing autonomy conflicts between cities and cantons. In the second part, we argue that initiatives taken in order to tackle these issues of urban governance have contributed to transforming Swiss federalism. “Politikverflechtung” is increasing in urban areas. In particular, the new federal urban policy has introduced a new vertical dimension of co‐operation between cities, cantons and the Confederation. Although Swiss cities have gained new influence in the process, we conclude that cantons still hold the key position. Therefore, like other federalist countries, Switzerland has not experienced a considerable strengthening of urban governments with respect to higher levels. Nevertheless, current developments in this area can be seen as a move away from the hierarchical pattern of co‐operative federalism towards a more heterarchical pattern of multi‐level governance in Swiss intergovernmental relations.     

Diversification des populations dans la région de Montréal: de nouveaux défis de la gestion urbaine

Sommaire: Certaines organisations municipales s'efforcent de mieux répondre aux nouveaux besoins associés aux transformations de la population métropolitaine. Une perspective de meilleures pratiques face aux nouveaux défis de la gestion urbaine se dessine progressivement pour les banlieues et anciennes banlieues des villes situées dans les différentes couronnes au Nord et au Sud de Montréal. Après un bref aperçu des transformations de la population, nous examinons les groupes susceptibles d'avoir des besoins particuliers. S'ensuivent un exposé des types d'interventions entreprises par les municipalités québécoises dans ces domaines, puis les objectifs de recherche ainsi que la méthodologie. Finalernent, nous présentons les résultats à partir de l'analyse des données recueillies dans dix‐sept municipalités de plus de 3 000 habitants, excluant la Ville de Montréal. Nous avons retenu quatre variables: population immigrante, minorités visibles, familles monoparentales et familles à faible revenu. Les municipalités retenues se situent à un niveau élevé pour l'un ou l'autre de ces fadeurs ou encore pour leur combinaison. Il n'y a pas forcément de liens entre la forte présence des divers sous‐groupes et l'existence de politiques et programmes. Un phénomèe intéressant se présente quant à la présence de politiques pour les personnes âgées car la majorité des municipalités font preuve d'innovation à cet égard. Abstract: Some municipalities are adopting initiatives designed to better respond to needs associated with the changing composition of the urban population. This research aims to identify “best practices” of municipal administration in the suburban ring around Montreal, in particular with respect to the development of programs and policies designed to accommodate emerging populations with special needs. After a brief presentation of the changing demographics of such populations, the authors examine in greater detail specific groups that require special attention. They then present the different types of initiatives developed by Quebec municipalities to respond to identified needs discuss the objectives and methods of their research. They analyse data collected in seventeen municipalities in the Montreal area that have at least 3,000 residents, excluding the City of Montreal. Research focuses on four types of sub‐populations: immigrants, visible minorities, single‐parent families, and low‐income families. All of the municipalities included in our study have a higher than average incidence of one or more of these sub‐populations. Data does not reveal a strong relationship between municipal initiatives and the presence of the different sub‐groups. On the other hand, nearly all municipalities have developed initiatives to respond to the increasing presence of the elderly.     

Internal validation of the AmpFlSTR Yfiler amplification kit for use in forensic casework.

Y-chromosomal short-tandem repeat (Y-STR) amplification has been used in forensic casework at the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) Forensic Science Laboratory since 2003. At that time, two separate amplifications were required to type the SWGDAM recommended loci (DYS19, DYS385a/b, DYS389I, DYS389II, DYS390, DYS391, DYS392, DYS393, DYS438, and DYS439). The Yfiler kit coamplifies these loci as well as DYS437, DYS448, DYS456, DYS458, DYS635, and Y GATA H4. The Yfiler kit was validated following the internal validations outlined in the SWGDAM revised validation guidelines. Our studies show that 0.125 ng of male DNA will generate a complete 17 locus profile and that as little as 0.06 ng of male DNA yields an average of nine loci. In the male-male mixtures, a complete profile from the minor component was detected up to 1:5 ratio; most of the alleles of the minor component were detected at a 1:10 ratio and more than half the alleles of the minor component were detected at a 1:20 ratio. Complete YSTR profiles were obtained when 500 pg male DNA was mixed with female DNA at ratios up to 1:1000. At ratios of 1:5000 and 1:10,000 (male DNA to female DNA) inhibition of the YSTR amplification was evident. The YSTR results obtained for the adjudicated case samples gave significantly more information than the autosomal results. Our studies demonstrate that the Yfiler kit is extremely sensitive, does not exhibit cross-reactivity with female DNA, successfully types male DNA in the presence of overwhelming amounts of female DNA and is successful in typing actual forensic samples from adjudicated cases.     

News media,threats and insecurities: an ethnographic approach

This article presents research from a three-year study of shifting understandings of threat and security in Britain following the 2003 Iraq War. We develop the case for a more integrated and nuanced approach to studying the relationship between policymakers, media practitioners and media publics given the increasing importance of these relationships to international relations (IR) matters of concern. Our analysis demonstrates the ‘push’ and ‘pull’ factors that explain why certain individuals and groups arrive at certain understandings or perceptions of threats. Responding to recent calls in IR for the use of diverse and interdisciplinary methods, our methodology enables us to demonstrate how disparities emerge between official and public understandings of threats. These understandings result from people's engagement with political and media discourses, and the experience of this engagement can be characterized by connectivity, (un)certainty and contradiction.     

Extreme versus quotidian: addressing temporal dichotomies in Philippine disaster management

Brief narratives of two recent events in Luzon island—a flashflood in Angeles City and an eruption of Mayon volcano—underscore the disparity between natural hazards as amplifiers of everyday hardship for many Filipinos and the Philippine disaster management system's orientation towards extreme‐event response. Three major factors contribute to this dichotomy. First, population dynamics combined with the lack of access to resources compels poor Filipinos to live and work in hazardous areas, discounting risk from extreme natural events to focus on daily needs. Second, the institutional setting of the country's disaster management within the military establishment makes it difficult, though not impossible, to focus and address the underlying causes of vulnerability. Third, existing modes of funding disaster expenditures are all biased towards immediate response rather than long‐term risk‐reduction. The implications of these findings to disaster management and research in the Philippines are identified. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.