Procedural Justice and Identification with Virtual Teams: The Moderating Role of Face-to-Face Meetings and Geographical Dispersion

We investigated the previously unstudied relationship between procedural justice and identification within virtual teams, with a particular focus on how two features of virtual teams, namely frequency of face-to-face meetings and geographical dispersion, moderate that relationship. We argue that these two variables are sources of uncertainty, which in turn makes virtual team members more sensitive to perceptions of procedural fairness as essential cues in the identification process. In this study, we used cross-sectional survey methodology and data aggregated to the team level (N = 39). As predicted, our results showed that the link between procedural justice and identification was stronger when there were few face-to-face meetings and when teams were highly dispersed.     

Bayesian adaptive approach to estimating sample sizes for seizures of illicit drugs

A considerable amount of discussion can be found in the forensics literature about the issue of using statistical sampling to obtain for chemical analyses an appropriate subset of units from a police seizure suspected to contain illicit material. Use of the Bayesian paradigm has been suggested as the most suitable statistical approach to solving the question of how large a sample needs to be to ensure legally and practically acceptable purposes. Here, we introduce a hypergeometric sampling model combined with a specific prior distribution for the homogeneity of the seizure, where a parameter for the analyst's expectation of homogeneity (α) is included. Our results show how an adaptive approach to sampling can minimize the practical efforts needed in the laboratory analyses, as the model allows the scientist to decide sequentially how to proceed, while maintaining a sufficiently high confidence in the conclusions.     

The 1988 Presidential Election in Finland

The article aims to describe and analyse the 1988 presidential election in Finland. The parties and candidates in the election are presented and the electoral system is discussed. For the first time a double-vote system was used in which there are two ballots, one for the direct election of the president and one for the elector of the president. If a candidate wins more than 50 percent of the vote, then that candidate is elected. If, however, no candidate receives 50 percent or more of the vote, then the electoral college elects the president. Although it was fairly certain that the incumbent president Mauno Koivisto would be re-elected, the campaign was a heated one, with the electorate very politically engaged. It is concluded that despite the fact regional differences between north and south Finland were aggravated—the candidate for the opposition, Paavo Väyrynen, received considerable support especially in northern Finland-the presidential election showed that the Finnish political system functions relatively smoothly and that its overall effect is highly legitimizing.     

A novel method for forensic DNA investigations: repeat-type sequence analysis of tandemly repeated mtDNA in domestic dogs

A highly variable and heteroplasmic tandem repeat region situated in the mitochondrial mt DNA control region (CR) in domestic dogs and wolves was studied to evaluate its suitability as a forensic genetic marker for analysis of single hairs. The tandem repeat array is composed of three 10-bp repeat types that are distributed so that a secondary DNA sequence is formed. Thus, the region presents two levels of variation: variation in the number of repeats and variation in the secondary DNA sequence of repeat types. Two analysis methods were therefore tested; fragment length analysis and analysis of the sequence of repeat types. Fragment analysis produced unique profiles that could be used to discriminate between blood samples from maternally closely related individuals. However, different hairs from one individual did not have the same fragment profile, and the method is, therefore, not suitable for analysis of single hairs. In contrast, analysis of the repeat type sequences (array types) is highly informative. When different hairs from one individual were studied, identical array types were found. The repeat-type sequence variation was studied among individuals having identical nonrepetitive CR mtDNA sequence variants. Seven, six, and two individuals, representing three different sequence variants, respectively, were analyzed. All these individuals had different array types, which implies a very high genetic variation between individuals in this region. The analysis method considerably improves the exclusion capacity of mtDNA analysis of domestic dogs compared with sequence analysis of non-repetitive DNA.     

Differential inclusion of non-citizens in a universalistic welfare state

The regulation of legal statuses and differentiation of non-citizens’ rights within the states has become a significant site in the management of migration, yet the actual operations of differential inclusion remain an underexamined issue in the migration research. This article provides an empirically grounded analysis of the differential inclusion of non-citizens and demonstrates the legal hierarchies between non-citizens’ entitlements using Finland as a case study. I argue that in addition to the regulation of residence and the access to labour markets, the unequal access to the welfare system represents a significant sphere of differentiation in the immigration process. Non-citizens’ social entitlements differ depending on the nationality, the type of legal status and the form of employment, affecting their position in the labour markets and in the society. The article highlights the role of immigration law in manipulating the residence status of non-citizens, consequently invalidating the universalism of rights and a residence-based welfare system. Immigration controls, rather than representing a neutral framework of regulation of immigration, function as an institution, which produces conditional subjects and asymmetrical social relations in the sphere of universal citizenship.     

Two Challenges for Dignity as an Expressive Norm

The concept of dignity figures prominently in legal and moral discussion on such topics as human rights, euthanasia, abortion, and criminal punishment. Yet the notion has been criticized for being indeterminate and either insufficient or redundant (or both) in justifying the kinds of legal and moral rights and views its proponents use it to vindicate. The criticisms have inspired some novel conceptions of dignity. One of them is Tarunabh Khaitan??s proposal that dignity should be understood as an expressive norm. In this article, I assess Khaitan??s suggestion. I maintain that it faces two challenges that its advocates should be able to solve for the proposal to be plausible.     

The Passionate Text. The Pending Narrative as a Macrostructure of Persuasion

The pending narrative is an important macrostructure of persuasive speech. With it, the speaker not only describes the world and its social phenomena, but also lays a foundation for transforming the world to conform with the objective imposed in the narrative. The rhetorical force of the pending narrative comes from its sudden interruption: as soon as the motivation for an action has been created and as soon as identities have been established for the actors involved in the action, the story is interrupted, brought to a halt. This article outlines the basic mechanisms of the pending narrative and illustrates them using one alcohol policy editorial and two introductory chapters from scientific texts: Erik Allartd's The Structure of Society and Social Pressure and C. Wright Mills' The Sociological Imagination.     

Patients' rights to complain in Finnish psychiatric care: An overview

Cuts in resources for Finnish psychiatric care may jeopardize the realization of patients' rights in mental health settings. The right to complain is a basic right of all patients in Finland, and is especially important to patients treated involuntarily and also to those who have experienced coercive treatment methods during their hospitalizations. In Finland, a patient's right to complain is guaranteed by law, both in legislation and in national quality recommendations. The complaint process in Finland is very complex, and there are several ways to make a complaint that are not always familiar to patients with severe illnesses. Psychiatric patients may have cognitive impairments that make the formulation of a complaint difficult. Despite help from the patient ombudsman, unbalanced power structures in psychiatric hospitals, insufficient information and long evaluation of appeals makes the complaint process very demanding for psychiatric patients.     

The Role of Peer Groups in Adolescents’ Educational Expectations and Adjustment

The present study investigated to what extent the members of adolescents’ peer groups share similar educational expectations, and to what extent overall and school-related adjustment are associated with these expectations. Three hundred and ninety-four ninth-graders facing the transition to secondary education filled in questionnaires measuring their short-term and long-term educational expectations, and their academic achievement, learning difficulties, negative attitudes towards school, problem behavior, and self-esteem. Multilevel modeling showed that peer group members shared similar educational expectations. Among girls, adjustment typical of the peer group was associated with the group members’ educational expectations. By contrast, among boys, only problem behavior typical of the peer group was associated with the group members’ educational expectations.     

The Trilemma of European Economic and Monetary Integration,and Its Consequences

The article analyses trade‐offs between sovereignty, mass politics and economic and monetary union (EMU), employing Rodrik's paradox of globalisation. The logic of EMU is incompatible with sovereignty and mass politics—only two of the three can coexist. It is argued that three different answers to the trilemma can be observed in the EU practice. In the initial EMU, integration was limited to safeguard mass politics and sovereignty. Member States were free to set economic policies in response to domestic mass politics. This proved unsustainable. During the crisis, democracy was sacrificed to bolster integration, while sovereignty was maintained. Rules on fiscal discipline and macroeconomic imbalances constrain mass politics, and non‐democratic institutions have acquired more prominent roles. Finally, long‐term plans for a genuine EMU envisage the strengthening of integration and moving the locus of democracy to the EU level, while weakening sovereignty. The analysis carries implications. If national courts insist on sovereignty and democracy, the likely consequence is an unworkable EMU, damaging the output legitimacy of the EU. The model adopted in the crisis reinforces the elite nature of the EU, undermines democracy at the national level and may bolster political extremism. This leaves the task of building the preconditions for democracy at the European level.