Policy Failure and Policy Learning: Examining the Conditions of Learning after Disaster

The policy learning literature indicates that governments can and do learn after a policy failure but not always. The purpose of this study is to examine the conditions under which policy failure leads to policy learning. It asks two questions. First, is policy failure associated with policy learning? Second, if policy is associated with policy learning, does the failure initiate different types of learning? Using the policy failure and learning literatures as an organizing framework, this paper analyzes three comparative cases of policy failure revealed by tornados in Greensburg, Kansas (2007); Joplin, Missouri (2011); and Moore, Oklahoma (2013). It finds that failure of the policy process in agenda setting is associated with instrumental policy learning. It also finds that there are two types of failure of decision making: failure to make a timely decision and failure to make any decision. The two types of decision‐making failure are associated with different types of policy learning. In addition, the contextual factors underpinning the link between policy failure and learning are prior experience with the policy problem and capacity to learn.     

Mastery in Middle Adolescence: The Contributions of Socioeconomic Status, Maternal Mastery and Supportive-Involved Mothering

Mastery, or the feeling of power or control over one’s life, is a vital yet understudied covariate of wellbeing in adolescence and adulthood. The goal of the current study was to explore the effects of demographic characteristics (i.e., sex, age, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status (SES)), maternal mastery, and supportive-involved mothering on children’s mastery at ages 16–17 years. 855 teens (47.6 % female) and their mothers provided study data as part of the 1992 and 1998 waves of National Longitudinal Survey of Youth-1979 (NLSY-79; 24.1 % Hispanic, 36.6 % Black). Hybrid path models indicated that only maternal parenting during middle childhood was linked directly to levels of children’s mastery in middle adolescence; a small portion of the association between parenting and adolescent mastery was attributable to SES. The discussion centers on significance of these findings for future research and theory development.     

Norway in UN environmental policies: ambitions and influence

This is a study of Norway’s ambitions for influencing UN environmental policies and then on the scope for impact. On the whole, it is clear that Norway has not been particularly successful in its general efforts at strengthening UNEP. These proposals have failed, due mainly to opposition from key states. Norway is after all a minor player in global governance issues, even in those pertaining to the environment. Norway has been more successful in efforts that indirectly strengthen UNEP, by supporting UNEP in initiating new MEAs. We found three main factors that help to explain why Norway has a relatively high level of influence at the international environmental arena compared to its size. First, there is a relatively straightforward domestic decision-making process with little conflict. Second, Norwegian officials and NGOs possess considerable expertise in these issues, adding to the intellectual leadership role of Norway in pushing for new principles and international legislation through UNEP. Third, Norway is sometimes able to join forces in environmental alliances with other like-minded countries. This would seem to carry the widest scope for increasing impact.

Releasing managed care's chokehold on healthcare providers

This article addresses the imbalance of power between managed care organizations and physicians regarding the content of treatment information given to patients. The author provides a thoughtful discussion surrounding informed consent issues in a managed care environment, and how managed care organizations maintain their control over physicians. The author concludes by offering varied and insightful methods to even out the disparity of power.     

The effect of acculturation and immigration on the victimization and psychological distress link in a national sample of Latino women

Distinct bodies of research have examined the link between victimization and psychological distress and cultural variables and psychological health, but little is known about how cultural variables affect psychological distress among Latino victims. Substantial research has concluded that Latino women are more likely than non-Latino women to experience trauma-related symptoms following victimization. In addition, examination of different types of cultural adaptation has found results supporting the idea that maintaining ties with one's culture of origin may be protective against negative mental health outcomes. The present study evaluates the effect of victimization, immigrant status, and both Anglo and Latino orientation on psychological distress in a national sample of Latino women. Results indicate that along with the total count of victimization experiences, Anglo and/or Latino orientation were strong predictors of all forms of psychological distress. Anglo orientation also functioned as a moderator between victimization and psychological distress measures for anger, dissociation, and anxiety. The results suggest a more nuanced and complex interaction between cultural factors, victimization, and psychological distress.     

The Transcendence of Violence Across Relationships: New Methods for Understanding Men’s and Women’s Experiences of Intimate Partner Violence Across the Life Course

The notion of transitions is an increasingly central concept in contemporary criminology and such issues are particularly significant in the study of intimate partner violence (IPV). Here, attention focuses on relationship dynamics and movement into and out of relationships for understanding long-term patterns of victimization over the life course. Still, a focus on transitions raises questions about how IPV is patterned over time and across relationships and how this contributes to stability and change in victimization risk over the life span. Our study examines this issue using data from the National Violence Against Women Survey. Findings from latent transition analyses reveal strong evidence for change in victimization experiences across the life course. Among women, those who experienced serious, multifaceted violence are most likely to transition out of relationships followed by transition into subsequent relationships characterized by conflict and aggression and a similar pattern is observed among men. At the same time, men who experience physical aggression in previous relationships are most likely to transition into non-violent relationships, while women with similar experiences are much less differentiated in the types of relationships they enter into. When we account for background characteristics (e.g., respondent’s race, education, and age) and childhood experiences of parental violence, the latter is particularly significant in accounting for exposure to serious IPV in later adulthood. Such findings extend our understanding of how life course transitions connect to violence and offending and highlight processes of continuity and change beyond the traditional focus on criminal offending.     

Attachment as a Mediator between Childhood Maltreatment and Adult Symptomatology

This study examined the mediating role of attachment in the relationship between childhood maltreatment perpetrated by parents and adult symptomatology. Young adults (N = 803), with and without a history of abuse, were recruited from a local university to complete a series of questionnaires inquiring about past maltreatment experiences, adult attachment in current close relationships, and psychological symptomatology. While attachment was found to be a mediator for all three types of abuse when they were looked at individually, a more robust mediated effect was found in the case of psychological abuse. When all three types of parental maltreatment (psychological, physical, and exposure to family violence) were considered simultaneously, attachment mediated the relationship between only psychological abuse and symptomatology. Parallel meditated effects were observed across two measures of symptomatology: trauma-related symptomatology and externalizing and internalizing symptomatology. The results of this study further our understanding of psychological maltreatment and its intra-individual correlates.     

Looking to the future: Prospective economic voting in 2008 Presidential Elections

Despite the economic turmoil of the time, a typical study of vote choice in the 2008 US Presidential Election would (falsely) find little evidence that voters’ opinions about the future state of the economy affected their vote choice. We argue that this misleading conclusion results from serious measurement error in the standard prospective economic evaluations survey question. Relying instead on a revised question, included for the first time in the 2008 American National Election Study, we find that most respondents condition their prospective economic evaluations on potential election outcomes, and that these evaluations are an important determinant of vote choice. A replication in a very different political context – the 2008 Ghanaian election – yields similar results.