Misremembering Events: Emotional Valence,Psychopathic Traits,and the Misinformation Effect

Past research has demonstrated increased susceptibility to misinformation under varying conditions, including negative emotional scenes. In addition, psychopathic traits have been associated with emotional deficits which may lead to differences in memory processing. The present study examined emotional valence and psychopathic traits in relation to the misinformation effect. Participants (n = 334) were exposed to emotional scenes (positive, neutral, negative), completed a measure of psychopathic traits (PPI-R), and were asked either misleading or nonleading questions. Accuracy and susceptibility to misinformation were assessed through a series of open-ended questions and accuracy scoring. Accuracy was highest for both emotional (60%) relative to neutral (53.9%) images. Memory differences in recall of negative versus positive scenes was evidenced dependent on attentional focus. Participants in the misled condition were less accurate in their recall overall, and recalled more misleading information (41.18% relative to 14.16%). In addition, individuals who received misleading suggestions were more likely to incorporate the major misleading detail into their memory for the negative scene. Psychopathic traits were not related to accuracy; however, those high in psychopathic traits tended to incorporate more misinformation into memory. Our results have important implications concerning how individuals remember emotional events, including people high in psychopathic traits, and follow up studies considering attention/motivation and misinformation are required.     

Coercion in Rebel Recruitment

Previous research on rebel recruitment has focused on the economic and social incentives groups used as enticements but has overlooked the question of why many armed groups recruit using coercion. The puzzle is why coercion occurs despite its alienating civilian populations and being costly in terms of organizational and military effectiveness. I suggest that recruitment is a dynamic process and that groups are likely to shift recruitment strategies depending on the exigencies of the conflict. In particular, the exposure of the group to military and economic shocks accompanied by shortened time horizons should lead to increasingly coercive recruitment. Whether forced recruitment is a durable solution for a group in the long run is likely to be contingent upon the group's ability to induce a high level of compliance from the individual at a low cost. Further, in order to circumvent costs vis-à-vis the civilian population, the group must be able to restrict defection to the government and the out-migration of the civilian population. Three narratives from Nepal, Ethiopia, and Sierra Leone are provided both to illustrate the arguments and to probe the scope conditions. The article concludes that understanding why and when rebel groups use forced recruitment has vital security implications for the countries in which armed conflict takes place.     

Of guns and geese: a meta-analytic review of the ‘weapon focus’ literature

Abstract

Weapon focus is frequently cited as a factor in eyewitness testimony, and is broadly defined as a weapon-related decrease in performance on subsequent tests of memory for those elements of an event or visual scene concurrent to the weapon. This effect has been attributed to either (a) physiological or emotional arousal that narrows the attentional beam (arousal/threat hypothesis), or (b) the cognitive demands inherent in processing an unusual object (e.g. weapon) that is incongruent with the schema representing the visual scene (unusual item hypothesis). Meta-analytical techniques were applied to test these theories as well as to evaluate the prospect of weapon focus in real-world criminal investigations. Our findings indicated an effect of weapon presence overall (g= 0.53) that was significantly influenced by retention interval, exposure duration, and threat but unaffected by whether the event occurred in a laboratory, simulation, or real-world environment.     

Reconciliation through Sports? The case of South Africa

Abstract

Can sports—and if so how—serve as a vehicle for reconciliation and increased social cohesion in countries wrecked by civil conflict? This article analyses the case of South Africa and its experiences in the sports sector since the fall of apartheid, in an effort to explore the processes necessary to understand the potential sports may hold for peace building. By identifying initiatives in South Africa employed at the national, community and individual level of analysis, the article outlines the possible effects of sports on reconciliation in divided states. Through linking experiences from state policies, ngo activities and donor projects with social identity and reconciliation theory, the article outlines the possible positive and negative aspects of sports. Finally, important avenues for further research to uncover how to turn sports into effective political tools for post-conflict peace building are suggested.     

Status, Threat, and Stereotypes: Understanding the Function of Rape Myth Acceptance

This study applied system justification theory to understand the function of rape myth acceptance. Participants read a rape scenario that manipulated the difference in status between the perpetrator and victim, as well as the potential threat to perpetrator as depicted by whom the victim told about the rape. People’s opposition to equality and gender separately and together predicted rape myth acceptance. People with higher opposition to equality reported less rape myth acceptance when a higher-status perpetrator got away with rape than when he was reported to police. Conversely, people with lower opposition to equality reported more rape myth acceptance when the higher-status perpetrator got away with rape. People’s opposition to equality and gender interacted such that men with lower opposition to equality also reported more rape myth acceptance when the equal- and lower-status perpetrator got away with rape. Gender predicted rape myth acceptance such that when the lower-status perpetrator was reported to the police, women reported more rape myth acceptance whereas men reported less rape myth acceptance. This is the first study to show that rape myth acceptance is malleable and strategically motivated. These findings have implications for not only understanding rape myth acceptance, but also other ideologies that explain unethical behavior by advantaged groups.     

Preparing Child Welfare Practitioners: Implications for Title IV-E Education and Training Partnerships

ABSTRACT

High rates of child welfare practitioner turnover remain a national problem with significant consequences. Title IV-E education and training programs prepare child welfare practitioners for this line of work with the intent that they will create long term careers. This study analyzed qualitative data from a 2016 statewide electronic survey launched to obtain frontline child welfare practitioner feedback about workforce turnover and assist the agency in retention efforts.

Practitioner insight resulted in 189 responses specifically related to improving the state’s Title IV-E supported education and training program–the “Academy.” A qualitative thematic analysis identified three main themes: making it more realistic and hands on (n = 104), needing additional training and specific content (n = 45), and feeling overwhelmed with the experience (n = 40). Practitioner feedback illustrated the existing tensions with using a blended model to educate and train the workforce. Implications for Title IV-E education and training partnerships are discussed.     

Book reviews

William G. Rosenberg, Liberals in the Russian Revolution. The Constitutional Democratic Party, 1917–1921. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1974. xiv+534 pp. $25.00 or $9.75 (paperback).

Roger Pethybridge, The Social Prelude to Stalinism. London: Macmillan, 1974. 343 pp. £7.00.

Vladimir Seduro, Dostoevski's Image in Russia Today. Belmont, Mass.: Nordland Publishing Company, 1975. 508 pp. $18.50.

P. H. Vigor, The Soviet View of War, Peace and Neutrality. London and Boston: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1975. vii+256 pp. £6.50.

Franklyn D. Holzman, Financial Checks on Soviet Defense Expenditures. Lexington, Mass.: D. C. Heath, 1975. xv+104 pp. $11.50.

Hans‐E. Gramatzki, Räumliche Aspekte der Sowjetischen Wirtschaftsplanung. Berlin: Berichte des Osteuropa‐Instituts an der Freien Universität Berlin, 1974. 500 pp. DM 18.50.

Andrew F. Burghardt (ed.), Development Regions in the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, and Canada. New York: Praeger, and London: Martin Robertson, 1975. xiii+192 pp. £8.25.

Alvin Z. Rubinstein (ed.), Soviet and Chinese Influence in the Third World. Praeger Special Studies in International Politics and Government. New York: Praeger, and London: Martin Robertson, 1975. ix+232 pp. £8.55.

Alfred Zauberman, The Mathematical Revolution in Soviet Economics. London: OUP, 1975. xii+62 pp. £2.75.

M. W. Balz, Invention and Innovation under Soviet Law: A Comparative Analysis. Toronto and London: Lexington Books, D. C. Heath, 1975. ix+187pp. £7.50.

Susan Jacoby, Inside Soviet Schools. New York: Schocken Books, 1974. 248 pp. $3.95.

Alexander Matejko, Social Change and Stratification in Eastern Europe. An Interpretive Analysis of Poland and Her Neighbors. (Praeger Special Studies in International Economics and Development.) New York: Praeger, 1974, and London: Pall Mall Press, 1975. xxiii+272 pp. £8.00.

Jaroslaw Piekalkiewicz, Communist Local Government. A Study of Poland. Athens, Ohio: Ohio UP, 1975. xiv+282 pp. $10.00.

Hans Hermann Höhmann, Michael C. Kaser, Karl C. Thalheim (eds.), The New Economic Systems of Eastern Europe. London: C. Hurst, and Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1975. xxi+585 pp. £9.50.

Betty A. Laird and Roy D. Laird, To Live Long Enough: the Memoirs of Naum Jasny, Scientific Analyst. Lawrence: The University Press of Kansas, 1976. vii+190 pp. $11.00.

Oleh Semenovych Pidhainy and Oleksandra Ivanivna Pidhainy, The Ukrainian Republic in the Great East‐European Revolution: A Bibliography. Part II. Vol. 6. Toronto and New York: New Review Books, 1975. xv+387 pp. $34.50.     

Cognitive-behavioral skills,social supports,and child abuse potential among mothers of handicapped children

This study examined the relationship among cognitive functioning, social support networks, and risk for child abuse in a sample of 92 mothers of developmentally disabled children. Mothers found to be at highest risk for child abuse potential tended to score low on cognitive skills, social support networks, and life satisfaction. Beck Depression Inventory scores were found to explain 57% of the variance in the Child Abuse Potential Scores. Single mothers differed significantly from married mothers on child abuse potential, relationship satisfaction, community involvement, and loneliness. The authors discuss implications of the study and the need for future research with families of handicapped children.     

Developing Principles for Best Practice in Expanded School Mental Health

On the basis of activities of a federally funded national center for school mental health, review of literature on principles for best practice in child and adolescent mental health and school health, and consultation with national experts and family members, a set of 10 principles for best practice in school mental health was developed. A survey was developed enabling 1–6 point Likert ratings (clearly unimportant to clearly important) for each of the 10 principles. With an original sample of 426 people involved in education, school health or mental health, all 10 principles were strongly endorsed, receiving mean ratings ranging between 5.10 and 5.75. On the basis of qualitative feedback from this survey and interactive forums, language for 9 of the 10 principles was revised and a survey reflecting these changes was developed and administered to a validation sample of 86 respondents. As with the original sample, endorsements of the principles were strong, with mean ratings ranging between 5.45 and 5.79. Findings are discussed in relation to advancing interconnected agendas related to quality assessment and improvement and empirically supported practice in school mental health.