A Comparison of the Sexual Behaviors and Attitudes of Adolescent Girls with Older Vs. Similar-Aged Boyfriends

Sexual behaviors and attitudes of female adolescents were studied as a function of age of boyfriend. Boyfriend's age was dichotomized: similar-aged was defined as within 2 years of the girls' age; older aged was 3 or more years older than the girl. A school-based, ethnically diverse sample of 9th-grade girls (N = 146) who had been in a serious romantic relationship was surveyed on 5 dimensions of sexual attitudes, 2 classes of sexual motives, 7 normative sexual behaviors, and 3 types of risky sexual practices. Results showed that in terms of behavior, girls with older boyfriends were more likely than girls with similar-aged boyfriends to engage in all forms of sexual intimacy, to have sex under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and to experience sexual coercion. In terms of sexual attitudes, girls with older boyfriends were more likely to endorse beliefs that guys are sexually driven, that sex just happens and is spontaneous, and that sex is related to maturity. These results are discussed in terms of a potential power differential that emerges when girls date older boys.     

A Comparison of the Values and Commitment of Private Sector, Public Sector, and Parapublic Sector Employees

This study investigated differences in general values, work values and organizational commitment among 549 private sector, public sector, and parapublic sector knowledge workers. No differences in general values were observed across sectors, although five significant work value differences were revealed: parapublic employees value work that contributes to society more than public servants, who value it more than private sector employees; parapublic employees value opportunities for advancement less than both public and private sector employees; public servants value intellectually stimulating and challenging work more than parapublic employees; and private sector employees value prestigious work more than public servants. Private sector employees displayed greater organizational commitment than the employees in the other two sectors. Overall, the findings suggest only limited value differences among employees of the various sectors. The finding of some work value differences between employees in the public and parapublic sectors suggests that these two groups merit separate consideration in comparative studies such as this one.     

Approaches to the Merit Principle in Queensland Public Service Recruitment 1859–2000. From rich and dumb to gender discrimination to politicisation?

The traditional career service model of public employment was ostensibly based on the merit principle, designed to ensure employment on what you knew rather than who you knew, and to remove patronage. However, the image of public servants is often poor, and many are perceived as having little real merit. This article reviews approaches to merit in the Queensland state public service. It finds that, in earlier times, the merit principle was often enshrined in primary and subordinate legislation, but was subsequently moderated by social values including gender and class discrimination, and by circumstances such as wars. This had implications for the skill levels and quality of public employees, and therefore for public policy and public services. In recent decades, the merit principle has been subjected to extensive redefinition and has been subordinated to the desire for greater political control of public services, and pursuit of ‘responsiveness’.     

A: reviews: general

BETWEEN MARRIAGE AND THE MARKET: INTIMATE POLITICS AND SURVIVAL IN CAIRO. By Homa Hoodfar. Berkeley, Los Angeles, London, University of California Press, 1997. xviii, 302 pp.

THE COURT OF THE IL‐KHANS 1290–1340. Edited by J. Raby and T. Fitzherbert. Oxford Studies in Islamic Art (XII), Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1996. 218 pp., 84 black and white illustrations, ISBN 0–19–728022–6. £35 (hb)

COMMODITY AND EXCHANGE IN THE MONGOL EMPIRE: A CULTURAL HISTORY OF ISLAMIC TEXTILES. By Thomas T. Allsen. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1997. 137 pp. ISBN 0521–58301–2, £30.00 (US$49.95).

LAWRENCE OF ARABIA AND AMERICAN CULTURE: THE MAKING OF A TRANSATLANTIC LEGEND. By JOEL C. HODSON. Contributions to the Study of Popular Culture, No. 47. Westport, Connecticut, Greenwood Publishing, 1995. xiii + 183 pp., Index, $45.00.

THE CAMBRIDGE ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF THE ISLAMIC WORLD. Edited by Francis Robinson. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1996. xxiii, 328 pp., maps, illustrations, £24.95.

THE HOLY WAR IDEA IN WESTERN AND ISLAMIC TRADITIONS. By James Turner Johnson. Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania State University Press, 1997. 185 pp.

MUSLIMS AND CHRISTIANS FACE‐TO‐FACE. By Kate Zebiri. Oxford, Oneworld, 1997. 258 pp., £14.99.

JINNAH, PAKISTAN AND ISLAMIC IDENTITY: THE SEARCH FOR SALADIN. By Akbar S. Ahmed. London and New York, Routledge, 1997. 274 pp., 18 plates, 4 maps, £45.00 (hb) £12.99 (pb).

YEZIDISM — ITS BACKGROUND, OBSERVANCES AND TEXTUAL TRADITION. By Philip G. Kreyenbroek. (Texts and Studies in Religion, Vol. 62). Lewiston, New York, Edwin Mellen Press, 1995. 349 pp.

GENDERING THE MIDDLE EAST: EMERGING PERSPECTIVES. Edited by Deniz Kandiyoti New York, Syracuse University Press, 1996. 177 pp.

DORIA SHAFIK, EGYPTIAN FEMINIST: A WOMAN APART. By Cynthia Nelson. Gainesville, University Press of Florida, 1996. xxvi + 322 pp., illustrations, $49.95.

THE MOBILIZATION OF MUSLIM WOMEN IN EGYPT. By Ghada Hashem Talhami. Gainesville, University Press of Florida, 1996. 192 pp., £36.00.

KNOWLEDGE AND SOCIAL PRACTICE IN MEDIEVAL DAMASCUS, 1190–1350. By Michael Chamberlain. (Cambridge Studies in Islamic Civilization) Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1994. xii + 199 pp., maps.

EGYPTIENS ET FRANÇAIS AU CAIRE 1798–1801. By André Raymond. Cairo, Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale, Bibliothèque Générate, 18, 1998. 391 pp.

THE STRUCTURE OF CENTRAL AUTHORITY IN QAJAR IRAN: 1871–1896. By A. Reza Sheikholeslami. Atlanta, Georgia, Scholars Press, 1997. 246 pp.

BALAT: ETUDE ETHNOLOGIQUE D'UNE COMMUNAUTE RURALE. By Jacques Hivernel, Cairo, Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale du Caire, 1996. 204 pp. bibliography, illustrations, maps and pictures.

A BLOOD‐DIMMED TIDE. DISPATCHES FROM THE MIDDLE EAST. By Amos Elon New York, Columbia University Press, 1997. 332 pp., Index £19.95 ($29.00).

RELIGIOUS RADICALISM IN THE GREATER MIDDLE EAST. Bruce Maddy‐Weitzman and Efraim Inbar (eds). Ilford, Essex, Frank Cass, 1997. 264 pp., ISBN 0–7146–4769–1 (hb), 0–7146–4326–2 (pb).

THE SCROLL OR THE SWORD? DILEMMAS OF RELIGION AND MILITARY SERVICE IN ISRAEL. By Stuart A. Cohen. Amsterdam, Harwood Academic Publishers, 1997. xx + 148 pp.

ISLAM IN A CHANGING WORLD: EUROPE AND THE MIDDLE EAST. Edited by A. Jerichow and J. Bæk Simonsen. Richmond, Surrey, Curzon Press, 1997. 190 pp.

ISLAMISCHE WIRTSCHAFTS‐UND WOHLFAHRTSEINRICHTUNGEN IN ÄGYPTEN ZWISCHEN MARKT UND MORAL. By Steffen Wippel. (Studien zur Volkswirtschaft des Vorderen Orients. Bd. 9). Münister, LIT Verlag, 1997. xlii + 391 pp., 88.80 DM.

ARAB AWAKENING AND ISLAMIC REVIVAL: THE POLITICS OF IDEAS IN THE MIDDLE EAST. By Martin Kramer. New Brunswick, Transaction Publishers, 1996. 286 pp., index.

ISRAEL AND THE WESTERN POWERS: 1952–1960. By Zach Levey North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press, 1997. 203 pp., $39.95.

BUILDING A PALESTINIAN STATE: THE INCOMPLETE REVOLUTION. By Glenn E. Robinson. Bloomington, Indiana, Indiana University Press, 1997. 228 pp., £12.50.

MANDATE DAYS: BRITISH LIVES IN PALESTINE 1918–1948. By A. J. Sherman. London, Thames and Hudson, 1997. 245 pp., 61 illustrations, short who was who, £16.95.

THE DECLINE OF THE ARAB‐ISRAELI CONFLICT: MIDDLE EAST POLITICS AND THE QUEST FOR REGIONAL ORDER By Avraham Sela. New York, SUNY Press, 1998. xv + 423 pp.

MAKING PEACE WITH THE PLO: THE RABIN GOVERNMENT'S ROAD TO THE OSLO ACCORD. By David Makovsky. Boulder, Colorado, Westview Press, 1996. 239 pp.

ISRAEL ON THE ROAD TO PEACE: ACCEPTING THE UNACCEPTABLE By Ziva Flamhaft. Boulder, Colorado, Westview Press, 1996. 252 pp.

REMAKING THE MIDDLE EAST. Edited by Paul J. White and William S. Logan. Oxford and New York, Berg, 1997. 340 pp.

THE COLD WAR AND THE MIDDLE EAST. Edited by Yezid Sayigh and Avi Shlaim. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1997. 303 pp., map.

US‐ISRAELI RELATIONS AT THE CROSSROADS. Edited by Gabriel Sheffer. London, Frank Cass, 1997. 242 pp., £32.50.

LIBYA: THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF OIL. By Judith Gurney. Oxford, Oxford University Press (For Oxford Institute for Energy Studies), 1996. 244 pp., £29.50 (hb).

NOTES FROM THE MINEFIELD. UNITED STATES INTERVENTION IN LEBANON AND THE MIDDLE EAST, 1945–1958. By Irene L. Gendzier. New York, Columbia University Press, 1997. 300 pp., maps, illustrations, £32.00.

IRAN‐SAUDI ARABIA RELATIONS AND REGIONAL ORDER. By Shahram Chu‐bin and Charles Tripp. London, IISS/Oxford University Press, 1996. 88 pp., £13.99.

THE UNITED STATES AND IRAN: IN THE SHADOW OF MUSADDIQ. By James Goode. London, Macmillan, 1997. ISBN 0–333–67831–1.

DIR IRANISCHE SCHIA UND DIE ISLAMISCHE EINHEIT 1979–1996. By Wilfried Buchta. Hamburg, Deutsches Orient‐Institut, 1997. 427 pp.

THE MAKING OF IRAQ 1900–1963: CAPITAL, POWER AND IDEOLOGY. By Samira Haj. SUNY Press, 1997. viii + 150 pp.

THE AGONY OF ALGERIA. By Martin Stone. London, Hurst, 274 pp., £14.95 (pb).

FROM TRUCIAL STATES TO UNITED ARAB EMIRATES. NEW EDITION By Frauke Heard‐Bey. London, Longman, 1996. xxvi + 540 pp.

ARABIAN DIVERSIONS: STUDIES ON THE DIALECTS OF ARABIA. By Bruce Ingham. Reading, Ithaca Press, 1997. xv + 193 pp. £35.

THE VERB IN LITERARY AND COLLOQUIAL ARABIC. By Martine Cuvalay‐Haak. Berlin and New York, Mouton de Gruyter, 1997. xx + 278 pp., DM 158.

LITERARY CRITICISM IN MEDIEVAL ARABIC‐ISLAMIC CULTURE. THE MAKING OF A TRADITION. By Wen‐Chin Ouyang. Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press, 1997. viii + 257 pp.

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ARABIC LITERATURE. Edited by Julie Scott Meisami and Paul Starkey. London and New York, Routledge, 1998. Two volumes, 857 pp., ISBN 0–415–06808–8 (set).

IBN ‘AQIL: RELIGION AND CULTURE IN CLASSICAL ISLAM. By George Maqdisi. Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press, 1997. 292 pp., £50

THE SIRDAR: SIR REGINALD WINGATE AND THE BRITISH EMPIRE IN THE MIDDLE EAST. By M. W. Daly. American Philosophical Society, 1997 xvii + 345 pp.

ISLAM: A VERY SHORT INTRODUCTION. By Malise Ruthven. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1997. 162 pp., 14 illustrations, 3 maps, £5.00.

THE QURAN: A NEW INTERPRETATION — TEXTUAL EXEGESIS. Muhammad Baqir Behbudi translated by Colin Turner. Richards Curzon Press, 1997. 720 pp.

THE FORMATION OF THE SUNNI SCHOOLS OF LAW, 9–10TH CENTURIES CE. By Christopher Melchert. (Studies in Islamic Law and Society, No. 4). Leiden, E.J. Brill, 1997. 244 pp.

HISTORY OF ISLAMIC PHILOSOPHY. Edited by Seyyed Hossein Nasr and Oliver Leaman. London, Routledge, 1996. 1211 pp.

THE SELF‐DISCLOSURE OF GOD: PRINCIPLES OF IBN AL‐'ARABI'S COSMOLOGY. By William C. Chittick (SUNY Series in Islam). Albany, New York: State University of New York Press, 1998. XL + 483 pp., $24.95 (pb).

‘AZIZ NASAFI. By Lloyd Ridgeon. (Curzon Sufi Series.) Richmond, Curzon Press, 1998. xiv + 234 pp., £35 (hb), £14.99 (pb).     

Sexual Betrayal Among Late Adolescents: Perspectives of the Perpetrator and the Aggrieved

The present study investigates the occurrence and experience of sexual betrayal in adolescents and young adults from the perspectives of both the perpetrator and the aggrieved. Subjects (N = 216) who had been in monogamous relationships were asked whether they had ever cheated on their partner (by petting or having sexual relations with another) and whether their partner had ever cheated on them. Subjects also reported their motives and reactions and the consequences associated with these betrayals. Approximately two-thirds of the sample had experienced betrayal, as the perpetrator, the aggrieved, or both. Perpetrators typically know their betrayal partners and are motivated by sexual attraction, the regular partner's absence, and the influence of drugs or alcohol. Although 42% of betrayals are not discovered by the aggrieved, the majority of those that are discovered result from confessions by the perpetrator. As expected, those who are betrayed generally react with anger or sadness. Perpetrators often feel guilty, but also report a number of positive emotions, suggesting that betrayal may play an important role as adolescents struggle to establish their identities. Gender differences were absent in the incidence, motives, and experience of sexual betrayal. Results are interpreted in terms of competing demands of intimacy and identity formation.     

Towards a Non-zero-sum Interactive Framework of Spatial Politics: the Case of Centre–Province in Contemporary China

This paper proposes an interactive, non-zero-sum framework to understand an important facet of spatial politics in contemporary China: the central-provincial relationship. The 'conventional wisdom' of the field, it is argued, confuses the role of coercion in the exercise of power, and assumes a static, zero-sum central-provincial relationship. Changes are merely cyclical, and hopes for genuine changes are pinned on ad hoc factors such as the arrival of 'enlightened' leaders. Drawing on Parsons' insights on the concept of power, the article outlines a new approach which sees the forces of genuine changes as residing within the institutional system. It interprets the central-provincial relationship as a non-zero-sum, interactive process of conflicts and compromises, whereby genuine changes to the relationship are made.