Policing Soviet Society: The Evolution of State Control

The Soviet militsiia (regular police) has evolved in the past 70 years from a feeble body seeking to ensure the survival of Soviet rule to a massive bureaucracy corrupted by nearly absolute power. As the Soviet militia has developed the focus of its activities, its ethos, professionalism, and its relationship to both the Party and KGB have changed in all periods, the militia has had political, economic, and social responsibilities, but the balance among the three has wed depending on the conditions of the state.
The militia, like the Soviet state, is currently in crisis. It remains an instrument of the party that is losing its legitimacy among the population. Perestroika's objective of making institutions subordinate to the law is a sharp deviation from existing practice. But even if the militsiia responds to these new expectations, because of the demands of a centrally planned socialist state the regular police will remain we intrusive into the lives of the citizenry than are police in Western democratic societies.     

Competing conceptions of Taiwan's identity: The irresolvable conflict in cross‐strait relations

Supporters of unification and Taiwan independence advocates view Taiwan's status through radically different logical frameworks. Unification supporters are guided by historical determinism. They believe that because Taiwan was part of China in the past, and because the island's residents have ancestral ties to mainland China, Taiwan is therefore an unalienable part of Chinese territory that must be brought under the control of the mainland Chinese state. In contrast, advocates of Taiwan independence are guided by the logic of pragmatism. In their view, cultural identity does not dictate political identity, and decisions about Taiwan's status should be guided by the will of the island's people, rather than by an abstract notion of historic destiny. Both of these approaches are rooted in long‐standing concepts of Chinese identity. Chinese ethnicity has long included both a hereditary and a cultural component. In the past, the cultural component allowed China to absorb populations on its periphery. Today, it serves as an outlet for Taiwan independence supporters seeking to redefine Taiwan as a political entity separate from the mainland Chinese state.     

Type and Severity of Abuse as Predictors of Psychiatric Symptoms in Adolescence

There has been little previous research about histories of child maltreatment and psychological symptoms in adolescent psychiatric patients. This study investigated whether type and characteristics of child physical and/or sexual abuse predicted individual differences in symptoms. Participants were 187 patients in day or residential treatment facilities. Abuse was assessed using structured interviews with the adolescent, the therapist, and the caseworker. Participants completed a standardized, self-report measure of internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Adolescents with histories of dual abuse (i.e., sexual and physical abuse) had elevated depression and anxiety compared with nonabused patients. Histories of any type of abuse were associated with elevated posttraumatic symptoms. Among physically abused patients, severity and duration of abuse predicted individual differences in depression and anxiety, whereas severity and concomitant sexual abuse predicted elevated posttraumatic symptoms. Among sexually abused patients, the characteristics of sexual abuse did not predict individual differences in symptoms. Thus, child abuse, particularly dual abuse and severe physical abuse, predicted elevated internalizing symptoms, even in comparison with other adolescent psychiatric patients. The need for replication is discussed.     

The Education of Chen Shui-bian: Taiwan's experience of divided government

From its founding, Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party emphasized the role of the president. It advocated a variety of measures aimed at strengthening the presidency, including direct presidential elections. However, it was only when a DPP politician was elected president in 2000 that the party discovered just how weak Taiwan's president is. During his first year in office, President Chen Shui-bian repeatedly found himself stymied by an intransigent and uncooperative legislature. The conflict between the presidential office and the legislature climaxed in a confrontation over the executive's decision to cancel construction of Taiwan's fourth nuclear power plant. In the wake of the decision, some legislators attempted to recall Chen from office. In the second year of his presidency, Chen was more effective in working within the constraints of a divided government. Despite the difficulties its leaders faced in managing a divided government, however, the DPP has not changed its position in favor of presidentialism.     

Urban community organizations and local government: Exploring relationships and roles

There is an increasing interest in using local community organizations to assist in the development process. Observers who evaluate the contribution of such groups frequently classify them into two clusters: those which are closely tied to the government and focus on service delivery, and those which guard their autonomy and engage in development rather than service delivery. This dichotomy, however, downplays the developmental role of groups allied with local governments and obscures some important contributions they can offer. Three different models are proposed and two case studies of service-oriented groups in Cairo are presented. The cases suggest that an important criterion in assessing voluntary groups is the extent to which their service delivery role enables them to develop an organization. From this perspective their role is potentially much broader than expediting government services.     

Midlife,adolescence, and parental employment in family systems

Parents' midlife concerns and the resolution of those concerns were examined as a function of their children's adolescence and their involvement in employment via analyses acknowledging the interdependence of mothers and fathers. Multivariate analyses of variance results demonstrated that fathers' and mothers' midlife concerns were similar and modestly related to their children's pubertal development. There were significant differences between families of sons and of daughters. Mothers' and fathers' temporal and emotional involvement in paid work were differentially related to their own and to one another's midlife concerns. Finally, the relationships among parents' midlife concerns, work involvement, and children's pubertal status depended in part on the degree to which spouses felt supported by one another.Portions of this paper were presented at the annual meeting of the National Council on Family Relations, New Orleans, Louisiana, November 1989.Received Ph.D. from The Pennsylvania State University. Research interests: work-family relationships, men's and women's development during midlife, and work-family issues in small businesses.Received Ph.D. from Cornell University. Research interests: relationships between work and family life in families with school-aged and adolescent children.