The impact of increasing vs. decreasing harassing behaviours on perceptions of hypothetical instances of repeated sexual harassment

ABSTRACT

Sexual harassment is a traditionally underreported crime. One factor that might affect perceptions and willingness to report harassment is its occurrence over time: harassing behaviours that gradually increase or decrease in severity over time might impact its perception. In the present research, 177 female participants read a series of daily scenarios about increasing, decreasing, or steady harassment, and completed measures regarding their perceptions of and willingness to report it. Participants displayed increases and decreases in negative reactions as harassment increased and decreased, respectively, suggesting that each instance of sexual harassment is interpreted independently of earlier harassing behaviours, and that early, strongly harassing behaviours have little impact on how subsequent instances of harassment are perceived. This explanation is supported by the similar ratings in the midpoint (day 4) of the scenario series, regardless of whether harassment was increasing or decreasing.     

The Evolving Construct of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): DSM-5 Criteria Changes and Legal Implications

In the DSM-5, the diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has undergone multiple, albeit minor, changes. These changes include shifting PTSD placement from within the anxiety disorders into a new category of traumatic and stressor-related disorders, alterations in the definition of a traumatic event, shifting of the symptom cluster structure from three to four clusters, the addition of new symptoms including persistent negative beliefs and expectations about oneself or the world, persistent distorted blame of self or others, persistent negative trauma-related emotions, and risky or reckless behaviors, and the addition of a dissociative specifier. The evidence or lack thereof behind each of these changes is briefly reviewed. These changes, although not likely to change overall prevalence, have the potential to increase the heterogeneity of individuals receiving a PTSD diagnosis both by altering what qualifies as a traumatic event and by adding symptoms commonly occurring in other disorders such as depression, borderline personality disorder, and dissociative disorders. Legal implications of these changes include continued confusion regarding what constitutes a traumatic stressor, difficulties with differential diagnosis, increased ease in malingering, and improper linking of symptoms to causes of behavior. These PTSD changes are discussed within the broader context of DSM reliability and validity concerns.     

Integrating Gender into Government Budgets: A New Perspective

A government's budget represents a statement of its priorities. During the past 25 years, the international community has recognized that gender equality is essential for sustainable economic growth and full social development, and it has called upon nations to use their budgets to promote genderequitable resource allocation and revenue generation. More than 60 countries have answered this call by implementing gender-responsive budgets at the national and subnational levels. However, gender-responsive budgeting is virtually unheard of among public finance scholars and U.S. public administration scholars and practitioners. Here we define gender-responsive budgeting, discuss the need for it, describe the lessons learned, and discuss its potential as a budget reform. We hope our commentary will bring gender-responsive budgeting into the mainstream of research in the U.S. public administration community and into the practice of government budgeting.     

Direct and Derived Policies: Illicit Drug Use and Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Australia

We distinguish two types of public policy issues: direct issues, in which concern comes bottom-up from the electorate at large; and derived issues, in which pressure for change comes top-down from expert opinion. We outline two continuing, contentious issues: policies towards illegal drug use and policies towards the prospect of global climate change. We argue that the media play a role in both policies' formulation: chaneling concern up in direct policy, and maintaining general interest and motivating the electorate to accept the pain of change in derived policy.     

Will the regulation of governmental accounting go too far?

The establishment of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) ushered in a new era in the regulation of governmental accounting. The promotion of uniform accounting standards for all state and local governments and the adoption of more effective regulations in certain areas, such as pension reporting, may lead to lower borrowing costs for governmental units. The GASB should, however, be concerned not only with the potential benefits associated with any new regulations but also with the related costs of implementing these regulations.