Beyond poverty fixation: interrogating the experiences of internally displaced persons in Nigeria

Abstract

This paper draws on fieldwork at three camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Northeast Nigeria. It interrogates the pre-displacement experiences of participants, their transition to and experiences of internal displacement, vignettes of life at IDP camps, their relationship with host communities, the non-universality of experiences of sexual and gender-based violence among female IDPs (despite the particularities of experiences of women and young girls) and the resilience and agency of IDPs. The paper argues that scholarly engagement with IDPs and their social conditions should go beyond fixation on or fetishisation of poverty. Overall, the paper contributes to the empirical literature on conditions of internal displacement in sub-Saharan Africa.     

Investigating Sales Tax Revenue Competition Among Principal Cities and Their Neighboring Cities in Texas

ABSTRACT

While research has explored the economic importance of principal cities on regional economies, little is known about the short-run and long-run dynamic relationships between principal cities and their neighboring cities as it pertains to their sales tax revenue elasticities and the subsequent affect this has on horizontal tax competition. Using vector error correction models on data from six principal cities in Texas, the findings of this study suggest that the relationship between principal and neighboring cities is highly dynamic and unique for each principal city. The study recommends that local economic policies should reflect these unique relationships.     

Sudden death in an adolescent due to undiagnosed classic Hodgkin lymphoma

Few cases of natural sudden death presenting as an undiagnosed lymphoma have been reported in the literature, especially in adolescents. Herein we provide a report of sudden death caused by undiagnosed classic Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL). We describe an 18-year-old female who collapsed after several weeks of weight loss, decreased appetite, and dyspnea. At autopsy, a bulky mass arising in the mediastinum and neck compressed the esophagus and trachea, surrounded the great vessels, obliterated the pericardial sac, and infiltrated the myocardium. The lungs were collapsed and large pleural effusions were present. The tumor burden, which weighed at least 2710 g in aggregate, was entirely above the diaphragm. Microscopic examination of the masses showed features typical for nodular sclerosis cHL including large bands of sclerosis, numerous Hodgkin/Reed-Sternberg (HRS) cells, and an eosinophil-rich mixed inflammatory cell infiltrate. Immunohistochemical stains showed the HRS cells to be uniformly positive for CD30 and CD15 and negative for CD3, CD20, CD45, and PAX5. This case exemplifies a rare sudden natural death due to previously undiagnosed cHL in a young patient.     

To whom are “the people” opposed? Conceptualizing and measuring citizens’ populist attitudes as a multidimensional construct

ABSTRACT

Previous research has predominantly measured populist attitudes as a one-dimensional concept, tapping into the distinction between the ordinary people and the culprit elites. With growing differentiation of populist viewpoints across the globe, this unidimensional approach may not reflect the multifaceted reality of the people’s populism. Most importantly, albeit paramount in right-wing populist rhetoric, exclusionist perceptions of others threatening the monocultural nation of the people are typically not captured in one-dimensional conceptualizations. To assess more precisely how populist attitudes are structured, we collected original survey data (N?=?809) among a representative sample of Dutch citizens. Using Multidimensional Scaling and Confirmatory Factor Analysis, we propose a two-dimensional structure: anti-establishment and exclusionism. This study further demonstrates how salient these different populist attitudes are among which voters.     

Characteristics of children with problem sexual behaviour and adolescent perpetrators of sexual abuse: a systematic review

ABSTRACT

People who commit sexual offences are a heterogeneous group, with research suggesting that children and young people commit a large proportion of all sex offences, especially those committed against other children. This systematic review provides a synthesis of literature concerning the characteristics of children and adolescents who exhibit harmful sexual behaviour. There is a particular focus in this review on studies that examine the characteristics of children and young people exhibiting these behaviours within institutional and organisational settings or which take a situational and/or developmental approach to understanding sexually abusive behaviour. Using a developmental and life-course criminology lens, this review explores implications from the literature for the prevention and response to child sexual abuse, with a particular focus on institutional contexts where the perpetrators are children and adolescents.     

Tax and Expenditure Limitations,Salary Reductions,and Public Employee Turnover

This study examines the relationship between salary and employee turnover behavior by analyzing a natural experiment created by the New Jersey Superintendent Salary Cap (NJSSC), which caused salary reductions for 25 percent of NJ superintendents in the initial year. I find that an additional $10,000 reduction in base salary due to the NJSSC corresponds to a 16 percent increase in the likelihood of superintendent turnover. This suggests salary expenditures are important public policy levers to retain employees. This study also contributes to prior research on tax and expenditure limitations (TELs) by documenting one of the first TELs placed directly on public employees.     

Anti-Partyism in German Independent Local Lists: Empirical Insights from a Membership Study

In the past few decades, independent local lists in German municipalities have become serious competitors to political parties. However, despite their widespread presence and success, party researchers have largely ignored this phenomenon. Empirical evidence concerning the attitudes of their members towards political parties is rare. Thus far, it remains unclear whether their self-described image as non-parties or anti-parties is restricted to the sphere of local politics or accompanies a general rejection of parties in federal politics. First, the article conceptualises anti-partyism and proposes an analytical distinction between their intensity and related political level. It then analyses the consequences of different patterns of local politics and group characteristics as well as individual determinants to explain the degree of anti-party sentiment. This study improves our understanding of independents and whether they promote party democracy or are a product of political dissatisfaction. Based on a cross-sectional postal survey, multi-level regression models are used to test the hypotheses. The results show that anti-partyism is particularly strong towards party politics at the local level, whereas the general legitimacy of party democracy is not questioned in federal politics.     

Tarasoff in Missouri: The jurisprudence of a mental health provider's duty to warn and protect non-patients of potential risks from patients

In 1976, the Supreme Court of California issued its well-known Tarasoff Principle. From this principle, other courts found a duty to warn, and some found more than just a duty to warn, a duty to protect. As courts in other states adopted a version of the Tarasoff Principle, they issued a wide variety of third-party liability rules. In light of the dynamic, everchanging Tarasoff jurisprudence in the United States and recent relevant appellate court opinion in Missouri, a timely updated summary and update of Tarasoff-related jurisprudence in Missouri is warranted. In the present analysis, we compiled the four appellate court decisions that pertained to the questions of Tarasoff-like third-party liability in the State of Missouri: Sherrill v. Wilson (1983), Matt v. Burrell (1995), Bradley v. Ray (1995), and Virgin v. Hopewell (2001). We reviewed all legal measures for clinicians to protect nonpatients in Missouri, not just those that relate to protecting nonpatients from violence as in a Tarasof-like scenario. Thus, this paper concisely provides a compendium of such options and allows for a meaningful comparison of which legal, protective measures are mandatory and which are permissive, thereby evoking the question of whether measures of protecting nonpatients from a patient's violent acts ought to be mandatory duties or permissive application of professional judgment.