Local Chairs vs International Networks: the Beginning of the Scholarly Career in a Peripheral Academic Field

Sensitive to the differences between centers and peripheries of knowledge production, this article explores how scholars in peripheral fields use knowledge from central fields to structure their academic careers. The article presents the findings of a case study of career choices of political scientists in Argentina. In order to understand the interplay between foreign knowledge and local strategies of enacting networks, this article focuses on the beginning of academic careers. At this early stage, political scientists in Argentina usually have to make a decision whether to stay in the country or go abroad for postgraduate education. Relying on positioning theory and recent developments in Science and Technology Studies, we identified two alternative positioning strategies. Those who stay in Argentina tend to hoard as many scholarly positions as possible, enacting local networks oriented towards teaching. Scholars who go abroad enact networks with international dimensions, in the process enrolling persons and objects, though not always successfully. Scholars with international experience tend to be research oriented, and they mention the working conditions abroad as particularly attractive. We show the extent to which these findings challenge some views of centers and periphery and highlight the active role of scholars in peripheral scientific fields.     

Family Functioning and High Risk Adolescents’ Aggressive Behavior: Examining Effects by Ethnicity

The relationship between family functioning and adolescents’ physical aggression has been well established, but whether these relationships might differ by ethnicity has received less attention. Ethnic variations may be important for targeting prevention programs to specific youth and families. This study examined the longitudinal relationship between family cohesion, parental monitoring, and physical aggression using data from the Multisite Violence Prevention Project sample of high-risk youth (elevated aggression). Participants were 1,232 high-risk middle school students (65 % male; 70 % African American; 15 % Hispanic). Meaningful demographic variations were identified. After controlling for intervention condition and study site, family cohesion was significantly negatively related to physical aggression, more so for Hispanic youth. Parental monitoring was negatively associated with physical aggression for African American youth only. Our findings point to the importance of developing culturally sensitive family interventions to prevent physical aggression in middle school.     

Reconstruction of sexual offences--forensic aspects of sperm traces

The investigation of sexual offences is a real challenge, as the injuries are often unspecific or faint and may sometimes be missing completely. Evidence recovery and analysis as well as the statements of the victims and suspects are therefore of vital importance. In both presented cases, the results of trace evidence analysis were basically consistent with a sexual assault, but the victims' statements regarding the course of events and the pattern of traces showed severe discrepancies.     

Globalized economies or globalized bodies？ The economical and cultural factors of obesity in China

This paper is a review of the literature that examines obesity in China. Multiple factors that contribute to this phenomenon are investigated, such as globalization, urbanization and cultural changes. Most of the researches reviewed in this paper concern urban, coastal populations of China. Obesity is defined differently for Asian populations; thus, diagnosis has been underestimated in the past. As China＇s economy develops, the country may now be gaining western problems, such as obesity. Obesity is related to economical causes as China participates in international business and trade. Furthermore, the role of the globalized food industry is reviewed. More western food companies and restaurants have infiltrated Chinese cities, causing mass changes in the traditional Chinese diet. Likewise, employment is a significant factor examined since more occupations in Chinese cities have transitioned to the service sector. Cultural attitudes differ from those of the West in which the Chinese view heavier bodies as healthier than thinner figures. Interventions that have been attempted are reviewed.     

Patterns of criminal achievement in sexual offending: Unravelling the “successful” sex offender

Purpose

The current study examines significant variations in criminal achievement across sex offenders. To examine the “successful” sex offender, the study proposes a concept of achievement in sexual offending defined as the ability to maximise the payoffs of a crime opportunity while minimizing the costs.

Methods

The study is based on a sample of convicted adult male sex offenders using retrospective longitudinal data.

Results

The study findings show a wide variation in criminal achievement, a variation that is not correlated with the severity of sentences meted out or the actuarial risk scores obtained by these offenders. Those offenders who specialize in sex crimes were shown to be the most productive and least detected offenders. Two types of successful offenders emerge, the first relying on his conventional background in targeting a victim that can be repeatedly abused for a long period without detection. The second is a younger offender that is successful in the sense of being able to complete aggressions on multiple victims.

Conclusions

Results suggest that the successful sex offender is not “detected” once he enters the criminal justice system, nor is he handled in a way that may deter him from sexually reoffending in the future.     

Informelle Parteistrukturen und institutioneller Wandel: Japanische Erfahrungen nach den politischen Reformen des Jahres 1994

The political reforms of 1994 — a new electoral system, the introduction of public subsidies for political parties, and more restrictive regulations governing political funds — have drastically changed the formal framework for political parties’ activities in Japan. This article analyses the impact of the political reforms on important informal structures in Japan’s political parties. It is shown that intra-party factions within the long-time governing LDP and the personal support organisations of individual members of parliament have undergone some changes but continue to persist in spite of the reforms. The article closes by summing up the lessons which the Japanese case offers for the transformation of informal institutions qua changes in the formal environment.     

School Vouchers and Student Outcomes: Experimental Evidence from Washington,DC

School vouchers are the most contentious form of parental school choice. Vouchers provide government funds that parents can use to send their children to private schools of their choice. Here we examine the empirical question of whether or not a school voucher program in Washington, DC, affected achievement or the rate of high school graduation for participating students. The District of Columbia Opportunity Scholarship Program (OSP) has operated in the nation's capital since 2004, funded by a federal government appropriation. Because the program was oversubscribed in its early years of operation, and vouchers were awarded by lottery, we were able to use the “gold standard” evaluation method of a randomized experiment to determine what impacts the OSP had on student outcomes. Our analysis revealed compelling evidence that the DC voucher program had a positive impact on high school graduation rates, suggestive evidence that the program increased reading achievement, and no evidence that it affected math achievement. We discuss the implications of these findings in light of recent policy developments including the reauthorization of the OSP and the enactment or expansion of more than a dozen school voucher or voucher‐type programs throughout the United States in 2011 and 2012.     

Is Multiculturalism Bad for Social Cohesion and Redistribution?

Multiculturalism as an official policy strategy has recently come in for significant criticism in a number of Western European countries. A key criticism is that multicultural policies undermine redistribution policies, since they would erode the social cohesion upon which redistribution measures are built. However, empirical research does not univocally confirm this critique. This article explains why this is the case. The first argument is called the integration‐recognition paradox. Policies that focus on recognising minority groups may lead to a greater social acceptance of those minorities, and in turn may lead to their feeling more appreciated as participants in society. In a second argument, the authors discuss how multicultural policies could easily be combined with policies that invest in national unity and social cohesion.     

Do High‐Reliability Systems Have Lower Error Rates? Evidence from Commercial Aircraft Accidents

High‐reliability advocates claim that highly reliable organizations (HROs), such as the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) air traffic control system, routinely demonstrate the ability to safely and reliably perform large‐scale technical operations. High levels of productivity with low levels of error are achieved even though complex technologies are used to accomplish mission goals. A recent study asserted that the FAA’s air traffic control function developed HRO characteristics over a long period of time as part of a larger high‐reliability system. In that study, identifiable and measurable attributes and characteristics associated with high reliability were constructed, and their emergence was tracked over time. In this article, time‐series analysis was used to measure the relationship between characteristics associated with high reliability and commercial aviation accident reduction. A small but statistically significant effect was identified linking the adoption of HRO characteristics over time with a reduction in commercial aviation accident rates.