Advocacy in the Amazon and the Camisea gas project: implications for non-government public action

The article considers international advocacy concerning the exploitation of gas reserves in an area inhabited by an isolated indigenous group in Peru, the Machigengua. Considerable international advocacy activity was centred mainly in Washington, DC. Poor communication between those directly affected and international environmental NGOs characterised very different and not always compatible agendas. The article concludes that this failure to adapt the international lobby both to the views of the indigenous population and to political realities in Peru severely weakened the impact of the international advocacy work.     

Revisiting Broken Windows Theory: Examining the Sources of the Discriminant Validity of Perceived Disorder and Crime

Two lines of critiques have developed in reference to broken windows theory: (1) Concentrated disadvantage appears to be more intricately linked with disorder than the theory allows for; and (2) There is concern that disorder and crime lack discriminant validity in that people do not actually distinguish between the two. The present study integrated these two perspectives by examining whether concentrated disadvantage—including disorder itself—affects the extent to which people view disorder and crime as separate problems. Multivariate models showed that people who believe their neighborhood to be more disorderly were more likely to make distinctions between disorder and crime. Theoretical recommendations for future tests of broken windows theory are presented and the policy implications for order maintenance policing programs are discussed.     

Explaining Bullying Victimization: Assessing the Generality of the Low Self-Control/Risky Lifestyle Model

ABSTRACT

The integrated low self-control/risky lifestyle theoretical framework has proven useful for explaining various types of victimization. Bullying victimization (i.e., verbal, social, or physical attacks), however, may not fit this explanation very well if youths who are bullied do not have to engage in risky behaviors to be singled out by their peers, but could instead be targeted for other reasons (e.g., physical vulnerabilities). In this context, the current paper examines the generality of the low self-control/risky lifestyle model by assessing whether it can effectively explain which youngsters are more likely to be bullied. Using a sample of 1,901 middle school students, the results indicate that, although low self-control significantly predicts whether youths will engage in risky lifestyles (e.g., displaying aggressive attitudes, committing delinquent acts, using illicit substances), participating in such behaviors does not elevate the likelihood of bullying victimization. Instead, the authors’ findings reveal that low self-control directly influences victimization. Further, physical vulnerability is significantly related to being bullied. These findings suggest that the low self-control/risky lifestyle model needs to be revised to accommodate potential age-graded consequences of self-control, and that physical limitations—not “traditional” risky lifestyles—are persistent sources of bullying victimization that should be further evaluated.     

Reflections on recent trends towards the punishment of persistence

This paper provides an overview of an emerging and important trend in modern penality, the punishment of persistent offending. It argues that what lies behind this new development is a merger of the right to protection (itself an overarching theme of penal policy) and the implications for risk management of shifting political rationalities in the last two decades.