Breadth and Intensity of Youth Activity Involvement as Contexts for Positive Development

Research has linked youth activity involvement to positive development. However, past studies have confounded at least two separable dimensions of involvement: breadth (number of activities) and intensity (participation frequency). Theory and the limited available evidence suggest that these dimensions may make independent contributions to development. Based on self-reports from 7430 high school students, this study assessed whether breadth and intensity dimensions were related to each other, to a typical aggregate measure of involvement, and to various indicators of positive development. Breadth and intensity were moderately interrelated and, in combination, they explained the majority of the variance in the typical involvement measure. Both dimensions were positively related to each development index. When examined simultaneously, only breadth had a unique relation with each developmental index. Further, evidence of nonlinear effects was found. Findings were consistent across age levels. Implications for measurement of involvement and interpretations of the extant research are discussed.

The United States Supreme Court and the death penalty since Furman: The settlement of basic issues

In 1972 the United States Supreme Court in Furman V. Georgia found that the death penalty as it was then being applied was cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution. Furman provided few constitutional guidelines, but states reinacted their death penalty statutes.In 1976 the Court began to receive appeals from death sentences imposed under the reinacted statutes. In its decisions the Court began to establish guidelines. It found the death penalty was not per se cruel and unusual punishment. Before the death penalty can be imposed the court must take into consideration any mitigating circumstances and the case must be reviewed by the state supreme court. A mandatory death sentence is unconstitutional.Other issues including proportionality, due process and finality of judgment will be examined in the next segment of this study.     

Vicarious Retribution in US Public Support for War Against Iraq

US public anger and desire to avenge the September 11, 2001 terror attacks were redirected toward Iraq partly because of its identity as an Arab and Muslim state. Online panel survey data reveal that citizens who were relatively angry about the terror attacks were more belligerent toward Iraq, an effect that was strongest among those who perceived Arabs and Muslims in monolithic terms. The angry desire to avenge 9/11 was more persistent for those who saw Arabs and Muslims in that light, and its effect on war support was partially mediated by worsened feelings about Arabs and Muslims in general. These findings help explain why public belligerence toward Iraq shot up right after 9/11, before President George W. Bush began alleging that Iraq was pursuing weapons of mass destruction and had ties to al Qaeda.     

Gender and the Interplay of Source of Support and Peer Social Rejection on Internalizing Among Mexican American Youth

Gendered interpersonal processes may explain the elevated rates of internalizing symptoms among adolescent girls relative to boys. Two such processes are peer social rejection and social support. The current study assessed for gender differences in the effect of 7th grade peer social rejection on 10th grade internalizing symptoms, as well as the moderating effects of social support from family and from friends in a sample of 749 (49?% female) Mexican American adolescents, an understudied population with a unique social culture. Peer social rejection significantly predicted increased internalizing symptoms for girls. Although buffering effects of social support were not found, there were significant moderating effects of both sources of support for boys, such that at low levels of social support, peer social rejection was associated with decreased internalizing symptoms, and at high levels of social support, peer social rejection was associated with increased internalizing symptoms. The results help unpack the nuances of the interpersonal processes that lead to differential adjustment for adolescent boys and girls at this critical developmental stage.     

The Changing Face of Public Sector Employment

While it is easy, and almost a national sport, to criticise the traditional model of public sector employment as being too generous, there is a rationale for its distinctiveness. The career service model that endured for most of the last century was aligned to the bureaucratic form of public administration of that time. As public administration was 'transformed' into public sector management through the importing of private sector techniques, so too has public sector employment been varied in pursuit of greater efficiency, flexibility and responsiveness.     

Will working from home become the ‘new normal’ in the public sector?

The COVID-19 pandemic compelled large sections of the workforce out of their workplaces and into their homes to work. Many commentators suggest this has forever changed how and where we work. This article analyses how Australia's biggest employers – state and federal governments – approached the transitions to working from home, and back into regular workplaces. It considers the timing of policy responses to the pandemic as one indicator of resistance to, or acceptance of, widespread working from home. The article also demonstrates previous resistance to working from home for public servants, and questions widespread conjecture that it will become the ‘new normal’.     

School Adjustment in Rural and Urban Communities: Do Students from “Timbuktu” Differ from Their “City Slicker” Peers?

The primary purpose of our study was to explore the effects of rurality on school adjustment and other school-related variables. Using data from 167,738 7th–12th graders located in a national sample of 185 predominantly white communities, multilevel models were estimated for perceived school performance and school liking using a variety of individual-level (e.g., gender, ethnicity, and peer school performance) and community/school-level variables (e.g., school size, rurality, and percentage free/reduced lunch) as predictor variables. Rurality was not significantly related to school adjustment, but rather, the characteristics of individuals living within those communities were. Results also indicated that participation in school and non-school activities, a strength of rural schools, can play a positive role in school adjustment. Given the significant relationships of income and parental education to all of the school-related variables, a key long-term strategy may lie in improving the economic climate of rural areas.

Accuracy of eyewitness identifications in showups and lineups

Experiment 1 tested one-person and six-person photographic lineup identifications in field situations either immediately, or 30 minutes, or 2 hours, or 24 hours after a 15-second ordinary encounter with a target. Accuracy of performance was superior in six-person lineups than in showups over time. False identifications of a lookalike innocent suspect were significantly greater in showups than in six-person lineups, especially when the suspect wore the same clothing as the culprit. Experiment 2 followed the same research design as Experiment 1, except that only live showup identifications were tested and, in addition, a physically dissimilar innocent suspect was shown to witnesses. The dissimilar innocent suspect was consistently and correctly rejected in the target-absent showup. Hit rates for live suspects were relatively low over the 24-h retention interval. Correct rejections significantly exceeded false identifications only on the immediate test. The lookalike innocent suspect was readily rejected when different clothing was worn at the test. No significant differences were found in hit scores or in confidence-accuracy scores between live and photographic targets. Confidence-accuracy correlations were significant but low across experimental conditions.