Realism and eyewitness identification research

The importance of realism in eyewitness identification research is examined as the basis for both the credibility and utility of the information it provides. Without knowledge of how laboratory eyewitnesses behave differently from real eyewitnesses, the relevance and external validity of identification studies may be questioned. Factors differentiating these identification contexts are discussed. Witnesses in identification studies are in social decision-making contexts similar to those of real eyewitnesses when their decision to choose someone or to reject the lineup may have a significant impact on others' lives. Two studies are reported which preserve aspects of realism. Both presented witnesses with a realistic vandalism. The second maintained realism through the identification situation. The first study demonstrated effects of biased instructions on witnesses' willingness to make a lineup choice and on identification errors (with the offender present and absent). The second study showed an unexpected preference of witnesses for making an identification when the supposed consequences for the suspect were to be severe. To evaluate the generalizability and utility of laboratory studies it is important to determine whether their results and related theoretical analyses survive the transposition to more realistic contexts. Realistic studies should serve as benchmarks against which simulations are compared and their generalizability evaluated.     

Self-report and official measures: A further examination of the validity issue

The relationship between self-report and official measures of crime remains unclarified. Adequate examinations of the comparability of the two measures have been limited because of the difficulty of obtaining both official and self-report data on the same subjects. In the present study, the authors use police records and self-report data on police contacts for members of a birth cohort, and find a substantial level of agreement between the two data sources. However, by incorporating data on police contact seriousness and a variety of demographic characteristics, the authors find some evidence of under- and over-reporting by various groups of cohort members. The authors suggest reasons for both the over- and under-reporting, and offer suggestions for future research.     

Unintended Consequences of NPM Drive the “Bureaucracy”

This article examines the unintended consequences following implementation of a new public management (NPM) reform—a performance-based salary system—in two Swedish public schools. Headmasters and central office personnel were interviewed. The expected reform results at last appeared a decade after implementation when salary-setting procedures adopted the bureaucratic framework. Despite the common view that NPM reforms, owing to unintended consequences, fail because they adapt poorly to the Weberian control regime at public organizations, this article argues that the unintended consequences of an NPM reform can drive the “bureaucratic” organization even when there is no evidence of debureaucratization.     

The ‘Ankara Moment’: the politics of Turkey’s regional power in the Middle East, 2007–11

Around 2007 Turkey became a regional power in the Middle East, a status it has maintained at least until the outset of the Arab Revolt in 2011. To understand why Turkey only became a regional power under the Muslim akp government and why this happened at the specific point in time that it did, this article highlights the self-reinforcing dynamics between Turkey’s domestic political-economic transformation in the first decade of this century and the advantageous regional developments in the Middle East at the same time. It holds that this specific linkage—the ‘Ankara Moment’—and its regional resonance in the neighbouring Middle East carries more transformative potential than the ‘Washington Consensus’ or the ‘Beijing Consensus’ so prominently discussed in current global South politics.     

Examining the Overlap and Prediction of Multiple Forms of Child Maltreatment,Stressors, and Socioeconomic Status: A Longitudinal Analysis of Youth Outcomes

Analyses were conducted to examine the extent of overlap and predictive strength of multiple forms of child maltreatment and stressors internal and external to the family. Findings suggest a strong association between child maltreatment (physical and sexual abuse, neglect, and exposure to domestic violence) and stressors (family conflict, personal problems of parents, and external constraints on the family). After controlling for stressors, family socioeconomic status, and child gender, a general construct of child maltreatment was predictive of internalizing and externalizing behaviors in adolescents. Specific effects of child physical and sexual abuse were revealed in these longitudinal structural equation model tests.

Cocaine: a European Union perspective in the global context

Excerpts

Cocaine: a European Union perspective in the global context     

Corporate Security: Identifying and Understanding the Levels of Security Work in an Organisation

The study undertook an examination of corporate security through the lens of the broader socio-organisational literature to understand its organisational stratum, seating, and function. The methodology applied a survey questionnaire to security practitioners, incorporating two measurement tools to assess work level and time-span of discretion. Findings identified work levels across the corporate security function. These work levels indicate that the corporate security function operates at the operational and tactical strata, with limited strategic executive impact. Furthermore, the corporate security function is positioned within the technostructure, providing analytical support to business operations. The study identified a significant disconnect between the corporate security literature—as written by security practitioners and academia—and the socio-organisational literature, with many points of divergence. These findings suggest the need for study replication and a review of the security literature in regards to executive influence.     

Assessing a Child’s Experience of Multiple Maltreatment Types: Some Unfinished Business

Available research indicates that maltreated children frequently experience multiple types of maltreatment, although relatively few studies examine this issue directly. Review of existing studies also shows that, when investigated, maltreatment types are often correlated. However, from study to study the strength of associations among maltreatment types varies considerably, apparently due to methodological differences, such as differences in operational definitions of the maltreatment types, composition of samples and/or method of scaling used. Failure to account for overlap among maltreatment types can result in a misleading picture of a child’s trauma history. This in turn can lead to an inaccurate evaluation of the relationship between a child’s victimization experiences and later developmental outcomes. The wide variation in correlations among the maltreatment types from study to study raises questions about the validity of the different operational definitions used. Improving the construct validity of the maltreatment type measures is proposed as the means to obtaining more consistent results. Steps by which to achieve this objective are outlined. This project (1 RO1 HD049767-01A2) is co-funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR). The authors wish to thank M. Jean Russo for reviewing a draft of this paper.