Trajectories of Positive and Negative Behaviors from Early- to Middle-Adolescence

Although the positive youth development (PYD) model initially assumed inverse links between indicators of PYD and of risk/problem behaviors, empirical work in adolescence has suggested that more complex associations exist between trajectories of the two domains of functioning. To clarify the PYD model, this study assessed intraindividual change in positive and problematic indicators across Grades 5–10, and the links between these trajectories of development, among 2,516 participants from the 4-H Study of PYD (58.1% females; 64.9% European American, 7.0% African American, 12.3% Latino/a American, 2.6% Asian American or Pacific Islander, 1.8% Native American, 3.0% multiethnic-racial, and 8.4% with inconsistent race/ethnicity across waves). Results from person-centered analyses indicated that most youth clustered in the high trajectories of positive indicators and in the low trajectories of the negative ones. Consistent with past research, overlap between trajectories of positive and negative behaviors was found. These results suggest that theory and application need to accommodate to variation in the links between positive and problematic developmental trajectories.     

Work Values of Public,Nonprofit, and Business Employees: A Cross-Cultural Evidence

Employees’ work values, or beliefs about desirability of certain work attributes and outcomes, are believed to drive their motivation to work and stay in certain settings. This article compares work values of business, government, and nonprofit employees in a sample of nations with different cultural orientations—Germany, India, South Korea, Russia, South Africa, and the US. Results showed significant relationship between a country and work values variables, suggesting that a country's culture may have a potential to influence what individuals value in work. Additionally, employees of government, business, and nonprofit sectors differed in their work values in all six countries.     

Nurturing regulatory compliance: Is procedural justice effective when people question the legitimacy of the law?

Procedural justice generally enhances an authority's legitimacy and encourages people to comply with an authority's decisions and rules. We argue, however, that previous research on procedural justice and legitimacy has examined legitimacy in a limited way by focusing solely on the perceived legitimacy of authorities and ignoring how people may perceive the legitimacy of the laws and rules they enforce. In addition, no research to date has examined how such perceptions of legitimacy may moderate the effect of procedural justice on compliance behavior. Using survey data collected across three different regulatory contexts – taxation (Study 1), social security (Study 2), and law enforcement (Study 3) – the findings suggest that one's perceptions of the legitimacy of the law moderates the effect of procedural justice on compliance behaviors; procedural justice is more important for shaping compliance behaviors when people question the legitimacy of the laws than when they accept them as legitimate. An explanation of these findings using a social distancing framework is offered, along with a discussion of the implications the findings have on enforcement.     

Immunohistochemical proof of amelogenin in teeth--a contribution to the evaluation of the age in the identification of unknown corpses

When a corpse is found that cannot be identified, one of the forensic tasks is to determine how old the person was when she or he died. To solve this frequently asked question in forensic practice, the enamel protein amelogenin was marked immunohistochemically in 249 extracted teeth. Amelogenin is already produced during prenatal development and is gradually used up throughout life into old age. Hence, the demonstrability decreases with age. The extent of the labelling can be quantified by measuring the mean optical density (MOD). While it is not possible to determine the age on the basis of the mean optical density measurements alone, logistic regression of the MOD together with dichotomisation of the teeth according to age allows statements as to whether the person was younger or older than 30 years.     

The relationship between regulation and contracts in infrastructure industries: Regulation as ordered renegotiation

This paper discusses the relationship between regulation and contracts in infrastructure industries and the role of regulation, particularly the role of regulatory agencies in the review, revision, and renegotiation of contracts. The paper starts with a short survey of relevant economic and legal issues. Examples are presented of how and why infrastructure contracts, including concession contracts, have been combined with monitoring and enforcement by external regulatory agencies. The examples discussed include historical UK experience, recent French experience, and developing country experience. The paper concludes with a discussion of the role that regulatory entities can play to reinforce trust and sustain contracts by enabling simpler contracts, resolving contract misunderstandings, and providing processes for ordered renegotiations.     

Political Reliability and the Chinese Bar Exam

This article uses the case of contemporary China to explore an understudied type of political socialization: the bar exam. Content analysis of 3,996 exam questions from 2002–2014 shows a turning point in the mid‐2000s, when the test became explicitly political. The newly political exam is now a site of political learning where tomorrow's lawyers, judges, and prosecutors perform loyalty by exchanging politically correct answers for points. Viewed from this perspective, the Chinese bar exam has much in common with demands for public displays of correct behaviour in other authoritarian states. This adds a fresh, political layer to our understanding of whose interests bar exams serve, and why they take the form they do.     

Procedural justice in policing: the first phase of an Australian longitudinal study of officer attitudes and intentions

Despite the prominent role that procedural justice has taken in policing research, we know surprisingly little about police perceptions of procedural justice as an effective tool in their encounters with members of the public. In this study, we start with a focus on the perceptions of police recruits in a major police service, exploring their perceptions of procedural justice and its role in policing. Using data from a questionnaire of 450 police recruits in the early stages of their initial training, we find that orientations supportive of procedural justice significantly predict reported intentions to use procedural justice approaches in interacting with others, as well as the prioritization of procedural justice responses to a typical policing encounter (traffic violation). We also find that belief in an obligation to obey the law is significantly associated with perceived procedural justice outcomes. We argue that early supportive orientations towards procedural justice may be important in understanding police officers’ future interactions with members of the public, promoting positive evaluations of justice among citizens, and minimizing the risk of coercive encounters involving officer use of force.