Power Dynamics in an Experimental Game

We introduce a new experimental method for studying power. Drawing from multiple theoretical perspectives, we conceptualize power as relational and structural, as well as comprised of different forms through which basic human needs can be met. Thus, the method we introduce examines how, when faced with a particular need, people use multiple forms of power concurrently and within a “field of influence,” namely, the other players in a game. This enabled us to examine how one form of power is transformed into another and how power is transferred from one player to another through interaction, as well as to measure power as behavior, as the exercise of choice, as potential, and as outcomes. Two experiments using egalitarian start conditions and a survivable ecology demonstrated that participants used power to gain more power, creating inequality. Being the target of force made some players unable to “survive” in the local ecology. Theoretical and methodological issues in the study of power are discussed and the application of our game method to the study of power in other fields is considered.     

Stressors, coping resources and strategies, and police stress in South Korea

The present article extends prior research to identify the predictors of police stress from work place problems, the resources available through social support, different strategies for coping with stress, and conditions unique to policing in South Korea. The unique conditions are perceived public perception of police and attitudes towards women working outside of the home. Seven hundred officers were asked to participate in the research, and 686 did participate (96 percent response rate). Almost half of the variance in stress could be explained. Reports of being ridiculed and “set up” in dangerous situations, and to a lesser extent, lack of support from superiors and perceived disrespect from the public, were salient predictors of stress. Coping strategies did not moderate the associations between stressors and stress. Findings were interpreted in relation to collectivist culture and possible points of intervention.     

Bio-Kraftstoff,Nachhaltigkeit, Boden- und Naturschutz

Zusammenfassung  Um ihr Klimapaket und die damit verbundenen Ziele im Bereich der erneuerbaren Energien umzusetzen, hat die Europ?ische Kommission eine Richtlinie zur F?rderung der Nutzung von Energie aus erneuerbaren Quellen vorgeschlagen. Um den Richtlinienentwurf rankt sich – auch noch zur Zeit – eine breite noch nicht abgeschlossene Diskussion, in deren Rahmen unter anderem Bedenken gegen die F?rderung von Energiepflanzen, die als nachhaltig deklariert wird, ge?u?ert werden, da blühende Kulturlandschaften dadurch verschandelt werden. Der Beitrag besch?ftigt sich mit der politischen und rechtlichen Diskussion des Richtlinien-Entwurfs.     

Regional socio‐economic variations and deprivation indices

People and Places II: Social and Economic Distinctions in England. By David Gordon and Ray Forrest. SAUS, the University of Bristol, 1995. Pp.135. £19.95.     

A case study of interpreter-mediated witness statement: police interpreting in South Korea

Interpreters play an important role in police interviewing witnesses from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. In the cases where interpreters lack professional attributes such as interpreting competence and impartiality, it is very likely that the interpreted evidence and statement will not be a faithful reproduction of original utterances. If attention is not paid to possible alterations by interpreters to the original utterances of the witness and duty of care is lacking in the procedure of obtaining statement from witnesses through such interpreters, the official legal record may not be an accurate one. Drawing on the data of a video-recorded interpreter-mediated police interview in South Korea, this paper examines issues arising from the lack of understanding of the role of interpreters, which may have implications for criminal proceedings. The findings indicate that in addition to interpreter training, more efficient police training in the adoption of best practice guidelines in interviewing through interpreters is required.     

Unemployment and crime: the role of apprehension

An increase in the unemployment rate decreases the opportunity cost of crime and increases the crime rate according to standard microeconomics models. However, a large body of empirical research has shown that an increase in unemployment may increase or decrease crime. By incorporating the return to crime into standard economic models, this paper shows that an increase in unemployment, as in recessions, decreases the opportunity cost of crime and the return to crime as well. As a result, the effect of unemployment on crime is ambiguous and depends on the apprehension rate. An increase in the unemployment rate tends to decrease the crime rate at lower apprehension rates, but to increase it at higher apprehension rates. An increase in the generosity of unemployment insurance benefits does not necessarily reduce the crime rate, and the effect of more generous unemployment insurance on crime depends again on the apprehension rate.     

THE STATE IS STRONG BUT I AM WEAK: WHY THE IMMINENT LAWLESS ACTION STANDARD SHOULD NOT APPLY TO TARGETED SPEECH THAT THREATENS INDIVIDUALS WITH VIOLENCE

Surely there is a profound difference between inciting to arson by the use of words and inciting to revolution by the use of words. We do not have a ready word for the distinction, yet it is a deep and obvious one.—Harry Kalven, Jr.