Post-war fascism in the Netherlands

In practically all the countries of western Europe attempts were made, shortly after the ending of the Second World War, to inject new life into national socialism and fascism. This also happened in the Netherlands. Such efforts were being made in the face of severe restrictions since, after 1945, fascist and racist activists could expect to encounter considerably more resistance than they had done before 1940. Nevertheless, fascist and racist organizations have continued to crop up throughout the entire post-war period. The pursuit of fascist continuity in a post-war, anti-fascist climate evoked fierce opposition and sharp conflicts. These conflicts constituted a threat to extreme-right activists, for if such activists could be identified with fascism, they would be discredited and viewed as criminals. They were obliged to adapt to the new situation, but adaptive strategies carried a risk: disavowal of ideological principles. This dilemma has two boundaries: on the one hand the open conflict with the judiciary and, on the other, a vague and nebulous political profile. Both limitations could spell the end of the organization. This article has been concerned with the struggle between fascist and racist organizations and the outside world in the post-war decades. The course of the struggle has had a great deal of influence on the rise and fall of organizations and on the varied forms they have taken. Fascist organizations have to withstand the pressure from without in one way or another, but how? This is the big question which has formed a divisive element for decades now.     

Do Parenting Behaviors Predict Externalizing Behavior in Adolescence, or Is Attachment the Neglected 3rd Factor?

The aim of this study was to examine the role of attachment in the link between parenting behaviors (including positive parenting and negative control) and problem behaviors during adolescence. Using questionnaires, we examined 511 Flemish, Dutch-speaking adolescents ranging in age from 10 to 18 years. We distinguished 3 age groups (10–12, 13–15, and 16–18 years) and conducted mediation and moderator analyses, using multiple regression analyses. Results showed that attachment towards mother and father mediates between negative control and problem behavior in the 1st 2 age groups. The strength of the link between parenting and problem behavior was less strong in the older age groups, while the strength of the link between attachment and parenting was equally important across age groups. Only in the youngest age group, we found some evidence for a parenting by paternal attachment interaction. These findings suggest the need for tailoring existing preventive parent management trainings: more attention should be paid to improve the quality of parent–child interactions and the forthcoming attachment bonds.

A Case of Contested Cremains Analyzed Through Metric and Chemical Comparison

Since the 1980s, cremation has become the fastest growing area of the U.S. funeral industry. At the same time, the number of litigations against funeral homes and cremation facilities has increased. Forensic anthropologists are often asked to determine whether the contents of an urn are actually cremated bone, and to address questions regarding the identity of the remains. This study uses both metric and chemical analyses for resolving a case of contested cremains. A cremains weight of 2021.8 g was predicted based on the decedent's reported stature and weight. However, the urn contents weighed 4173.5 g. The urn contents also contained material inconsistent with cremains (e.g., moist sediment, stones, ferrous metal). Analysis using XRD and SEM demonstrated that the urn contained thermally altered bone as well as inorganic material consistent with glass fiber cement. Although forensically challenging, cremains cases such as this one can be resolved using a multidisciplinary approach.     

Stability and change in subjective quality of life of adolescents in secure residential care

Subjective quality of life (QoL) is an outcome measure often used in the field of psychiatry. While upcoming strength-based rehabilitation theories place strong emphasis on subjective QoL, it has hardly ever been investigated in adolescents with severe psychiatric problems who are admitted to secure residential care. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the stability and change of subjective QoL of adolescents with severe psychiatric problems. Additionally, the effect of discharge and re-entering society on subjective QoL was studied. In a four-wave longitudinal study, the subjective QoL of 172 male adolescents with severe psychiatric problems was examined. Five subjective QoL domains remained stable over time, while five other domains changed. A decrease in satisfaction with family relations and social participation was observed for discharged adolescents. These results warrant for continuing guidance of adolescents in order for them to positively adapt to a new life outside secure residential care.     

FHA: Recent History and Future Prospects

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) deserves considerable credit for helping support the housing market during the recent financial crisis by increasing its own market share. However, as the recovery continues, the FHA can gradually return to its “traditional” role as an insurer of low-down-payment home mortgages for low-to-moderate-income and first-time homebuyers. A major concern going forward is susceptibility to increased adverse selection if it continues in nontraditional markets. Indeed, the modest market share of the FHA going into the housing collapse was important both in limiting its losses and in allowing it to maintain the market when other traditional secondary market makers failed.     

Theorists of Agrarian Perestroika

Agrarian policy is an increasingly important concern for the success of perestroika. This article traces the careers and ideas of A. A. Nikonov, president of the Lenin Academy of Agricultural Sciences (VASKhNIL) and Gorbachev's most important academic advisor on agricultural economics, and VASKhNIL Academician V. A. Tikhonov, an outspoken advocate of radical economic reforms. Restoring incentives to the individual peasant through the lease contract (arendnyi podriad), establishing voluntary cooperatives in place of centralized bureaucratic management, and marketizing agriculture are the principal concerns of their work, and were the central issues discussed at the March 1989 CPSU Central Committee plenum on agrarian policy. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: 027, 124.     

Introduction: Human resource development symposium

ABSTRACT

The impacts of information technology (IT) on public administration and the public sector are assessed by analyzing the empirical research reported in more than 1,000 issues of recent research journals (published between 1987 and 2000). These impacts are categorized in terms of four broad taxonomic domains and 22 specific impact categories. Almost half of the 230 specific findings identify changes in the capabilities of public sector units to perform functions and more than one-fourth of the findings involve changes in patterns of interaction among political actors. Relatively few IT-related changes affect the distribution of values or the orientations of political actors. In general, the highest proportions of positive impacts from IT are associated with the efficiency and rationality of behavior by units of public administration. The higher incidences of negative impacts tend to involve the more subjective effects of IT on people, in their roles as private citizens (e.g., privacy) or as public employees (e.g., job satisfaction, discretion). It is striking that there are relatively few grounded, empirical studies of the impacts of IT on public administration in the journals analyzed. About half of the empirical studies focus primarily on local level units of public administration, and most studies employ case-study methodology, with nearly one-half of the studies reporting on non-U.S. sites. The summarized and detailed findings in the article are offered as building blocs for more grounded theory on the impacts of IT on public administration and the public sector.