A Preliminary Evaluation of the Spanish Parent–Child Aggression Acceptability Movie Task in Spain

The current study presents a preliminary evaluation of a Spanish adaptation of an implicit analog procedure, the Parent–child Aggression Acceptability Movie task (Spanish Parent-CAAM). Based on Social Information Processing theory, Spanish Parent-CAAM scores were expected to relate to self-reported PCA attitudes, negative child attributions, and child abuse risk in Spanish students; 245 undergraduates in Spain completed the Spanish Parent-CAAM along with self-report measures of PCA attitudes, negative children attributions, inclination to punish misbehavior, and child abuse risk. Findings indicate Spanish Parent-CAAM scores were significantly related to explicit measures of PCA, attributions of intentional child misbehavior, propensity to punish such misbehavior, and increased child abuse potential. Results are considered within the cultural context of Spain’s corporal punishment ban and PCA attitudes.     

Regulation of interlocking directorates in the financial sector: a comparative case study

Network analysis techniques are used for investigating the probable effects of a change in the regulation aiming to prevent the anticompetitive effects of interlocking directorates (ID), that is the crossed presence of directors in the boards of competing firms. The case study considers a recent Italian law (Section 36 of Law Decree n. 201/2011) which prohibits ID for credit, insurance and financial companies. The ID networks of the top-100 Italian listed companies and of the financial companies in this same list are considered and compared with the analogous networks in the US. The US networks represent a benchmark given that in the US companies act under Section 8 of the Clayton Act that has banned ID since 1914. The effects on the ID networks of the new Italian law are simulated under two different interpretations of the law. If the law will be applied according to a narrow interpretation, the Italian ID network will rest substantially unaltered. However, if the law will be applied according to a broad interpretation, the ID network for financial firms will be completely modified with a network configuration very similar to the American benchmark.     

On Active Citizenship: Discourses and Language about Youth and Migrants in Italy

Abstract

The civic and political participation of young people and especially young migrants, who have limited rights of citizenship, is still a significant problem in Italy. Young people struggle to find opportunities and feel excluded from politics: the political agenda tends to see them more as a problem than as a resource. In this article, we illustrate the results of research to understand the dynamics of political and civic participation of young people and what the policy does in their favour. A content analysis of a corpus of European and Italian legislation, policy and planning documents has been undertaken. We also conducted six in-depth interviews with politicians and representatives of Italian nongovernmental organizations in order to investigate (a) policy priorities and institutional points of view, (b) consistency between these priorities and European programmes, and (c) European Union support for the policy actions and projects promoted in Italy about youth. The results showed a general difficulty for young people to ‘engage’ and be engaged in civic and political activities. There is also a gap between the political level and an effective investment which will recognize young people as a real resource.     

A brief measure of the triarchic model of psychopathy among community youths: psychometrics and measurement invariance

ABSTRACT

The development and validation of empirically sound measures that operationalize the Triarchic model of psychopathy among youth is currently in the nascent stage. The present study aimed to examine the psychometric properties of a brief refined measure of the Triarchic model of psychopathy based on the Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory (YPI-Tri-S) among a mixed-gender school sample of 782 youth (M?=?15.87 years, SD?=?1.72) from Portugal. Confirmatory factor analysis offered support for the theoretically expected three-factor structure. Cross-gender measurement invariance using the present sample and cross-sample measurement invariance of the YPI-Tri-S using a previously collected forensic sample of institutionalized males was established. The YPI-Tri-S showed adequate psychometric properties in terms of discriminant validity, convergent validity, concurrent criterion-related validity, known-groups validity, and internal consistency. Findings indicate that YPI-Tri-S is a valuable brief and psychometrically reliable and valid self-report measure of the Triarchic model of psychopathy for use in diverse samples of youth.     

Managing the Process of Decentralization: Transforming Old Public Entities into New Agencies in the Agricultural Sector

ABSTRACT

In an effort to reconfigure the system for the delivery of agricultural services, the Regional Government of Sardinia in Italy decided, in 2006, to suppress five public entities, and to establish three regional agencies in their place. Based on interviews conducted with managers and staff within these agencies, this article narrates the episode of implementing the organizational restructuring of this part of the regional government's agricultural policy. Drawing on this case, this article then presents an explanation of the process of carrying out organizational transformations (namely, mergers and demergers) within sub-national governments' administrative systems. The study finds that policy process features and context conditions figure prominently as explanatory factors for the path and outcome of the implementation of the organizational restructuring. On the whole, the research argument made in this article suggests some qualifications of existing generalizing arguments about the management of organizational transformations in the public sector.     

Presupuesto público sin participación ciudadana. La necesidad de un cambio institucional en México para la consolidación democrática

Over the last thirty years, Mexico has undergone an important consolidation of its institutional framework, focused primarily on the electoral and political system. This process of political change was accompanied by a significant transformation and liberalization of the financial and economic system. Mexico’s current situation proves that both processes do not yield satisfactory results when social problems are left unattended. In fact, the transition from a noncompetitive political system to a more democratic one, has not guaranteed better living conditions for most of the population, in part because there is practically no participation in public life on behalf of most of the citizenry. This article reflects on the fundamental importance of citizens’ participation in democracy. Particular attention is paid to public participative budgets as factors which may contribute to democracy’s consolidation and quality, but which have had negligible impacts thus far as is illustrated by public participative budgets initiatives that have been held in Mexico City.