Books in review

His books include Two-Person Game Theory: The Essential Ideas; Fights, Games and Debates;and Mathematical Models in the Social Behavioral Sciences.     

New localism or fuzzy centralism: policymakers’ perceptions of public education and involvement in education

This research examines local authority involvement in education as a function of local policymakers’ perceptions of education as a public service – namely, whether public education is for the benefit of society as a whole, or for individual students and parents. Perceptions of education and involvement in education were assessed through 107 questionnaires returned by mayors and heads of local education departments in Israel. The results show that (1) local policymakers tend to perceive public education as a general public service, and (2) the relationship between this perception and involvement in education varies with the locality’s centre-periphery status. In peripheral localities, perceiving education as a general public service and an understanding of ‘society’ as the local community leads to greater involvement in education. In central localities, involvement rose with a more individualised perception. Implications of the findings are discussed in line with viewing education in the spirit of new localism.     

Phenobarbital in hair and drug monitoring

Phenobarbital analysis was performed in vertex hair of patients by gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC/MS). After washing with dichloromethane, about 250 mg were ground to dust in a ball mill. A 50-mg sample was stirred mechanically for 10 min with 3 ml of NH₄Cl/HCl buffer (pH 2.0) containing phenobarbital D₅. A solid phase extraction was performed (extrelut Merck) and elution was achieved with chloroform/isopropanol/n-heptane (50:17:33; v/v). A full scan (40–240 uma) acquisition was realized by GC/MS with an ion trap (ITD 700 Finnigan) using a DB5-MS chromatographic column. Quantification was achieved by integrating dominants ions (phenobarbital, 204; phenobarbital D₅, 209). Compared to serum, hair concentrates phenobarbital during anti-epileptic therapy (average value 36.4 ng/mg, n = 40 vs. 18.7 mg/l, n = 23). A group correlation exists between phenobarbital in hair and phenobarbital in serum, and between phenobarbital in hair and clinic observation in some typical cases. Phenobarbital in hair yields good information over a long period, especially when blood collection has not been made, when clinical disorders are observed on long-term therapeutic observance.     

Gender-differential patterns of adolescent socialization in three arenas

The study examines gender-differential socialization within and across the three major socialization arenas during adolescence—the home, the school, and the informal youth association. The point of departure for this comparative analysis is Erikson's theory of institutionalized moratorium. Elaborating upon the sociological dimension of that theory, institutionalized moratorium is defined here as an open social arrangement that allows for free experimentation and temporary deviation within lenient—albeit normative—boundaries of social control. Accordingly, we delineate three structural components of socialization arenas—openness, control, and deviation—focusing upon the degree to which the levels of openness and control predict the level of deviation in each arena and for each gender. Data were obtained from self-reports of 220 Israeli adolescents who responded to a closed questionnaire designed to assess perceptions of socialization structure. The findings suggest that the deviation of boys is a stronger and more sensitive function of openness and control than that of girls. This gender difference is largest in the school and smallest in the youth movement. Beyond gender differences, the results indicate a common pattern of socialization underlying the three arenas; more specifically, deviation was found to be related to both openness and control. This pattern is most salient in the home and least salient in the youth movement.This paper was written with the support of the NCJW Research Institute for Innovation in Education, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.She has a Ph.d. in Sociology of Education from the Hebrew University. Her research interests are sociology of education and youth, informal organizations, and gender socialization.     

Asymmetric Two-Stage Group Rent-Seeking: Comparison of Two Contest Structures

Two variations of a two-stage rent-seeking contest areconsidered. In the first stage of the Between-Groupmodel, groups compete through the expenditure of resources bytheir members. Based on group expenditures, one winning groupis probabilistically determined. On the second stage, membersof the winning group compete with one another for an exogenousprize. In the Semi-Finals model a player is chosen fromeach group and then these players compete for the prize.Groups differ in size or in their valuation of the prize.Subgame-perfect equilibrium solutions are constructed forthese two contest structures.     

Before the Bombs There Were the Mobs: American Experiences with Terror 1

Terrorist studies rarely discuss activities before the invention of dynamite, which made modern terror possible. One important, interesting, and forgotten form is the mob terror campaign. Two significant successful American examples are examined and compared, “The Sons of Liberty” which ignited the American Revolution, and the Ku Klux Klan, which “won the peace” the South wanted after it lost the Civil War. The study concludes by briefly comparing modern with mob terror.     

Book review

In the Name of the People By Adam B. Ulam New York, The Viking Press, 1977, XII, 418 pp. $15.00.