The Effect of Attachment and Self-Control on Status Offending among Puerto Rican High School Students

This study tests the cross-cultural applicability of Gottfredson and Hirschi’s general theory of crime and self-control theory by examining self-reported status offenses among a sample of Puerto Rican adolescents. Data come from a 2005 sample of 298 youth ages 14–19, representing both the public and private school systems in Puerto Rico. Using a series of multivariate regressions, three hypotheses were tested. First, low attachment to parents, schools, peers, and church will positively and significantly predict status offenses among both public and private students. Second, low self-control will positively and significantly increase status offenses among each group. Finally, the effects of attachment on offending will be mediated by self-control. Results show support for both social control theory (via institutional attachment) and general theory of crime (via self-control). Both the measures of attachment and self-control contribute to explaining status offenses. Self-control partially mediates the effects of attachment on status offenses.     

The Reasonable Woman Standard: Effects on Sexual Harassment Court Decisions

Some federal courts have used a reasonable woman standard rather than the traditional reasonable man or reasonable person standard to determine whether hostile environment sexual harassment has occurred. The current research examined the impact of the reasonable woman standard on federal district court decisions, controlling for other factors found to affect sexual harassment court decisions. Results indicated that there was a weak relationship between whether a case followed a reasonable woman precedent-setting case and the likelihood that the court decision favored the plaintiff. The implications of our findings for individuals and organizations involved in sexual harassment claims are discussed.     

Bureaucracy and governance

Bureaucracy and Political Power. By B. C. Smith . Sussex and New York: Wheatsheaf Books and St. Martin's Press, 1988. Pp. 237. Bibliography and index. £12.95 (cloth) Organizing Governance: Governing Organizations. By Colin Campbell and B. Guy Peters , eds. Pittsburgh, Pa.: University of Pittsburgh Press. 1988. Pp. 388. $34.95 (cloth)     

Rwanda: Beyond ethnic conflict'

This paper ¹ explores some of the reasons for the failure of the international community to act decisively in preempting the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. These are rooted both in long-distant history and in the dynamics of post-Cold War international politics. Drawing on a decade of experience in Central Africa, the author looks critically at the widely accepted explanations of the genocide and its aftermath as 'simply tribal fighting', and considers the role of external agents - journalists and aid agencies alike - in fostering this view. The paper ends with a reflection on the complex challenges posed by 'reconciliation' in the wake of the genocide.     

Eyewitness identification: Simulating the “Weapon effect”

The present experiment investigates the effect of weapons on eyewitness recall and recognition using a new experimental paradigm in which a syringe serves as weapon simulation. Contrary to previous weapon manipulations using slides or films of armed targets, the syringe paradigm is personally threatening to the subject. In a 2×2 design, 86 nonpsychology students were approached by an experimenter who was either holding a syringe or a pen and either did or did not threaten to administer an injection. Exposure to the syringe greatly decreased lineup recognition,p<.05, while enhancing the accuracy of recall for hand cues,p<.05. Contrary to predictions derived from the cue utilization hypothesis, threat of injection was not found to interact with the syringe manipulation. Investigation of individual differences indicated greater accuracy of recall for facial details the lower the subjects' fear of injections and the greater their cognitive abilities (closure and memory).This research project was supported in part by a grant of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft to Günther Köhnken. The authors would like to thank Gabriele Knaab, Gabriele Dieckmann, and Ursula Dannenberg for ably conducting the research.     

Legal remedies for spousal abuse: Victim characteristics,expectations, and satisfaction

Since 1980 legal remedies for spouse abuse have been established in various forms in every state. Social service agencies and shelters currently encourage victims to utilize restraining orders which now carry criminal consequences for the batterer, yet little empirical data have been reported concerning their use. The present paper describes two research studies-one conducted in Dane County (Madison area), Wisconsin, the other in Sacramento County, California-that provide new helpful information for these referring agencies and offer findings which reflect which victims use these legal remedies, what their expectations are, and how satisfied the victims were with the results. A final section discusses implications for change or clarification in policy, process, and education on the use of these legal remedies.