Tourism in Society

This essay starts with a discussion of the scope of tourism as a major force in our contemporary global consumer culture. It also contains information on the development of tourism education in universities and problems students studying tourism often face in the workplace. The main function of the essay is to introduce the articles I have solicited from a number of tourism scholars, which reflect various disciplinary approaches to tourism. They deal with the following topics: sociological studies of tourism and modernism, questions about postmodernism and the role of authenticity in tourism, a historical perspective on the growth of the cruise industry, a case study investigating the role of advertising in tourism and an analysis of the functions of stereotypes in tourism. It is hoped that these essays will induce scholars not working in the area to consider investigating tourism in future research.

Northern Ireland: 20 Years On

To speak of what is exceptional about Northern Ireland today requires a provocative sense of irony, for constitutionally it can be argued Northern Ireland has become one of the most stable parts of the United Kingdom. The fact if not the value of the Union has become more deeply entrenched as both the fact and the value of the Union have come more openly into play elsewhere, even in England. Nevertheless, Northern Ireland is not immune from larger political developments and fantastic uncertainties attend consideration of the next twenty years at different levels of analysis. This article considers these uncertainties according to two possible scenarios, one involving a nationalist narrative and the other involving a unionist narrative. The key issues in each scenario and narrative are the constitutional debate in the United Kingdom, especially the referendum on Scottish independence; the future of the European Union and the United Kingdom's relationship to it; and the changing electoral demographic within Northern Ireland. If Northern Ireland's future is inextricably linked to uncertainty this makes it the rule and not the exception today.     

Who opposes government arts funding?

While the reasons for the controversy overpublic arts funding are well-understood,less clear is the set of variables thatassociates with strong opposition orsupport for arts subsidies. Using data fromthe General Social Survey, this paperbuilds a model to predict opposition basedon ideological, economic, and demographiccharacteristics. The most importantpredictors of opposition are found to bepolitical views, gender, income, privatedonations to the arts, and region ofresidence. The results in this papersuggest that the benefits of public artsfunding accrue primarily to those in thehighest income class, and that supportvaries somewhat according to the level ofgovernment providing the funding. ``The far right is waging a war for the soulof America by making art a partisan issue.And by trying to cut these arts programs,which bring culture, education, and joyinto the lives of ordinary Americans, theyare hurting the very people they claim torepresent.'' Barbra Streisand, in a speech delivered atHarvard University (1995) The National Endowment for the Arts hasbecome a play thing ... for an elitegroup. Newt Gingrich, in an interview on C-SPAN(Lamb, 1994)     

Ein gordischer Knoten der Politikwissenschaft? Zur Vereinbarkeit von Föderalismus und Demokratie

Politische Vierteljahresschrift - Politische Systeme im nationalen und internationalen Kontext werden zunehmend nach Prinzipien des Föderalismus organisiert. Nach wie vor ungeklärt ist...     

Public subsidies and charitable giving: Crowding out,crowding in,or both?

Abstract Whether government subsidies to nonprofit organizations leverage (crowd in) private donations, or rather crowd them out has been actively debated for some time. A third hypothesis, explored theoretically and tested empirically in this paper, is that the two phenomena are actually not inconsistent with one another: At low levels of subsidies, government support may stimulate private giving, whereas at high levels it could have just the opposite effect. The model presented is based on this idea, which yields implications relevant to nonprofit management and public policy, and tests it with data on symphony orchestras. The conclusion is that the maximization of private donations and total “unearned” revenues are not compatible goals. Further, nonprofits that suffer from short‐term liquidity problems or managerial shortsightedness may face a “subsidy trap,” in which they are forced to rely on suboptimal levels of subsidies in terms of maximizing the firm's revenues. © 2000 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.     

The Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 – Secure Colleges and the Legitimation of State Sponsored Violence

The Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 empowers staff in secure colleges to subject young people in custody to dangerous force for the purpose of ensuring ‘good order and discipline’. The use of force to restrain young people in custody can cause serious physical injury, profound psychological damage and has contributed to the custodial deaths of two young people in 2004. Despite these dangers, in most youth custodial establishments the use of force remains high and has been increasing. The 2015 Act will further legitimise the use of coercive violence against vulnerable children, consequently sustaining the power imbalance between children and adults, diminishing the special status of childhood and violating the child's human rights. This comment considers the effectiveness of using force and argues that the deliberate infliction of pain should only be used as a last resort and exclusively to prevent harm to the child or others.     

Parenting and Intimate Relationship Effects on Women Offenders' Recidivism and Noncompliance with Probation

This study disentangled the effects of intimate relationships and parenting on women probationers’ noncompliance. Data from a sample of 257 women were analyzed using logistic and negative binomial regression. Women with nonconforming intimate partners missed treatment more frequently, had a higher likelihood of missing a probation appointment, and had a higher chance of a new arrest for substance abuse or misdemeanor crimes during a 3-year follow-up period. Women parenting children had fewer missed probation appointments. Missed probation appointments increased the risk of recidivism for all crime categories except driving under the influence. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

Social problem-solving correlates of sexual deviancy and aggression among adult child molesters

Cognitive-behavioral treatment programs for adult sex offenders often include training geared to improve a perpetrator's social problem-solving skills. However, little empirical evidence exists to date that documents the relationship between problem-solving and deviant sexual interest or behavior among child molesters. As such, this study investigated the association between problem-solving and two aspects of sexual offending—self-reported sexual deviancy and clinician-rated sexual aggression among a recruited sample of incarcerated child molesters. To minimize the potential for biased self-reports, criterion scores on a lie scale were employed to exclude individuals who might be prone to misrepresent their responses. Results indicated this sample to be characterized by significant deficits on all measures of social problem-solving as compared to the general population. In addition, a series of correlational analyses indicated that an avoidant problem-solving style was significantly associated with past sexual aggression, whereas a negative problem orientation and an impulsive/careless problem-solving style were significantly related to a measure of current sexual deviancy. Of particular interest is the finding that a rational problem-solving style (i.e., the constructive style that involves the systematic application of specific problem-solving skills geared toward identifying an effective solution) was not significantly related to either sexual offending measure. The implications of these collective results are discussed.