Ethno-Psychological Characteristics and Terror-Producing Countries: Linking Uncertainty Avoidance to Terrorist Acts in the 1970s

Most of the world's terrorism occurs in but a few of the world's countries. This study examines why. The extent to which Hofstede's cultural values relate to terrorism in the 1970s in 51 countries is analyzed. Uncertainty avoidance emerges as the single cultural value that is related to terrorism. Uncertainty avoidance, related to stress, may provide important prerequisites for group-induced aberrant behavior when formerly alienated group members find comfort in adhering to a collective belief system where dissent is discouraged, a sense of group purpose is reinforced, and rules are strictly imposed—apparently confirming the writings of terrorism psychologists.     

Bullying in Early Adolescence and Antisocial Behavior and Depression Six Years Later: What Are the Protective Factors?

This study identified factors that protected (a) adolescent bullies from becoming antisocial young adults, and (b) adolescent victims of bullying from subsequent depression. Data were drawn from the Australian Temperament Project, a population birth cohort study that has followed participants since 1983. Systematic examination of potential risk modifiers (protective factors) was conducted within a regression framework. Low negative reactivity was found to protect bullies from later antisocial outcomes and higher parental monitoring moderated (ameliorated) the risk relation between bullying and antisocial behavior. High social skills and understanding schoolwork protected victims from later depression, but high attachment to peers intensified the risk relation between victimization and later depression. Preventive interventions targeting interpersonal skills and parent and peer relationships may be effective in reducing adverse outcomes of bullying.     

Assessing Governance: The Importance of Evaluating Policy Outcomes in National Mission Areas

This commentary responds to Fukuyama's (2013) rejection of “final outputs” as measures of government quality. It argues that public administration research should address policy outcomes in “national mission areas.” But public administration scholars should not simply become policy analysts. Rather, they should become policy analysts for policy areas that can benefit from expertise in organizations and management.     

Democratic Dreams Neglected in the Land of the Pharaohs: US Democracy Assistance in Egypt

This paper examines the Obama Administration’s approach to democracy promotion in Egypt. After a brief discussion of the motivation for promoting democracy, this essay compares the Obama Administration to its predecessor and analyzes the changes that were spurred by the Arab Awakening. Did the Obama Administration, during and after the 2011 Revolution, fully support democratic change in Egypt not only with rhetoric but also with the financial and programmatic support necessary to help a transitioning country? Did the Obama Administration offer a consistent message on the importance of democratic policies? Or did the administration allow other policy objectives to trump democratic efforts? This paper explores the language, policies, and funding employed by the Obama Administration in Egypt to see what the impact has been.     

Dire and Sequestered Meetings: The Work of Game Wardens

Game wardens are law enforcement agents responsible for enforcing fish and wildlife laws. Based on data from extensive interviews with game wardens the authors describe dangerous situations faced by wardens in their work. Comparisons with the dangers experienced by other types of police officers are made. Temporal, spatial, and situational factors shape the uniqueness of the law enforcement experiences of the game warden. Specific factors found which increase dangerousness were: isolation of area, being outnumbered, being alone, mistakes like not wearing hunter’s orange, and not being aware an offender is under the influence. In addition, most if not all individuals encountered are armed and skilled in the use of deadly weapons.     

Gambling on compliance with the new 2005 Act: Do organisations fulfil new regulations?

Gambling is not a new phenomenon. Indeed gambling has been seen to be omnipresent throughout history and culture. However gambling has taken a new path. Online gambling is fast becoming a major pastime for many of society. The ease of access and convenience of play has led to an increase in the numbers of people gambling, and not just online. Within the increase of online gambling there has also been an increase in the regulation surrounding this industry. This paper explores the regulatory approach to online gambling within the UK. The researchers explore the Gambling Act 2005 (UK) and provide an empirical analysis of the UK major gambling organisation to determine what regulatory aspects they adopt and what safety measures they have in place to protect minors and to protect against financial crime. The researchers finally looks at policy implications for UK governments when regulating future online gambling.     

Classification and individualization of black ballpoint pen inks using principal component analysis of UV-vis absorption spectra

The technique of principal component analysis has been applied to the UV-vis spectra of inks obtained from a wide range of black ballpoint pens available in the UK market. Both the pen ink and material extracted from the ink line on paper have been examined. Here, principal component analysis characterised each spectrum within a group through the numerical loadings attached to the first few principal components. Analysis of the spectra from multiple measurements on the same brand of pen showed excellent reproducibility and clear discrimination between inks that was supported by statistical analysis. Indeed it was possible to discriminate between the pen ink and the ink line from all brands examined in this way, suggesting that the solvent extraction process may have an influence on these results. For the complete set of 25 pens, interpretation of the loadings for the first few principal components showed that both the pen inks and the extracted ink lines may be classified in an objective manner and in agreement with the results of parallel thin layer chromatography studies. Within each class almost all inks could be individualised. Further work has shown that principal component analysis may be used to identify a particular ink from a database of reference UV-vis spectra and a strategy for developing this approach is suggested.