A THEORY OF HOMICIDAL BEHAVIOR AMONG WOMEN*

This theory explains the homicidal behavior of women in a variety of settings. Structural, social, and cultural conditions of modern societies generate strain for all women, which produces negative affect. Women tend to internalize negative affect as guilt and hurt rather than externalize it as anger directed at a target. This results in a situation analogous to overcontrolled personality, and results in low overall rates of deviance punctuated by occasional instances of extreme violence. The conditions found in long-term abusive relationships and pre- or post-partum environments are more likely to produce this result, but the theory is not limited to explaining female homicide in these settings.     

IS THE TREATY OF MAASTRICHT AN ADEQUATE‘CONSTITUTION’FOR THE EUROPEAN UNION?

This article explores the likely impact of the Treaty of Maastricht on the institutional balance of the European Community and the new European Union. It places particular emphasis on the impact of the Treaty on the role of the European Court of Justice, an institution which has been generally ignored by political scientists. However, it does not accept the received wisdom of legal scholars concerning the Court, which suggests that the Court, acting on its own has saved the Community from self-destruction. Instead, the analysis presented here places the Court in a political context. On the basis of this understanding, the potential of the Treaty of Maastricht to unravel some of the existing structure of the European Community is drawn out.     

PERSONAL CAPITAL AND SOCIAL CONTROL: THE DETERRENCE IMPLICATIONS OF A THEORY OF INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN CRIMINAL OFFENDING*

A large and growing literature links stable individual differences established early in life to deviant behavior through the life course. This literature challenges basic premises of modern sociological and economic theories of deviance that emphasize explanatory factors that are more proximate in time and external to the individual. In this paper we present and test a theory designed to link rational choice and social control theories with two leading examples of theories that emphasize stable individual differences (Wilson and Herrnstein, 1985; Gottfredson and Hirschi, 1990). Based on appeals to the economic theory of investment, we argue that individuals who are more present oriented and self-centered invest less in social bonds and therefore are less deterred from committing crime by the possibility of damage to such bonds. Thus, our theory, which builds from key constructs of the Gottfredson-Hir-schi and Wilson-Herrnstein theories, departs from those theories with the contention that social control does matter.     

The survival and termination of party mergers in Europe

Why do constituent parties that participated in a party merger that was intended to be permanent decide to leave the merger to re‐enter party competition separately? To address this question, merger termination is conceptualised in this article as an instance of new party formation, coalition termination and institutionalisation failure. Building on this conceptualisation, three sets of factors are presented that account for which mergers are likely to be terminated by constituent parties and which are not. To test these three sets of hypotheses, a mixed‐methods design is used. First, survival analysis is applied to a new dataset on the performance of mergers in 21 European democracies during the postwar period. The findings support hypotheses derived from a conception of merger termination as new party formation: pre‐ and post‐merger legislative performance significantly affect the probability of merger termination. Furthermore, the institutionalisation of constituent parties helps to sustain mergers if the latter already built trust in pre‐merger cooperation, in line with the conception of merger termination as institutionalisation failure. Two theory‐confirming case studies are then analysed: one case of merger survival and the other of termination. These case studies substantiate the working of the significant variables identified in the large‐N analysis that drove the selection of case studies. They also reveal how mediating factors difficult to capture in large‐N designs help to account for why factors that – theoretically – should have complicated the working of the ‘survival case’, and should have been beneficial to the ‘termination case’, did not generate the expected effects.     

Liberation Movements and Robbery: A Comparative Analysis of Uganda and the United States

Both Uganda and the United States experienced precipitous increases in robbery in the middle and late 60's. In Uganda the change came within two years after formal independence from Britain and for the United States the rise came in the period after the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. In both cases, the offenders were poor, young black males. A major analysis of the phenomenon in the United States suggested relative economic deprivation as the principal explanatory factor. This paper contends that such an analysis both limits the meaning freedom movements may have for their participants and cannot account adequately for the similar trend in Uganda. Data suggest that violence receives a general legitimization in post-war periods and similar dynamics may apply to the participants in independence struggles. Further, studies suggest that the urban robber is characterized by a high degree of alienation that includes in Seeman's terminology—isolation, meaninglessness, and powerlessness. The movements may have mitigated somewhat this aspect of the lives of the urban poor and helped to account for the lack of change in robbery during the struggles. Their termination through symbolic success may have left a vacuum devoid of meaning and purpose, especially for unskilled, poor blacks, which generated new heights of anger and alienation and which, in turn, led to rapid increases in rebellious behavior such as armed robbery. Such a reality would pose a serious problem for leaders who successfully directed a popular revolution and must now stabilize an economy.     

LYNCHINGS,RACIAL THREAT,AND WHITES’ PUNITIVE VIEWS TOWARD BLACKS

Disparities in historical and contemporary punishment of Blacks have been well documented. Racial threat has been proffered as a theoretical explanation for this phenomenon. In an effort to understand the factors that influence punishment and racial divides in America, we draw on racial threat theory and prior scholarship to test three hypotheses. First, Black punitive sentiment among Whites will be greater among those who reside in areas where lynching was more common. Second, heightened Black punitive sentiment among Whites in areas with more pronounced legacies of lynching will be partially mediated by Whites’ perceptions of Blacks’ criminality and of Black‐on‐White violence in these areas. Third, the impact of lynching on Black punitive sentiment will be amplified by Whites’ perceptions of Blacks as criminals and as threatening more generally. We find partial support for these hypotheses. The results indicate that lynchings are associated with punitive sentiment toward Black offenders, and these relationships are partially mediated by perceptions of Blacks as criminals and as threats to Whites. In addition, the effects of lynchings on Black punitiveness are amplified among White respondents who view Blacks as a threat to Whites. These results highlight the salience of historical context for understanding contemporary views about punishment.