Understanding xenophobic hate crime in South Africa

Hundreds of violent incidents of anti‐immigrant hate crimes have been recorded in South Africa over the past two decades. Understanding how the public views this issue helps us better understand how it can be resolved. The paper identifies determinants of public attitudes towards anti‐xenophobia strategies. Data from the South African Social Attitudes Survey for the period 2015–2018 were used for this study. Using these data, the link between anti‐immigrant sentiment and lay attributes of anti‐immigrant violence can be mapped. The results show that most citizens externalise the causes of this kind of hate crime and blame the victims (i.e., foreigners) for the conflict. What people believe about the etiology of an intergroup conflict was found to influence their desire for conflict resolution as well as the type of solutions preferred. Victim blaming was found to predict the adoption of prejudicial solutions to anti‐immigrant hate crime (such as the mass expulsion of foreign nationals). If an individual attributed the violence to the internal attributes (e.g., emotional factors or beliefs about foreign nationals) of the perpetrators, they were more likely to adopt progressive solutions (such as education and awareness campaigns).     

Does This Make Me Look Fat? Peer Crowd and Peer Contributions to Adolescent Girls’ Weight Control Behaviors

Based on the Theory of Reasoned Action, this study evaluated a “socialization” model linking girls’ peer crowd affiliations (e.g., Jocks, Populars) with their own weight concern, perceived peer weight norms, and weight control behaviors. An alternative “selection” model was also evaluated. Girls (N = 236; M age = 15.95 years) from diverse ethnic backgrounds completed surveys assessing peer crowd affiliation, their own concern with weight, perceptions of peers’ concern with weight, and weight control behaviors. Models were evaluated using SEM. The socialization model demonstrated good fit; the alternative selection model did not. Specifically, girls’ level of identification with certain peer crowds (Jocks, Burnouts, Alternatives) was associated with girls’ reported own concern and perceived peer concern with weight. Additionally, girls’ own concern and peer norms were related independently to girls’ weight control behaviors. Findings suggest that peer crowds and girls’ own and peer weight norms may be important targets of prevention efforts.

Goal Setting and Self-Efficacy Among Delinquent, At-Risk and Not At-Risk Adolescents

Setting clear achievable goals that enhance self-efficacy and reputational status directs the energies of adolescents into socially conforming or non-conforming activities. This present study investigates the characteristics and relationships between goal setting and self-efficacy among a matched sample of 88 delinquent (18 % female), 97 at-risk (20 % female), and 95 not at-risk adolescents (20 % female). Four hypotheses related to this were tested. Findings revealed that delinquent adolescents reported fewest goals, set fewer challenging goals, had a lower commitment to their goals, and reported lower levels of academic and self-regulatory efficacy than those in the at-risk and not at-risk groups. Discriminant function analysis indicated that adolescents who reported high delinquency goals and low educational and interpersonal goals were likely to belong to the delinquent group, while adolescents who reported high educational and interpersonal goals and low delinquency goals were likely to belong to the not at-risk group. The at-risk and not at-risk groups could not be differentiated. A multinomial logistic regression also revealed that adolescents were more likely to belong to the delinquent group if they reported lower self-regulatory efficacy and lower goal commitment. These findings have important implications for the development of prevention and intervention programs, particularly for those on a trajectory to delinquency. Specifically, programs should focus on assisting adolescents to develop clear self-set achievable goals and support them through the process of attaining them, particularly if the trajectory towards delinquency is to be addressed.     

Chronic Family Economic Hardship, Family Processes and Progression of Mental and Physical Health Symptoms in Adolescence

Research has documented the relationship between family stressors such as family economic hardship and marital conflict and adolescents’ mental health symptoms, especially depressive symptoms. Few studies, however, have examined the processes whereby supportive parenting lessens this effect and the progression of mental health and physical health symptoms in adolescence. The present study investigates the influences of chronic family economic hardship on adolescents’ multiple health problem symptoms (i.e., symptoms of anxiety, and depression and physical complaints) through parents’ marital conflict, and supportive parenting; it also examines how there adolescents’ health problems mutually influence one another throughout adolescence. We used Structural Equation Modeling to analyze data from a longitudinal sample of European American mothers, fathers, and target adolescents (N = 451, 53 % female) to examine direct and indirect effects. Findings generally supported the hypothesized model. Chronic family economic hardship contributed to mental and physical health problems of adolescents. This influence largely was mediated through supportive parenting. Moreover, supportive parenting buffered marital conflict on depressive symptoms of adolescents. Also, there was a tendency for females to show more stable depressive symptoms than males. The study demonstrates key mediating pathways and additional moderating influences based on the family stress model and also highlights the importance of improving health resources for adolescents.     

‘This accursed child’: the early years of Marie Madeleine Jodin (1741-90) actress,philosophe and feminist

The childhood and early youth of Marie Madeleine Jodin (1741- 90) who later achieved some notoriety as an actress, correspondent of Denis Diderot and feminist, throws light on the lives of an artisan family in mideighteenth-century France and on the experience of one delinquent daughter. This study examines Marie Madeleine Jodin's life in relation to different categories of discrimination which she experienced; as a Protestant child, as a libertine daughter and as an actress. Her experience illustrates the workings of systems of authority employed in the eighteenth century to control young women as it impinged on an individual. It is argued that the violent familial and institutional conflicts of Jodin's early life were later reflected in her feminist treatise, Vues législatives pour les femmes (1790), which called for the establishment of a Women's jurisdiction over women. In particular her proposal to eliminate public prostitution and her attacks on the police des moeurs (morals police) have their origin in the bitter experience of her incarceration in a prison for prostitutes in her late teens. The collusion of authority (la police des moeurs) with les filles publiques came to symbolise for her the corruptions of the ancien régime     

The Influence of Cognitive Development and Perceived Racial Discrimination on the Psychological Well-being of African American Youth

The present study examined the influence of cognitive development in the relationship between multiple types of racial discrimination and psychological well-being. A sample of 322 African American adolescents (53% female), aged 13–18, completed measures of cognitive development, racial discrimination, self-esteem and depressive symptoms. Based on the cognitive development measure, youth were categorized as having pre-formal or formal reasoning abilities. The results indicate no significant differences in perceptions of individual, cultural or collective/institutional racism between pre-formal reasoning and formal reasoning adolescents. However, the results do suggest that perceptions of collective/institutional racism were more harmful for the self-esteem of pre-formal reasoning youth than the self-esteem of formal reasoning youth. The implications for the racial discrimination literature among African American adolescents are discussed.     

Trajectories of International Engagement with State and Local Actors: Evidence from South Sudan

External actors have been engaged in what is now South Sudan from the colonial era through to the present day, providing humanitarian and development assistance and exerting political pressure during and since the second civil war that has helped to protect people, legitimize the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A), broker the peace agreements leading to independence, and undergird the new state of South Sudan. After the civil war and especially at independence, many international actors approached South Sudan as a tabula rasa, ready for peace and development; since then, engagement has shifted back to large-scale humanitarian efforts and crisis response. This paper investigates how international actors have engaged with the South Sudanese state and local actors in order to improve access to basic services and build state capacity to deliver those services and provide social protection and livelihood support, what the impacts of such engagement have been, and what aid actors can learn from this history. The paper draws on four years of fieldwork by the Secure Livelihoods Research Consortium (SLRC), with a focus on Jonglei State.     

China's provincial diplomacy to Africa: applications to health cooperation

There is a prevailing view of China as a unitary actor in its relationships with African countries. This view is incomplete: on the contrary, China is a collection of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities with myriad strategic ties to African countries, with decentralization shaping the current form of Chinese government and its level of efficiency. In this paper, factors have been explored for why Chinese provinces have played a role in foreign cooperation in health of African countries, in addition to trade and foreign direct investment. Incentives and disincentives for Chinese provinces to engage internationally in foreign cooperation and health assistance have been identified. The concept of paradiplomacy for health has been presented and this typology has been applied to the example of Chinese medical teams. Finally, we draw linkages between China and other members of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.     

Support for Current Sex Offender Management Policies: A National Survey of the Perceptions of Professionals

Utilizing a sample gathered from two professional organizations, this study compared the perceptions held by criminal justice professionals and clinical specialists toward current sex offender management policies. In addition to controlling for demographic variables, consideration was given to the roles of belief in the cause of sex offending and punishment philosophy, both largely absent from the literature on sex offender policy perceptions, as influencing factors of policy support. Results indicate low levels of support for current policies across professional groups, however, criminal justice professionals are significantly more likely to support current policies than clinical specialists. Furthermore, belief that sex offending is caused by a lack of virtue, holding a traditional punishment philosophy, and being a parent were associated with increased support for current policies. The implications of these findings for the management of sex offenders are discussed.