Revisiting Representation: Communism,Women in Politics,and the Decline of Armed Conflict in East Asia

This research note evaluates one of the commonly used measurements for political gender equality: representation of women in parliaments. It demonstrates that caution is called for when interpreting results where this variable is used, because parliamentary representation implies different things in different settings. Societies with more women in parliament tend to have fewer intrastate armed conflicts. We investigate this statistical association with a particular focus on East Asia. This region has seen a shift from extremely intense warfare to low levels of battle deaths at roughly the same time as great strides have been made in the representation of women in parliaments. This research note shows, however, that this statistical association is driven by authoritarian communist regimes promoting gender equality as a part of communist ideology, and these countries’ representative chambers have little influence over politics. Using statistical tests and empirical illustrations from East Asia, the note concludes that the political representation of women is an invalid indicator of political gender equality in East Asia. There is thus a need for nuance in assessing the picture painted in earlier research. In addition, the suggestion that more women in parliament will lead to fewer armed conflicts runs the risk of being forwarded as an oversimplified solution to a complex problem, and we briefly discuss the instrumentalization of gender equality in peace and security studies.     

Getting the story from child witnesses: exploring the application of a story grammar framework

Abstract

Investigative interviews with children about alleged abuse were analysed to determine the degree to which the child's responses adhered to a story grammar framework, and whether the presence of story grammar elements was associated with interviewers’ adherence to best-practice (i.e. open-ended) questioning. The sample included 51 interviews with child witnesses from across Australia. The interviews were administered by a police officer with children (37 girls and 14 boys) aged 3–16 years (M age = 103.82 months, SD = 34.21 months). The interviewers’ questions were categorised as open-ended or specific and the children's responses were classified as a story grammar element, context/background information, or ‘don't know’ responses. The majority of interviewer questions were specific in nature and the majority of children's responses were context/background details. Open-ended questions were more successful in eliciting story grammar from children. Of the story grammar elements, the interviewers’ specific questions usually targeted setting and attempt details. These findings suggest that improvement in the narrative coherence of children's reports of abusive events can potentially be achieved by increasing interviewers’ use of open-ended questions.     

Correlates of Behavioral Outcomes in Sexually Abused Children

The present study attempted to identify individual and contextual factors associated with outcomes in a group of 63 latency-aged children disclosing sexual abuse (SA). Children reporting SA were found to display greater internalizing and externalizing behavioral difficulties as well as more sexualized behaviors relative to same-age non-abused peers. Mothers also reported these children as less socially competent than their peers. Family contextual factors appeared to be associated with behavioral difficulties and made a unique contribution to the prediction of externalizing and sexualized behaviors. Of the personal variables, avoidance coping was found to be linked to poorer outcomes. In examining possible factors linked to ‘resilient’ outcomes in a 6-month time-frame, family conflict and avoidance coping were found to be associated to clinical status in children reporting SA.     

Heavy Metal Music and Adolescent Suicidal Risk

This study probes the differentiating characteristics (family relationships, social–psychological attitudes, drug use, and suicidal risk) of youth who prefer heavy metal (HM) music, worship music, and use music for vicarious release. Data analysis was based on a sample of 275 secondary school students between the ages of 14 and 18. Logistic regressions revealed that HM music preference and worshipping is not significantly related to suicidal risk when controlling for other risk factors. These findings were found for both boys and girls. Surprisingly, the use of music for vicarious release was inversely related to suicidal risk for girls. These findings are discussed within the framework of Arnett's alienation theory (Arnett, J. (1991). J. Youth Adolesc. 20(6): 573–592) and Roe's uses-gratification theory (Roe, K. (1995). J. Youth Adolesc. 24(5): 617–631) regarding adolescent socialization and media purposes.     

The prevalence of co-witnesses and co-witness discussions in real eyewitnesses

Abstract

Several laboratory studies have shown that eyewitness discussions can negatively affect memory recall. The current study looked at the prevalence of multiple witnesses using real witnesses at a UK identification suite. We investigated the frequency of co-witness discussion, what the co-witnesses tended to discuss and whether there was an association between this information, and the outcome of the identification. Sixty witnesses at the Force Identification Unit in Brighton (UK) filled out a questionnaire following the identification procedure. Co-witnesses were reported by 88% of the sample, with the average number of co-witnesses being 4.02 (SD=6.52). In addition, 58% of the multiple witnesses had discussed the criminal event with at least one co-witness. The most common areas of discussion were ‘general crime details’ (52%) and ‘suspect details’ (39%). The implications of these findings are discussed.     

An analysis of police officers' decisions about whether to refer cases of child abuse for prosecution

Facial composite research has mainly focused on their investigative value. No. comparable attention was drawn to their probative value – the extent to which a composite image may serve as incriminating or exonerating evidence against a defendant. The existing data resulting from mock-juror research allow only cautious conclusions and applies solely to the common law system. Therefore an experiment was conducted involving laypeople (N = 74) and prosecutor apprentices (N = 72). All participants received case materials of a robbery committed by a young male, including the victim's and defendant's testimonies and other evidence. In both samples, the facial composite evidence was manipulated so that participants viewed a composite image that was either a good or a poor match to the defendant. A facial composite that bore a strong resemblance to the defendant influenced the assessment of the eyewitness' credibility in the apprentices sample, but failed to affect other dependent variables. Surprisingly, laypeople ignored the facial composite no matter how well it resembled the defendant. Significant differences in the assessment of eyewitness' credibility, the strength of the defense case, the credibility of the defendant's alibi, and his culpability were found between the prosecutor apprentices and laypeople. The practical implications of these findings are discussed.