Turn-taking in mother-adolescent conversations about sexuality and conflict

The current study examined the nature and style of mother-adolescent conversations, how these conversations differ by subject matter, and dyadic and individual differences. Thirty-one mother-adolescent dyads (17 boys, 14 girls) with a child between the ages of 11 and 14 had a nonstructured conversation, and conversations about conflict and sexuality. They also completed questionnaires on beliefs about acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Conversations were measured for turn taking, total number of words, and conversational dominance, as well as nonverbal measures of affiliation, shame, and contempt. Conversations about sexuality involved less turn taking, fewer words, and more mother dominance than nonstructured conversations. Conversations about conflicts involved less turn taking but more words than nonstructured conversations. Some gender and age differences were found. More interactive conflict conversations contained higher levels of affiliation, and lower levels of child shame than conversations with fewer turns or higher mother dominance. In addition, children in more interactive dyads possessed a larger percentage of their mother's AIDS knowledge, and worried about AIDS a moderate amount.This research was supported by National Institutes of Child Health and Human Development Grant No. HD27035.Received M.A. from UCLA. Current research interests include parent-adolescent relationships, adolescent peer relations, and adolescent sexuality.Received Ph.D. from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. Major research interest is in parent-adolescent communication and emotional development.Received Ph.D. from Boston University. Major research interest is in parent-child affective communication.     

Individual characteristics, institutional incentives and electoral abstention in Western Europe

Abstract. This article examines the interaction between individual characteristics and institutional incentives in non–voting, with a special focus on the interaction between these two types of explanatory variables. The analysis of survey and contextual data for parliamentary elections in 15 Western European countries shows that the effect of individual resources and motivations on abstention is not constant across different countries. Conversely, the effect of institutional incentives (compulsory voting, voting facilities, electoral thresholds of representation and preference expression) on non–voting depends on the elector's level of resources and motivations. One of the four institutional incentives considered has even opposite effects for citizens with different individual characteristics. The analysis also shows that when analysing interactions it is fundamental to distinguish between magnitudes and consequences of the effects of explanatory variables. This has important implications for the interpretation of the results of logistic regression analysis.     

The Political Economy of Border Checkpoints in Shadow Exchanges

ABSTRACT

This introductory article revisits cross-border shadow exchanges in a comparative perspective and reflects on their theoretical implications. It explores the diversities and complexities of shadow operations and critically examines the concept of informality that is commonly used to describe such non-state-sanctioned practices. It further underlines the key role played by checkpoint politics in border governance. Border checkpoints serve both as a state institution in regulating border crossings as well as a political site where material and power exchanges among state and non-state actors are negotiated. Such negotiation of selective passage through state-controlled gateways is often predicated upon the skilful manipulation of time and space by experienced traders and brokers.     

Interpretation of Unilateral Acts in International Law

The article explores the question of interpretation of unilateral acts in international law both from the perspective of ascertaining their binding force (law determination) and from the perspective of ascertaining their content (content determination). It argues that the objective intention of the author to be bound is what distinguishes binding commitments of unilateral origin from non-binding ones. In turn, this involves the interpretation of a unilateral act in accordance with its content and the circumstances surrounding its making. In practice, the use of clear and specific wording in conjunction with a set of contextual indicators are indicia of the intention to create a binding unilateral commitment. Against this backdrop, the article continues by addressing the question of interpretation of unilateral acts from the standpoint of ascertaining their content. It shows that the text of the act is the primary consideration in determining its content—and that its context as well as the circumstances surrounding its making are also interpretative elements that need to be taken into account. Due to the unilateral origin of these acts the interpretative rule applicable to international agreements can only be used as a point of reference when it comes to interpreting the content of these acts. In this light, the article concludes that more practice is needed in order to elucidate the exact role and weight that should be ascribed to non-textual elements in the context of interpreting unilateral acts. At the same time, the article argues in favour of adopting a broader approach to the concept of ‘interpretation’ in international law. Viewing interpretation not merely as content determination but also as law ascertainment allows us to better assess the persuasive value of arguments in favour or against certain interpretative rules when practice is scant—as is the case with unilateral acts.

     

Assessing callous–unemotional traits in adolescent offenders: Validation of the Inventory of Callous–Unemotional Traits

The presence of callous–unemotional (CU) traits designates an important subgroup of antisocial youth. To improve upon existing measures, the Inventory of Callous–Unemotional Traits (ICU) was developed to provide an efficient, reliable, and valid assessment of CU traits in samples of youth. The current study tests the factor structure and correlates of the ICU scale in a sample (n = 248) of juvenile offenders (188 boys, 60 girls) between the ages of 12 and 20 (M = 15.47, SD = 1.37). Confirmatory factor analyses are consistent with the presence of three independent factors (i.e., Uncaring, Callousness, and Unemotional) that relate to a higher-order callous–unemotional dimension. Also, CU traits overall showed associations with aggression, delinquency, and both psychophysiological and self-report indices of emotional reactivity. There were some important differences across the three facets of the ICU in their associations with these key external criteria.     

The Future of Public Administration in Denmark: Projections, Prospects and High Hopes

Public Administration research in Denmark has a relatively short history. It was first initiated in the 1970s and was developed from public law. However, from an initial homogeneity it has become increasingly pluralistic in its approach due to three factors: a strong orientation towards the study of institutional reform in the public sector, inspiration from the international literature and the specific institutional set up of the academic community that divides it into separate schools. It is possible to distinguish three trends in today's Danish Public Administration research. These trends are inspired by historical institutionalism, rational choice institutionalism and sociological institutionalism, respectively. What is needed in the future is an increased dialogue between these trends. The purpose of the dialogue should not be to reach for a new homogeneity but to increase the critical debate among different schools in order to increase the general quality of public administration research in Denmark.     

Understanding public agency communication: the case of the Swedish armed forces

This article suggests a diagnostic framework of public communication intended to capture new communication strategies used by Armed Forces across Europe to legitimize new tasks and recruit new personnel. Three distinct communicative models that impact differently on democratic values and public support are suggested: an Old Public Administration (OPA) model influenced by bureaucratic values, a New Public Management (NPM) model fuelled by market values and a deliberative model labelled ‘New Public Service’ (NPS) that is largely influenced by proponents of ‘e‐democracy’. A case study of the communication of the Swedish Armed Forces identifies a lingering bureaucratic (OPA) ideal. The market ideal (NPM) however clearly dominates. The article concludes that communication along market purposes, principles and practices risks distancing Armed Forces further from society. Yet, an embryonic deliberative ideal (NPS)—much fuelled by the use of social media such as blogs—was also identified. This growing ideal holds the potential of infusing deliberative vigor into the organization and presumably facilitates the bridging of the gap to society. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.