Community violence to prison assault: A test of the behavioral continuity hypothesis

This large-scale study (N = 23,277) investigated the relationship between criminal history in the community and serious or assaultive prison misconduct, while controlling for the effects of inmate characteristics, general criminality, and custody level. Community violence variables included the rate of prior violent crime arrests and the types of prior violent crime, as well as a range of specific violent crimes of conviction. Behavioral continuity from community to prison was neither simple nor intuitively discernible, depending on the type, recency, and pattern of community criminality. Application of logistic regression models revealed that the omnibus measure of the rate of prior violent arrests was not related to either serious or assaultive prison misconduct. Prior arrests for assault and current convictions for robbery and/or assault, but not prior or current homicides, were associated with an increased risk for prison violence. Current conviction for a sexual assault had the strongest inverse relationship to prison violence, while prior arrests for sexual assault showed no relationship to prison violence. A more "nuanced" approach in assigning risk ratings based on prior criminal history and seriousness of offense is recommended. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).     

A Tale of Two Fears: Exploring Media Depictions of Nuclear Power and Global Warming

Advanced technologies like nuclear power and looming environmental threats such as global climate change present major policy challenge for modern cultures. Public policy about such crucial and complex issues depends on public attitudes, which, in turn, tend to be strongly affected by mass media coverage. How “well” has the mass media portrayed these two evolving risk stories? Employing perspectives from both journalism and social science, this article will first review the history of mass media coverage of each topic, then analyze their differences.     

Sweden

European Journal of Political Research -     

Controlling corruption in city-states: A comparative study of Hong Kong and Singapore

This comparative study of anti-corruption strategies in Singapore and Hong Kong has four sections. The first two sections focus on the anti-corruption strategies adopted by both city-states with emphasis on the legislative and institutional measures. The third section discusses the similarities and differences in the anti-corruption strategies and evaluates their effectiveness. The final section identifies the six lessons which other countries can learn from the experiences of Singapore and Hong Kong in curbing corruption.Revised version of paper presented at the Third International Conference on Ethics in the Public Service on Corruption in a Changing World: Comparisons, Theories and Controlling Strategies, in Jerusalem, June 6–11, 1993. I would like to thank Professor Ian Scott, Head of the Department of Political Science, University of Hong Kong, for sending me materials on the ICAC and Hong Kong's anti-corruption strategy, and Professor Michael Johnston for his useful comments on the paper.