Prostitution in Denmark: Research and Neo-liberal Public Debates

Prostitution is a worldwide phenomenon, and so are the controversies surrounding it. In Denmark, as in many countries, there is an ongoing public debate about whether it should be seen as a social/political problem, or as a job like any other. The debate takes place within the tension between welfare state discourses and neo-liberal discourses.     

Weight-Related Teasing in the School Environment: Associations with Psychosocial Health and Weight Control Practices Among Adolescent Boys and Girls

Weight-related teasing has been found to be associated with low self-esteem, depressive symptoms, body dissatisfaction, and weight control behaviors in adolescents. While research has typically examined weight-related teasing directed towards the individual, little is known about weight-related teasing at the school level. This study aimed to determine the association between the school-level prevalence of weight-related teasing and psychosocial factors, body dissatisfaction and weight control behaviors in adolescents. Adolescents (N = 2,793; 53.2 % female) attending 20 US public middle and high schools were surveyed as part of the Eating and Activity in Teens (EAT) 2010 study. Generalized estimating equations were used to estimate the association between school-level weight-related teasing and health variables, controlling for individual-level weight-related teasing, clustering of individuals within schools, and relevant covariates. A greater school-level prevalence of weight-related teasing was associated with lower self-esteem and greater body fat dissatisfaction in girls, and greater depressive symptoms in boys, over and above individual-level weight-related teasing. Dieting was associated with the school-level prevalence of weight-related teasing in analysis adjusted for covariates in girls, but not following adjustment for individual-level weight-related teasing. Unhealthy weight control behaviors, extreme weight control behaviors, and muscle-enhancing behaviors were not associated with the school-level prevalence of weight-related teasing in girls or boys. Findings from the current study, in conjunction with previous findings showing associations between weight-related teasing, psychological concerns, and weight control behaviors, highlight the importance of implementing strategies to decrease weight-related teasing in schools.     

Agrarian transformation in the Russian breadbasket: contemporary trends as manifest in Stavropol'

A team of US and Russian geographers combines field observations with satellite imagery in an examination of how major trends in Russian agriculture are manifest in one of Russia's most productive agricultural regions: Stavropol' Kray. A nationwide pattern of agricultural consolidation during the 1990s (featuring rural depopulation and a reduction in cultivated area and herd sizes upon the termination of Soviet-era subsidization levels) has had decidedly different outcomes in different parts of the vast Russian countryside. This paper – using Stavropol' as a surrogate for regions which by physical attributes, location, and human capital are best positioned to support agricultural activity – identifies a number of developments that may signal a new growth trajectory for agriculture in Russia: evolving specialization of former socialized farms in response to market conditions (in Stavropol' involving the shrinkage of animal husbandry and the release of surplus labor); increased levels of absentee (corporate) ownership of farmland in the more favorable locations; decoupling of the economic fate of large farms (success) from local municipal budgets (deficiency); and the expansion of non-Russian ethnic communities in the countryside, with attendant land use changes.     

Family Financial Stress and Adolescent Sexual Risk-Taking: The Role of Self-Regulation

The ability to control one’s emotions, thoughts, and behaviors is known as self-regulation. Family stress and low adolescent self-regulation have been linked with increased engagement in risky sexual behaviors, which peak in late adolescence and early adulthood. The purpose of this study was to assess whether adolescent self-regulation, measured by parent and adolescent self-report and respiratory sinus arrhythmia, mediates or moderates the relationship between family financial stress and risky sexual behaviors. We assessed these relationships in a 4-year longitudinal sample of 450 adolescents (52 % female; 70 % white) and their parents using structural equation modeling. Results indicated that high family financial stress predicts engagement in risky sexual behaviors as mediated, but not moderated, by adolescent self-regulation. The results suggest that adolescent self-regulatory capacities are a mechanism through which proximal external forces influence adolescent risk-taking. Promoting adolescent self-regulation, especially in the face of external stressors, may be an important method to reduce risk-taking behaviors as adolescents transition to adulthood.     

Ideas and Ideals of Secular Masculinity in William of Malmesbury 1

This article explores the presentation of secular masculinity in two key works written by the twelfth century Benedictine monk, William of Malmesbury. It considers ideas and ideals of masculinity through the display of certain attributes including violence, sexuality and the use of speech in order to arrive at a definition of what Malmesbury himself considered to be ideal secular masculine behaviour. Central to each of these attributes, in Malmesbury’s eyes, was the notion of restraint. This ideal is linked to the importance of restraint in masculine ideals of late antiquity as well as issues specific to the eleventh and twelfth centuries especially developing notions of chivalry and courtliness. Malmesbury’s portrayal of Henry I is central to the paper as it not only reveals how complex Malmesbury’s presentation of Henry actually is but it also provides insight into the ideals of masculinity by which he – and others – judged him.     

HCR-20 violence risk assessments as a guide for treating and managing violence risk in a forensic psychiatric setting

Abstract

Over the past decades there has been a vast development in the research into risk factors for violence and the development of risk assessment instruments. One instrument that has been given special attention is the HCR-20 violence risk assessment scheme. However, little attention has been paid to the clinical applicability of this tool, i.e. how does this assessment scheme perform when utilized in clinical practice as a tool to guide intervention and management in order to alleviate risk of violent behaviour? The present study was a true prospective study into the utilization of the HCR-20 as a clinical routine. Data on forensic psychiatric patients (n = 81) from a forensic unit in Denmark are presented. As part of a clinical routine all patients were assessed for risk of future violence utilizing the structured professional judgement model, the HCR-20. Outcome measures were aggressive episodes during hospitalization and new convictions post discharge. The predictive validity of the HCR-20 was lower compared with previous findings. It is argued that this does not necessarily indicate poor predictive accuracy of the HCR-20. Rather, it may indicate that the HCR-20 is suitable for guiding risk management in order to prevent violent behaviour.     

New Institutional Arrangements for Rural Development: The Case of Local Woolgrowers' Associations in the Transkei Area,South Africa

Until recently, smallholder farmers in the Transkei area had very limited access to a profitable market outlet for their wool. In response, the South African wool industry built shearing sheds, managed by a local association that sells directly to the brokers. This article investigates the effect of joint wool marketing through the shearing shed on the farmers' revenue from wool. A three-step regression model of the revenue from wool indicates that the farmers selling through the shearing shed obtain better financial results as compared to those who use alternative channels. This analysis shows how new institutional arrangements may contribute to economic development.     

Comprehensive Performance Assessment and Public Services Improvement in England? A Case Study of the Benefits Administration Service in Local Government

The purpose of this paper is to independently evaluate the impact of the Comprehensive Performance Assessment regime on one particular public service, namely the provision of council tax and housing benefits distributed by local authorities throughout the course of the regime. This service was assessed in every iteration of the CPA methodologies and it included one of the few key performance indicators (KPIs) where the definition of the performance indicator, the means of collection and the public reporting of its results, remained the same throughout the CPA period between 2002 and 2008.

The findings show that there were considerable and consistent improvements in benefits administration nationally within England and across all of its regions. The paper then investigates a series of propositions. Whether there was any significant variations in the performance of larger as opposed to smaller authorities, or between predominantly rural authority areas and urban authorities or between authorities with different party political control. Finding no significant differences the research suggests implementation of the CPA regime itself appears to have had a catalytic effect upon the performance of the benefit administration services within local authorities throughout this period. The paper therefore concludes with a brief discussion as to whether the findings support the theoretical position of proponents of neo-institutionalism isomorphism or more traditional rational actor theories of public choice.