FROM OBAMA TO ABBOTT

Abstract This article analyses how politicians' use of emotion is gendered. Key Australian, US and UK politicians studied include Obama, George W. Bush, Hillary Clinton, Cameron, Rudd, Abbott and Gillard. Emotions analysed range from fear to compassion. A particular focus is placed on issues of masculinity; however, the implications for constructions of both femininity and masculinity will be considered, including arguments that female politicians face particular problems in utilising emotion, for example, in projecting an image of being both tough and compassionate. It will be argued that it is not just that politicians' use of emotion intersects with issues of gender but that particular gendered identities are a key vehicle via which emotion is deployed. Consequently, the analysis contributes new insights to both the literature on the politics of emotion and the literature on masculinity and gender.     

Bullies, Gangs, Drugs, and School: Understanding the Overlap and the Role of Ethnicity and Urbanicity

Recent media attention has increased interest in behavioral, mental health, and academic correlates of involvement in bullying. Yet, there has not been much interest in investigating the co-occurrence of other health-risk behaviors, such as gang membership, weapon carrying, and substance use. The potential influence of contextual factors, such as youth ethnicity, urbanicity, and school characteristics, also has been overlooked in previous research. The current study examined different subtypes of involvement in bullying—as primarily a victim, as primarily a bully, as both a victim and bully, and no involvement—and the association with significant health-risk behaviors, including engaging in violence and substance use, as well as academic problems. The analyses use self-report data from 16,302 adolescents (50.3 % female, 62.2 % Caucasian, 37.8 % African American) enrolled in 52 high schools. A series of three-level HLM analyses revealed that bullies and bully/victims were generally at greatest of risk of being involved in violence, engaging in multiple types of substance use, and having academic problems. These findings extend prior research by emphasizing a potential link between involvement in bullying and multiple health-risk behaviors, particularly among urban and African American high school youth.     

A biomechanical study of the human vertebral artery with implications for fatal arterial injury

We studied the biomechanical behaviour of ring and strip specimens from along the length of 18 vertebral arteries taken from 16 subjects aged 28-90 years, in order to consider some of the factors which may play a role in vertebral artery rupture. The method was chosen to allow a comparison between circumferential distension (ring samples) and longitudinal extension, (strip samples). The samples were extended between the jaws of a tensile testing apparatus until the specimen broke and a number of biomechanical parameters were derived. These were the percentage extension to break, the tensile strength, Young's modulus and the peak load. There were a number of important findings. The vertebral artery was shown to be susceptible to longitudinal stretching with a number of strip samples breaking when extended by as little as 16-20%. The tensile strength and load at peak of the strip specimens were correspondingly lower than for the ring samples. Marked intersubject variations were shown for all these parameters and prominent changes in behaviour occurred along the vertebral artery. This study indicates that the artery may be susceptible to head and neck movements which cause the vessel to stretch, and intersubject variations in behaviour may be one important explanation for the marked differences in outcome which appear to exist in subjects who suffer broadly similar head and neck insults.     

Regulatory dynamism of environmental mobilization in urban China

In China, urban middle class mobilization against potential pollution risk has become increasingly common. This article examines this phenomenon through a detailed case study of a 2009 anti‐waste incinerator campaign in the Panyu District of Guangzhou, which culminated in a sizeable public protest and government U‐turn. This episode revealed tension between the narrow, state‐centered regulatory model fixated on end‐of‐pipe pollution control, and a much broader decentered approach advocated – and practiced – by project opponents, which incorporated public consultation and much greater emphasis on upstream waste reduction and sorting. In the process, the Panyu campaign progressed beyond a case of “regulation by escalation,” whereby beneficial regulations are belatedly enforced following populist pressure. Instead, it transformed into an open dialogue between a plurality of actors, including citizens, journalists, experts, and officials, about what regulation should constitute and who should determine acceptable levels of risk. By focusing on the processes through which regulatory issues emerged and changed during the Panyu campaign, this article highlights the regulatory dynamism of environmental mobilization in a context of regulatory uncertainty, and campaigns against “locally unwanted land uses” more broadly.     

Attitudes toward hate crime laws

The research reported here was a survey study exploring attitudes toward hate crime laws and possible causes of such attitudes. In a path model, which was supported by the data, it was found that the major factor determining acceptance or rejection of a hate crime law was whether or not homosexuals would be included as a protected group: those wanting inclusion supporting such a law, and those not wanting inclusion opposing such a law. Consistent with identity politics theory, the data-supported model further found that both social and economic liberals, and people who thought hate crimes created fear in other members of the victim's group, wanted homosexuals included in hate crime laws. Other findings, however, were inconsistent with the identity politics theory position that this movement was a united front. Other results from the data-supported model are also discussed and explanations are provided.     

Incidence and correlates of bulimic behavior in a female high school population

To investigate the incidence and correlates of bulimic behavior, 1268 high school females were surveyed. A 47-item questionnaire was used to identify a group of students that would meet the DSM-III criteria for a probable diagnosis of bulimia. Students were then compared across the four content areas of demographics; body perception and weight information; dieting, exercise and menstrual behavior; and frequency of bingeing and purging behavior. Results indicated that 4.9% of the students met rigorous criteria for the diagnosis of bulimia. Between-group comparisons indicated that body dissatisfaction, drive for thinness, and chronicity of dieting differentiated the two groups.This work was supported by Biomedical Research Grant #RR5476, the Sears Allstate Foundation, and the George and Tina Barr Foundation.Main interest is eating disorders.