Global Trade Policy Development in a Two-Track System

The World Bank identifies two trends within the internationaltrading system: multilateral negotiations sponsored by GATT/WTObased on evolving rules grounded in non-discrimination, andbilateral and regional negotiations between nations that reducetrade barriers on a reciprocal and preferential basis. Thisarticle asks how we might enhance the global trade policy developmentprocess through interaction and coordination between these twotrade policy development systems. It seeks an understandingof the nature of bilateral trade negotiations so that we cancompare bilateral and WTO-sponsored multilateral processes.In so doing, we can observe how these two systems naturallyinteract thus enabling us to consider how that interaction maybe better designed to enhance the international trade policydevelopment system. After examining current trends in bilateraland regional trade negotiations, this article considers theopportunities and challenges of a two-track system for developingtrade policy by examining bilateral trade negotiations conductedby Australia, Singapore and the United States. The article concludeswith observations that may assist in re-framing the currentdebate over bilateral and multilateral trade negotiations andincludes recommendations for the effective management of a two-tracktrade policy development system.     

Design of an algorithm to identify persons with mental illness in a police administrative database

North American police maintain a database to track events and information related to their involvement with the public that contain a series of electronic caution/dependency flags attached to an individual's name for internal communication. To identify persons with mental illness in a police administrative database, an algorithm was developed that was composed of (a) caution/dependency flags, (b) addresses, and (c) key search words indicative of mental illness. Based on the level of confidence of the algorithm, persons with mental illness (PMI) were then assigned to one of three categories: Definite, Probable and Possible PMI. Results for 2000 include the sociodemographic characteristics of PMI and non-PMI in the database. The mean number of contacts, types of interactions, re-involvement with a year, charges and dispositions are described. The algorithm provides a cheap, quick method to identify PMI for North American police. It enables police to monitor the effectiveness of pre-arrest diversion programs and allows researchers to analyze questions of criminalization and mental illness.     

Personality differences between women police recruits, their male counterparts, and the general female population

Presently police manager and their recruiting staff are using an increasing number of screening tools including psychological testing during the hiring processes. Prior research suggests that gender is often ignored in the review of testing results. This could lead to problems in the interpretation of results. This research investigates the existence, if any, in the pre-socialization personality differences between male and female police recruits as well as between female police recruits and the general population of females. Subjects (N=104) were from a multi-agency training facility in a southern state. Subjects completed the MMPI-2 at the beginning of their police academy training to control for any socialization effects the training may have. The diagnostic clinical scales, the content scales, and the gender scales of the MMPI-2 were subjected to independent discriminant function analyses to determine if differences between male and female recruits exist. Scale 5 (Mf), GM, and GF were analyzed via t-tests to determine if differences between the female recruits and women in the normative sample exist. All discriminant functions were significant at the .05 level. Scales that differentiated male and female recruits were: Ma (Scale 9), ASP, FRS, BIZ, Mf (Scale, 5), and GF. Female recruits differed from the female normative sample on only GF (recruits were lower). It is suggested that future research focus on the predictive power of the content scales for continuation in the police field. It is also suggested that future research investigate the flexibility of the gender constructs throughout the policing career. Author Notes: Send all enquires to Larry A. Gould, Ph.D., Dept. of Criminal Justice, Northern Arizona Univerity, Box 15005, Flagstaff, AZ 86011-5005. 1. A special thank you is given to Northern Arizona University for providing the funding of the parent project from which this research was accomplished. I also wish to extend my gratitude to those whose time and effort went into the collection and computer entry of the data—Dr. Larry Gould and Rachel Rowland. In addition, I would like to thank Dr. Clay Moore for the statistical “chats”.     

More Than a Just a Game: Video Game and Internet Use During Emerging Adulthood

The purpose of this study was to gain a clearer understanding of the pattern of video game and internet use among college students and to examine how electronic leisure was related to risk behaviors (i.e., drinking, drug use, sex), perceptions of the self (i.e., self worth and social acceptance), and relationships with others (i.e., relationship quality with parents and friends). Participants included 813 undergraduate students (500 young women, 313 young men, M age = 20, SD = 1.87) who were mainly European American (79%), unmarried (100%) and living outside their parents’ home (90%). Results suggested that (a) video game use was linked to negative outcomes for men and women, (b) different patterns of video game and internet use existed for men and women and (c) there were different relations to risk behaviors, feelings about the self, and relationship quality based on the type of internet use, and based on gender. The discussion focuses on the implications of electronic leisure on the overall health and development of young people as they transition to adulthood.     

Associations Between Violent Video Gaming,Empathic Concern,and Prosocial Behavior Toward Strangers,Friends, and Family Members

Exposure to media violence, including violent video gaming, can have a cognitive desensitization effect, lowering empathic concern for others in need. Since emerging adulthood offers increased opportunities to volunteer, strengthen relationships, and initiate new relationships, decreases in empathic concern and prosocial behavior may prove inhibitive to optimal development during this time. For these reasons, the current study investigated associations between violent video gaming, empathic responding, and prosocial behavior enacted toward strangers, friends, and family members. Participants consisted of 780 emerging adults (M age = 19.60, SD = 1.86, range = 18–29, 69% female, 69% Caucasian) from four universities in the United States. Results showed small to moderate effects between playing violent video gaming and lowered empathic concern for both males and females. In addition, lowered empathic concern partially mediated the pathways between violent video gaming and prosocial behavior toward all three targets (at the level of a trend for females), but was most strongly associated with lower prosocial behavior toward strangers. Discussion highlights how violent video gaming is associated with lower levels of prosocial behavior through the mechanism of decreased empathic concern, how this association can affect prosocial behavior differently across target, and finally what implications this might have for development during emerging adulthood.     

Measuring Innovativeness of Public Organizations: Using Natural Language Processing Techniques in Computer-Aided Textual Analysis

We propose a new method for measuring innovativeness in the public sector using natural language processing techniques. Our approach extends traditional content analysis techniques by combining insights from linguistic theory and recent developments in computational techniques. We develop and employ phrase-level data dictionaries (using both noun phrases and verb phrases) from organizational documents. We use letters to the board of education from a sample of New Jersey school districts to develop measures of innovativeness—one measure is based on expert assessments and the other is inductively derived. We perform rigorous tests of content validity, external validity, and predictive validity on these measures. We conclude with a discussion of implications of this new measurement approach and its potential applications to other public management contexts.