Identifying Predictors for Children Witnessing Intimate Partner Violence

Research has shown that intimate partner violence (IPV) prevalence and severity is higher and IPV duration is longer among couples that have children. Women frequently report that their children are the reason why they stay, leave, or return to an IPV relationship. Our study used results from a two-wave telephone survey to determine what IPV-associated factors were significant predictors of respondents’ children witnessing IPV, as well as estimating prevalence of children’s exposure to violence. We found that an increase in respondents’ age was significantly associated with increased odds of a child being exposed to violence. We also found that children witnessing violence were almost twice as likely to have mothers who reported leaving abusers. We hypothesize that increasing age corresponds to improved confidence in help-seeking behaviors. Our findings represent an important first step for future research on understanding how children influence IPV victims’ decision-making in seeking out service providers for help.     

The impact of within-party and between-party ideological dispersion on fiscal outcomes: evidence from Swiss cantonal parliaments

The impact of the fragmentation of executive and legislative bodies on the level and composition of government expenditure is a feature of politics that has attracted considerable attention from economists. However, previous authors have abstracted from two important concepts: ideology and intra-party politics. In this paper, we account for these two phenomena explicitly, and make two main contributions. First, we show that both intra- and inter-party ideological dispersion matter in explaining the level of sub-national public spending. Therefore, it is improper to consider parties as monolithic entities. We also show that ideological dispersion matters especially for current expenditures, and not so much for investment expenditures. To do so, we construct a panel database (2003–2010) comprising data from a survey that quantifies the policy preferences of party members who were candidates in Swiss elections.     

Anthropological Facial Approximation in Three Dimensions (AFA3D): Computer‐Assisted Estimation of the Facial Morphology Using Geometric Morphometrics

This study presents Anthropological Facial Approximation in Three Dimensions (AFA3D), a new computerized method for estimating face shape based on computed tomography (CT) scans of 500 French individuals. Facial soft tissue depths are estimated based on age, sex, corpulence, and craniometrics, and projected using reference planes to obtain the global facial appearance. Position and shape of the eyes, nose, mouth, and ears are inferred from cranial landmarks through geometric morphometrics. The 100 estimated cutaneous landmarks are then used to warp a generic face to the target facial approximation. A validation by re‐sampling on a subsample demonstrated an average accuracy of c. 4 mm for the overall face. The resulting approximation is an objective probable facial shape, but is also synthetic (i.e., without texture), and therefore needs to be enhanced artistically prior to its use in forensic cases. AFA3D, integrated in the TIVMI software, is available freely for further testing.     

A classification framework for out-of-home advertising media in South Africa

Abstract

Out-of-home (OOH) advertising media have expanded worldwide and the shape and format of these media globally, as well as in South Africa, have changed considerably. Until recently, the OOH advertising media landscape consisted primarily of outdoor advertising or billboards reaching vehicular traffic, but now has expanded to include a wide range of OOH advertising media types which aim to reach a mobile audience wherever they live, work, play, drive, shop or commute. Currently there is no coherent contemporary framework to compare and select the most effective media options to reach a selected target market in a specific OOH audience environment. This article draws from academic and practitioner sources to propose a classification framework for OOH advertising media in South Africa comprising four major platforms: outdoor advertising, transit media advertising, street-and-retail furniture advertising, and digital and ambient OOH media channels. The framework serves to inform marketers of viable and cost-effective traditional and contemporary OOH advertising media options. It also indicates what platforms are appropriate to reach specific audiences effectively in a variety of environments outside their homes. This is the first framework of its kind for the South African context that offers an orderly, integrated basis for future research.     

Analysing political ideas and political action

Abstract

This paper examines the relevance of Boltanski and Thévenot's newly translated book, On justification, to the analysis of political ideas and political action. While situating the work of the authors within its initial intellectual context, namely the ‘economics of conventions’, it shows that one of the key contributions of the ‘sociology of justification’ lies in the answers it brings to two fundamental, as yet unresolved, questions in political science and political sociology: first, how is it possible to identify those ideas which are politically relevant? Second, how is it possible to capture the dynamics of public ideas? After outlining the sources of the quandaries faced within political science and political sociology as regards these two questions, the conceptual framework of Boltanski and Thévenot is presented and explained, and research perspectives suggested. This article argues that On justification provides a highly engaging, stimulating and empirically useful contribution to current debates in social and political theory around the dynamics of political arguments and ideas.     

The two faces of contemporary Eurasianism: an imperial version of Russian nationalism

Stephen Blank, The Sorcerer as Apprentice: Stalin as Commissar of Nationalities, 1917–1924. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1994, ix, 295 pp.

Coit D. Blacker, Hostage to Revolution: Gorbachev and Soviet security policy, 1985–1991, New York: Council on Foreign Relations Press, 1993, xviii, 239 pp.

John E. Tedstrom (ed.), Socialism, Perestroika and the Dilemmas of Soviet Economic Reform. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 1990, xix., 239 pp.

Hall Gardner, Surviving the Millennium: American global strategy, the collapse of the Soviet empire, and the question of peace. Westport, Conneticut, London: Praeger, 1994, xiv, 263 pp.

Richard G. Robbins, Jr., The Tsar's Viceroys: Russian provincial governors in the last years of the empire. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 1987, xiv, 249 pp.

Anthony L. H. Rhinelander, Prince Michael Vorontsov: viceroy to the tsar. Montreal, Quebec: McGill‐Queen's University Press, 1990, viii, 279 pp., illus.

George Nekrasov, North of Gallipoli: the Black Sea fleet at war 1914–1917. East European Monographs, No. CCCXLIII; distributed by Columbia University Press, New York, 1992, vi, 167 pp. + appendices, 12 plates and 45 photographs.

Frederick Starr (ed.), The Legacy of History in Russia and the New States of Eurasia. The International Politics of Eurasia. Armonk, New York: M. E. Sharpe, 1994, xiii, 313 pp.

Gail W. Lapidus (ed.), The New Russia: troubled transformation. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 1995, 280 pp.

Donald D. Barry (ed.), Toward the “Rule of Law” in Russia? Political and Legal Reform in the Transition Period. Armonk, New York: M. E. Sharpe, 1992, 402 pp.

Deborah Anne Palmieri (ed.), Russia and the NIS in the World Economy: East‐West investment, financing, and trade. Westport, Connecticut: Praeger Publishers, 1994, 180 pp. + chronology, selected bibliograph, and index.

Joseph Held, Dictionary of East European History Since 1945. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1995, 497 pp. + index.

Janusz Bugajski, Ethnic Politics in Eastern Europe: a guide to nationality policies, organizations, and parties. Armonk, New York: M. E. Sharpe, 1994, xxvi, 493 pp. + map.

Jaroslav Pelikan, Confessor Between East and West: a portrait of Ukrainian Cardinal Josyf Slipyj. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdman's Publishing Company, 1990, xiv, 249 pp. + illus.

Rudolf A. Mark, Galizien unter österreichischer Herrschaft. Verwaltung‐Kirche‐Bevölkerung. Marburg: Historische und landeskundliche Ostmitteleuropa‐Studien, Bd. 13, 1994, 132 Seiten, 7 Karten.

Barbara Dotts Paul, The Polish‐German Borderlands: an annotated bibliography. Westwood, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1994, vi, 201 pp. [Bibliographies and Indices in World History, Number 35].

Bela Borsi‐Kalman, Hungarian Exiles and the Romanian National Movement, 1849–1867. Trans. by Eva Palmai. Highland Lakes, New Jersey: Atlantic Research and Publications, 1991.

Stanley B. Winters (ed.), Robert A. Kann. Dynasty, Politics, and Culture. Selected Essays. Boulder, Colorado: Social Science Monographs; distributed by Columbia University Press, 1991, xvi, 444 pp.

Spira, Thomas, The German‐Hungarian‐Swabian Triangle: the road to discord. Boulder, Colorado: East European Monographs, No. CCLXXXV. East European Quarterly, Distributed by Columbia University Press, 1990, iii, 275 pp. + bibliography and index.

Hugh Poulton, The Balkans: minorities and states in conflict. London: Minority Rights Group, 1993, x, 262 pp. + illus. and maps.

Georg Von Rauch, The Baltic States: the years of independence, 1917–1940. New York: St Martin's Press, 1994, xvii, 241 pp. + bibliography, appendices and index.

Mart Laar, War in the Woods, Estonia's Struggle for Survival. Translated from the Estonian by Tiina Ets, Washington, DC: The Compass Press, 1992, 272 pp. + illust.

Joan Serafin (ed.), East‐Central Europe in the 1990s, Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 1994, x, 256 pp.

Yuri Rost, Armenian Tragedy: an eye‐witness account of human conflict and natural disaster in Armenia and Azerbaijan, Foreword by Andrei Sakharov, translated by Elizabeth Roberts, New York: St. Martin's Press, 1990, xii, 193 pp.

Shafiqul Islam and Michael Mandelbaum (eds), Making Markets, New York: Council on Foreign Relations Press, 1993, ix, 238 pp. + illust.

Beatrice Manz (ed.), Central Asia in Historical Perspective, Boulder, Colorado: West‐view Press, 1994, 219 pp. + appendix, index.

H. B. Paksoy (ed.) Central Asia Reader: the rediscovery of history, Armonk, New York: M. E. Sharpe, 1994, ix, 200 pp. + index.

Ahmed Rashid, The Resurgence of Central Asia: Islam or nationalism?, Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey: Zed Books, 1994, v‐x., 252 pp. + appendix, bibliography, index.     

Measuring the Frequency Occurrence of Handwriting and Handprinting Characteristics,

The premise of this study was to take a valid population sampling of handwriting and handprinting and assess how many times each of the predetermined characteristic is found in the samples. Approximately 1500 handwriting specimens were collected from across the United States and pared to obtain a representative sample of the U.S. adult population according to selected demographics based on age, sex, ethnicity, handedness, education level, and location of lower‐grade school education. This study has been able to support a quantitative assessment of extrinsic and intrinsic effects in handwriting and handprinting for the six subgroups. Additional results include analyses of the interdependence of characteristics. This study found that 98.55% of handprinted characteristics and 97.39% of cursive characteristics had an independence correlation of under 0.2. The conclusions support use of the product rule in general, but with noted caveats. Finally, this study provides frequency occurrence proportions for 776 handwriting and handprinting characteristics.     

No iceberg in sight: on the absence of WTO disputes challenging fossil fuel subsidies

The empirical record of dispute settlement cases under World Trade Organization (WTO) rules on energy subsidies consists only of cases against renewable energy (RE) subsidies, whereas WTO members have not challenged others’ much larger and environmentally harmful fossil fuel subsidies. Yet, the WTO agreement on subsidies and countervailing measures would at first sight seem to create possibilities to forestall environmentally harmful subsidization. In this article, we assess possible explanations for the skewed distribution of energy subsidies dispute settlement complaints at the WTO. We argue that differences in legally relevant characteristics of fossil fuel subsidies, on the one hand, and RE subsidies, on the other hand, largely explain this observation. In the case of RE subsidies, in particular, the disputes filed to date have targeted a much narrower set of measures than the whole range of RE subsidies currently in place, namely those incorporating a local content requirement component. Although this finding is not new, we have probed into this question more systematically, both by widening the scope of the empirical analysis from actual to potential WTO disputes on energy-related policies the European Union and the USA might have initiated, and by systematically assessing the plausibility of alternative explanations.