Bullying in Context: An Analysis of Psychosomatic Complaints Among Adolescents in Stockholm

Using multilevel modeling, this study examined how different types of bullying, involving both peers and teachers, relate to psychosomatic health complaints. Data were obtained via the Stockholm School Survey from 41,032 ninth- and eleventh-grade students in the years 2004, 2006, 2008, and 2010. Results showed that students involved in bullying as either a bully, a victim, or both a bully and a victim displayed poorer psychosomatic health than those not involved in bullying. Victims of peer-bullying also reported significantly poorer health than perpetrators. Two class-aggregated measures of bullying remained positively associated with ninth-grade student health complaints even when their individual-level analogues were taken into account. Thus, both the proportion of victims of teacher-bullying and peer-bullying in the school class appeared to generate health problems that go beyond the directly exposed students. However, an interaction revealed that the latter association was confined to female students only.     

Institutional Characteristics and Regime Survival: Why Are Semi‐Democracies Less Durable Than Autocracies and Democracies?

Previous studies report that semi‐democratic regimes are less durable than both democracies and autocracies. Still, mixing democratic and autocratic characteristics need not destabilize regimes, as three highly plausible alternative explanations of this correlation remain unaccounted for: (a) semi‐democracies emerge under conditions of political instability and social turmoil; (b) other regime characteristics explain duration; and (c) extant democracy measures do not register all regime changes. We elaborate on and test for these explanations, but find strikingly robust evidence that semi‐democracies are inherently less durable than both democracies and autocracies. “Semi‐democracies are particularly unstable political regimes” should thus be considered a rare stylized fact of comparative politics. The analysis yields several other interesting results. For instance, autocracies and semi‐democracies are equally likely to experience “liberalizing” regime changes more specifically, and once accounting for differences in degree of democracy, there is no robust evidence of differences in duration between military and single‐party regimes.     

Why Some Adolescents Are Open To Their Parents’ Political Communication

This study examines the conditions that make adolescents open to their parents’ attempts at political socialization. Based on a reformulation of the perceptual accuracy argument, that parents’ messages are filtered through correct perceptions of these messages by adolescents, the study suggests that adolescents who accurately recognize their parents’ high political sophistication are particularly likely to attend to and be open to their parents’ political communication. This proposition was tested using cluster analysis of a sample of 505 Swedish upper-secondary students and their parents (51% girls; Mage?=?16.56, SD?=?0.67). The analysis yielded two clusters where adolescents correctly identified (26%) and failed to correctly identify (22%) their parents’ high political sophistication, and three clusters where both parents and adolescents reported low or medium parental political sophistication (10%, 11%, and 32%). In confirmation of the hypothesis, members of the cluster group of adolescents who correctly recognized their parents’ high political sophistication were particularly aware of parents’ political socialization attempts and receptive to parents’ political communication. Moreover, these youth considered their parents’ political views as important and, accordingly, seemed to perceive their parents as political role models.

     

Revisiting Representation: Communism,Women in Politics,and the Decline of Armed Conflict in East Asia

This research note evaluates one of the commonly used measurements for political gender equality: representation of women in parliaments. It demonstrates that caution is called for when interpreting results where this variable is used, because parliamentary representation implies different things in different settings. Societies with more women in parliament tend to have fewer intrastate armed conflicts. We investigate this statistical association with a particular focus on East Asia. This region has seen a shift from extremely intense warfare to low levels of battle deaths at roughly the same time as great strides have been made in the representation of women in parliaments. This research note shows, however, that this statistical association is driven by authoritarian communist regimes promoting gender equality as a part of communist ideology, and these countries’ representative chambers have little influence over politics. Using statistical tests and empirical illustrations from East Asia, the note concludes that the political representation of women is an invalid indicator of political gender equality in East Asia. There is thus a need for nuance in assessing the picture painted in earlier research. In addition, the suggestion that more women in parliament will lead to fewer armed conflicts runs the risk of being forwarded as an oversimplified solution to a complex problem, and we briefly discuss the instrumentalization of gender equality in peace and security studies.     

Sexual Harassment in the Norwegian Theatre World

ABSTRACT

The aim of this article is to provide insight into the phenomenon of sexual harassment in the theatre world. A survey among Norwegian actors is presented showing that sexual harassment is much more prevalent in the theatre world than in Norwegian work life in general. Further, the article aims at understanding why the prevalence is as high as it is. Based on qualitative interviews, the article points out some risk factors that shed light on the high prevalence of sexual harassment. Lastly, the risk factors are related to charismatic authority as an important power base in the theatre world.     

The violence relapse process – a qualitative analysis of high-risk situations and risk communication in mentally disordered offenders

Abstract

Approximately 45% of mentally disordered offenders relapse into violence. Although much is known about factors related to the risk of future violence, the violence relapse process is still in many aspects an unexplored area. The aim of this study was to increase the knowledge of the recidivism process and risk communication of the repeatingly violent mentally disordered offender. A qualitative study using open-ended, semi-structured interviews was conducted with 14 mentally disordered offenders who had relapsed into violent behaviour. Important risk markers, pointed out by the informants, such as separations, drug problems, homelessness, and lack of sleep, were presented in a situational context. All but one of the informants were of the opinion that they directly or indirectly had communicated their violent intent or the experience of an intolerable situation. These results may help practitioners to target interventions and prevent further violence.     

Strategic Management in the Public Sector: How Tools Enable and Constrain Strategy Making

ABSTRACT

Strategic management (SM) has become prominent on the agenda in several public organizations due to new public management (NPM) reforms. Nevertheless, there are few studies investigating how public organizations apply SM in practice and what tools are used. As a result, calls have been made for such studies. This article can be seen as an attempt to meet this call by presenting a qualitative case study of how SM has been applied in the Swedish Transport Administration (STA), a central government agency in Sweden, and what tools it used in strategy making. By analyzing the micro processes of strategizing at STA, our results indicate that public organizations need to be aware of at least three specific tensions that can enable or constrain strategy making. These tensions are: short v. long-term, parts v. whole, and reactivity v. proactivity.     

Road Infrastructure and Enterprise Dynamics in Ethiopia

We analyse the relationship between road infrastructure quality and the location choice and entry size of manufacturing firms in Ethiopia. We use GIS-based panel data on town-level measures of road infrastructure and census-based panel data on firms. Our dataset covers a period of considerable improvements in road infrastructure as a result of major public investments. We find that local infrastructure is important for entry, while more extensive market connectivity is important for the entry of large firms. We conclude that improved infrastructure has been associated with favourable outcomes with respect to entry patterns and firm size in Ethiopia’s manufacturing sector.     

Freedom of choice,gender equality,or employment promotion? Finnish party positions on childcare in the light of election manifestos 2015

The principle of freedom of choice in childcare matters has been a central element of Finnish family policy since the 1980s and is something that makes the country unique in an international comparison. One the one hand, this principle has been manifested as a legislated right for parents, notably mothers, to choose paid work supported by the use of public childcare. On the other hand, it has also given parents with children under three the right to stay at home with their children and to receive a child home care allowance during this period. This dualism has been widely popular among parents and has also been seen by most leading parties as something that is good for families. However, since the outbreak of the international financial crisis, this system has faced increasing criticism from some experts and politicians, which has made the principle of freedom of choice, and especially the child home care allowance/leave, susceptible to renegotiation. This article investigates how the principle of freedom of choice was politicized by eight leading parties during the Finnish parliamentary election campaign in 2015, through an analysis of election manifestos. First, we analyse to what extent this principle was politicized, and by whom. Secondly, we study how the principle was framed. The findings show that the principle of freedom of choice was a rather politicized topic, creating a cleavage between conservative and leftist/liberal parties. Moreover, they indicate a renegotiation of this principle in favour of higher parental employment promotion and gender equality.