Sex Equality in Social Protection: New Institutionalist Perspectives on Allocation of Competence

This article examines the development of regulation in the European Union (EU) of sex equality in social protection. It applies research methodologies suggested by 'new institutionalist' and 'historical institutionalist' perspectives on European integration. It does not aim to replace existing accounts, but simply to add an additional perspective to the analysis. The article suggests that new insights can be gained by observing the impact of the question of 'division of competence' on the issue of regulation of sex equality in social protection by the EU. The focus on division of competence illuminates relationships between institutions involved in the process of policy formation and implementation, especially the European Commission and the European Court of Justice. It may also illuminate policy outcomes and the directions in which the EU's sex equality law (and possibly social law more generally) has developed and may develop in the future.     

Violence Among Young Adults Receiving Housing Assistance: Vouchers,Race, and Transitions Into Adulthood

Scholarly literature has been very attentive to violence among adolescents whose families receive vouchers. Yet, it provides little information about violence among the more than 400,000 very young adults who head households that receive vouchers. This article explores this relationship, paying particular attention to life course considerations and racial context. Data on 18–22-year-olds, numbering 208, who received housing assistance and participated in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 in 2002 indicate that normative theoretical models may not accurately capture the relationship between the transition to adulthood and violence within this group. Results also suggest that among those who experience violence, receipt of a voucher is associated with lower levels of violence, but not for Black recipients. Both voucher triage services for those experiencing violence, and housing advocate services for Black heads of household may be especially useful within this population of very young adults.     

Inevitable recidivism--the origin and centrality of an urban legend

This paper examines the pervasive conviction that sex offenders - particularly child molesters - will continue to re-offend. This belief in inevitable recidivism turns out to be absolutely essential to both the justification for, and the structure of, the sexually violent predator laws. When actual evidence of sex offender recidivism is examined, however, a huge gap exists between what is assumed and what the data actually show because most sex offenders do not in fact re-offend. Thus there is a galaxy of sexually violent predator laws and an entire branch of Supreme Court jurisprudence that is founded upon a demonstrable urban legend.     

The tangled web: does the internet offer promise or peril for the Chinese Communist Party?

This paper seeks to address the divide between political rhetoric and reality on the question of the impact of the Internet on China. Many politicians and pundits steadfastly promote the Internet as a conduit for democracy, without empirical proof to support their statements. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the debate over information technology and the Internet in China. The Chinese Communist Party is employing a number of approaches to control the Internet, from introducing numerous regulations to encouraging self‐censorship, with some success. This paper will examine state‐coordinated measures to control the use of the Internet, look at how the Internet could be making CCP rule more effective, and consider the validity of the argument that the Internet represents a threat to CCP rule.