Peer pressure and adolescent substance use

Peer influence is regarded as one of the strongest determinants of juvenile delinquency and particularly adolescent substance use. A commonly held view is that social pressure from friends to use drugs and alcohol is a major contributor to substance use. Yet the notion of peer pressure, implied by the association between peer-group associations and drug behavior, is seldom tested empirically. As a crucial test of the group pressure model, this research examines the role of peer pressure in mediating the effect of differential association on individual use. Moreover, few studies examine the nature of the relationship between peers and substance use as it relates to the processes leading toand from use. Drawing on differential association and social learning theories, our research specifies the social processes (socialization, group pressure, social selection, and rationalization) which dictate particular causal pathways leading to and from substance use and then estimates the reciprocal influences among differential association, social pressure from peers, attitudes favorable toward substance use, and individual use. Using the 1977–1979 National Youth Survey panel data, we estimate a covariance structural equation model allowing for correlated measurement error. In the cross-sectional analyses, we find no main effects of overt peer pressure on substance use. Estimation of the reciprocal effects model also reveals that overt peer pressure does not significantly influence substance use and does not mediate the effect of differential association. Instead, the influences of socialization, social selection, and rationalization play significant roles in understanding substance use.An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 1994 American Society of Criminology meetings in Miami, Florida.     

MENTORS AND CRIMINAL ACHIEVEMENT*

Much of the research focusing on conventional occupations concludes that mentored individuals are more successful in their careers than those who are not mentored. Early research in criminology made a similar claim. Yet contemporary criminology has all but ignored mentors. We investigate this oversight, drawing on Sutherland's insights on tutelage and criminal maturation and incorporating ideas on human and social capital. We argue that mentors play a key role in their protégés' criminal achievements and examine this hypothesis with data from a recent survey of incarcerated adult male offenders in the Canadian province of Quebec. In this sample, a substantial proportion of respondents reported the presence of an influential individual in their lives who introduced them to a criminal milieu and whom they explicitly regarded as a mentor. After studying the attributes of offenders and their mentors, we develop a causal framework that positions criminal mentor presence within a pathway that leads to greater benefits and lower costs from crime.     

领导干部提拔模式对地方政府权力运行方向的影响

利用实证调查数据,通过交叉表分析,发现在提拔领导干部时,存在侧重考察"工作能力"与侧重考察"社会活动能力"两种模式,并且这两种模式对地方政府权力运行的集体决策的程度、为亲友用权、政府工作取向、决策偏好、政策执行取向有显著影响;通过探索性要素分析发现,领导干部提拔模式对政府权力运行方向的影响可以简化为"权力为整体利益服务"和"权力为小团体服务"两个方面;通过综合性结构方程模型分析验证了探索性分析的结论,表明领导干部选拔模式确实会对政府权力运行方向产生显著影响。同时发现:在提拔领导干部时,若强调后备人选的"能力和工作业绩"及"口碑",政府权力将更多地偏向于为公共利益服务;若"背景和关系"、"跑官买官"因素发生关键影响,政府权力则容易演变成为小团体牟利的工具。     

新时期我国文化体制改革的特点及趋势分析

我国新时期的文化体制改革已历经30多年,纵观我国文化体制改革历程,"分离"与"融合"是我国文化体制改革的鲜明特点,双重分离是文化体制改革的基础和关键,多要素融合是文化体制改革的主要内容和实现途径。在这一过程中,"分离"与"融合"相互渗透,相辅相成,"融合发展"将成为未来文化体制改革的必然趋势。     

A Stone’s Throw from the Metropolis: Re-Examining Small-Agency Homeland Security Practices

Police agencies nationwide have enhanced their homeland security preparedness capacity since the 9/11 attacks. Evidence suggests that departments have not uniformly adopted measures to prepare for and respond to critical incidents. Rather, larger agencies are more likely than their smaller peers to take such steps. Small agencies do not constitute a homogenous group; some experience geographic isolation while others are near major metropolitan areas. Unclear is whether small agencies (25 or fewer full-time sworn personnel), those that are commonly found to be less prepared, benefit from proximity to large-agency peers. This study examined whether physical and relational proximity to large departments contributed to homeland security preparedness in over 300 small departments. A structural equation model revealed that interactions with large agencies facilitated preparedness but physical proximity had no direct effect. Increasing geographic isolation from large-agency peers indirectly affected preparedness by stifling the level of inter-department interactions.     

Experiencing the war “of” terror: a call to the critical terrorism studies community

ABSTRACT

The Critical Terrorism Studies (CTS) community has produced an important volume of work assessing and critiquing epistemological understandings of the War on (of) Terror. Largely missing from this body of work, however, is the experience of those who are directly impacted by the policies of this global phenomenon. By rethinking the War on Terror as an experience of war, I posit a wider understanding, by reassessing its temporal and spatial boundaries, but more significantly, the ways in which it is experienced. By providing a wider understanding of war and expanding our knowledge of its boundaries, I am able to show that those impacted by the policies of the War on Terror can claim to have been subject to an experience of war, even when that experience takes place outside of the war zone. This reflection, however, serves a larger purpose, which is to act as a call to the CTS community to centre the lived experiences of those impacted by the War on Terror in their work and decision-making when engaging with policy and policymakers. This represents a call for an ethical re-centring of CTS scholars to the violence of the War “of” Terror, by reminding us of the many ways in which harm can occur.     

The Self-salvation of Capitalist Society——Giddens' Criticism of Historical Materialism and the Third Way

Giddens fully absorbs the Marx's capitalism critical theory of capital criticism as the core by including Marx in historical framework of late modernity. Based on fracture of modernity, Giddens criticizes historical materialism and develops structural theory of understanding of the developed capitalist society. Thereby, Giddens shows the current status of modernity: pluralistic structure and high risk of society dominated by the forces of globalization. According to the principle, Giddens proposes “the third way” as self-salvation of capitalist society: adhere to the ideals of socialism, beyond the traditional opposition of government and market, making full use of the balance between state and market to build a society of positive welfare. Laying aside political label of “the third way”, the exploration of the balance between government and market is of great practical significance for China to promote the balance between government and market, and to manage the challenge of globalization. However, the position of Postmodernism indicates that Giddens criticism of Marx's historical materialism is a failure undoubtedly.     

Discrimination of phenethylamine regioisomers and structural analogues by Raman spectroscopy

In this study, the Raman spectra of 21 phenethylamines were obtained using far‐red excitation (785 nm). The distinguishing ability of Raman for phenethylamines, especially for phenethylamine regioisomers and structural analogues, was investigated. Here, the evaluation of a cross section of Raman spectra demonstrated that all types of phenethylamines were distinguishable, even for certain structural analogues with high spectrum similarity. Raman exhibited high distinguishing ability for phenethylamine regioisomers that differ in the substitution position of halogen, methoxy, alkyl, or other substituted groups; as well as for structural analogues containing different groups, such as furanyl, 2,3‐dihydrofuranyl, halogen, and alkyl substituted at the same position. The Raman spectra for homologues with differences in only a methyl group were found to be highly similar; however, their spectra demonstrated small but detectable differences. Four analogue mixtures and 59 seized samples were also analyzed to study the practical use of the Raman method in forensic field. 95% of the seized samples were correctly identified, which significantly validated the ability of Raman method in identifying the correct isomers. Accordingly, this study provides a non‐destructive, high‐throughput and minimal sample preparation technique for the discrimination of phenethylamines.     

Irony Practice: Reconstructing Structural Social Work: Enlightenment from Neoclassical Sociology

Structural social work has been expanding its influence while experiencing marginalized crises since 1970s: with the expansion of neo-conservatism, the structural perspective is incompatible with the liberal-based system at the political level. In recent years, the “critical reflection practice” established through the reunification of the socialist tradition of social work has become increasingly prosperous, but it has not been possible to answer the question of legitimacy in its own theory. The purpose of this paper is to reflect the crisis of the traditional sociology by analyzing the crisis of western sociology, and to try to reconstruct the critical social science by talking with Iván Szelényi and others to sort out the concept of “irony” as a methodology and the mission of contemporary intellectuals. Under the inspiration of relevance of classical sociology and social work, this paper provides insights to the reconstruction of social work.     

Establishing a Social-Darwinist Mentality in Japan’s Paternalist State: The Potential of Resistance by a Counter-Public

ABSTRACT

From a historical perspective, the welfare net in Japan was established from above without democratic participation and expanded only slowly. This expansion in many cases was aimed at enhancing national cohesion, especially during war time. During the current neoliberal era, Japan’s paternalistic welfare state has been able to put into practice the dismantling of national pension and health-care systems without the need for any theoretical re-orientation. In response, counter-publics have engaged in protest and resistance. By doing so, the victims of modernization and those who are socially weak and disadvantaged in multiple ways are able to regain their self-esteem and personal integrity.