Perceptions of Racism and Depressive Symptoms in African American Adolescents: The Role of Perceived Academic and Social Control

Experiences with racism are a common occurrence for African American youth and may result in negative self perceptions relevant for the experience of depressive symptoms. This study examined the longitudinal association between perceptions of racism and depressive symptoms, and whether perceived academic or social control mediated this association, in a community epidemiologically-defined sample of urban African American adolescents (N = 500; 46.4% female). Structural equation modeling revealed that experiences with racism were associated with low perceived academic control, which in turn was associated with increased depressive symptoms. Findings suggest that experiences with racism can have long lasting effects for African American youth’s depressive symptoms, and highlight the detrimental effects of experiences with racism for perceptions of control in the academic domain. Implications for intervention are discussed.

The peasants in turmoil: Khmer Rouge,state formation and the control of land in northwest Cambodia

Over the past 15 years, northwest Cambodia has seen dramatic agrarian expansion away from the central rice plain into the peripheral uplands fuelled by peasant in-migration. Against this background, we examine the nature of relations between the peasantry and the state. We first show the historical continuities of land control processes and how the use of violence in a post-conflict neoliberal context has legitimised ex-Khmer Rouge in controlling land distribution. Three case studies show the heterogeneity of local level sovereignties, which engage the peasants in different relations with authority. We examine how these processes result in the construction of different rural territories along the agricultural frontier and argue that, in this region of Cambodia, the struggles between Khmer Rouge and neoliberal modes of land control are central to state formation processes.     

Critical Misunderstandings: Ineffective International Governance and the UK Nuclear Industry

In 2017, significant media and political interest was sparked by the UK decision to leave Euratom, the European Atomic Energy Community. While such interest in nuclear matters has to be welcomed, the apparent lack of knowledge displayed in the regulatory governance of the UK nuclear industry is disquieting. This article therefore offers an overview of the publicly funded UK nuclear industry and its regulatory governance including its links with European and global nuclear agencies to inform the debate and to identify critical issues in need of resolution.     

全球安全治理视域下的自主武器军备控制

随着人工智能的飞速进展,不断智能化的自主武器日益显现出伦理和安全风险,使得限制或禁止自主武器成为全球安全治理领域的新兴议题。相比其他军控对象,自主武器军控进程在过去几年中获得较快推进,其中《特定常规武器公约》会议已决定设立政府专家组专门探讨自主武器问题。文章系统梳理了自主武器军备控制的概念、伦理和安全争议,旨在通过这种梳理更好地理解自主武器军控进程发展的动因,并对这一进程的未来走向做出预测。当前,自主武器军备控制的主要动因集中在道德层面,特别是让机器自主决策杀伤引发的伦理忧虑。而从安全层面看,自主武器蕴涵的安全风险在其他新兴技术领域同样存在,而发展和使用自主武器带来的战略红利依然显著,这使得主要国家推动自主武器军控的意愿并不强烈。在权力政治与道德政治的博弈下,自主武器军控在可预见的时期内将难以形成实质性成果,稍有可能的是通过“软法”等非约束性方式塑造一定的国际规范。在这个过程中,中国可以发挥更加积极主动的作用,在确保战略利益的同时营造有利的大国形象。     

A Comparative Study of Denmark and New Zealand’s National Health Targets

This paper investigates the influence of nationally imposed health targets on current management control practices in New Zealand and Denmark. It reveals how variants of New Public Management (NPM), arising from specific historical socio-political contexts, rise to the challenge of national differences. The study finds that both nations are challenged to ensure data registration procedures produce valid and comparable performance measures. Denmark’s reliance on a single efficiency measure of health sector performance reflects a historic socio-political context that reduces the feasibility of additional measures whereas New Zealand’s context enables the government to impose a more extensive range of health targets.     

Senior Public Managers’ Engagement: A Person–Situation-Interactionist Perspective

This article examines the engagement of senior public managers by developing a person–situation-interactionist perspective. It integrates the literature on social exchange theory and person–organization fit to explore the effects of decision autonomy and shared vision on the engagement of more than 2,000 senior public sector managers in the central government agencies of three continental European countries: France, Germany, and The Netherlands. Then, it examines whether the locus of control of those managers moderates the decision autonomy–engagement and shared vision–engagement relationships. The structural equation modeling results suggest that there are positive relationships between both decision autonomy and shared vision and employee engagement. Further analysis revealed that an internal locus of control strengthened the decision autonomy–engagement relationship, but that it weakened the shared vision–engagement relationship.     

Smart and secure borders through automated border control systems in the EU? The views of political stakeholders in the Member States

The European Commission launched the “Smart Borders” policy process in 2011 to enhance border security in the European Union (EU) using technologisation and harmonisation. This includes the use of automated border control (ABC) systems. The Member States crucially shape the process, weighing security technologies and costs, privacy and rights, and further institutional choices. We examine the views of political stakeholders in four Member States by conducting a systematic empirical and comparative study unprecedented in the existing, political-theory-inspired research. In our Q methodological experiments, political stakeholders in Finland, Romania, Spain and the UK rank-ordered a sample of statements on Smart Borders, ABC and harmonisation. The factor analysis of the results yielded three main views: the first criticising ABC as a security technology, the second welcoming the security gains of automation and the third opposing harmonised border control. While impeding harmonisation, the results offer a consensus facilitating common policy.     

城市化进程的中犯罪防控模式

城市的区域化发展和个性化发展及其相应的发展水平与城市犯罪有着密切的关系,城市发展的进程应该与城市现代化的进程同步。但是,在城市发展或现代化的进程中,处于动态变化之中的城市系统会从各个方面影响城市犯罪问题,有抑制,也有加剧,且多种多样。相应地,其防控模式也呈现多元化趋势,如快速反应的模式、西方国家的犯罪情境防控模式、新加坡的儒家营建家庭的犯罪防控模式、英国犯罪防控的警务模式等。     

防治重新犯罪与构建和谐社会——重新犯罪现状与对策的实证研究

社会转型和城市化进程加速引发了人员迁徙浪潮和社会关系的急剧变化,犯罪率和重新犯罪率呈持续攀升,并突破历史的高点。人员迁徙,社会管理保障不配套,引发犯罪和再犯罪;教育滞后,低素质面临高诱惑、强竞争,引发犯罪和再犯罪;道德缺位,导致亚文化盛行,行为内控力、制约力弱化,放纵犯罪和再犯罪。改造罪犯压力剧增,监狱在解决自身矛盾中工作没及时调整到位,难以有效扼制重新犯罪和大要案的发生,已成为构建和谐社会过程中突出而尖锐的问题。     

中国台湾的女孩生存问题及其公共政策治理

通过网络、国际会议、期刊等媒介搜集相关资料,首先对中国台湾省的女孩生存问题的态势和原因进行了梳理,发现台湾的女孩生存问题主要由出生性别比反映出来,呈现出总体上升趋势,但主要在略高于正常值的范围内波动;导致台湾女孩生存问题的原因包括根源性原因、条件性原因和直接原因。其次对台湾在女孩生存问题方面的公共政策治理措施及其效果进行了分析,发现台湾不仅采取了针对女孩生存问题的直接措施,也采取了促进妇女发展的间接措施,涉及到法律、政治、经济、人口、文化等各个领域,并建立了确保治理措施付诸于实施的运行机制。这些公共政策治理措施虽然在短期内并没有改变台湾女孩生存问题的现状,但对于提高妇女地位、促进妇女发展产生了一定的积极影响。最后借鉴台湾针对女孩生存问题治理的经验和教训,立足于大陆女孩生存问题及其治理的特点,分别从战略和操作化两个层次为大陆地区女孩生存问题的治理提出了政策建议。