Parental Inconsistency Versus Parental Authoritarianism: Associations with Symptoms of Psychological Disorders

While in western countries, such as the US and Europe, authoritarian parenting is associated with negative psycho-social outcomes. Studies have indicated that this is not the case in collective/authoritarian cultures. It has been hypothesized that inconsistency in parenting style and culture contributes to these negative outcomes. In this study a scale of authoritarian parenting and parental inconsistency has been developed. This scale and other scales of authoritarian parenting, adolescent-family connectedness, and psychological disorders were administered to 72 female and 106 male 11th grade Arab students. The results show that, while no measures of authoritarian parenting were associated with psychological disorders, all the measures of parental inconsistency were so associated. The results give empirical support to theories that indicate that parental inconsistency is an important factor in psychopathology. More research that is focused on inconsistency is needed across different psychological symptoms and across cultures. Marwan Dwairy, D.Sc., is associated professor of psychology in Emek Yezreel college and Oranim college. He is a licensed expert and supervisor in three areas: educational, medical, and developmental psychology. He received his B.A. and M.A. degrees in psychology from Haifa University, and his D.Sc. from the Faculty of Medicine at the Technion in 1991. http://Web:www.marwandwairy.com.     

What happened to savings during the financial crisis—a dynamic panel analysis of Asian-5 countries

This article examines the determinants of saving rates in five Asian (Asian-5; Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand South Korea and the Philippines) countries over the 1970–2000 period. The focus is on the relationship between savings rates and foreign capital inflows before and in the financial crises. Major findings from the dynamic panel regressions are: (i) foreign savings depresses domestic savings ratio in the short as well as in the long run and the offset appears to be larger in the crisis period; (ii) real interest has a small negative effect on savings in the short and long run; (iii) the demographic factor explains a large portion of the long run trends but not the short-term fluctuations in savings rates; and (iv) high savings ratios in the countries studied is linked to the export sector.     

The Committee of the Parents of the Missing and Disappeared: 30 Years of Struggle and Protest

This article investigates the work of a Lebanese non-governmental organization (NGO) called the Committee of the Parents of the Missing and the Disappeared. Although the successive Lebanese governments, most political leaders, ex-militia leaders and ex-combatants did not want to help in revealing the truth about what had happened to the people who went missing during the Lebanese civil war of 1975, the Committee managed to mobilize the families of the missing people under one banner for more than 30 years and was successful in making the Lebanese government and the legal authorities take few but important decisions that favoured the cause of the families of the missing people. It managed to do so without being deterred by the social, political and economic challenges it faced and due to the ability of its leadership to clearly define the sources of contention it wanted to protest against and by selecting the protests methods that best serve its cause.     

Book reviews

Graham E. Fuller, The Center of the Universe. The Geopolitics of Iran, Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1991, xv + 301pp., $35.00 hardback, $18.50 paperback.

Tim McDaniel, Autocracy, Modernization and Revolution in Russia and Iran, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1991, x + 235pp., $29.95.

Steven G. Marks, Road to Power: the Trans‐Siberian Railroad and the Colonization of Asian Russia, 1850–1917, Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1991, xxiii + 235pp., $31.95.

Cyril E. Black, Louis Dupree, Elizabeth Endicott‐West, Daniel C. Matuszewski, Eden Naby and Arthur N. Waldron, The Modernization of Inner Asia, Sharpe, Armonk, 1991, xviii + 405 pp., $49.95.

Audrey L. Altstadt, The Azerbaijani Turks: Power and Identity Under Russian Rule. Stanford, CA: Hoover Institution Press, 1992, xxiv + 331 pp., $18.95

G. A. Khidoiatov, Moia rodnaia istoriia. Oqituwchi, Tashkent, 1990, 304 pp. + colour plates.

Robert L. Canfield (ed.), Turko‐Persia in Historical Perspective. A School of American Research Book. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991, xiv + 256 pp., $54.00.     

Women’s Acceptance of Spousal Abuse in Iraq: Prevalence Rates and the Role of Female Empowerment Characteristics

This study examines the acceptance of spousal abuse among women living in Iraq and tests whether attitudes condoning abuse are associated with low female empowerment. Of 15,875 married women surveyed, 63?% agreed that a husband is justified in beating his wife. Women lacking education were 2.3 times more likely to justify this violence than those with secondary education. Women outside the labor force were 1.4 times more likely than working women to condone this abuse. Attitudes on spousal violence varied by region and rural/urban status. Female empowerment efforts may help combat spousal violence and change social norms condoning this behavior.     

History education in schools in Iraqi Kurdistan: representing values of peace and violence

The Kurdistan Regional Government has implemented a wide range of reforms in Iraqi Kurdistan’s education system since its establishment in 2003. This qualitative study utilises critical discourse analysis to investigate the content of History Education (HE) textbooks (grades five to eight) and to assess how far peace education values and principles have been integrated into the curriculum. The ME’s top-down approach has faced significant resistance from teachers and it fails to consider the importance of hidden and null curricula. It focuses on the history of Iraq, Kurdistan, and Islam, glorifies war, excludes different narratives or interpretations, and fails to foster critical debate or enquiry. The curriculum appears to encourage violence and foster divisions between Muslims and non-Muslims, and the null curriculum is regulated to maintain the dominance of the group in power.