Cultural Equivalence and Cultural Variance in Longitudinal Associations of Young Adolescent Self-Definition and Interpersonal Relatedness to Psychological and School Adjustment

Ethnic group differences in the contributions of self-definition (self-worth and efficacy) and interpersonal relatedness with parents and peers to changes in psychological and school adjustment were examined among 448 White, Black, and Latino girls and boys (11–14 years of age). Self-report questionnaires and school records were evaluated for socioeconomic and ethnic group differences in patterns of change over 1 year. Overall similarity in changes over time across ethnic groups was found for relatedness, self-definition, and psychological adjustment, although Black and Latino youth reported more overall adjustment difficulties, Black youth reported less positive relationships with parents, and lower SES youth reported less positive peer relationships than others. Ethnic group differences in changes to school adjustment, even after controlling SES, suggested a cultural variation in which often cited declines in school adjustment during middle school characterize White adolescents to a greater degree than Black or Latino adolescents. Ethnicity moderated associations of relatedness and self-definition with psychological and school adjustment such that Black and Latino youth appeared particularly vulnerable to experiences that threaten closeness and trust in relationships. Results pointed to potentially important situational and cultural differences in maladaptive and adaptive developmental processes across ethnicity.     

The relationship management function of public affairs officers in Chile: Identifying opportunities and challenges in an emergent market

Research on the public affairs profession in both South and Latin America is one of the leading limitations today in international public relations research. This study helps to lessen such a gap by offering more realistic insight into the ideologies and pressures that govern public affairs practice in Chile. In‐depth interviews were conducted with 15 experts who are current senior‐level public affairs practitioners in the Chilean capital of Santiago. Results offer three key insights: First, the core function of public affairs in Chile surrounds behaviors of lobbying and governmental relations. Second, leveraging cohesion between organizational private interest and the public interest is a key to leveraging pressure on elected officials and governmental agencies. Lastly, there is significant concern regarding public trust in the lack of transparency in the Chilean public affairs field, facilitated by insufficient governmental regulation. Such research offers practical and grounded insights for public affairs and public relations scholarship.     

Managing the Hegemon: nato under Unipolarity

The shift to unipolarity has introduced new dilemmas for America's allies. Their level of strategic uncertainty has increased, largely because under unipolarity, allies' threat perceptions are more likely to diverge across time or issue areas and are not shaped as much by structural systemic factors. Although they want to maintain the pre-existing security arrangements as a means of managing the rising uncertainty, allies need to deal with the dual concern of either being trapped into the hegemonic partner's policies, or being abandoned by the hegemon. These two concerns—the alliance security dilemma—may become more or less prominent given the nature of the divergence in threat perceptions on different issues and at different times. To deal with this dual threat, allies employ two strategies: using the pre-existing alliance as a pact of restraint, and developing a division of labor with the hegemon. Both the dilemmas and the strategies used to mitigate them are examined here in the context of the European behavior within nato following the Gulf War, the nato involvement in Kosovo, the war in Afghanistan, and the war in Iraq.     

Book reviews

Robert O. Freedman, Soviet Policy Toward the Middle East Since 1970. (Praeger Special Studies in International Politics and Government.) New York: Praeger Publishers, 1975. ix+198 pp. $16.50 or $5.95 (paperback).

R. D. McLaurin, The Middle East in Soviet Policy. Toronto and London: D. C. Heath, 1975. xiv+206 pp. £6.75.

Roger E. Kanet (ed.), The Soviet Union and the Developing Nations. Baltimore and London: Johns Hopkins UP, 1974. 293 pp. $12.50.

Robert R. King and Robert W. Dean (eds.), East European Perspectives on European Security and Cooperation. New York: Praeger, and London: Pall Mall, 1974. xxi+254 pp. £7.25.

Louis J. Mensonides and James A. Kuhlman (eds.), The Future of Inter‐Bloc Relations in Europe. New York: Praeger, and London: Pall Mall, 1974. xiii+217 pp. £7.25.

J. F. N. Bradley, Civil War in Russia 1917–1920. London: Batsford, 1975. 197 pp. £6.50.

Canfield F. Smith, Vladivostok under Red and White Rule. Revolution and Counterrevolution in the Russian Far East 1920–1922. Seattle and London: University of Washington Press, 1975. xv+304 pp. $11.00. £6.60.

Maury Lisann, Broadcasting to the Soviet Union: International Politics and Radio. (Praeger Special Studies in International Politics and Government.) New York: Praeger Publishers, 1975. ix‐j‐199 pp. $16.50.

David E. Powell, Antireligious Propaganda in the Soviet Union. Cambridge, Mass, and London: The MIT Press, 1975. xi+206 pp. £13.75.

David A. Dyker, The Soviet Economy. Granada Publishing—Crosby Lockwood Staples, 1976. 173 pp. £4.95.

Zbigniew M. Fallenbuchl (ed.), Economic Development in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, Volume I: Reforms, Technology, and Income Distribution. (Praeger Special Studies in International Politics and Government.) New York: Praeger Publishers, 1975. 360 pp. £14.45.

V. Bajaja, Theoretische Grundlagen und praktische Entwicklung landwirtschaft‐licher Betriebsgrössen in der Tschechoslowakei. Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, 1975. 325 pp.

Richard Farkas, Yugoslav Economic Development and Political Change. (Praeger Special Studies in International Economics and Development.) New York: Praeger Publishers, and London: Pall Mall Press, 1975. x+133 pp. £5.95.

Trond Gilberg, Modernization in Romania since World War II. (Praeger Special Studies in International Economics and Development.) New York and London: Praeger, 1975. xiii+261 pp. £9.65.

David Lewis Jones, Books in English on the Soviet Union, 1917–73: A Bibliography. (Garland Reference Library of Social Science, Vol. 3.) New York and London: Garland Publishing, 1975. xiv+331 pp. $30.00.     

The Israeli Disengagement Initiative

Dr. Golan is professor, emerita, in the department of political science at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and professor of government at the Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya.     

Comparison of violence and abuse in juvenile correctional facilities and schools

Peer violence, peer sexual harassment and abuse, and staff abuse experienced by boys and girls in juvenile correctional facilities are compared with those experienced by peers in schools in the community. Responses of 360 youths in 20 gender-separated correctional facilities in Israel to a questionnaire tapping these forms of mistreatment were compared with those of 7,012 students in a representative sample of Israeli junior high and high schools. Victimization was reported more frequently by those in correctional facilities than by those in schools. However, some of the more prevalent forms of violence and abuse were reported with equal frequency in both settings, and some more frequently in schools. Despite being victimized more frequently, those in the correctional facilities tended to view their victimization as a significantly less serious problem than those in the schools and to rate the staff as doing a better job of dealing with the problem.