bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Race and Psychiatric Services in Post-Apartheid South Africa: A Preliminary Study of Psychiatrists’ Perceptions
Authors: Kohn Robert , Szabo Christopher P. , Gordon Alan , Allwood Clifford W.
Published: May 2004

Objectives: The primary objective of this study was to examine the perception of the quality of psychiatric services five years after apartheid, and specifically whether care for black patients had improved.

Design: A survey was distributed to South African psychiatrists during a national congress and by mail. The questionnaire focused on the quality of psychiatric care in general, for black and white patients, the racial composition of each respondent’s psychiatric practice currently, and the racial composition of the psychiatric practice during apartheid.

Results: Psychiatric services in South Africa were viewed as deteriorating. The end of apartheid has done little to improve the quality of psychiatric care for both black and white patients. Although less pronounced, racial inequality in psychiatric care continues to exist. Psychiatric practices continue to be overrepresented with white patients.

Conclusion: There remains a differential in quality of psychiatric care and further monitoring should continue. Continued efforts to improve racial equality and the need for greater awareness of cultural issues need to be addressed. Limitations of this study included possible social desirability bias, use of subjective rather than objective measures, and a survey that was limited in scope.
Social and Health Determinants of Well Being and Life Satisfaction in Jamaica
Authors: Hutchinson G. , Simeon D. T. , Bain B. C. , Wyatt G. E. , Tucker M. B. , Lefranc E.
Published: May 2004

Background: Psychological well being and the degree of satisfaction with life are likely to affect a range of social behaviours and determine uptake of health and social services. It is important to identify the factors that inform these constructs.

Aims: We sought to identify the variables which best predicted psychological well being in the Caribbean country, Jamaica and also those associated with feelings of satisfaction with life.

Methods: Interviews were conducted on young adults aged 15–50 years as part of a sexual decision-making survey in Jamaica. Information was collected on a range of social, health and demographic variables and a measure of psychological well being – Centre for Epidemiological Studies of Depression (CES-D). Satisfaction with life was measured using a Likert scale in response to the question ‘Are you satisfied with your life as a whole?’ Multiple regression analyses were used to determine the predictors of psychological well being and satisfaction with life.

Results: There were 2580 respondents (1601 women and 979 men). The mean age was 29.7 years (standard deviation 9.2 years). Women had lower levels of psychological well being and satisfaction with life. Independent predictors of lower psychological well being were having an acute illness, having a chronic illness in women and high religious behaviour in men. Satisfaction with life was predicted by younger age, marital status and employment.

Conclusions: Our findings suggest that health variables are more important for psychological well being while social circumstances are more significant for satisfaction with life. There are important gender differences in the mediation of psychological well being as well as age differences in the variables associated with satisfaction with life.
Law, Territory and Integration: A View from the Atlantic Shore
Authors: Rawlings Richard
Published: May 2004

Globalization, which in one sense erodes territorial distinctiveness, in other ways enhances the importance of territory and gives impetus to the construction of territorial societies.1
Introduction—Governance and Public Administration in the 21st Century: A Research and Training Prospectus
Authors: Olowu Dele
Published: May 2004

This article reviews the different approaches to the study of governance and how the concept and practice of governance is connected with public administration and public management. It examines the controversy surrounding the claim that a paradigm shift has occurred in the study of state-society-economy relationships. This has replaced public administration with public management. The paper suggests that the rediscovery of governance in public administration discourse has enriched the discipline. It then reviews each of the six articles in this special symposium of the IRAS. Issues raised in these articles constitute the agenda for training centres in public administration, policy and management.
Privatization and Globalization: A Critical Analysis with Implications for Public Management Education and Training
Authors: Farazmand Ali
Published: May 2004

This article addresses the phenomenon of sweeping privatization as a ‘strategic instrument of globalization of capital’. Using a political economy analysis, it argues that, among other things, but most importantly, privatization should be understood in a direct correlation with the globalization of capital under late or corporate capitalism. It argues that privatization has been conceived by design, not by chance and haphazard events, and that its implementation has been pursued purposely, deliberately and vigorously around the world to accomplish the objectives of the globalization of capital. This has been happening despite evidence of extremely successful experiences with public enterprise management and government-owned enterprises worldwide. The article also treats the phenomenon of globalization as a globally transcending process towards a more rapid accumulation of surplus value of advance or corporate capitalism; hence a change within the continuity of the process of surplus accumulation by global capitalism. To understand this direct relationship between change and continuity and between privatization and globalization, we must first understand what globalization means, and then explain its corollary strategy of privatization worldwide.

This article presents, first, a brief theoretical discussion of globalization and then a detailed argument of privatization as a strategic instrument of globalization of capital and, finally, some implications are provided for public management education and training.
Africa’s Evolving Career Civil Service Systems: Three challenges—State Continuity, Efficient Service Delivery and Accountability
Authors: Adamolekun Ladipo
Published: May 2004

This article examines the crisis of the career civil service systems in Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries in the 1990s against the background of the progressive abandonment of the key features of the Weberian bureaucratic models inherited by the countries at independence in the 1960s. After analysing the major explanatory factors for the crisis (adoption of one-party systems, advent of military governments and the triumph of patronage over the merit system) and the consequent decay of the institutions in many countries, the efforts made to rehabilitate the institutions in the 1990s are assessed. The assessment pays particular attention to the two strong developmental trends of the decade: simultaneous establishment of functioning market-friendly economies and functioning democratic governments. The article concludes by proposing the redesign of Africa’s career civil service systems with a view to addressing three key challenges that are critical to achieving and sustaining functioning market economies and functioning democracies: state continuity, efficient service delivery and accountability of the governors to the governed. Specific changes to the career civil service systems that are proposed include, among others, clear separation of political from career appointments; the introduction or increased use of contract appointments at managerial and technical professional levels (as a transitional arrangement); and de-linking local governments and parastatals from the civil service. The critical importance of an enabling sociopolitical and economic environment for a civil service capable of tackling the three challenges is also emphasized.
The Democratization and Development Agenda and the African Civil Service: Issues Resolved or Matters Arising?
Authors: Balogun M. J.
Published: May 2004

For far too long, public administration has played second fiddle to economics in confronting the challenges of governance and development in Africa. Whether it is in the design of ‘good governance’ programmes, the reform of economic management policies or the renewal of institutions, it is economics that defines the issues and proffers the solutions. Yet economic prescriptions prove inadequate if the aim is to empower the people to make input into decisions on how they are governed and to influence policy outcomes in ways corresponding to their own notion of the ‘good life’. This article focuses on how public administration could, through its integration of the analytical competencies of the social sciences, promote that critical stance that the civil service needs to challenge the assumptions underlying public choice and to render meaningful advice on policy interventions.
Evaluating the Quality of Public Governance: Indicators, Models and Methodologies
Authors: Bovaird Tony , Löffler Elke
Published: May 2004

This article provides an overview for this special issue on the evaluation of the quality of public governance. It charts the move in the public sector during the 1990s from concern largely with excellence in service delivery to a concern for good governance. It examines what we mean by governance and ‘good governance’ and the dimensions of ‘good public governance’. It demonstrates that there is now widespread interest in measuring not only the quality of services but also improvements in quality of life and improvements in governance processes. It discusses how measures of good governance are being used in different contexts around the world. Finally, it considers how the measurement of good governance can be encouraged, e.g. through awards, inspections, setting funding conditions and empowering stakeholders to demand better evidence.
Intent, Risks and Capability: Some Considerations on Rethinking Organizational Capability
Authors: Bhatta Gambhir
Published: May 2004

The notion of capability—including that of organizational capability—has been studied extensively in the literature. The standard treatment on this subject matter has tended to focus on building the capacity of its human resources since its impact on the ability of the organization to fulfil its mandates has been well recognized. In looking at the broader concept of organizational capability, however, consideration must be given to the assertion that an organization does not work in a vacuum and that its external environment plays a key role in shaping the manner in which it works. Since the environment tends to be complex and turbulent, the introduction of uncertainty and risks in the analysis makes the notion of organizational capability murkier. This article argues that one way of dealing with this constraint is to look at capability as being derived from its sequential relationship with results and strategy, and which affords governments a more holistic picture. It also argues that by preparing organizational statements of intent (sois), public organizations are better able to understand their environments as well as convey purposeful action to Parliaments. Empirical evidence from application of sois in public agencies shows that they are useful tools for governments to consider applying seriously.
Critical Success Factors in Public Management Reform: The Case of the European Commission
Authors: Levy Roger
Published: May 2004

Using comparative analytical frameworks developed to explain the incidence, intensity and success or otherwise of managerial reforms in government, this article is a case study of the effects of the Kinnock management reforms in the European Commission. It draws on international experience to identify and evaluate critical success factors, situates the Commission reforms within this comparative international context and then focuses on the reforms and their implementation. Using Commission documentation and other sources including interview material, the article charts the progress of implementation against critical success factors and structural conduciveness, identifying both the unintended outcomes likely to result and the overall likelihood of success.
New Public Management and Organizational Regulation: The Liberal Bureaucracy
Authors: Giauque David
Published: May 2004

This article sets out to question the impact of new public management (npm) reforms on the functioning of public organizations. This investigation uses the concept of organizational regulation as a basis. We assume that the introduction of npm principles and tools results in the constitution of a new type of regulation that we refer to as ‘liberal bureaucracy’. We describe the main characteristics based on qualitative empirical research carried out in four federal administrative departments in Canada and Switzerland. We conclude with a comparison of the data gathered with certain facts relating to the functioning of private sector organizations and highlight the striking similarities in this field.
Performance Measurement and Improvement: an Assessment of the State of the Art
Authors: Holzer Marc , Yang Kaifeng
Published: May 2004

This article attempts to show the frontier of government performance measurement. First, it introduces the sophisticated and effective strategies that public agencies have utilized for performance measurement within a comprehensive approach to productivity improvement. Multiple measures have been developed to improve a variety of management functions such as goal-setting and resource allocation. The article then outlines the cutting edge of performance measurement. Based on a number of case studies throughout the United States, this article discusses the state of the art in three performance areas: citizen-driven government performance, use of citizen surveys and performance reporting. Finally, the article concludes that the essential question in the future is how government can move to full adoption and implementation of citizen-driven, data-driven decision-making.
Performance Measures and Security Risk Management: a Hong Kong Example
Authors: Brewer Brian , Huque Ahmed Shafiqul
Published: May 2004

Public agencies have an important role in establishing and ensuring a secure environment for business operations. Risk management decisions by international business enterprises can be informed usefully by performance data related to the services provided by a host country‘s law enforcement agencies. As recent public sector reforms have emphasized the development of indicators and the measurement of performance in public organizations, such as the police, this has made it possible for businesses to use these data to enhance the quality of their decisions about security needs related to both personnel and property. This article reviews the number of emergency calls received by the Hong Kong police and their response time and examines what inferences can be drawn from these data. Such an analysis highlights the need to compare and contrast different performance measures to obtain a comprehensive view of an agency‘s performance before making critical business decisions.
Measuring Up in Steel: Performance Measurement and Innovation Policy in the Canadian Steel Industry
Authors: Warrian Peter
Published: May 2004

Private industrial firms have impressively improved their internal performance in the last 20 years through the use of performance metrics. This article argues that private firms can not only learn from public organizations and performance measurement, they can also profit from it. The article proceeds from the Innovations System literature and applies it to the Canadian steel industry and examines public policies directed at improving the innovation performance of private firms. The most commercially successful firms are those that effectively interact with public infrastructure and social capital. Public policies should be critically examined in the same light. The analysis finds that the Innovation Strategy policy being implemented by Industry Canada, including its Innovation Targets, are misdirected and are likely to miss the most promising sources of innovation in the steel industry.
Telephone Counseling
Authors: Al-Krenawi Alean , Graham John R. , Fakher-Aldin Mueen
Published: May 2004

Arab Israeli callers to an Israeli telephone counseling service are analyzed, comparing them with Jewish Israeli callers, in order to better understand Arab mental health utilization and needs. A questionnaire was used for a sample of 7000 Jewish and 344 Arab callers. Arab callers complained of interpersonal and family problems, and the Jewish sample personal and mental health problems. The discussion relates these to ethno-cultural gender construction, health care utilization, client etiology and family and community structures. The signi.cance for programs and clinical services is considered.
Policy and Practice Implications from the Lives of Aging International Migrant Women
Authors: Patterson Fiona M.
Published: May 2004

From a study of the cross-cultural experiences of older women who came to the US as adults from Asia or the Caribbean we can learn about how to formulate appropriate services and legislation. Women in Pennsylvania aged 60-89 were interviewed. They sometimes experienced con.ict between their original cultures and their lives in the US. Their stories included material about initial adjustment, work and economic issues, health, and culture and gender roles.
Romanian Adoptees
Authors: Ryan Scott D. , Groza Victor
Published: May 2004

Two groups of children are described, some adopted out of their country of origin and some adopted in their own country. Utilizing a family systems model adaptable across countries, the impact of institutionalization on later child behavior is examined. Results will assist practitioners to develop a protocol to assess the family and the child at various ages, regardless of country of origin.
Social Work in the New Russia at the Start of the Millennium
Authors: Templeman Sharon B.
Published: May 2004

Since the fall of communism social work has become the fastest-growing profession in Russia. Shortages of resources, capabilities and technology have moved social work rapidly towards professionalization. This microethnographic study examines the status of social work in Russia today.
Problems with Research by Organizational Scholars on Issues of Race and Ethnicity
Authors: Cox Taylor
Published: May 2004

Despite a growing need for knowledge about the effects of race and ethnicity in organizations, relatively little research on these issues has been performed and few research reports have been published in the major management journals. A literature review and a survey of authors in the field indicate that factors responsible for this problem fall into two categories: factors limiting the amount ofwork done on these issues, and factors hindering the publication of completed work. Underlying many of these factors is the tendency for the effects of personal biases among authors, reviewers, and editors to be especially severe with respect to this topic. Moreover, issues of racioethnic relations and heterogeneity, including the problem of racism, have never really been resolved in American society generally. Following an analysis of the problems, suggestions are provided to aid scholars in effectively conducting and evaluating research on this topic.
Work/Life Balance
Authors: Caproni Paula J.
Published: May 2004

In this article, I contend that the well-intentioned discourse of work/life balance in the popular and scholarly press actually may undermine women’s and men’s attempts to live fulfilling lives. Drawing on feminist and critical perspectives, as well asmyown efforts to find “balance” in a two-career family with two children under the age of 4, I illustrate (a) how the work/life discourse reflects the individualism, achievement orientation, and instrumental rationality that is fundamental to modern bureaucratic thought and action and (b) how such discourse may further entrench people in the work/life imbalance that they are trying to escape.
Black Students and their Families
Authors: Herndon Michael K. , Hirt Joan B.
Published: May 2004

There is a wealth of research on Black college students and a second body of literature on Black families, but studies on the relationship between Black college students and their families are very limited. This project investigated the role of families in the lives of successful Black college students. The results suggest a model of eight connections between students and families that can be conceptualized in three stages.
Some Notes on Biased Statistics and African Americans
Authors: Nguyen Phung
Published: May 2004

The decennial census is one of the most venerable components of American democracy and a paragon of population enumeration for the whole world. However, as an integral part of the American political tradition, it has shared the very peculiar nature of the American polity. It then deliberately counted Blacks as fractional persons—the Three-Fifths Compromise—and now, it involuntarily undercounts the Black population disproportionately. This undercount, in addition to decreasing the fair shares of political representation and federal funds entitled to African Americans, has resulted in various biased statistics on them.
African American Intergender Relationships a Theoretical Exploration of Roles, Patriarchy, and Love
Authors: Lawrence-Webb Claudia , Littlefield Melissa , Okundaye Joshua N.
Published: May 2004

Current expectations of men andwomen in society have undergone tremendous changes concerning roles and the expression of intimacy within intergender relationships. African American intergender relationships have not escaped these changes. Three theoretical perspectives are offered to enrich the discussion on African American intergender relationships: patriarchy, role, and love. This article posits that African American intergender relationships are defined within some particular significant parameters like patriarchy, gender roles, love, and a history of enslavement and discrimination. Current discussions of such relationships miss their complexity when they omit these conceptual perspectives and the unique historical and present-day experiences of African Americans. The Million Woman and Million Man Marches have made healing, nurturing, atonement, love, and acceptance national priorities for African Americans. This article promotes the incorporation of the perspectives—patriarchy, role, and love—as avenues of contributing to an enriched debate that will be beneficial to such national priorities.
The Relations among General and Race-Related Stressors and Psychoeducational Adjustment in Black Students Attending Predominantly White Institutions
Authors: Neville Helen A. , Heppner P. Paul , Ji Peter , Thye Russell
Published: May 2004

Two hundred sixty African American college students attending predominantly White institutions completed the Black Student Stress Inventory (BSSI) and a measure of psychological adjustment; academic performance indices on a subsample were obtained via archival records. Principal components analysis of the BSSI yielded a three-factor solution: race-related stress, psychological/interpersonal stress, and academic stress. As predicted, general and race-related perceived stressors as measured by the BSSI were related to psychological distress; academic stress was specifically related to overall GPA. In fact, perceived academic stress accounted for more variance in 1st-year GPAthan did ACT scores. Implications of the findings as well as suggestions for future research are discussed.
Inequality and Human Rights of African Descendants in Brazil
Authors: Beato Lucila Bandeira
Published: May 2004

Race and gender inequalities in Brazil are analyzed in light of international human rights law and standards. The demographic category “blacks” or “African descendants” is new and still controversial in Brazil; it conflicts with the traditional “racial democracy” ideology by grouping together dark-skinned and light-skinned blacks, but official research institutions increasingly employ this methodology. Statistical economic and demographic analysis demonstrates that African descendants’ human rights, particularly those of black women, are violated daily in Brazil. Analysis is made of compliance with international standards for the rights to life (life expectancy, mortality rates, quality of life), physical and mental health, work with dignity and equal opportunity, ongoing improvement of living conditions, and protection in childhood. Brazilian society is traditionally authoritarian and inequality is taken for granted. Meaningful economic and social change must address the specific issues of race discrimination and its legacy, which implies deep structural changes in Brazilian society.
An Improved Cohesive Zone Model for Residual Notched Strength Prediction of Composite Laminates with Different Orthotropic Lay-Ups
Authors: Shin C. S. , Wang C. M.
Published: May 2004

The traditional methods employing a characteristic length approach to predict residual strength of notched laminates did not recognize damage development prior to final failure. Due to this lack of physical basis, re-calibration is often needed when the specimen geometry and size are changed. More recent models such as the Damage Zone Model (DZM), Cohesive Zone Model (CZM) and the Effective Crack Growth Model (ECGM), have recognized the occurrence of progressive material softening ahead of the notch tip prior to catastrophic failure. However, since the anisotropic characteristic of the composite laminate has not been properly accounted for, these models may not be widely applicable for the laminates with different degrees of anisotropy. In this study, an Improved Cohesive Zone Model (ICZM) with proper consideration for anisotropy is proposed to predict the notched strength of composite laminate. Based on three fundamental parameters: namely the unnotched strength 0, the apparent fracture energy Gc and the effective longitudinal stiffness E0, this model successfully predicted the strength of notched composite laminates with various degrees of anisotropy. The current model also gives accurate prediction of the progressive damage zone size in quasi-isotropic and cross-ply laminates.
Micro-Geometry of 3-D Braided Tubular Preform
Authors: Sun Xuekun
Published: May 2004

The micro-geometry of three-dimensional (3-D) braided tubular preform is more complex than that of rectangular one, and it is more difficult to analyze its architecture and mechanical properties theoretically as well. Through the advantage of digital element approach for textile technology, 3-D circular braiding process could be simulated dynamically using different parameters like yarn tension, yarn properties, the size of yarn and mandrel, pitch length etc. Yarns in 3D tubular preform were found to be nearly straight when projected onto r – plane, which is similar to those in rectangular preform on x – y plane. And yarns on x – y plane were smooth curvy lines, which could be described quantitatively. Unit-cell at the interior of the preform was isolated out based upon same topology consideration for rectangular preform. But the size of unit-cells and the yarn inclination in them varied with its radial position though their shape and micro-structures are analogous. Three important parameters of unit-cell: braiding angle and fiber volume fraction Vf and yarn inclination angle, were discussed in detail. And digital element approach was found to be quite unique for the exact analysis of the micro-geometry of 3-D braided tubular preform.
Torsional Fatigue Characteristics of Aluminum–Composite Co-Cured Shafts with Axial Compressive Preload
Authors: Lee Dai Gil , Kim Jong Woon , Hwang Hui Yun
Published: May 2004

Power transmission shafts such as driving shafts or automotive propeller shafts should transmit static and dynamic torques with vibrational stability. Hybrid shafts made of unidirectional fiber-reinforced composite and metal have high fundamental bending natural frequency as well as high torque transmission capability: composite increases the fundamental bending natural frequency due to its high specific stiffness and metal such as aluminum or steel transmits the required torque. However, fabrication-induced thermal residual stresses due to the coefficient difference of thermal expansion of the composite and the metal are developed during manufacturing hybrid shafts so that the high residual stresses decrease fatigue resistance of the hybrid shafts, especially at low operating temperatures. In this paper, the torsional fatigue characteristics of aluminum–composite co-cure joined shafts with axial compressive preload were investigated. To change the thermal residual stresses, an axial compressive preload was given to the aluminum tube by a compressive jig during the co-cure bonding operation. In order to determine the thermal residual stresses with respect to the preload and temperature difference, stress analyses were performed by simple equations from mechanics of materials and finite element method. Then the static torque capacities and fatigue strengths of the hybrid shafts from static and fatigue torsional tests were correlated with the calculated thermal residual stresses. The fatigue strength of the hybrid shaft was much improved by the axial compressive preload, exceeding that of a pure aluminum shaft. Also, the degradation of the fatigue resistance of the hybrid shaft at subzero operating temperature was overcome by the axial compressive preload.
The Severity of Interstate Disputes
Authors: Sweeney Kevin J.
Published: May 2004

Two fundamentalar guments are presented to answer whether dyadic balances or preponderances of military capability are more peaceful. First, the impact of the dyadic balance of military capabilities on interstate conflict, conditional on the level of dyadic interest similarity, is assessed. Many theoreticalworks in the field argue that the degree of interest similarity gives meaning to the balance of military forces, yet few empirical studies investigate the conditionality of these two variables. The second argument is that interstate conflict is a heterogeneous outcome. Aselection model that seeks to explain the severity of interstate disputes is used to address this concern. Using data from all interstate dyads between 1886 and 1992, results show that dyads with similar interests have less severe disputes, and under the condition of interest dissimilarity, balances rather than preponderances of military capability are associated with less severe disputes.
Arms Transfers, Military Balances, and Interstate Relations
Authors: Sanjian Gregory S.
Published: May 2004

Do arms transfers that widen (or narrow) gaps in military capabilities between rival importers lead to cooperation or conflict? Three fuzzy systems models are developed and tested to assess the impact of U.S., USSR, and third-country arms transfers on the political relationship between India and Pakistan during the years from 1950 to 1991. The arms trade models are influenced by the competing power balance and power transition theories of international conflict, and the tests reveal that the best model combines the effects of both theories. A second set of analyses (involving the same models) on the roles of the arms exporters is less conclusive. Arms shipments from theUSSRto the India-Pakistan dyad were consistent with the principles of power transition theory, whereas the United States and third parties behaved generally as power balancers.
Bureaucrats Versus the Ballot Box in Foreign Policy Decision Making
Authors: Christensen Eben J. , Redd Steven B.
Published: May 2004

The bureaucratic politics model and the poliheuristic theory are used to examine how political advice presented in various contexts influences choice. Organizational advisers who offer endogenous political advice are compared with situations in which the decision maker is offered advice by a separate, or exogenous, political adviser. Results show that decision makers are influenced by political evaluations in a noncompensatory manner, even when this advice is endogenously presented, and that political evaluations (and foreign policy choices) can be affected by the presence of multiple bureaucratic advisers. These findings have significant implications for how information is presented in advisory group settings.
Foreign Policy Decision Making in Familiar and Unfamiliar Settings
Authors: Mintz Alex
Published: May 2004

The concept of policy makers’ familiarity with a decision task has received considerable attention in recent years in the literature on decision making by analogy, intuitive decision making, and dynamic versus static decision making. The effect of familiarity on the decision strategy change of high-ranking officers of the U.S. Air Force is tested to see whether and how familiar versus unfamiliar decision tasks affect decision strategy change during the decision-making process. Results support the noncompensatory principle of political decision making and poliheuristic theory: Leaders are sensitive to negative political advice, which is often noncompensatory. They first use dimensions to eliminate noncompensatory alternatives and then evaluate acceptable alternatives. This two-stage process is even more pronounced in unfamiliar decision settings with low or high levels of ambiguity—a situation that characterizes many foreign policy crises.
Power Cycles, Risk Propensity, and Great-Power Deterrence
Authors: Tessman Brock F. , Chan Steve
Published: May 2004

The theory of power cycles contends that the growth and decline of national power holds the key to understanding the occurrence of extensive wars. Certain critical points in a state’s power trajectory are especially dangerous occasions for such armed clashes. The power cycles of nine major states during the period from 1816 to 1995 are examined, and prospect theory is used to derive expectations about the risk propensity of states during different periods in their power cycle. These expectations are in turn applied to an analysis of deterrence encounters among the major states. Results show that critical points tend to incline states to initiate deterrence confrontations and escalate them to war. Democratic states, however, are less susceptible to these tendencies than authoritarian ones. Results also show that changes in power trajectories do affect the occurrence and outcome of deterrence encounters among the great powers.
Nosy Neighbors
Authors: Gleditsch Kristian Skrede , Beardsley Kyle
Published: May 2004

Scholars argue that third parties make rational calculations and intervene to influence interstate dispute outcomes in favor of their own objectives. Third parties affect not only conflict outcomes but also escalation and duration. Theories of third-party involvement are applied to understand the dynamics of intrastate war. An analysis of event data for three Central American conflicts (El Salvador, Guatemala, and Nicaragua) from 1984 to 2001 is used to examine transnational actors’ influence on the dynamics of civil war. Findings show that transnational third parties often alter levels of cooperation among domestic adversaries, and that consistency affects the strength and direction of third-party influence.
Partner Selection in Public Goods Experiments
Authors: Coricelli Giorgio , Fehr Dietmar , Fellner Gerlinde
Published: May 2004

The effect of introducing costly partner selection for the voluntary contribution to a public good is examined. Participants are in six sequences of five rounds of a two-person public good game in partner design. At the end of each sequence, they can select a new partner out of six group members. Unidirectional and bidirectional partner selection mechanisms are introduced and compared to controls with random partner rematching. Results demonstrate significantly higher cooperation in correspondence to unidirectional partner selection than to bidirectional selection and random rematching. Average monetary effort for being able to choose a partner is substantially high and remains stable.
Military Intervention Decisions Regarding Humanitarian Crises
Authors: Boettcher William A.
Published: May 2004

Factors that may affect public support or opposition to U.S. military intervention in humanitarian crises around the world are examined to determine the impact of foreign policy frames on individual risk propensity. The source of the foreign policy frames, type of humanitarian crisis, location of the crisis and race/ethnicity/religion of the endangered population, tolerable ratios of U.S. lives saved/lost to foreign citizens saved/lost, and probability of casualty-free success are also investigated.
The Pen as Sword: George Orwell, H.G. Wells and Journalistic Parricide
Authors: Partington John S.
Published: May 2004

Between 1937 and 1945 George Orwell several times used the pen as sword to criticize the later writings of H.G. Wells. An investigation of the nature of Orwell’s criticisms, however, shows that they often appear paradoxical, acknowledging the influence of Wells on the formation of Orwell’s generation (and thus on Orwell himself), whilst condemning Wells for his idealism and lack of understanding of contemporary political reality. This article considers Orwell’s criticisms of Wells through a reading of both Wells’s and Orwell’s political writings of the 1930s and 1940s. It sees the two writers’ political visions as firmly grounded in the same critique of late-Victorian and Edwardian society (i.e. a Wellsian critique), but also identifies a sharp divergence in their thinking when addressing the totalitarian crisis facing Europe and the world between the two world wars. It concludes by not only revealing Wells’s and Orwell’s political differences, but also by noting the variety of political creeds which gathered beneath the umbrella of socialism in mid-twentieth-century Britain—an ideology which both Orwell and Wells claimed (with some justice) to advance.
The Nazi Capture of Power
Authors: Bessel Richard
Published: May 2004

The capture of power by Hitler and the nazi movement in 1933 was one of the great turning-points in modern history. Yet its significance is usually seen to rest less upon what occurred in 1933 than upon what happened later. This article is an attempt to integrate the history of the nazi capture of power into what followed from it by examining four themes: war, racism, violence and order. Each of these themes was central to what happened in 1933. The first world war cast a long shadow over the politics of Weimar Germany, and this helped to create a climate conducive to nazism; racism inspired nazi activists and acceptance of racist assumptions was generally widespread; violence, both in word and deed, characterized nazi politics and helped the nazis to consolidate power rapidly in 1933; and a (misplaced) desire for order drove many Germans — among both the èlites and voters — into the arms of the nazis. Thus these broad themes, which frame the history of the Third Reich generally, also frame the history of the nazi capture of power.
Hitler and Germanentum
Authors: Mees Bernard
Published: May 2004

This article investigates the concept of Germanentum (Germanicness) in nazi Germany in light of the use of a similar concept, romanità (Romanness) in fascist Italy, and of Hitler’s response to German antiquity enthusiasts. Rather than the dismissive attitude often cited by historians, this article shows that Hitler accepted many aspects of the cult of Germanicness, but in keeping with his early wish to distance the Nazi Party from some sections of the old radical right, as well as his obvious philhellenism, chose to see Germanicness as part of a broader Aryan antiquarian model which had been developed by an antiquarian Grub Street, a model that embraced Graeco-Roman antiquity as part of German culture and history.
Acquiescent Response Bias as an Aspect of Cultural Communication Style
Authors: Smith Peter B.
Published: May 2004

Estimates of acquiescent response bias derived from previously published, large-scale cross-cultural surveys that used Likert-type response scales are compared. Substantial evidence for convergent validity is found, particularly in relation to the surveys that measured value preferences. High bias in responses to personally relevant items is found in nations that are high on family collectivism and on a preference for increased uncertainty avoidance. High bias in responses to descriptions of others is found in nations low in uncertainty avoidance. These findings suggest that national indicators of acquiescence have substantive cultural meaning and should not be eliminated from nation-level analyses but rather built into analyses of cultural dynamics.
Nations, Cultures, and Individuals
Authors: Smith Peter B.
Published: May 2004

As an introduction to the five articles in this section that present data analyses focused at the nation level, three dilemmas pertinent to nation-level studies are discussed. First, reasons are exploredas to why it is valuable for psychologists to give attention to the national contexts within which the behavior of individuals has more typically been studied. Second, there is some discussion of the extent to which causal explanations of cultural differences can be sustained. Finally, it is argued that nation-level studies have a crucial and growing role to play in explaining variations in the findings of individual-level studies conducted at different locations.
Subjective Overachievement in American and Chinese College Students
Authors: Chang LinChiat , Arkin Robert M. , Leong Frederick T. , Chan Darius K. S. , Leung Kwok
Published: May 2004

Research on American students has indicated that a subjective overachiever strives to attain outstanding performance but is also chronically plagued by self-doubt. The present investigation compared Chinese college students in Hong Kong and Singapore to their Caucasian American counterparts in an attempt to examine the similarities and differences in subjective overachievement across cultures. Results supported the relevance of the subjective achievement experience in different cultures but also revealed important differences. Compared to American participants, Chinese participants showed more ambivalence about the benefits of failure, and they manifested higher levels of self-doubt as well as the tendency to discount ability under conditions of effort exertion. These cross-cultural differences persisted after controlling for individual differences in self-construals.
Interdependence as a Mediator between Culture and Interpersonal Closeness for Euro-Canadians and Turks
Authors: Uskul Ayse K. , Hynie Michaela , Lalonde Richard N.
Published: May 2004

The present study examines cross-cultural differences in interpersonal closeness to different people and whether these differences can be explained by independent and interdependent self-construal. Turkish and Euro-Canadian samples of university students were asked to indicate how close they feel and how close they ideally would like to be to family members, romantic partners, friends, and acquaintances. As predicted, Turkish participants scored higher on interdependent self-construal, whereas there was no culture difference on independent self-construal scores. Turkish participants rated their actual and ideal closeness with others higher than Euro-Canadian participants did. Both Turkish and Euro-Canadian participants reported feeling closest and ideally wanting to be closest to their romantic partner, and then to their families and friends, followed by acquaintances. Turkish participants desired more closeness with family members and acquaintances than Euro-Canadian participants did. Interdependent self-construal was found to partially mediate the relationships between culture and actual closeness scores forfamily, friends, and acquaintances and between culture and ideal scores for family and acquaintances.
Factor Structure of the Self-Construal Scale Revisited
Authors: Hardin Erin E. , Leong Frederick T. L. , Bhagwat Aditya A.
Published: May 2004

The Self-Construal Scale (SCS) is an important measure of self-construal. However, new data are needed on the structure of the SCS using more appropriate statistical techniques and investigating the existence of multiple (i.e., more than two) factors. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses of data from two groups of European American and Asian/Asian American college students reveal six factors underlying items on the SCS that seem to represent four specific aspects of Independence and two specific aspects of Interdependence. Results also provide initial support for the relative usefulness of these new factors in exploring between-groups differences. Implications for the conceptualization of self-construal and future research are discussed.
Spirit, Identity, and Self in Mountaineering
Authors: Lester James
Published: May 2004

This article gives a brief overview of psychological research on climbers, considers romanticism as the cultural context for the phenomenon of mountaineering, and concentrates on psychological themes found in an extensive review of mountaineering literature. The article is a condensed version of two chapters from a lengthy manuscript on mountaineering currently under consideration by publishers.
Nueva: Designing a Humanistic School for Gifted Youngsters
Authors: Jaffe Dennis T.
Published: May 2004

For 35 years, Nueva School has been a unique setting that nurtures and explores the learning of talented and gifted children. The school was founded on a vision of providing a new type of learning community, and gaining insights into the special needs of children with special gifts, who too often are left to fend for themselves. As the school continues to grow and develop, this historical reflection on how the school came to be offers a view of the development of a very special setting for learning that grows out of the humanistic tradition in education.
Existential Regret: A Crossroads of Existential Anxiety and Existential Guilt
Authors: Lucas Marijo
Published: May 2004

This article examines the experience of existential regret, defined as a profound desire to go back and change a past experience in which one has failed to choose consciously or has made a choice that did not follow one’s beliefs, values, or growth needs. The person experiences a combination of existential anxiety and existential guilt. Existential anxiety stems from confrontation with existential givens, including the finitude of past choices, inability to change the past, and the finitude of freedom in the past. With existential regret, the object of regret is an experience in which one failed to make a conscious, wholehearted choice and instead has made a choice in a moment of bad faith or lack of authentic presence and subjectivity. One’s sense is of having abandoned and betrayed the self, thereby feeling deep existential guilt. A paralysis of action and choice may follow. Distinctions, examples, implications, and recommendations are also discussed.
A Phenomenological Study of Directed Dissociation
Authors: Edge Linda W.
Published: May 2004

A holistic paradigm that asserts there is one interconnected realityof which we are all a part and can all be aware invites exploration ofthe role of dissociative processes in our search for transcendence andwholeness. This studywas conducted to ascertain the properties andexperience of “directed dissociation,” one construct on the Spectrumof Dissociation developed by the author. Directed dissociationcategorizes dissociative phenomena that are intentionally produced anddirected, including certain out-of-body experiences. In-depthinterviews with eight individuals representing four original nationalitiesand a variety of professions were conducted to explore the ability toproduce dissociative states repeatedly; the mechanics of creating,directing, terminating, and integrating such states; and their effecton life. Commonalities were found in each area and a progressivetendency within the nonpathological end of the Spectrum of Dissociation was indicated. Similarities were apparent betweenMaslow’sselfactualizing individuals and those who participated in this study.