bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
TELEVISION FLOWS IN LATIN AMERICA
Authors: ANTOLA LIVIA , ROGERS EVERETT M.
Published: March 2007

Compared to a decade previously, there is less importing of television programs in Latin America especially from the United States. Mexico's Televisa and Brazil's TV GLOBO have become major television exporters to other Latin American nations, particularly of telenovelas. A more balanced flow between the Americas also is due in part to the importing of telenovelas and other programs to the Spanish-speaking audience in the United States through Televisa's Spanish International Network (SIN). Significantly, this change in television flows is due more to capitalistic profit-motivation than because of national or international government policies intended to correct unbalanced media flows.
ANOTHER LOOK AT CHILDREN'S COMPREHENSION OF TELEVISION
Authors: PINGREE SUZANNE , Hawkins Robert P. , Rouner Donna , Burns John , Gikonyo Waithira , Neuwirth Carol
Published: March 2007

Research on children's comprehension of television suggests that very young children have difficulty ordering major scenes from a story, and generally do not have adultlike understandings of television. More recent research with young children using short and simple stimuli and a method designed to maximize children's communication abilities suggests that these earlier studies may have underestimated children's comprehension. In this study, three- to five-year-olds viewed an 8-minute version of Diff'rent Strokes, and then were asked to reenact the story with dolls and appropriate props. Analyses of the quality of the stories showed that 70% of the children comprehended most of the event clusters of the program. While their versions of the story were not nearly as detailed or rich as adults' versions, they did not indicate that the children had constructed qualitatively different meanings from the story.
YOUNG PEOPLE AND POPULAR MUSIC IN EAST GERMANY
Authors: WICKE PETER
Published: March 2007

Developments in radio technology have resulted in an inexpensive, portable, and individual-centered means of mass communication that allows young people the freedom to choose how to use this medium. There is evidence of a great preference for Western-style rock music among young people in East Germany, despite the fact that these environments are so socially, politically, and culturally different, suggesting that there may be certain general laws underlying media-transmitted cultural communication.
MESSAGE COMPLEXITY AND ATTENTION TO TELEVISION
Authors: THORSON ESTHER , REEVES BYRON , SCHLEUDER JOAN
Published: March 2007

Three experiments investigated the processing costs of watching television messages. Processing costs were indexed with a secondary task reaction time measure in which subjects were asked to pay attention to commercial messages while responding with button presses to randomly occuring tones or flashes. Response time to the secondary tasks was used as a measure of attention to the primary task (watching the messages). Audio and video complexity of the messages were within-subject variables, and the channels presented to subjects (audio-only, video-only, or both) was a between-subjects variable. Results indicated that: (1) for a tone secondary task, multiple-channel presentations demanded more capacity than single-channel presentations (video or audio channel only); (2) more capacity was required to process simple video and auditory information than complex information; and (3) complexity of information in an absent channel (e.g., visual information in the audio-only condition) produced the same slowed reaction times as those occurring when the channel was present.
THE ORIGINS OF INDIVIDUAL MEDIA-SYSTEM DEPENDENCY
Authors: BALL-ROKEACH S. J.
Published: March 2007

Prior theory and research that has demonstrated the consequences of individuals' media-system dependencies upon selective exposure and message effects has not, however, addressed the equally important question of the determinants of individuals' media-system dependencies. The aim of this article is to present a sociological framework for the analysis of the macro and micro determinants of those media-system dependencies. The configuration of determinants that constitute this framework includes structural dependencies between the media and other social systems, characteristics of the social environs, media-system activity, interpersonal discourse networks, the sociostructural location of individuals, and personal goals.
THE MASS MEDIA AND INFERENCE ABOUT OTHER NATIONS
Authors: PERRY DAVID K.
Published: March 2007

Previous research into claims that the Western press provides an inadequate picture of developing countries has neglected effects of media content on audiences. This study examines the influence of news about foreign countries on the accuracy of people's inferences concerning both Third World and more developed countries. An experiment on 109 U.S. residents tested whether unrepresentative news content creates unrepresentative mental images of foreign countries. Those who read an unrepresentative news story about a prototypical European or African country made less accurate judgments about the country than did participants who read no story.
PATTERNS OF NEWSPAPER READERSHIP AMONG TEENAGERS
Authors: COBB CATHY J.
Published: March 2007

The long-term decline in U.S. newspaper circulation has prompted numerous efforts to research, reorganize, and restructure the newspaper in order to meet the changing needs of the various audiences. One audience of particular interest is that of the adolescent, for it is the young person who is just developing newspaper usage patterns that may remain with him a good part of his adult life. This study is the first of a two-part investigation of adolescent newspaper readership and its evolution as young people grow into adulthood. Using data from over 1300 eleventh and twelfth graders in Dallas, Texas high schools, the author identifies four different types of newspaper readers and attempts to classify them on the basis of a comprehensive set of individual, environmental, and stimulus object factors. The findings emphasize the importance of environment variables in explaining differences in adolescent newspaper readership.
COUPLES AND OTHER STRANGERS
Authors: FITZPATRICK MARY ANNE , DINDIA KATHRYN
Published: March 2007

Using talk-time measures of spouse and stranger interaction styles, this article tests the spillover, situationist, and dynamic interactionist models of communication. In groups of four, twenty couples came into our laboratory on three separate occasions. Each person spoke with every other person in the group and these conversational orders were randomized. This multivariate round-robin analysis of variance design allows us to examine actor, partner, and relationship effects through time; it compares married to stranger dyads; it allows a direct test of the effect of a number of individual difference variables; and it examines the relationship among the dependent variables at the same point in time and across time periods. The results indicate that a spillover model best represents the talk-time data. Biological sex appears to have no effect on speaking with either a spouse or a stranger, although self-assessment that one is masculine does. Few personality variables predict talk time although relationship dimensions, such as sharing and satisfaction, differentially predict talk time.
Effects of Newspaper Coverage on Community Issue Concerns and Local Government Evaluations
Authors: SMITH KIM A.
Published: March 2007

Sociological theory suggests that media and other elements of community social systems mutually influence each other over time. Utilizing results from eight surveys conducted over an 8-year period and a content analysis of an urban daily newspaper, an analysis was conducted to examine the causal relationships among newspaper coverage of community issues, public concerns about them, and evaluations of related government services. The results showed that amount of newspaper coverage was related to higher levels of concern about community issues and poorer evaluations of government services. A time-series analysis indicated a 2-way effect between newspaper coverage and public concerns about the issues. Newspaper coverage of issues had a one-way effect on evaluations of government services, whereas evaluations had a one-way effect on public concerns.
Media Symbolism, Media Richness, and Media Choice in Organizations
Authors: TREVINO LINDA KLEBE , LENGEL ROBERT H. , DAFT RICHARD L.
Published: March 2007

Symbolic interactionism is presented as a theoretical approach for understanding media choice processes during managerial communications. In an exploratory study, 65 managers from 11 organizations were interviewed about communication incidents involving face-to-face, telephone, electronic mail, and written media. Managers were asked the reasons they chose the particular medium. A content analysis of the reasons suggests that three factors influenced managers' media choices: (a) ambiguity of the message content and richness of the communication medium, (b) symbolic cues provided by the medium, and (c) situational determinants such as time and distance. The findings also indicated the diversity of media use in management communications, with face-to-face selected primarily for content and symbolic reasons, whereas telephone and electronic mail typically were chosen because of situational constraints.
Analysis of Family Research Designs
Authors: KASHY DEBORAH A. , KENNY DAVID A.
Published: March 2007

This article presents both a conceptual model and an analytical method that can be used in the evaluation of round-robin family research data. The general model proposed is a variant of the social relations model (Kenny & La Voie, 1984). This model is used to partition family data into individual, dyadic, and family effects and permits examination of several types of interdependence between family members. At the individual level, actor and partner effects for each family role (mother, for example) can be estimated. At the dyadic level, relationship effects can be estimated; and at the family level, mean differences between families can be estimated. By correlating these different effects across family roles, this technique allows researchers to examine several types of interdependence within families. The analytical method presented is confirmatory factor analysis. Strengths and weaknesses of this model and analytical strategy are discussed.
Organizational Colleagues, Media Richness, and Electronic Mail
Authors: SCHMITZ JOSEPH , FULK JANET
Published: March 2007

The study investigated the effects of perceived media richness and social influences from organizational colleagues on the uses and assessments of electronic mail in a large research and development organization. A social network composed of an individual (ego), supervisor, and five close communication partners was used to model relational social influences. Responses reported by network members were incorporated into a structural equation system to predict each ego's perceptions, assessments, and usage of electronic mail. Survey data were supplemented by in-depth interviews. The study found: (a) Perceived electronic mail richness (1) varied across individuals and (2) covaried with relational social influences and with media experience factors; (b) perceived electronic mail richness predicted individuals' electronic mail assessments and usage; (c) social influences of colleagues had pervasive effects on others' media assessments. The study demonstrated that an explicit consideration of social influences aids understanding of how individuals perceive and use new information technology.
Verbal Ability and Prior Knowledge
Authors: ECKHARDT BEVERLY B. , WOOD MARY R. , JACOBVITZ ROBIN SMITH
Published: March 2007

This study examined the relative contributions of both verbal ability and prior knowledge to comprehension and memory for a televised movie about the Underground Railroad in both immediate and delayed retrieval conditions. Persons with both high levels of verbal ability and average to high levels of prior knowledge performed best on the comprehension measure, and those with low levels of verbal ability and prior knowledge had the lowest performance. For immediate comprehension, verbal ability was the best predictor of performance, whereas for the delay condition, prior knowledge was the best predictor of comprehension. This finding suggests that while both factors aid in the comprehension process, they do so in a different way. Discussion focuses on the idea that verbal ability may provide automaticity of processing, releasing capacity in working memory for encoding, whereas prior knowledge provides schemes for retrieval cues that are critical for accessing memory after a delay.
Communication and Unfulfilled Obligations
Authors: WILSON STEVEN R. , KANG KIL HO
Published: March 2007

This study investigated people's attributions for unfulfilled obligations, in situations in which a message source attempted to persuade a target to do something the target already had agreed to do. People's likelihood of attributing an unfulfilled obligation to the message target was expected to depend on the situational features of role (whether they were the message source or target), intimacy, and benefits of compliance for both parties. Construct differentiation also was expected to moderate the strength of associations between situational features and target attributions. As predicated, as construct differentiation increased the degree to which people associated situational features and causal judgments also increased. Situational features accounted for substantial variation in attributions made by highly differentiated individuals but not for judgments made by moderately and less differentiated individuals. Implications for communication research and attribution theories are discussed.
From Cultural Imperialists to Takeover Victims
Authors: McANANY EMILE G. , WILKINSON KENTON T.
Published: March 2007

The question some ask about the Hollywood buyouts by major foreign interests is whether ownership changes alter the principal questions posed by the cultural imperialism tradition. From a critical perspective, the answer is no, because the set of underlying problems still remains. This article traces some of the history of the term from its Latin American origins in the 1970s to Europe in the 1980s. A look at more recent writings on the issues of cultural hegemony shows how, although the terms of the debate have changed some what, significant current issues, such as market dominance, cultural practice, and audience reception, remain to be fully explored. A review of the sale of Hollywood assets from the mid-1980s does not suggest fundamental changes in the process of cultural production or distribution. Many areas for critical research remain to be addressed.
Fresh Blood, Public Meat
Authors: MARVIN CAROLYN
Published: March 2007

An election campaign serves ritual functions for the American political system, beyond its manifest functions of determining which persons and interests will govern the country. The campaign ritual is analyzed in terms of Durkheim's concept of the totem, including its regeneration and sacrifice. The dirty campaign is a sacrificial feast that establishes conditions for a proper mating between the candidate and the electorate. Voters declare their fidelity to the totem victor and receive a sacrificial promise in return.
Defining Audio/Video Redundancy From a Limited- Capacity Information Processing Perspective
Authors: LANG ANNIE
Published: March 2007

This article applies a limited-capacity information processing approach to the question of whether audio / video redundancy improves memory for television messages. Audio / video redundancy is defined as a continuum. Four different types of stimuli frequently used to operationalize redundancy are considered in terms of: (a) how much capacity they require to be fully processed; (b) how complex they are; and, (c) how much audio and video information they contain. Predictions based on these considerations are made about relative memory for each type of stimulus at three levels of processing (encoding, storage, and retrieval). The three major memory measures are conceptualized as providing information about different aspects of the information processing of a message. Specifically, recognition measures index how much information was encoded, cued recall indexes how much information has been stored, and free recall indexes the information available for retrieval. The predictions made using this theoretical approach are initially tested using the results previously reported in the literature. Over 75% of the reported results are in the direction predicted. It is suggested that talking head messages are different from other forms of audio / video redundancy, that audio memory is affected more by audio / video redundancy than video memory, and that video memory is affected more by complexity and amount of information—both of which are frequently confounded with redundancy.
Communication and Community in a City Under Siege
Authors: ROGERS EVERETT M. , DEARING JAMES W. , RAO NAGESH , CAMPO SHELLY , MEYER GARY , BETTS GARY J. F. , CASEY MARY K.
Published: March 2007

The history of urban life has been shaped and directed by the impact of disaster and disease, variables that have not disappeared in the postmodern age. Certainly, a deadly epidemic destroys and alters communication relationships while at the same time creating new communication needs and possibilities. The structure, social institutions, and policies of cities in part determine the impact and response to affliction. The authors analyze how the city of San Francisco was disrupted by the AIDS epidemic and how HIV / AIDS prevention campaigns sought to slow the epidemic. Both the epidemic and the communication response to it altered socially constructed notions about community through changes in personal behavior, interpersonal behavior, and organizational activities in San Francisco.
A Cross-Cultural Comparison of Teacher Immediacy in American and Japanese College Classrooms
Authors: NEULIEP JAMES W.
Published: March 2007

Cross-cultural perceptions of teacher immediacy of American and Japanese college teachers were compared. American (n = 191) and Japanese (n = 227) college students completed versions of the Teacher Immediacy Scale and indices of cognitive, affective, and behavioral learning. Consistent with the general hypothesis guiding the study, perceptions of teacher immediacy were higher for the American sample than Japanese sample. Significant positive correlations between immediacy and measures of cognitive, affective, and behavioral learning were observed for both groups, but the correlations were significantly greater for the Americans. Regression analysis revealed that nonverbal immediacy was more predictive of learning outcomes than verbal immediacy for the Japanese sample, whereas verbal immediacy was more predictive of learning outcomes than nonverbal immediacy for the American sample.
Serial Arguing and Relational Quality
Authors: JOHNSON KRISTEN LINNEA , ROLOFF MICHAEL E.
Published: March 2007

Most research has employed methods that treat interpersonal arguments as though they occur in a single episode or that ignore their episodic nature. However, limited research suggests that a relational argument may be repeated and can be viewed as serial. The authors' perspective assumes that the perceived resolvability of a serial argument is a better predictor of relational quality than is the frequency with which the argument; the results of a survey of individuals involved in a dating relationship support this assumption. Perceived resolvability is negatively related to (a) arguments arising from violated expectations, (b) counter-complaining and partner-initiated demand-withdrawal cycles, (c) predictability of argumentative episodes, (d) mulling, (e) overall amount of discord in the relationship, and (f) withdrawal from the partner after an episode. The extent of constructive communication that occurred during the initial confrontation is positively related to perceived resolvability.
Critical Systems Theory
Authors: GRAHAM PHILIP
Published: March 2007

An emergent form of political economy, facilitated by information and communication technologies (ICTs), is widely propagated as the apotheosis of unmitigated social, economic, and technological progress. Meanwhile, throughout the world, social degradation and economic inequality are increasing logarithmically. Valued categories of thought are, axiomatically, the basic commodities of the knowledge economy. Language is its means of exchange. This article proposes a sociolinguistic method with which to critically engage the hyperbole of the Information Age. The method is grounded in a systemic social theory that synthesizes aspects of autopoiesis and Marxist political economy. A trade policy statement is analyzed to exemplify the sociolinguistically created aberrations that are today most often construed as social and political determinants.
Moral Intelligence in a Sample of Incarcerated Females
Authors: WATT MARGO C. , FRAUSIN SILVIA , DIXON JEANNETTE , NIMMO SANDRA
Published: March 2007

This study investigated moral intelligence in a sample of 22 incarcerated females, comparing their performance to that of 20 incarcerated males and to a community sample of 23 women. Volunteers completed four self-report measures, including a demographics measure, Adult Nowicki-Strickland Internal-External Control Scale, Hogan Empathy Scale, and the Socialization, Responsibility, and Self-Control subscales of the California Psychological Inventory, plus three moral dilemmas. The main findings were as follows: (a) With respect to moral character, female inmates more closely resembled their male counterparts than they did the community women; (b) with respect to moral reasoning, female inmates were more apt to embrace an ethic of care versus justice than either of the other two groups; (c) discriminant function analysis revealed that the three groups were best distinguished by their scores on the socialization measure; and (d) females convicted of violent offenses had higher self-control scores than did other participants.
A Conceptual Model and Implications for Coping with Stressful Events in Police Work
Authors: ANSHEL MARK H.
Published: March 2007

Experiencing acute stress is inherent in police work. The inability to cope effectively with stressful events can result in undesirable psychological and somatic outcomes, leading to chronic stress, burnout, and quitting the profession. Surprisingly, however, understanding the coping process in police stress and identifying effective coping strategies in response to stressful events has received only scant attention in the research literature. The purposes of this article are (a) to review the coping process in police stress, (b) to identify adaptive and maladaptive coping styles in police work, and (c) to suggest coping strategies that reflect the coping model to reduce both chronic and acute forms of stress and to improve job satisfaction and performance among police officers. The model consists of officers' detection of stressful events or stimuli, their cognitive appraisal of the events or stimuli, and their application of approach- or avoidance-coping dimensions, and cognitive- and behavioral-coping subdimensions.
Police Responses to Restraining Orders in Domestic Violence Incidents
Authors: KANE ROBERT J.
Published: March 2007

The present analysis examines the extent to which police officers arrest domestic violence offenders who violate restraining orders. The study develops a theoretical framework, referred to as the custody-threshold thesis, that considers the decision to arrest to be a function of the officers' goals to satisfy one of several purposes of custody. Findings from logistic regression modeling show that restraining-order violations in domestic violence incidents have the greatest impact on arrest probability when risk of injury to the victim is low, but that as risk increases, the predictive strength of restraining-order violations diminishes. Findings support the custody-threshold thesis, suggesting important policy implications, which are identified and discussed.
Psychosocial and Behavioral Problems in Relation to Recent Experience as a Runaway among Adolescent Detainees
Authors: KINGREE J. B. , BRAITHWAITE RONALD , WOODRING TAMMY
Published: March 2007

This study examined the occurrence of psychosocial and behavioral problems in relation to recent experience as a runaway among adolescents recruited from two youth detention centers. The sample included 176 males and 132 females who were interviewed approximately 30 days after being initially detained. Results indicated that recent experience as a runaway was common, especially among females and Caucasians. Moreover, detainees who had recently run away reported more psychosocial and behavioral problems than did those who had not recently run away. The implications of these findings are discussed.
Predicting Inmate Penitentiary Adjustment
Authors: HANSON RICHARD W. , MOSS C. SCOTT , HOSFORD RAY E. , JOHNSON MARK E.
Published: March 2007

This study examines the relative efficacy of four classification systems in predicting inmate institutional adjustment in a penitentiary setting. The four systems are: (1) demographic variables, (2) Megargee Typologies, (3) Security Designation, and (4) Custody Classification. Data on 337 male inmates' adjustment as measured by four criterion variables of (a) number of disciplinary reports received, (b) days spent in disciplinary segregation, (c) days of statutory good time forfeited. and (d) work performance ratings were obtained and analyzed in relation to the four classification systems. Results of a canonical correlation procedure indicate that Custody Classification was the single best predictor of overall inmate adjustment with the demographic variable of age a distant second best. Using a stepwise multiple regression, each of the four measures of inmate adjustment was examined separately. Results reveal Custody Classification and inclusion in three of the ten Megargee Typologies to be the most effective single predictors. Recommendation for establishing a classificatory formula based on these variables is made with emphasis placed on the benefits of such a system.
The Role of the Probation Officer in the Sentencing Process
Authors: WALSH ANTHONY
Published: March 2007

This study explores the role of the probation officer in the sentencing process. There is no consensus in the literature regarding the importance of this role. Viewing the high rate of agreement often noted between probation officers' recommendations and sentences imposed has led some authors to view the probation officer as a highly competent “agent of individualization.” Others view this high rate of agreement as merely reflecting the ability of “judicial hacks” to “second guess” judges. Our data support the first of these interpretations. Probation officers' recommendations have a substantial direct effect on actual sentences. We noted that officers' recommendations varied significantly between liberal and conservative officers, and between male and female officers. More important, actual sentences also varied consistently with these criterion variables, thus arguing strongly for the independent role of probation officers in the sentencing process.
Classification in Correctional Halfway Houses
Authors: MOTIUK LAURENCE L. , BONTA JAMES , ANDREWS DON A.
Published: March 2007

There were two offender classification systems, the Megargee MMPI-based Typology and Level of Supervision Inventory (LSI), examined in order to determine their relative efficacy in identifying incarcerated offenders from a maximum-security setting for correctional halfway houses. Classifications by the two systems were compared with respect to incremental validity and predictive accuracy for (1) halfway house outcome and (2) postprogram incarceration. Analyses revealed no significant differences with respect to halfway house outcome and reincarceration between low- and high-risk offenders classified by the MMPI. Significant differences, however, were found between low- and high-risk offenders classified by the LSI system. Additional analyses revealed that only a small proportion of the variance in halfway house outcome could be accounted for by the Megargee MMPI-based system when delineating “predator” and “nonpredator” offender types.
Occupational Stressors among Federal Correctional Officers Working in Different Security Levels
Authors: LASKY GARETH L. , GORDON B. CARL , SREBALUS DAVID J.
Published: March 2007

This study investigated distress and self-esteem levels of 147 federal correctional officers working in that system's six different security level institutions. The General Severity Index (GSI), a scale of the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI), was used to measure distress; the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (SES) operationalized the other dependent variable. In addition, 13 variables were used as part of a multiple regression analysis to determine a prediction equation for the two outcomes studied. Lack of participation in decision making and years of continual employment were significantly related to distress, whereas responsibility for people and role conflict were related to self-esteem. Federal correctional officers across all security levels scored in the “clinical” range on the GSI and yielded high SES scores. Differences among security levels were not significant.
MMPI PROFILES OF INCEST OFFENDERS: MEN WHO MOLEST YOUNGER CHILDREN AND MEN WHO MOLEST OLDER CHILDREN
Authors: McIvor Daniel L. , Duthie Bruce
Published: March 2007

Twelve men who molested younger children were compared to twelve men who molested older children. The men who molested younger children had generally more elevated MMPI profiles, with scales D, Mf, and Sc elevated significantly more than those men who molested older children.
American Death Penalty Attitudes
Authors: BOHM ROBERT M.
Published: March 2007

Public support for the death penalty is something of an American tradition. Yet the bases of the American tradition of support for the death penalty are not well understood. An understanding of American attitudes toward capital punishment is important, not only because the United States is again executing criminal offenders, but because it provides a rough estimate of the level of maturity of American civilization. This study critically examines the reasons and processes by which Americans come to support the death penalty.
Community Psychology Perspectives on Delinquency
Authors: GLENWICK DAVID S.
Published: March 2007

This introduction to the special issue first outlines the principal concepts of the community psychology perspective on social problems and service delivery. Next, an overview is provided of the articles included in the special issue, which apply this perspective to various aspects of delinquency and juvenile justice. Finally, noteworthy issues meriting attention in future research and salient themes highlighted by the articles are discussed.
Crime and Cognition
Authors: ARBUTHNOT JACK , GORDON DONALD A.
Published: March 2007

The authors first summarize briefly the results of a recent meta-analysis of community-based interventions for delinquents, pointing to the generally low-order results of such efforts. The characteristics of effective interventions are then noted. The bulk of the paper is a discussion of the theoretical basis, intervention strategy, and dissemination of an innovative and cognitively based community intervention—sociomoral reasoning development. Particular attention is given to consideration of those factors—particularly organizational ones—that facilitate the adoption of such interventions.
The Relationship between Cognitive Style and Defensive Process in the Psychopath
Authors: GACONO CARL B. , MELOY J. REID
Published: March 2007

The authors review Yochelson and Samenow's (1977) model of the criminal mind. They propose a levels hypothesis for understanding the relationship among object relations, defensive operations, and the conscious cognitive-behavioral style of the psychopath. They advocate the addition of an explicit psychodynamic dimension to Yochelson and Samenow's model. A hypothetical case is presented to illustrate the relationship between unconscious defense process and conscious cognitive-behavioral style of the psychopathic personality.
Models of Child Abuse
Authors: AZAR SANDRA T.
Published: March 2007

This review assesses progress in the development of causal models of physical child abuse by examining the foundations of current theorizing. The sociopolitical forces and methodological problems that have acted to inhibit model building are highlighted. Existing models are then analyzed using five dimensions important to theory construction: definitions, basic assumptions, levels of analysis, complexity, and forms of antecedent-consequence relationships posited. Progress and conceptual problems in current theorizing are discussed and guidelines for future theory development are outlines.
Childhood Victimization, Race, and Violent Crime
Authors: KRUTTSCHNITT CANDACE , DORNFELD MAUDE
Published: March 2007

This study employed a logit analysis with retrospective self-report data to assess the importance of three types of childhood victimization experiences-physical abuse, spouse abuse, and emotional neglect-to the commission of violent crimes as a young adult. The exploratory model is based on data collected on 100 male inmates incarcerated for crimes of violence and 65 nonincarcerated, nonviolent males matched on age, race, and neighborhood. Findings from the analyses, estimated separately for Blacks and Whites, indicated that the childhood experiences associated with violent crime differed for Blacks and Whites and that the model fit the experiences of Blacks better than those of Whites.
Sexual Aggression against Children
Authors: HALL GORDON C. NAGAYAMA , HIRSCHMAN RICHARD
Published: March 2007

Male sexual aggression against children is a serious and alarmingly common social problem. Treatments for the perpetrators have been only moderately successful. Perhaps a reason for this has been the absence of a unified model of etiology and treatment that includes the most salient motivational factors unique to various subtypes of perpetrators. Such a model would have to be sufficiently flexible to account for the various sexually aggressive modes of expression without being unnecessarily complex or simplistic if it is to be clinically useful. Specifically with respect to sexual aggression against children, a quadripartite model is proposed that includes physiological sexual arousal, cognitions that justify sexual aggression, negative affective states, and personality problems as motivational precursors that increase the probability of sexually aggressive behavior. The relative prominence of these precursors is used as a guideline for assessing and treating particular subtypes of perpetrators. Failure to consider the primary motivational precursor during the initial stages of treatment also may account for the limited success of current treatments.
Commentary on Paulus and Dzindolet
Authors: BONTA JAMES , GENDREAU PAUL
Published: March 2007

Paulus and Dzindolet (1993) presented evidence that they argued supports a two-component model of the effects of incarceration. Prison life, in their model, includes both constancy and variability, with each of these components having different effects on the individual. However, the separation of these two components at the theoretical and methodological levels is problematic. We conclude that their data can just as readily support other theoretical accounts of the effects of imprisonment without facing the difficulties posed by the two-component model.
The Influence of Adolescent Substance Use and Socialization on Deviant Behavior in Young Adulthood
Authors: GUY SYBILLE M. , SMITH GENE M. , BENTLER P. M.
Published: March 2007

This study examined the impact of adolescent substance use on adult substance use and criminal behavior. Longitudinal data from 657 participants were assessed over 12 years (1969-1981). Latent variable models were used to determine what effect, if any, adolescent drug use had on later deviance. In addition, constructs relevant to traditional theories of social control, such as the extent of socialization and obedience to rules, were also included as predictors. The results showed that a general drug use factor in adolescence significantly predicted adult illicit substance use, theft, and interpersonal aggression. Drug-related accidents (automobile and other) were also predicted from adolescent drug use. These findings are consistent with several theories suggesting that different forms of deviance may influence each other over time.
The Measurement of Rape Victimization in Crime Surveys
Authors: KOSS MARY P.
Published: March 2007

Although the past 20 years have seen changes in the statutory definition of rape, its investigation, and its adjudication, for the bulk of this period those responsible for the measurement of rape victimization in national and international crime surveys have clung to inadequate rape screening. Because the resultant victimization estimates failed to capture accurately the incidence of rape, independent researchers tried to fill the data vacuum, a situation that has precluded a cumulative database and promoted an antirape backlash. Flawed federal data ill-serve policy needs and fuel a negative recovery climate for victims. This article argues that it is time for U.S. victimization statistics to measure rape with the same precision accorded other crimes and to communicate more openly to the public the limitations of crime survey methodology to detect intimate violence including rape.
The Criminal Sentiments Scale-Modified and Pride in Delinquency Scale
Authors: SIMOURD DAVID J.
Published: March 2007

The present study explored the utility of two measures of criminal attitudes—the Criminal Sentiments Scale-Modified (CSS-M) and the Pride in Delinquency scale (PID)—among a sample of 114 Canadian federally incarcerated offenders. The study examined the psychometric properties and construct validity of the measures, administered as part of a prerelease psychological assessment. The results indicated that both are reliable and valid measures of criminal attitudes. Implications of the findings with respect to theory and practice are considered.
Early Victimization, Drug Use, and Criminality
Authors: McCLELLAN DOROTHY S. , FARABEE DAVID , CROUCH BEN M.
Published: March 2007

Comparative analysis of the relative victimization of 1,030 adult male prisoners and 500 adult female prisoners in Texas reveals significant gender differences in childhood and adult maltreatment and subsequent substance use and criminality. Female inmates report significantly more maltreatment as children than do male inmates. Moreover, the maltreatment of women increases when they become adults, whereas the maltreatment of men drops sharply. The study found childhood maltreatment to be more strongly associated with adult depression and substance dependence among women than among men. The severity of substance misuse and problems associated with it are stronger predictors of female rates of criminal activity than male rates. Recent literature from the social sciences is presented to account for the findings. A female empowerment treatment model to help women attain control over their lives is suggested.
A Comparison of the Problem-Solving Abilities and Psychological Distress of Suicidal, Bullied, and Protected Prisoners
Authors: BIGGAM FIONA H. , POWER KEVIN G.
Published: March 2007

This research examines the relation between means-end thinking and psychological distress in a group of young, incarcerated Scottish offenders who exhibited difficulties in adjusting to the prison regime. Four groups of inmates were examined: (a) those placed in suicidal supervision; (b) those removed from main circulation and placed in protection; (c) victims of bullying who remained in main circulation; and (d) a group who had adjusted reasonably to the prison regime. The Means-End Problem Procedure (MEPS) was used in conjunction with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and the Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS). Results suggested a hierarchy of problem-solving deficits and psychological distress that were both most pronounced in the inmates placed in suicidal supervision. Deficits in problem solving were also found to correlate with higher levels of distress. Analyses of covariance revealed the importance of the status of the individuals in relation to their adjustment to prison after controlling for age and the total amount of time spent incarcerated. The results are discussed in relation to possible interventions to promote adjustment to prison life among such vulnerable inmates.
The Cost of Working Together
Authors: Rice Jennifer King
Published: March 2007

Comprehensive systems that seek to coordinate a broad array of support services have increasingly been surfacing as an avenue for providing public services to children. Although proponents of such efforts have argued that more integrated approaches promise to be more efficient than fragmented systems of service delivery, little empirical evidence exists to support such claims. A major hurdle in making judgments about efficiency involves assessing the costs of the approach. This article develops, applies, and appraises a framework designed to guide local policy makers as they consider the types, amounts, and distribution of costs associated with comprehensive support systems for children.
Blame, Complacency, and Pessimism
Authors: Stone Clarence N. , Feldbaum Eleanor G.
Published: March 2007

Social service employees work in potentially frustrating conditions. Yet their reactions to job stress may differ. Survey data organized by a typology (anti-client, anti-system, pessimist, and complacent) suggest that personal characteristics are an important intervening variable between job stress and employee reaction. However, agencies do not appear equally receptive to all reactions. Instead, social agencies seem to reward complacency. Speculatively, we conclude that employees who define or redefine their work objectives as attaining extrinsic rewards will be satisfied and remain with their agencies, while those who define their work objectives as attaining intrinsic rewards will be frustrated and leave their agencies.
Implementing Equal Educa tion Opportunity Policy
Authors: Stewart Joseph , Bullock Charles S.
Published: March 2007

This research examines the differential impact of HEW and Justice Department enforcement efforts to implement equal educational opportunity policy in four Southern states between 1968 and 1974. The evidence indicates that equal education opportunity remains an unfulfilled goal and that the patterns of deviation from the ideal are at least partially attributable to the enforcement agency. Reasons are suggested for the patterns found. Policy analysts will find clear examples of the impact of both problem definition and implementation on policy outcomes.
Implementing Affirmative Action and Organizational Compliance
Authors: Milward H. Brinton , Denhardt Kathryn G. , Rucker Robert E. , Thomas Thomas L.
Published: March 2007

This article develops a conceptual model of organizational compliance using affirmative action as an example. The model is applied to universities that are both highly professionalized and loosely coupled. The article explores the dynamics of the process by which organizations with weak hierarchical links attempt to respond to demands that are sometimes unclear or changing and that make a valued resource contingent upon compliance with goals that are externally imposed. The article then attempts to show how the model could be operationalized empirically and the results used to determine whether or not an organization is making a good-faith attempt to comply with affirmative action.
Merit, Equity, and Test Validity
Authors: Riccucci Norma M.
Published: March 2007

The U.S. Supreme Court's Johnson v. Transportation Agency ruling in 1987 has rekindled the merit versus equity debate. In particular, it has encouraged reassessment of some of the debate's underlying assumptions which led many to argue that equity compromises merit. This article critically examines one of those assumptions, namely, that test validation produces good indicators of merit. In effect; many argue that if a woman or minority scores lower than a White male on a "valid" job-related exam but is nonetheless hired, merit is sacrificed. To demonstrate the flaws in this type of reasoning, the underlying biases of test validation are explored. A case is presented on the validation of physical strength tests for protective service jobs. The article concludes that because of these biases, test validation cannot be relied on to operationalize merit. To the extent that it is relied on, the pursuit of merit as well as equity is deterred.
Conditions of Autonomous Action and Performance
Authors: Silver Robin S.
Published: March 2007

A common presupposition in the resource dependence literature is that autonomy is a goal to be achieved by the organization. This longitudinal study of the Fonds d'Action Sociale's changing ability to act autonomously in its resource environment extends and modifies this concept, suggesting that autonomy and dependency describe several different conditions in which the organization functions. This study demonstrates that organizational performance varies with condition. More autonomous conditions permit better performance: increased innovation, the internal generation of goals, and improved morale. These results force us to question certain assumptions about the inherent limitations on public organization performance and reconsider the potential of, and conditions necessary for, autonomous public organization.
The Negotiated Order of Organizational Reliability
Authors: Schulman Paul R.
Published: March 2007

A critical problem facing modern organizations in a variety of settings is the erosion of slack. Given narrowing performance margins allowed many organizations, managers are tempted to "lock in" organizational performance through elaborated rules and procedures, formal authority assignments, and clearly differentiated job responsibilities. A case study of one organization seeking very high reliability in its performance—a nuclear power plant—is offered to demonstrate a contrary point of view. Reliability, it is argued, can best be achieved not through attempts at organizational invariance but through the management of fluctuations in important organizational relationships and practices. This strategy enhances reliability while preserving the protective functions of organizational slack.
Subsystem Congruence
Authors: Shareef Reginald
Published: March 2007

This case study compared the attitudinal behavioral outcomes of participants and nonparticipants involved in strategic cultural change. The research was conducted in a large public organization using the Human Relations Model (i.e., participation -+ satisfaction -+ organization change) to facilitate organization change. It was hypothesized that participants would have higher levels of quality-of-working life than nonparticipants. The results of the study did not support the hypothesis. It appears that a more systemic change process is required in strategic change processes. A discussion of a holistic change model, Subsystem Congruence, is also presented.
Masculinity and the Meaning of Work
Authors: Schwartz Howard S.
Published: March 2007

Men's attitude toward women is deeply ambivalent. Women are the centers of men's emotional lives, but men are deeply afraid of them. The meaning of male work arises from this ambivalence. It represents an attempt to engage and transform reality in order to gain connection with the female without becoming completely dependent on her. Manichean feminism is a form of feminism that sees gender differentiation as an opposition of the forces of goodness, identified with the female, against the forces of badness, identified with the male. It is based on the premise that reality can be denied, and represents the repudiation of males who engage it.