The Paradox of Terrorism in Civil War

A great deal of violence in civil wars is informed by the logic of terrorism: violence tends to be used by political actors against civilians in order to shape their political behavior. I focus on indiscriminate violence in the context of civil war: this is a type of violence that selects its victims on the basis of their membership in some group and irrespective of their individual actions. Extensive empirical evidence suggests that indiscriminate violence in civil war is informed by the logic of terrorism. I argue that under certain conditions, that tend to be quite common, such violence is counter productive. I specify these conditions and address the following paradox: why do we sometimes observe instances of indiscriminate violence evenunder conditions that make this strategy counterproductive? I review four possible reasons: truncated data, ignorance, cost, and institutional constraints. I argue that indiscriminate violence emerges because it is much cheaper than its main alternative – selective violence. It is more likely under a steep imbalance of power between the competing actors, and where and when resources and information are low; however, most political actors eventually switch to selective violence. Thus, given a balance of power between competing actors, indiscriminate violence is more likely at early rather than late stages of the conflict. Overall, the paper suggests that even extreme forms of violence are used strategically.     

童年中期儿童受欺负地位稳定性与社会能力的关系

本研究以522名小学二、三、四年级的儿童进行间隔1年(两次收集数据)的纵向研究,考察了儿童受欺负稳定性及其与社会能力的关系。结果表明:受欺负在小学儿童中十分常见,但并不是一种很稳定的现象,对大多数儿童来说,受欺负只是一种短暂的经历。在间隔1年的追踪研究中,只有大约6.6%的儿童被连续两次评定为受欺负者。重复测量方差分析发现,儿童的受欺负与社会能力发展有着密切的同时性关联;鉴别分析表明,同伴拒绝、退缩行为是区分儿童受欺负稳定性的两个最主要的社会能力变量。     

Androgen dynamics in the context of children's peer relations: an examination of the links between testosterone and peer victimization

Testosterone levels have been shown to decrease in the face of social defeat in several mammalian species. Among humans, the loss of social status has been studied primarily in the context of athletic competition, with winners having higher testosterone levels than losers. This study examined testosterone levels in relation to peer victimization (bullying) in a sample of 151 boys and girls aged 12–13. Statistically controlling for age and pubertal status, results indicated that on average verbally bullied girls produced less testosterone and verbally bullied boys produced more testosterone than their nonbullied counterparts. Similar trends were evident comparing social and physical bullying with testosterone. Sex differences are discussed in terms of empirically validated differences in coping styles, as girls tend to internalize, whereas boys tend to externalize, their abuse. Aggr. Behav. 35:103–113, 2009. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

攻击行为对儿童受欺负的预测：社会喜好的中介效应及性别差异

摘 要 以455名武汉某小学四、五、六年级的儿童为被试,采用同伴提名法、班级戏剧问卷,考察了不同性别儿童的外部攻击、关系攻击、社会喜好与受欺负之间的关系,重点检验了社会喜好在不同类型攻击行为与受欺负之间的中介效应及性别差异。结果表明：（1）小学儿童的外部攻击、关系攻击、社会喜好与受欺负之间均存在显著相关;其中男生的外部攻击与社会喜好、关系攻击与社会喜好的相关系数均显著高于女生;（2）小学儿童在外部攻击和社会喜好维度上得分存在显著的性别差异,男生的外部攻击得分显著高于女生,社会喜好得分显著低于女生;（3）社会喜好分别在外部攻击、关系攻击与受欺负之间存在中介效应,且外部攻击和关系攻击对社会喜好的预测系数均存在显著性别差异,表现为外部攻击、关系攻击对社会喜好的预测作用男生显著高于女生;社会喜好对受欺负的预测系数存在显著的性别差异,表现为社会喜好对受欺负的预测作用女生显著高于男生;而外部攻击和关系攻击对受欺负的预测系数均不存在性别差异。     

A Risk-Amplification Model of Victimization and Depressive Symptoms Among Runaway and Homeless Adolescents

This report is an examination of a theoretical model of risk amplification within a sample of 255 homeless and runaway adolescents. The young people were interviewed on the streets and in shelters in urban centers of four Midwestern states. Separate models were examined for males (n = 102) and females (n = 153). Results indicated that street experiences such as affiliation with deviant peers, deviant subsistence strategies, risky sexual behaviors, and drug and/or alcohol use amplified the effects of early family abuse on victimization and depressive symptoms for young women. These street adaptations significantly increased the likelihood of serious victimization over and above the effects of early family history for both young men and women. Similarly, street behaviors and experiences increased the likelihood of depressive symptoms for young women over the effects of early family abuse, but not for young men. The risk-amplification model from the life course theoretical perspective is discussed as an example of the cumulative continuity of maladaptive behaviors.     

Child victims: Searching for opportunities to break the cycle of violence

In 1986 I began research to address the relationship between early child abuse and neglect and later deliquent and violent criminal behavior using a prospective cohort design. The relationship is not inevitable, suggesting an opportunity for long-range violence prevention through appropriate early intervention. Here, I briefly describe how childhood victimization and violent criminal behavior are related and illustrate a number of promising strategies and opportunities to intervene. Finally, I offer five principles to guide interventions: (1) the earlier the intervention, the better; (2) don't neglect neglected children; (3) one size does not fit all; (4) surveillance—a double-edged sword; and (5) accessibility to resources. Rather than focusing on responses to child abuse or neglect in court proceedings that “treat” offenders, primary prevention efforts should target childhood victims to reduce their risk of becoming offenders in the future.     

Is peer victimization related to body esteem in 10-year-old girls and boys?

Several studies show that a history of exposure to appearance-related teasing is linked to body dissatisfaction. This study extends those findings by examining the impact of bullying, and other forms of peer victimization, on different aspects of 10-year-old girls’ and boys’ body esteem. Participants were 960 Swedish 10-year-olds, 515 girls and 445 boys. Principal results show that social exclusion is related to 10-year-olds’ evaluations of their general appearance, to evaluations of their weight, and to beliefs about how others perceive their appearance. Furthermore, bullied girls have poorer body esteem in terms of beliefs of how others perceive their appearance than do bullied boys. Appearance teasing was associated with girls’ poorer body esteem in terms of general appearance and beliefs of others views of their appearance. For boys, teasing was associated with poorer body esteem on all dimensions. Thus, this study implies that a wider range of peer victimization relates to children's negative self-perceptions than was former known.     

The Association between Religious Discrimination and Health: Disaggregating by Types of Discrimination Experiences,Religious Tradition,and Forms of Health

Research finds that experiences of religious discrimination are often associated with poorer health outcomes. However, there remain important questions to consider gaps, including whether religious discrimination has similar health impacts on religious minority groups and religious majority groups, whether religious discrimination is equally harmful for both mental and physical health, and whether specific types of discrimination have different impacts on health. Using survey data from a probability sample of U.S. adults and measures representing a variety of discrimination experience types, our analyses suggest that religious discrimination is indeed harmful for health, but that experiences of religious discrimination do not universally affect mental and physical health in the same ways. Rather than significant differences in the health impacts of religious discrimination across different religious groups, we find more variation in the health impacts of different types of experiences with discrimination. Further, we find that mental health is negatively impacted by a wider range of experiences with religious discrimination than physical health. These findings are in line with social psychological research on the differential health impacts of discrimination, and they highlight the importance of context in studies of the health effects of religious discrimination.     

班级环境如何影响受欺负者的适应？健康环境悖论及其发生机制

“健康环境悖论”是指在受欺负水平相对较低的环境中,受欺负个体有更多的适应问题。通过梳理相关实证研究,本文从人际与认知两大方面分析健康环境悖论的发生机制。人际机制强调健康环境会影响同伴群体对于受欺负者的态度和受欺负者的友谊,这些不良的人际关系进一步加剧受欺负者的适应困难。认知机制认为健康环境会通过向上的社会比较和消极归因方式,影响受欺负者的适应问题。最后,我们讨论了中国文化背景下“健康环境悖论”的适用性问题、未来研究的发展方向和对于干预实践的建议。