Assessing Urban Public Safety via Indicator-Based Evaluating Method: A Systemic View of Shanghai

The explosive development of urban Shanghai after China’s economic reform in 1978 has attracted wide attention. There are a plethora of studies attempting to capture the fast dynamics in this global city. Looking into the urban dynamics from a public safety perspective, however, eludes the current literature. Urban public safety has become a primary concern of urban sustainability in recent years due to escalated potential loss if urban public safety is severely breached. This is even more so for megacities like Shanghai. Assessing the current status of urban public safety hence becomes an imperative task for urban sustainability. This research initiates a detailed assessment effort through building a relatively comprehensive set of public safety indicators. Four general aspects of Shanghai’s urban public safety are identified, i.e., urban development, urban crime and instability, urban housing and livability, and urban disasters. From officially published data, field survey and interviews, 34 individual indicators are chosen. Principal component analyses are conducted for each of the four aspects, and a synthetic urban public safety index is derived. The analysis suggests that urban Shanghai’s public safety is gradually increasing due primarily to continuous economic success and increased investment in public safety preparation, education, and prevention. The assessment index is also shown to be able to capture major events affecting Shanghai’s public safety.     

Quality of Life and Perceptions of Crime in Saskatoon, Canada

This article investigates the relationship between crime and quality of life in Saskatoon, Canada. The city has one of the highest crime rates in the country and has been referred to as the ‘Crime Capital of Canada’, a label that comes as a surprise to many residents and causes considerable concern among others. The aim of this research is to penetrate beyond sensational news headlines and bald crime statistics. The paper evaluates how perceptions of crime and safety affect the quality of life of residents living in neighbourhoods of different socio-economic status and geographic location. Both quantitative and qualitative time series data is analyzed in a sample of neighbourhoods over the period 2001–2004–2007. The findings of the data analysis are interpreted with respect to issues relating to the fear of crime, avoidance behaviour, risk minimization, social cohesion and community building.     

Unter der Fahne des Kalifats

Ever since the proclamation of a caliphate by the so-called “Islamic State” in June 2014, the strategic communication of the terrorist organization has become the subject of public and scientific interest. A focal point of discussion lies at the skillful use of social networks by the “Islamic State”. So far, research has focused primarily on quantitative aspects of agenda setting and has neglected the visual character of terror communication and the specific functions of visuals. The article deals with a selection of video messages of the “Islamic State” that address life in the IS-capital of al-Raqqah. Based on a visual frame analysis the article discusses central topics and visual frames and questions their importance for further research on strategic terrorist communication.     

Does Municipal Socioeconomic Development Affect Public Perceptions of Crime? A Multilevel Logistic Regression Analysis

Chile is considered as one of the safest countries in Latin America, with a below-the-average world crime rate. However, during the last few decades, the country has experienced a deterioration in public perceptions of safety. This paper investigates public perceptions of crime in the 52 municipalities of the metropolitan area of Santiago, by employing an index of socioeconomic development for each municipality. Multilevel logistic regression analysis is used in order to assess the impact of individual and municipal-level variables on perceptions of crime in these municipalities. The results show that women exhibit higher perceptions of crime, while people living in rural areas, inactive people, and people with higher education and income have generally lower perceptions. Multidimensional poverty is positively associated with high perceptions of crime, while municipal spending on health and/or education does not show a relationship with perceptions of crime. Regarding socioeconomic development level of municipalities, the results show that people living in municipalities of high development show the lowest perceptions of crime, despite the fact that these municipalities do actually exhibit the highest crime rates, a fact confirming the ‘perception gap’ and the ‘neighbourhood favouritism’ theories. The results and conclusions of this study can be used not only by local policy-makers but also by officials in other cities that—like Santiago—are characterised by high urban segregation.     

Tentative discussion on research into family planning psychology]

Some aspects of family planning psychology, a field of study examining the psychological problems involved in the practice of family planning, are discussed. In an attempt to prove the scientific importance of the study of family planning psychology, the following 7 problems are examined: 1) the needs, desires, and motives involved in human childbearing and how they have developed and changed; 2) the characteristics of and rules governing childbearing attitudes and how they have developed and changed; 3) the role of psychological consultation and psychotherapy in family planning; 4) the special psychology of the "only child" and how to educate him; 5) promotional psychology in family planning; 6) the psychology of marriage and the family in regard to birth control; 7) social psychology in family planning with regard to conventions, customs, religious beliefs, and public opinion. Family planning psychology covers a broad range of topics and its scientific importance is stressed. Although this area of study is closely related to other fields, it is emphasized that it is a new and entirely distinct branch of psychology with its own special concepts, functions, and goals.     

Jill Meagher CCTV

“Jill Meagher CCTV,” the security camera recording of Melbourne woman Jill Meagher's last minutes alive, registered more than 677,000 views on YouTube by early 2014. Little happens for most of its 232 seconds and, as would be expected with surveillance footage, there is no sound. In Australia, “Jill Meagher CCTV” forms part of a haunting iconography of a rape and murder victim that not only resonates with fictional narratives in other places, but also influences the way the Jill Meagher story, as a whole, is read. As Melissa Jane Hardie (2010) suggests of the “true crime” story (citing Bronski 2005, 29), the public reaction to high profile stories of violent crime “is often an emblematic cultural citation that represents a social problem or fixation.” This article considers “Jill Meagher CCTV” as such a cultural citation and goes further by highlighting its gothic tendencies. Highlighting the gothic aspects of “Jill Meagher CCTV” resonates with surrounding narratives of violence and gender justice, which have material consequences for women in the way that the most prevalent forms of violence against women continue to be downplayed in those narratives.     

农村“妇小贷”政策满意度模型构建的实证研究--基于PCA和Delphi赋权法

正式试点实施已逾六年的妇女小额担保贷款（以下简称“妇小贷”）政策以其显著的经济和社会效益倍受广大妇女特别是农村妇女的高度称赞,然而学界围绕农村“妇小贷”的研究并不深入和全面。本研究以626户借贷农妇的调研数据为依托,基于主成份分析（PCA）和德尔菲法（Delphi）主客观结合确定指标权重的方法,构建起了“妇小贷”农妇满意度模型;以期为该政策及其它基于性别视角下的公共政策深入研究工作提供参考。     

新疆老年人口结构差异及其问题研究--基于新疆第四次、五次和六次人口普查数据的分析

中国社会已然进入老龄化社会,老龄问题成为中国未来经济社会发展的重大社会问题之一。新疆作为多民族地区和经济欠发达地区,其老龄化问题有其自身特征,进行区域性的老龄化结构问题研究能够了解新疆老龄化的现状和具体问题,为解决区域性的老龄化问题提供科学依据,促进新疆地方性社会的长治久安。基于新疆第四、五和六三次人口普查资料的统计分析,研究发现,新疆老年人口结构存在区域性不平衡、汉族老龄化进程快于少数民族、老龄人社会经济地位较低、老龄妇女问题较为突出和老年公共文化需求等方面的问题。文章提出推进区域老年经济产业发展、对汉族老龄化进行政策干预、推进地方产业结构升级、发展老龄妇女养老服务事业和老年社会公共文化建设的对策建议。     

Characteristics of U.S. cities with extreme (high or low) crime rates: Results of discriminant analyses of 1960, 1970, and 1980 data

Why do some cities have higher or lower crime rates than others? In this study we attempt to answer this fundamental question by identifying the theoretically motivated structural covariates which differentiate U.S. cities with extreme high and low crime rates. We apply discriminant function analysis across comprehensive samples of all U.S. cities with populations of greater than 25 000 in the periods 1960, 1970, and 1980 and then posit four question: are empirical findings from regression-based studies of city crime rates replicated in discriminant studies with extreme rates? Are the covariates that predict high or low crime rates unique to specific time periods? Which covariates are better able to discriminate high or low rates for specific crimes? And are specific covariates distinguishable in crime rate changes across time periods? Among our general findings, it appears that those cities with extreme high (low) crime rates tend to be the largest (smallest), most (least) economically deprived, and most (least) socially disintegrated. Associations with these latter two characteristics appear to have grown stronger over the past three census periods. The theoretical importance of these and other findings uncovered here are discussed and interpreted through Wilson's (1987) notion of concentration effects and social isolation which may have transformed inner-city areas in recent years.     

Measuring Household Wealth with Latent Trait Modelling: An Application to Malawian DHS Data

Public perceptions of crime and victimisation can influence an individual’s subjective well-being. Research into the impact of the fear of crime and victimisation on subjective well-being, however, has been limited; particularly with respect to the relative contributions of real versus perceived crime towards an individual’s self-reported life satisfaction. Improving our understanding of the relationship between crime and well-being is important, as public resources assigned to reducing or controlling crime could be assigned to addressing other social concerns. This paper extends the literature by exploring the contribution of real and perceived crime in an individual’s local area to their self-reported life satisfaction. Our results indicate that: (1) individuals’ perceptions of crime in their local area are far greater than actual levels of crime; (2) the gap between perceived and real crime is widening as real crime rates fall faster than the perceived rate of crime; (3) real crime rates detract more from an individual’s self-reported life satisfaction than perceived rates of crime; however, (4) perceived rates of crime have an adverse impact on life satisfaction beyond those associated with real crime; and (5) there is significant heterogeneity in the life satisfaction effects of real and perceived crime among groups of individuals. These results, together with empirical evidence highlighting successful strategies for moderating perceptions of crime, facilitate the development of more informed public policy that will improve individual life satisfaction and, ultimately, community well-being.     

Rape culture,misogyny, and urban anxiety in NH10 and Pink

One of the most pervasive aspects of Delhi’s post-liberalization psychopathology has been everyday violence against women. The city’s rape culture was given an exceptionally sharp global focus after the horrific gang rape of Jyoti Singh on December 16, 2012. Recent Hindi cinema has begun to engage with some aspects of the capital’s misogynist urban ethos. In this paper, I look at how the Delhi subgenre of the “multiplex film” has engaged with rape culture, misogyny, and urban anxiety through a close textual and discursive analysis of two recent films—NH10 (Navdeep Singh, 2015) and Pink (Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury, 2016). Specifically, I identify how the December 16 “trigger event” and Delhi’s notorious misogyny are finding newer modes of representation through the interplay of genre and exhibition space. In what ways do these films position and imagine the “multiplex viewer”? New engagements with the figure of the consuming middle-class woman and the public discourses that surround her sexual safety and navigation of space have taken a central position in understanding the present urban psychosis of the capital. I suggest that these films and the forms of spectatorial identification that they privilege are intricately linked to the gendered spatial politics of the multiplex.     

Loneliness Literacy Scale: Development and Evaluation of an Early Indicator for Loneliness Prevention

To develop and evaluate the Loneliness Literacy Scale for the assessment of short-term outcomes of a loneliness prevention programme among Dutch elderly persons. Scale development was based on evidence from literature and experiences from local stakeholders and representatives of the target group. The scale was pre-tested among 303 elderly persons aged 65 years and over. Principal component analysis and internal consistency analysis were used to affirm the scale structure, reduce the number of items and assess the reliability of the constructs. Linear regression analysis was conducted to evaluate the association between the literacy constructs and loneliness. The four constructs “motivation”, “self-efficacy”, “perceived social support” and “subjective norm” derived from principal component analysis captured 56 % of the original variance. Cronbach’s coefficient α was above 0.7 for each construct. The constructs “self-efficacy” and “perceived social support” were positively and “subjective norm” was negatively associated with loneliness. To our knowledge this is the first study developing a short-term indicator for loneliness prevention. The indicator contributes to the need of evaluating public health interventions more close to the intervention activities.     

Construction and Validation of an Observational Scale of Neighborhood Characteristics

This paper reports the development and validation of the Neighborhood Observation Scale, a 41 item measure of neighborhood physical appearance, social appearance, safety, and amenities. Three independent ratings were collected on each of 244 neighborhoods in 132 census block groups in five South Carolina counties, for a total of 732 observations. Inter-rater reliability analysis showed 92.6% agreement among at least two raters and an intraclass correlation of .54, indicating acceptable reliability. Exploratory factor analysis extracted eight factors for neighborhood physical appearance, school/park/public space physical appearance, neighborhood social appearance, indicated social engagement, observed social engagement, park/public space social engagement, resident watchfulness, and neighborhood safety risk. A follow-up confirmatory factor analysis supported the eight factor structure. Reliability analysis produced alpha coefficients ranging from .55 to .94 for the eight factors, indicating reliability for use as sub-scales. Convergent validity was determined by generally acceptable correlations of the factor sub-scales with measures of neighborhood distress, rates of child maltreatment and ICD-9-CM coded child injuries, and resident perceptions of neighboring, collective efficacy, reciprocal helping, and children’s safety in the home. Implications for research and policy and program development are discussed.     

推进公共服务均等化途径研究

党的十七大明确提出,"围绕推进基本公共服务均等化,完善公共财政体系。"建设服务型政府,完善公共服务体系,强化社会管理和公共服务。"从而为全面落实科学发展观,加强改善民生,推进公共服务均等化,建设公共服务网络体系指明了方向。从全面落实科学发展观战略视角,对加强改善民生、推进公共服务均等化实现途径的现状、挑战、机遇和路径进行初步的研究,以进一步提高贯彻落实科学发展观和党的路线方针政策的自觉性和坚定性,增强实现党的根本宗旨的责任感和使命感。     

Die Projektpolis bei der Arbeit. Open-Source-Software-Entwicklung und der „neue Geist des Kapitalismus“

The paper investigates the implementation of normative aspects in open source development projects. Current social analysis on open source tends to neglect the question how normative dispositions are enacted there in favor of a somewhat functionalist belief in the co-ordination mechanisms of gift economies or hacker ethics. In this paper, the “justificatory regime of projects“ developed by Boltanski and Chiapello is used as a blueprint of the normative order of knowledge-intensive contexts of collaboration. The notion of a “test” provides a micro-macro link in order to investigate the enactment of justifactory regimes in situated action. The paper identifies exemplary tests and critical incidents in two large open source projects, Debian and KDE. The justificatory regime of projects “at work” is found to be more complex and contradictory than the simple mechanisms of gift or knowledge economies would suggest. Their moral economy is not automatically integrated by a comprehensive “hacker ethic” of limitless involvement, technical excellence and fun. Projects, in their conflicts and discussions over norms, handle flexible involvements and the limitations of time and attention, and their normative regimes only work because they are able to manage that.     

“无主体半熟人社会”：新型城镇化进程中农民集中居住行为研究--以江苏省镇江市平昌新城为例

作为现代化的必由之路和必需之策,新型城镇化已成为解决“三农问题”的重要途径,对全面建成小康社会、加快社会主义现代化建设具有重大现实意义和深远的历史意义。随着新型城镇化进程的加深,农民集中居住行为及农民集中居住区已逐渐成为学术研究的焦点。文章以江苏省镇江市平昌新城为个案,将其置于“城乡连续统一体”理论框架内,考察作为一种“整体性社会事实”的农民集中居住行为之行动逻辑及农民集中居住区之运行机制。首先,由于农民—国家关系延续使得实践中的农民集中居住过程表现为“脱身不脱根”;其次,“脱身不脱根”导致农民集中居住区居民委员会“缺位”、业主委员会“缺场”及社区社会资本缺失,使得农民与社区关系呈现“半嵌入”状态;最后,基于“无主体熟人社会”及“半熟人社会”概念,文章将农民集中居住过程“脱身不脱根”与“半嵌入”辩证作用的社区运作逻辑称之为“无主体半熟人社会”。     

关于当前中国农村养老问题及其研究的思考

作为社会的一员 ,老年人有获得社会扶养的权利。如果这种权利不能实现或不能很好实现 ,便形成养老问题。养老问题的研究只能是以认识老年人获得社会保障权利实现过程中的问题并为之谋求对策为根本目的。从这个角度出发 ,养老问题应涵盖四个方面的内容 :(1)“谁来养”的问题 ;(2 )“养不养”的问题 ;(3)“怎么养”的问题 ;(4 )“养得怎么样”的问题。目前 ,这四个方面的问题在农村都存在。而此前的研究因被置于计划生育和老龄化等背景之下而显得不力及过于偏狭 :有限的研究集中于老龄化条件下农村老年人“谁来养”和“怎么养”的问题。这种状况不利于对农村养老问题的全面认识和解决。故笔者认为 ,今后应 (1)全面研究农村养老问题 ;(2 )重视现实 ,分清层次 ,切实研究急需解决的问题 ;(3)在社会变迁的视野下加强农村经济发展、社区建设、文化培育与养老关系的研究     

Safety and Home–School Relations as Indicators of Children Well Being: Whose Perspective Counts?

Recent attention to children’s well being has generated research showing that safety and home–school relations are two of the most important indicators of children’s well being. Recent studies have also demonstrated the consistent differences in perspectives between children and teachers and between parents and teachers in regard to home–school relations and between children and parents in regard to children safety. This paper reports findings from an exploratory study, conducted as part of the “Strong Communities” initiative in South Carolina, comparing between the three perspectives of children, parents, and teachers in regard to children both home–school relations and safety. The findings show significant differences regarding almost all items between the three groups. For example, teachers felt school and the way to and back from school were safer for children than how the children themselves felt. However, other patterns were found with regard to home–school relations. The article concludes with a discussion of the apparent weight given to each of these perspectives, possible explanations for the gaps found and its practical implications for social indicators usage.     

The Dynamics of Social Indicator Research for California’s Central Valley in Transition

How can social indicator research improve understanding of community health as well as inform stakeholders about the assets disadvantaged communities have for coping with disparities? This paper describes the development and evolution of the Partnership for Assessment of Communities (PAC) and its best practices for social indicator research. The PAC will be of interest to researchers across multiple disciplines for a number of reasons. First, PAC is a working model of best practices for multidisciplinary scholarly inquiry. Second, it has developed an integrated model of quantitative and qualitative methodology to define and measure community health as compared to traditional quality-of-life indicators. Third, it serves as an example of “action research,” in that the findings have the potential to make an impact on community stakeholders and policy outcomes in the greater Central San Joaquin Valley of California, a region characterized by deep social and economic disparities.     

An exploratory analysis of select predictors of concern for law and order

Within the last decade concern for law and order has become a major domestic issue. Presidential candidates have campaigned on the issue. Opinion polls have charted the growing public concern. Crime statistics have reported startling growth in the number of serious crimes committed in the United States. This paper attempts to assess the ability of different variables to predict and explain this high concern. Two aspects of concern will be discussed: (1) awareness of and (2) willingness to do something about crime. Theoretically little is known about how awareness for a social problem can be translated into forms of action to deal with the perceived problem. Methodologically, a technique is needed for assessing the relative importance of different variables related to the problem area. Path analysis is discussed as a possible technique. The data was collected through a random sample of heads-of-households in the State of Washington during the summer of 1970 (N=3101; response rate=75%). Some of the major findings include: (1) people in larger cities are more aware of a crime problem than people in smaller cities and towns, but people in larger cities are less willing to allocate tax dollars to combat crime; (2) the size of city, and implicitly the crime rate, is the most important variable for understanding the public awareness of crime; (3) the elderly and those of conservative orientation are more willing to allocate funds to combat crime than the young and liberal, although there exists no difference in their awarencess of the problem; and (4) relative exposure to mass media, socio-economic status, or identification with one's community make little contribution to the understanding of either awareness of crime or willingness to allocate tax dollars to combat crime.