Habitat use in basking Northern water (Nerodia sipedon) and Eastern garter (Thamnophis sirtalis) snakes in urban New Jersey

The habitat use of basking northern water (Nerodia sipedon) and Eastern garter (Thamnophis sirtalis) snakes was examined along the Raritan Canal, an urbanized area of central New Jersey. There were significant differences between the two species with respect to cloud cover, canopy cover, and the distance to the path and the water, but not with respect to percent of the body exposed to the sun, and percent of the snake that was visible. Water snakes were more likely to bask on bushes, branches and logs than were garter snakes. Garter snakes basked when both the air and water temperature were lower than did water snakes. The lack of basking sites in the water suggests that those along shore are important, including the low hanging branches used by the watersnakes.     

The Deterrent Effect of Capital Punishment: Evidence from a "Judicial Experiment"

We use panel data for 50 states during the 1960–2000 period to examine the deterrent effect of capital punishment, using the moratorium as a "judicial experiment." We compare murder rates immediately before and after changes in states' death penalty laws, drawing on cross-state variations in the timing and duration of the moratorium. The regression analysis supplementing the before-and-after comparisons disentangles the effect of lifting the moratorium on murder from the effect of actual executions on murder. Results suggest that capital punishment has a deterrent effect, and that executions have a distinct effect which compounds the deterrent effect of merely (re)instating the death penalty. The finding is robust across 96 regression models. (JEL C1, K1)     

Early Adolescent Peer Foundations of Late Adolescent and Young Adult Psychological Adjustment

The long‐term impacts of failing to establish autonomy and relatedness within close friendships are poorly understood. Adolescent behaviors undermining autonomy and relatedness in friendships at 13 were examined as predictors of friendship competence at 18 and depressive symptoms and social withdrawal at 21. A diverse community sample of 184 adolescents participated in self‐, peer, and observational assessments. Teens' inability to establish autonomy and connection with friends at 13 predicted decreases in friendship competence at 18 (β = ?.20, p = .02). Direct links to increase in depressive symptoms (β = .34, p < .001) and social withdrawal (β = .18, p = .03) were observed, with friendship competence partially mediating these relations. Results highlight the importance of problematic adolescent peer relationships as risk factors for the development of young adult internalizing symptoms.     

Is Managerial Level Related to Personality?

A total of 900 participants completed two personality tests (Revised NEO Personality Inventory; Myers‐Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and reported their managerial level in their organization. Results showed that conscientiousness, extraversion and MBTI intuition were positively correlated with managerial level, and neuroticism, MBTI introversion and sensing were negatively correlated with managerial level. These findings attest to the utility of personality tests used within the occupational community, for selection and assessment of suitability for promotion to senior managerial roles.     

‘The Worst Thing is the Screwing’ (2): Context and Career in Sex Work

This article, and an earlier linked one, focus on the labour process of the modern Western female prostitute. Drawing on available qualitative research from the United Kingdom and Australia, and research undertaken by one of the authors in New South Wales, we argue here that the ways in which individual prostitutes understand themselves, the work that they do and their relationships with clients are at least partly informed by the discursive context of their labour. We seek to highlight the variety of discourses which currently give shape to prostitution in the modern West, and in so doing discuss the ways in which individual workers may engage with these discourses to make sense of their life‐world — for example, whether they understand themselves as victims of patriarchy or as feminist activists. In this second article, then, our focus moves from the encounter between the client and the prostitute to the prostitute's career, and we provide a discussion of the various ways of understanding how and why prostitutes enter the profession, how and why they stay in it, how and why they exit this occupational field and how and why they understand themselves in particular ways following such an exit.     

The Gender Gap in Canada: Now You See It,Now You Don't*

Nous examinons les attitudes des Canadiens entre 1965 et 1990 afin d'établir l'ampleur et l'orientation du changement d'attitudes devant des enjeux qui produisent généralement des différences d'opinions entre hommes et femmes. Nous observons de plus en plus d'écarts d'opinions entre les deux sexes en ce qui concerne la force et la violence, et la sécurité sociale, mais non le féminisme et l'égalité. Les plus grandes différences se trouvent chez les jeunes, les personnes ayant étudiéà l'université et les individus qui ont un emploi. De plus, les divergences d'opinions entre les deux sexes quant aux enjeux féministes surgissent lorsque ces variables sont contrôlées. Nous en concluons que l'évolution des différences d'opinions entre hommes et femmes est influencée par l'interaction entre le changement des rôles et la socialisation en raison du féminisme et nous suggérons que les jeunes, l'éducation et l'emploi contri-buent à la création d'une conscience commune chez les femmes. We examine Canadian attitudes between 1965 and 1990 to determine the magnitude and direction of attitudinal change on traditional gender gap producing issues. We discover growing differences in aggregate attitudes towards force and violence and social welfare, but not feminism and equality. The greatest gender gaps appear among young, university-educated, and employed people. Furthermore, gender gaps on feminist issues appear with controls for these variables. We conclude that changing gender gaps result from the interaction of role change and socialization by the women's movement and suggest that youth, education and paid employment combine to create a gender consciousness among women.     

The Role of Risk and Future Land Use in Cleanup Decisions at the Department of Energy

As a result of the legacy of the Cold War, the Departments of Energy and Defense are involved in massive cleanup and remediation projects. While health risk to humans and ecological receptors is perceived to be the basis for remediation, this assumption is rarely examined. In this article, we examine the role of risk and future land-use designations in cleanup decisions, using the Department of Energy's self-assessment of 36 sites. We then discuss the risk-related tools that might be required to address the cleanup challenge. Much of the current cleanup program is driven by compliance with federal and state statutes and regulations, presumably to protect human health and the environment. Compliance, however, is not synonymous with cleanup. Although some of these laws and regulations take risk into account, the lack of site-specific data on exposures and risk scenarios, and the lack of attention to future land use or end states, has often resulted in disconnects between risk and cleanup goals, risk and final end states, and cleanup levels and end state or subsequent land use. Partly, these disconnects result from the need for a range of technical, economic, sociological, and public policy tools to address the issues. A better transfer of information among and within Department of Energy facilities, operations offices, and DOE headquarters is required. Further, linking cleanup decisions and goals with the final end state involves a number of risk tradeoffs, including (1) ecological versus human health, (2) worker versus public health, (3) among competing contaminated areas, (4) among temporal patterns of cleanup, (5) among different ecological receptors (plants vs. animals, one animal vs. another), and (6) among the sites across the DOE complex. For the nation, balancing among risks is essential within sites and among Department of Energy sites, as well as among other remediation sites (such as those of Department of Defense and Superfund sites).