<p>According to the Syriac <italic>Acts of the Persian Martyrs</italic>, the Sasanian king Shapur II began persecuting Christians in Persia soon after Constantine's death in 337 CE. Previous studies of the <italic>Acts</italic> (and related material) set Shapur's persecution within the context of Constantine's support for Christianity in the Roman Empire. Religious allegiances are said to have been further amplified during the Roman-Persian war over Rome's Mesopotamian provinces that followed Constantine's death. According to most interpretations, by the mid-fourth century <italic>Christianitas</italic> had become coextensive with <italic>Romanitas</italic>: Persian Christians were persecuted because they worshipped Caesar's god and, thereby, allied themselves with Rome. </p><p>By contrast, this dissertation reconsiders Christian historical narratives, the rhetorical and identity-shaping nature of the martyrological genre, and assumptions about the clear divisions of religious groups in late antiquity. Although the notion of Christianity as a "Roman" religion can be found in some of the historiography of persecution in Persia, our knowledge about Christians in fourth-century Persia is a harmonized event history woven from a tapestry of vague and conflicting sources that often exhibit later religious, political, and hagiographical agendas. </p><p> </p><p>To demonstrate how Shapur's persecution came to be interpreted as the result of religious changes within the Roman Empire, the dissertation first reconsiders how Constantine is imagined as a patron of the Christians of Persia in Syriac and Greek sources. The second part looks at the ways by which constructed imperial ideals territorialized "religion" in the post-Constantinian era. Finally, the third part presents the first English translations of the <italic>Martyrdom and History of Simeon bar Sabba'e</italic>, a fourth-century Persian bishop whose martyr acts are central to the historiography of the period.</p> / Dissertation

From beginning to end, the epistle of 1 Peter is concerned with responding to the conflict in which the Anatolian readers have presently become involved. Nevertheless, throughout the history of Petrine scholarship the nature of this problem has generated significant disagreement. Within the most recent discussion, however, a general consensus has been reached. Virtually all commentators now tend to agree that this conflict is a kind of unofficial, local hostility which arose sporadically out of the disdain from the general populace and which was expressed primarily through discrimination and verbal abuse. Ultimately, though, this position rests on a number of undemonstrated contentions which have never been examined through comprehensive and detailed socio-historical inquiry. The present study is intended to take up the question afresh and to thereby rectify the significant missteps through which the topic has been previously approached. Our purpose is to determine the nature of suffering in 1 Peter by situating the letter against the backdrop of conflict management in first-century CE Asia Minor. To do so, we seek to understand the different means by which conflict was dealt with in Roman Anatolia and how the persecutions of 1 Peter fit into this larger context. Part of this goal is to examine how conflict affected different social groups within the community as a way of determining the various forms of suffering to which specific members may have been prone. Therefore, our efforts consist of an attempt to differentiate the readers’ troubling experiences by providing a detailed “social profile” of the letter’s recipients and to contextualize the conflict situation by locating the problem and its subsequent resolution strategies within the world of first-century CE Asia Minor

This study develops a model of different types of political regime changes and their effect on life integrity violations. The data covers 147 countries from 1977-1993. Basic bivariate analyses and multivariate pooled cross-sectional time series analyses employing Ordinary Least Squares regression with panel-corrected standard errors are used. The results show that political regime change in general has no effect on state-sponsored violence. Looking at different types of regime changes, the regression analysis indicates that change from democracy to anocracy is positively correlated with levels of repression at the level of p < .001. A change toward democracy from autocracy is negatively related to human rights violations at the level of p < .01, once relevant control variables are considered.

The theme of this dissertation is the "Political trial with Dagmar Šimková and others". The aim of my work was to deal with this case of a young condemned in a political trial, to observe it in a larger context and to describe in general an important period of Czechoslovakia history, the fifties and sixties of 20th century on this concrete example. In my work I dealt with four hypothesis. The first one was that the case of Dagmar Šimková as a part of a larger action called "Deserters" was provocated by States security. Second hypothesis was that there was no statewide organised spy group lead by Bohumil Klíma or anyone else whose Dagmar Šimková had been a member and that there were only many people who - in some cases - only knew each other and with no other intention helped two deserters to hide. The third hypothesis I set in my work was that the trial was a political one which fulfiled the main characteristics of a political trial. And the last hypothesis I worked with was that althoug Dagmar Šimková was sentenced in a political trial, she intentionally did an illegal activity she was sentenced for. However, her social dangerousness was not as big as it was described in the sentence. The disertation is divided into three main parts. In the first part, I tried to focus in general on the basis which...

1 Resumé Title of thesis: Political Trials in 1950s The purpose of my thesis is to describe the political trials in continuities. It means the evolution of political situation, evolution of legal order, political trials themselves, rehabilitation and the present view of the phenomenon of political trials. The thesis comprises of six chapters. Chapter One deals with comprehensive view of the political trials, but not only on the political trials themselves. It mainly focuses on legal order, evolution of the judiciary, the background of the political trials, methods used in creating political trials, types of political trials and influence on society. The chapter is subdivided into seven subchapters. These subchapters describe legal order, persecution, political trials (in general), types of political trials, activity of Soviet advisors, methods and the judiciary. Chapter Two deals with the concept of punishment, its application and execution. The chapter consists of three subchapters. Subchapter One focuses on criminal offenses and the types of punishments. Subchapter Two focuses on the capital punishment and Subchapter Three explains execution of punishment (capital punishment and custodial sentence). Chapter Three deals with the trial with Karel Kutlvašr. I would like to present the mechanism of the trial...

by Elizabeth Leung. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 84-86). / Abstract also in Chinese. / Acknowledgments --- p.iii / Abbreviations --- p.iv / Abstract --- p.v / Chapter / Chapter I. --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter A. --- A Brief Survey of Method of Matthean Studies --- p.1 / Chapter 1. --- Before the 1980s: Redaction Criticism --- p.1 / Chapter 2. --- An Example of Transition --- p.4 / Chapter 3. --- Narrative Criticism --- p.5 / Chapter B. --- Method of Study --- p.13 / Chapter C. --- Thesis --- p.14 / Chapter II. --- The Eschatological Theme of Persecution --- p.16 / Chapter A. --- Persecutors & Persecution --- p.16 / Chapter 1. --- "Identity of Persecutions, Traitors and Haters (24:9-10 cf. 10:17-18, 21-22)" --- p.16 / Chapter 2. --- Severity of Persecution (24:9 cf. 5:11) --- p.19 / Chapter B. --- Communal Disharmony --- p.22 / Chapter 1. --- The Lack of Reconciliation (24:10 cf. 5:21-26) --- p.23 / Chapter 2. --- "The Lack of Non-Retaliation (24:10 cf. 5:38-42, 43-48)" --- p.26 / Chapter 3. --- "The Lack of Forgiveness and Non-Judgment (24:10 cf. 6:14-15, 7:1-5)" --- p.28 / Chapter C. --- False Prophets & Lawlessness --- p.30 / Chapter 1. --- "False Prophets (24:11, 24 cf. 7:15-20)" --- p.31 / Chapter 2. --- Lawlessness (24:12 cf. 7:21-23) --- p.34 / Chapter D. --- Perseverance & Purpose --- p.38 / Chapter 1. --- The Way of Persevering (24:13 cf. 7:24-27) --- p.38 / Chapter 2. --- The Circumstances of Persevering (24:13 cf. 10:22) --- p.41 / Chapter 3. --- The Purpose of Persevering (24:14 cf. 10:5-6) --- p.42 / Chapter E. --- Concluding Remarks --- p.46 / Chapter III. --- The Eschatological Theme of Separation --- p.48 / Chapter A. --- "The Time of Separation (24:3 cf. 13:24-30，36-43, 47-49)" --- p.49 / Chapter 1. --- "The Destruction of the Temple and ""These Things""" --- p.50 / Chapter 2. --- The Sign of the Parousia and the End of Age --- p.53 / Chapter B. --- "The Reason for Separation (24:40-41; 25:1-13,31-46 cf. 13:24-30,36-43,47-49)" --- p.56 / Chapter 1. --- The Ones Being Separated in the Parables Speech --- p.56 / Chapter 2. --- The Reasons of Separation in the Eschatological Speech --- p.61 / Chapter C. --- Separation & the Responsibility of Authority (24:45-51; 25:14-30 cf. 18:1-35) --- p.65 / Chapter 1. --- The Leadership Authority to Love --- p.66 / Chapter 2. --- The Leadership Authority to Discipline --- p.70 / Chapter 3. --- Use and Misuse of Authority --- p.73 / Chapter D. --- Concluding Remarks --- p.78 / Chapter IV. --- Conclusion --- p.80 / Bibliography --- p.84

How do autocrats maintain power? In many cases, autocrats lack the support of a majority of the population. This problem is particularly stark in electoral autocracies, where autocrats must generate millions of favorable votes in order to stay in power. Coercion, or the forcible exclusion of some segments of the population from power, is one tool that many autocrats use to solve this problem. However, creating coercive institutions is also dangerous for autocrats, as the same forces that can be used to coerce citizens can also be used to depose or demand resources from the autocrat himself. In the first paper, I contend that autocracies can use the psychological effects of fear to coerce citizens at a lower cost and at lower personal risk. This psychological theory of autocratic coercion has two core implications that I test. First, I use a lab-in-the-field experiment to show that the emotion of fear reduces participation in pro-democracy action, and that this may work through its effects on perceptions of risk and risk attitudes. Second, I show using correlational evidence that propensity to feel fear predicts variation in participation in dissent. In the second paper, I examine how poverty conditions the way that citizens respond to the threat of coercion. I argue that poverty may make coercion more effective in reducing citizen dissent both by making citizens more prone to fear, and by increasing their physical vulnerability to violence. I test this prediction at the individual and constituency level using data on public opinion and voting in Zimbabwe, drawing on random variation in recent exposure to violence and poverty. The third paper tests whether emotions can also be used by activists to increase dissent among citizens with anti-regime preferences. I partnered with an opposition party that ran an experimental test of angry against enthusiastic campaign messages using video and images sent out via mobile phone chat groups. Analysis of the transcripts of these groups shows that the anger appeals generated significantly more pro-opposition participation in the groups. There is some evidence that anger was most effective in constituencies that had experienced violence in the past.

The thesis is focused on description of the situation of peasants in the founding stage of the communist regime and on describing of the facts which led to the collectivization of agriculture. The main objectives are to define the term "kulak" and its development at the end of the forties and early fifties of the last century and to find the answer to the question, whether the main reason for the farmers persecution was the disposal of private property.

Purpose: A systematic review and meta-analysis tested the 'paranoia as a defence' model's original prediction that those experiencing persecutory delusions would take excessive credit for positive events as part of an attributional style that protects them from low self-esteem. The empirical project explored forensic mental health nurses' experiences of a Cognitive Analytic Therapy (CAT) training programme with an emphasis on complex case conceptualisation and implications for clinical practice. Methods: In relation to the systematic review and meta-analysis, those experiencing persecutory delusions were compared to those with non-paranoid psychosis, depression, and healthy controls, in terms of the magnitude of internalising attributional bias (IAB) for positive events. Correlation analysis also examined the association between magnitude of IAB and paranoia severity. In the empirical study, 10 forensic mental health nurses took part in semi-structured interviews to qualitatively explore their experiences and applications of CAT training. Results: Consistent with the model, an internalising attributional bias was present for those experiencing paranoid delusions when compared to individuals with depression. Contrary to the model, there were no differences between the other control groups and there was no significant correlation between IAB and paranoia severity. Internal attributions for positive events appear to be associated with depression, rather than paranoia. Analysis of the empirical data provided a rich account of nurses' experiences of the CAT training and how this helped them to conceptualise complex patients and promoted more positive ways of working. Conclusions: The findings from the systematic review and meta-analysis do not support the original model, but are consistent with the modified 'paranoia as a defence' model of persecutory delusions. Other cognitive models also help explain paranoia suggesting that refining the existing models further could be useful. The empirical findings suggest that CAT could be a valuable model of psychologically informed practice for nurses working in a forensic setting. Specifically, training appeared to help nurses develop a better understanding of their patients, greater self-reflection skills, and improved clinical care approaches.

This thesis analyzes the persecution of Baha&rsquo / is in Iran within its historical and contemporary background. The thesis will give examples from the other minority groups in Iran and through this, the grounds behind the persecution of Baha&rsquo / is in Iran will be more elaborated in the light of state-religion, state-minority relations and also it will analyze the &ldquo / persecution&rdquo / phenomena in identity formation of Baha&rsquo / is.