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.

Peer aggression and bullying are significant problems for children in American schools. While a large body of research has been conducted in this area, none to date has examined the combined roles of temperament (behavioral activation system, or BAS, and behavioral inhibition system, or BIS), and empathy in predicting participation in bullying interactions. Previous research has found that low empathy facilitates aggressive behavior, while high empathy inhibits it, and has linked poor emotion regulation to conduct disorders. Thus, if these factors can predict behaviors towards peers, they may also predict (independently and in combination) involvement in bullying, specifically the roles assumed in those interactions - that is: bully, victim, bully-victim (a child who is both bully and victim), or defender/protector. The present study tested 226 middle school students on a measure of empathy (Interpersonal Reactivity Index), and a measure of temperament (BIS/BAS Scales). The students also completed a Peer Nomination Inventory to identify children who were aggressive toward others, victimized by peers, and/or protected peers from bullies. Although not all predictions were supported, results showed that certain sub-components of empathy, such as empathic concern (affective empathy) and personal distress (a measure of emotion regulation) predicted the behavior of "pure bullies" (bullies who are not themselves victimized), but not of other aggressive children such as bully-victims. High BAS drive and low BIS were significant predictors of aggressive behavior, and BAS reward responsiveness predicted protective behavior. Victimized children had higher fantasy (ability to identify with fictional characters) and lower perspective-taking (cognitive empathy) skills, and tended not to have overlapping characteristics and behaviors with protective children. / These characteristics did not interact significantly with each other or with age, gender, ethnicity, or SES of students. It was concluded that pure bullies lack affective empathy, and victims lack cognitive empathy. That is, empathy is multidimensional and empathy deficits vary in type, but all lead to some form of socioemotional impairment. Furthermore, aggressive victims are a unique sub-group of children with unique characteristics. / by Chantal M. Gagnon. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2012. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2012. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Rwanda experienced genocide from April to July 1994 during which over 800,000 people were murdered. Among the far-reaching changes that followed this event among individuals and in society overall, the Rwandan Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) showed that contraceptive prevalence declined from 13% in 1992 to 4% in 2000 among married women of reproductive age. This dissertation has two hypotheses concerning Rwandan women's fertility preferences and behavior following the genocide. It is hypothesized that, first, high levels of conflict reduced women's desire for a child or for additional children and second, that women who experienced relatively high levels of conflict were more likely to act on their wish to not have a child or another child by using modern contraceptives than were women who experienced relatively low levels of conflict. The study's logistic regression dependent (outcome) variables were desire for a or another child and the use of modern contraceptives; the source for these data was the 2000 DHS. Three groups of independent variables were included: socio-demographic variables, also from the 2000 DHS, included age, number of living children, education level, urban/rural residence and socio-economic status; availability of family planning services, assessed using women's perception of distance as a barrier to obtaining health care for themselves, from the 2000 DHS, and quality of health services, assessed with data from the 2001 Service Provision Assessment; and experience of conflict, measured as the percentage of the 1994 commune populations that resided in refugee camps in 1995. Communes were considered `high migration' if 10 percent or more of their populations migrated to camps and `low migration' if less than 10 percent of their populations migrated to camps. Women who lived in high migration communes were considered to have relatively high experience of conflict and those who lived in low migration communes were consider dot have relatively low experience of conflict. Analysis showed that residents of high migration communes were significantly less likely to want a or another child as compared to residents of low migration communes (OR = .74); it appeared that the social environment of high migration had a dampening effect on desire for children. The analysis also showed that residents of high migration communes were significantly less likely to use a modern contraceptive method than were those of low migration communes (OR = .57), even though they were less likely to want a or another child and even when family planning services were reasonably available. The reasons for these results are unclear, and many factors may contribute. The generalized trauma experienced by the population may have had a numbing effect, in which taking action in any domain was difficult. Women may have felt pressured by society to have children as the society emerged from war, despite their own preferences. The population may also have distrusted government health facilities - the only source of services for most - in light of the interactions with officials during and after the genocide. However, another set of reasons specific to women and women's health may also have influenced the findings. There is a pervasive social stigma around reproductive health; these services have generally lagged behind other primary health care components. Moreover, rape was used as a weapon of war in the genocide; these experiences may have reduced women's willingness to seek reproductive health services specifically. Finally, the Rwandan genocide and its preparation were decidedly misogynistic; this pervasive dehumanization may have made it particularly difficult for women to seek care for their sexual and reproductive health needs and desires. This complex personal, social, physical and political context may explain why Rwandan women who may not have wanted a child or additional children nonetheless did not consistently act on their desires in the years following the 1994 genocide. The dissertation includes a series of essays providing the author's personal perspective on working in Rwanda in the 1980s and 1990s and being present in the country at the start of the genocide in April 1994.

published_or_final_version / Nursing Studies / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

This thesis concerns the cultural construction and mechanics of violence, domination, and survival under a Southeast Asian totalitarian regime. It entails an examination of the modern character of violence and domination in Myanmar (Burma) through the inscription of State power upon the bodies of Burmans and via the ramifications of the regime's alliance with the drug lords upon the urban struggle for survival. At times of extreme domination, fear, and degradation, very little space exists for psychological and physical resistance. Burmans seek escape from this situation by withdrawing into domains characterized by denial, numbness, and temporary madness. My concern is with the lived experience of totalitarianism, the way that individuals respond differently according to a prior series of lived experiences, and the particular idioms drawn upon to construct survival strategies. / An important culturally constructed strategy of survival in Myanmar entails the detaching of agency from the body while the mind "flies" to freedom. This strategy has a long history not only in Burmese, but also in other Southeast Asian histories, myths, and legends. Just as Burmese wizards fly to a mythical landscape in the foothills of the Himalayas when released from their physical bodies, so too do heroin addicts, prostitutes, psychiatric patients, and the urban poor flee to Burmese fantasylands to escape the domination of the military regime. This strategy, one of many adopted by urban residents, denies the State the final prize it so desperately craves: the willing participation of Burmans in a military society, the complete internalization of totalitarian ideology such that no other ideologies can exist and no space is left for their creation and negotiation. In the conclusion I argue that the regime is aware that it has faded in this task. / I also examine the possibility that the existence of multiple Burmese worlds or realities, in conjunction with a strong belief in the miraculous may offer new ground for research into the trauma of survivors of violence and terror. The construction of madness, death, and reanimation in Burmese culture, grounds particular survival strategies in logical, hopeful, and perhaps curative, rationalities.

M.A. (Counselling Pyschology) / "Given the environmental and biological studies of criminality and delinquency, it seems clear that offense behaviour is a multifactorial disorder, with contributors possibly including such variables as low IQ, attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity, and early aggressiveness. Protective factors possibly include high IQ and shyness. Each of these factors has been shown to be highly heritable" (Oilalla & Gottesman, 1991, p.128). It is imperative that researchers in the areas of violence, aggression and criminality take into consideration both the social and biological factors and that these areas once integrated, will enhance our understanding and provide a more cohesive picture.

South Africa currently has one of the highest levels of crime in the world. The high prevalence of violence in South African culture has led to the increased exposure to violence of individuals of all ages. The South African Police Service annual report for 2008/2009 reported 48 732 crimes ranging from murder, attempted murder to sexual offences and common assault against children under the age of 18 years. In addition, young people between the ages from 12 to 22 are generally victimized at twice the adult rate and even higher for violent crimes. It is the belief of various theorists that exposure to violence can alter one’s cognitive, affective, and behavioral processes- the three core components that are essential to moral development. The role that exposure to violence has on the development of aggressive behavior has been thoroughly researched; however the implications that this exposure has on the moral development of adolescents remains vague. This study explored and described the relationship between exposure to violence and moral development amongst adolescent learners. A quantitative exploratory descriptive research design was employed and the participants were selected by means of non-probability, convenience sampling. The sample consisted of 53 participants at a coeducational high school in the Nelson Mandela Metropole. The demographic data of the participants was gathered through the administration of a biographical questionnaire. The participants’ exposure to violence was explored by using the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire- South African Adaptation (HTQ-SAA), while their moral development was assessed by means of the Moral Judgment Test (MJT). The data was analysed using descriptive statistics and both the Pearson’s correlation coefficient and Chi square test was computed to draw inferences regarding the relationship between exposure to violence and moral development. The results of the study revealed that all of the participants were exposed to violence directly or indirectly on one or more occasion; however the frequency with which the participants were exposed to violence was lower than expected. The results of the MJT further indicated very low to low moral judgement competence scores for the majority of the sample. No significant correlation or association was found between the two constructs.

M.Cur. / Please refer to full text to view abstract

No description available.

Childhood trauma experiences (sexual abuse, physical abuse, witnessed violence, and early separation experiences) and family environment characteristics were assessed via questionnaire from a sample of depressed borderline (N=17) and depressed nonborderline (N=19) female inpatients. Significantly more borderline individuals than nonborderlines gave histories of sexual abuse (76%) and physical abuse (93%) and these traumatic experiences were more severe in nature as demonstrated by significantly greater composite scores. While the presence of witnessed violence did not differentiate the two groups, borderline individuals witnessed violence more frequently than nonborderline individuals if there was violence in the home. Early separation experiences were relatively common in both groups suggesting that these experiences may be associated with both BPD and depression. The BPD group was also distinctive on family environment measures, evidencing significantly less family cohesiveness and expressiveness and significantly more conflict and control. The two groups were similar on indices of current stressors, typically associated with onset of depression, providing more support for the role of childhood trauma in the etiology of BPD. / Master of Science