Memories and Miscreants: Teenage Tales of Terror

With this paper, we address the culture of fear around youth violence in the US, and the way it is manifest in news media. We elaborate on the sexist, classist and racist biases in reporting and the ways violence is unequally commemorated and dismissed. We argue that place and, in particular, the myth of Middle America is a large player in selective memory.     

Ending corruption in Africa through United Nations inspections

Evidence suggests that a lack of effective checks and balances against corruption undermines the rule of law, the protection of human rights and economic growth in sub‐Saharan Africa. This article suggests the need for an international treaty to establish an African commission against corruption, involving United Nations inspectors to investigate and prosecute corruption. A range of evidence is reviewed suggesting that pressure from constituents as well as international organizations may be effective in compelling African leaders to sign this type of protocol.     

‘Transformation in contact’: learning the lessons of modern war

The US and British armies have faced intelligent and adaptive enemies in Iraq and continue to do so in Afghanistan. While both armies have proved adept at fighting high‐intensity conflict, their initial performance against asymmetric threats and diffuse insurgencies in Iraq and Afghanistan demonstrated how much each army had to learn about conducting counterinsurgency operations. This article examines one important means by which the US and British armies have transformed themselves into more flexible and responsive organizations that are able to harness innovation at the front effectively. It traces the development of the lessons‐learned systems in both armies from the start of counterinsurgency operations in Iraq to today. These changes have resulted in significant development within the organization of both armies. Reform of US and British army learning capabilities offers an important insight into the drivers of military change. The reformed lessons‐learned systems have been better integrated into training, experimentation, and doctrine and force development. While there are still challenges to be overcome, both armies have created robust structures that facilitate the movement of knowledge from recent experience at the front to the rest of the organization. As such, these reforms provide us with a useful case‐study that enhances our understanding of the role of ‘bottom‐up’ initiatives in military innovation.     

COMPONENTS OF CHANGE IN THE SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF THE ELDERLY POPULATION IN ONTARIO, 1976–1986

Although the elderly population is increasing rapidly in all parts of Canada, the pattern of change is far from uniform. A number of properties of the aging process are strongly differentiated at the county and township levels, variations which have considerable significance for the design and implementation of social service and health care systems. Using data from the 1976, 1981, and 1986 Censuses for Ontario, components of change in the elderly population are obtained by cohort survival methods. The significance of rapid metropolitan growth of the elderly compared with the slow growth of the rural elderly is highlighted, while intra-county distributional shifts in the elderly population raise important questions for the next decade.
Quoique l'âge de la population augmente rapidement à travers le Canada, ce changement nes'opèrepas de façon uniforme. Certaines caractéristiques du processus de vieillissement sont vraiment differentes à l'échelle des comtés et des municipalités. Ces différences sont d'une grande importance lors de la création etde l'implantation des services-santé et des services sociaux. À l'aide des statistiques de recensement pour les années 1976, 1981, et 1986 pour l'Ontario, les facteurs de changement des populations de personnes âgées sont obtenus au moyen des paramètres de 'survie des groupes.' La signification du taux d'accroissement rapide des personnes â gés en milieu urbain comparé au taux d'accroissement plus lent de ces mêmes personnes en milieu rural est mise en évidence. Les variations de la distribution de cette population d'un comtéà I'autre soulèvent d'importantes interrogations pour la prochaine décade .