in a less-developed western city of China. The survey she administered to a random sample of more than 2,000 students in 22 high schools in China collected information on important research questions that have been studied in many Western societies. The objective of the survey was to find out the differences and similarities in juvenile delinquency and victimisation between China and its Western counterparts. In addition to assessing juvenile delinquency, the study explored the youth-police relationship in China. Dr. Zhao is analysing the survey data and evidence supports the following hypotheses: first, police officers tend to pay close attention to youths who seem unsupervised or “disoriented” in street corners or some known crime hotspots since their presence tends to elevate the levels of fear among local residents; second, adolescents’ perceptions of the police are likely to become fixed, producing an enduring effect carrying over well into adulthood. One of the issues studied by Dr. Kuo Shih-Ya in her current research is domestic violence, a serious epidemic among college students in the United States. To understand what factors contribute to such a phenomenon, Dr. Kuo conducted an empirical study to identify risk factors for domestic violence victimisation and perpetration among American college students; that is, why some students were more likely to experience victimisation of domestic violence or abuse their partners than other students. The data was collected at a mid-size university in the United States between 2011 and 2012. The results revealed that abusers’ habitual substance use was an important risk factor related to students’ victimisation of domestic violence. Childhood victimisation was a strong predictor to future violence on intimate partners; those who experienced abuse in childhood tended to abuse their intimate partners compared to those who did not have such childhood victimisation experience. The results indicated that effective substance treatment and the prevention of child abuse in early childhood programmes should be available to those who are in need. The research interests of Dr. Cai Tianji centres on two areas: social mechanism of how biological and social factors influence behaviours, and developing quantitative research methods. Specifically, he is interested in the integration of sociology with biological factors in the studies of sociological issues such as social and health behaviour, stratification, and social network. For example, he has found that the effect of certain genotypes (DAT1, DRD2 and MAOA) on adolescent delinquent behaviour depend on social processes, such as family dynamics, peer relations, and school-experiences. Positive social influences tend to reduce the delinquency-increasing effect of a genetic variant, whereas the absence of social controls may amplify the effect of these genetic variants. He also found that friend behaviour might be a particularly important environmental moderator of the expression of genetic disposition (DAT1) for adolescent drug use, smoking, dietary habits, and risky sexual behaviour. Dr. Liu Haiyan conducted a comparative study of the criminal 市的22個高中裡對2000多位學生進行隨機問卷調 查，希望收集數據回答這些問題。問卷調查的目的是 分析中國和西方國家青少年犯罪和受害的區別和相似 之處。除了青少年犯罪問題之外，該研究還探討了中 國青少年與警察之間的關係。目前，趙博士已開始著 手分析相關數據，並已發現有證據支持以下的假設： 第一，警官往往會對街道角落或犯案黑點那些看似無 人監管或「迷失方向」的青少年格外留意，因為他們 的出現通常會加劇當地居民的恐慌心理。第二，青少 年對警察的看法一旦形成往往很難改變，會一直帶入 成年。 郭世雅博士當前研究的一個課題是家庭暴力。在美 國，家庭暴力是大學生普遍面臨的一個嚴重問題。為 瞭解導致家庭暴力的因素，郭博士進行了一項實證研 究。她希望通過實證可以確定，哪些風險因素導致有 些美國大學生淪為家庭暴力的受害者或實施者。換言 之，為什麽有些學生更容易淪為家庭暴力的受害者或 實施者？郭博士於2011年至2012年期間在美國一 間中等規模大學收集的數據顯示，家庭成員濫用藥物 是導致有些學生淪為家庭暴力受害者的一個重要風險 因素。另外，通過瞭解某人童年有否經歷過家庭暴 力，可以對其將來是否會對親密伴侶實施暴力進行 較為可靠的預測。童年經歷過家庭暴力的人比沒有 經歷過家庭暴力的人更容易對其親密伴侶實施家庭 暴力。結果表明，應該為濫用藥物人士提供有效治 療，並加強防止虐待兒童的援助。 蔡天驥博士的主要研究領域包括：生物因素和社會因 素對行為的影響以及量化研究方法的設計。蔡博士特 別感興趣的是如何結合社會因素和生物因素來研究 各種社會問題，如社會與健康行為、階層化以及社 會網絡。例如，他發現某些基因型（DAT1, DRD2和 MAOA）對青少年偏差行為的影響取決於社會過程， 例如家庭動態、同伴關係以及上學情況。雖然基因 變異可能會增加青少年出現偏差行為的可能性，但正 面的社會影響往往能在某種程度上抵消這種影響；同 理，正面社會影響的缺乏可能會放大基因變異的影 響。他還發現，雖然遺傳傾向有時會導致有些青少年 更容易染上吸毒、吸煙、不良的飲食習慣以及從事冒 險的性行為，但朋友的行為作為一個特別重要的環境 因素，或許可以在某種程度上中和基因的影響。 UMAGAZINE ISSUE 10 58 學院專欄．FACULTY COLUMN
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