Attitudes Toward Wife Beating Among Female and Male Adolescents in Jordan.

Previous research in the Middle East and North Africa has revealed justifying attitudes toward wife beating among adults, but little is known about adolescent attitudes and its predictors. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to examine theoretically relevant predictors of supportive attitudes toward wife beating among adolescents in Jordan. Due to limited evidence on the role of gender, potential differences between girls and boys were explored. A total of 856 students (455 female) from 14 secondary schools in Amman, the capital city of Jordan, participated in the cross-sectional study which was conducted during normal school hours. Religiosity, beliefs regarding control of female sexuality, moral neutralization of aggression, and parental harsh discipline were assessed to predict attitudes toward wife beating, controlling for sociodemographic variables. Acceptance rates of wife beating ranged between 6.1% and 50.5%. Hierarchical regression analysis showed that beliefs supporting control of female sexuality, moral neutralization of aggression, and paternal harsh discipline predicted supportive attitudes toward wife beating, but religiosity and maternal harsh discipline did not. Separate analyses for each gender yielded that maternal harsh discipline was a significant predictor of wife beating attitudes for girls, but not for boys, whereas paternal harsh discipline was a significant predictor for boys, but not for girls. Furthermore, beliefs regarding female sexuality and moral neutralization of aggression mediated the relationship between religiosity and wife beating attitudes. Policy measures and intervention efforts targeting particularly harsh discipline and sociocultural beliefs are sorely needed to address this issue in Jordanian society.

Honor killing attitudes amongst adolescents in Amman, Jordan.

The present study examines attitudes towards honor crimes amongst a sample of 856 ninth grade students (mean age = 14.6, SD = 0.56) from 14 schools in Amman, Jordan. Descriptive findings suggest that about 40% of boys and 20% of girls believe that killing a daughter, sister, or wife who has dishonored the family can be justified. A number of theoretically meaningful predictors were examined: Findings suggest that attitudes in support of honor killings are more likely amongst adolescents who have collectivist and patriarchal world views, believe in the importance of female chastity amongst adolescents, and morally neutralize aggressive behavior in general. Findings for parental harsh discipline are mixed: While the father's harsh discipline is predictive of honor killing attitudes, the mother's behavior is not. Furthermore, support for honor killing is stronger amongst male adolescents and adolescents for low education backgrounds. After controlling for other factors religion and the intensity of religious beliefs are not associated with support for honor killings. Models were tested separately for male and female respondents and suggested no systematic differences in predictors. Limitations and implications are discussed.

The transporter associated with antigen processing (TAP) is active in a post-ER compartment.

The translocation of cytosolic peptides into the lumen of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is a crucial step in the presentation of intracellular antigen to T cells by major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I molecules. It is mediated by the transporter associated with antigen processing (TAP) protein, which binds to peptide-receptive MHC class I molecules to form the MHC class I peptide-loading complex (PLC). We investigated whether TAP is present and active in compartments downstream of the ER. By fluorescence microscopy, we found that TAP is localized to the ERGIC (ER-Golgi intermediate compartment) and the Golgi of both fibroblasts and lymphocytes. Using an in vitro vesicle formation assay, we show that COPII vesicles, which carry secretory cargo out of the ER, contain functional TAP that is associated with MHC class I molecules. Together with our previous work on post-ER localization of peptide-receptive class I molecules, our results suggest that loading of peptides onto class I molecules in the context of the peptide-loading complex can occur outside the ER.