Political Science Commons^™

Editor's Note, Leandrit Mehmeti

Journal of Peace, Conflict, and Security Studies

This issue of the Journal of Peace, Conflict and Security Studies (JPCSS) marks the beginning of the journal’s second volume. Building on the foundations established during our first year of publication, Volume 2, Issue 1 continues our commitment to providing a multidisciplinary platform for scholarship addressing contemporary questions of peace, conflict, security, statehood and international affairs

Shu World Review- October 5th 2026, Diplolab, Seton Hall University

SHU World Review

No abstract provided.

Illegal Migration In Nigeria: An In-Depth Study Of Encounters Within Nigeria, Mubarak Alabi, Adebayo Olalekan, Adam Isiaka, Abosede Onifade

African Journal of Criminology and Justice Studies

Migration is a crucial component of global population dynamics and encompasses various forms of labor, such as low-skilled labor, irregular migration, and asylum-seeking. This study examines illegal migration into Nigeria, illuminating the complex challenges faced by both migrants and the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS). The surge in cross-border crimes linked to illegal immigration poses formidable obstacles to NIS, including issues related to border security, arms proliferation, and terrorism. The study employed a survey design, involving a diverse sample of 50 respondents, representing a cross-section of socio-demographic backgrounds. The outcome unravels the underlying motivations driving individuals towards illegal migration, identifies barriers …

Indigenous Religion And Community Order: Crime Prevention Strategies Among Worshippers Of Igbe Orhe In Nigeria, Onoseme Fortune Afatakpa Dr

African Journal of Criminology and Justice Studies

This ethnographic study examines crime prevention strategies within Igbe Orhe, an indigenous African religious tradition practiced in Delta State, Nigeria. While existing security studies primarily emphasize formal and direct approaches to crime prevention, this research foregrounds the less explored structural mechanisms embedded in cultural spirituality. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with purposively selected participants, including the Uku Supreme (global leader), High Priests (Uku), High Priestess (Omote Uku), Chief Priests (Inori), Chief Priestesses (Ini Igbe), and Votary Singers (Akpine). Two focus group discussions were also conducted with female and youth members of selected …

Alternative Dispute Resolution And Legal Pluralism In Practice: Grassroots Mediation In The Akamba Counties Of Kenya, Victoria M. Time, Daniel K. Pryce

African Journal of Criminology and Justice Studies

Abstract

Alternative dispute resolution (ADR), the process of employing a third party, outside of the state apparatus, to help resolve disputes between opposing parties, has been used on the African continent for hundreds of years. In Kenya, the focus of the current study, ADRs have included mediation, negotiation, and arbitration. To have a better understanding of why Kenyans are embracing mediation instead of the formal courts to resolve disputes, the study relies on the legal pluralism theoretical framework and the results of a study that employed two ethnographic techniques – interviews and participant observation – from three Kenyan counties: Makueni, …

Workplace Stress And Coping Mechanisms Among Law Enforcement Officers In Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria: An Empirical Study, Akaninyene O. Unaam, Akanimo A. Unaam Esq.

African Journal of Criminology and Justice Studies

Law enforcement officers face unique occupational stressors that can impair well-being and performance. This study examined stress levels and coping mechanisms among police officers in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria, within Lazarus and Folkman's transactional framework. A cross-sectional descriptive survey was conducted among 400 randomly selected officers. Data were collected using the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) and Brief COPE inventory. Descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, and hierarchical multiple regression were employed. Moderate stress levels predominated (52.5%), with high stress reported by 32.5% of officers. The mean PSS score was 24.6 (SD = 5.8). Significant associations emerged between stress and years of service …

Language As A Strategic Security Resource: Criminological Perspectives On Collective Efficacy, Cultural Security, And Community Resilience, Declan Onwudiwe

African Journal of Criminology and Justice Studies

Language is typically examined as a medium of communication, identity formation, cultural transmission, and education. This article advances a broader argument: language should also be understood as a strategic security resource and a significant criminological variable. Drawing on collective efficacy theory, societal security scholarship, linguistic relativity, decolonial language theory, and ethnolinguistic vitality theory, the article argues that language can facilitate social cohesion, informal social control, intelligence gathering, conflict resolution, procedural legitimacy, and community resilience. Indigenous African languages serve as repositories of historical memory, customary law, social norms, and security-relevant knowledge that may contribute to public safety and social order. The …

Muharremi, Robert, And Alisa Ramadani. Transforming A Guerrilla Into A Regular Army: From The Kosovo Liberation Army To The Army Of The Republic Of Kosovo. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2024., Besa Kabashi Ramaj

Journal of Peace, Conflict, and Security Studies

Robert Muharremi and Alisa Ramadani’s Transforming a Guerrilla into a Regular Army: From the Kosovo Liberation Army to the Army of the Republic of Kosovo seeks to provide an accessible, academic narrative of Kosovo’s security transformation. It traces the evolution from the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), through the Kosovo Protection Corps (KPC), to the current Kosovo Security Force (KSF). The result of this evolution is a military force which today holds a full-fledged defense mission.

Visoka, Gëzim. The Derecognition Of States. Ann Arbor: University Of Michigan Press, 2024., Aidan Hehir

Journal of Peace, Conflict, and Security Studies

Gëzim Visoka describes the derecognition of states as “a puzzling feature in world politics” (p. 114). This is certainly true. For many decades derecognition was a peripheral concern given it was rarely practiced after the UN was established in 1945; one notable exception being the derecognition of Taiwan, which has been ongoing since the 1950s. In recent years, however, it has become of significantly greater interest as it has become more common; of the five cases Visoka examines – Taiwan, Western Sahara, Abkhazia, South Ossetia, and Kosovo – four are very definitely products of the post-Cold War era. Despite this, …

Hehir, Aidan. Kosovo And The “Internationals”: Hope, Hubris, And The End Of History. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2024, Sead Zimeri

Journal of Peace, Conflict, and Security Studies

Hope is enjoying a scholarly renaissance. Building on the “standard account” of hope as a desire for an outcome believed to be possible, recent work by Luc Bovens, Victoria McGeer, Adrienne Martin, Darrel Moellendorf, Michael Milona, and Katie Stockdale has refined the concept, distinguishing it from optimism and expectation, and asking when hoping is rational and what it requires. Yet this literature has remained largely within moral psychology; sustained tests against concrete political history are rare. Conversely, the enormous literature on humanitarian intervention and state-building has had much to say about power, legitimacy, and paternalism, and almost nothing about hope. …

Why Publish With Mssj?

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

No abstract provided.

Editorial History

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

No abstract provided.

I, Too, Am America: Latino Men, American Identity, And Support For Conservative Immigration Policy, Nadia Ratib-Eixarch

Holster Scholar Projects

In the 2024 Presidential election, Donald Trump won 43% of the Latino male vote and 32% of the Latina vote, despite his history of anti-immigration and anti-Latino rhetoric. This 11-point gender gap among Latino voters exceeded the seven-point gender gap among white voters. Although Trump ran on anti-immigration policy, Latino male voters recorded their main concerns as inflation and jobs, suggesting a divergence between Latino male voters’ perceptions of their interests and those of the larger Latino community. Schaffner and Soler (2025) argue that this divergence is because Latino men who support Trump no longer identify primarily as Latino.

This …

Editor-In-Chief's Note, Surekha K. Rao

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

No abstract provided.

Time And Money: Patterns Of Nonstandard Work Across The First Year Of Covid-19, Ellen M. Whitehead, Alison Winiarski, Emily Wornell, Justin Schupp

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

The COVID-19 pandemic had a well-documented impact on the formal economy, with the extent of these consequences varying across industries and sociodemographic groups. Less attention has been paid to whether the nonstandard economy, including informal and gig work, mirrored this broader economic fallout. We draw on 2019 and 2020 data from the Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking to assess participation in, time spent on, and money earned from nonstandard work across the first year of the pandemic. We find evidence of an overall decline in participation in nonstandard work during this time. However, our results indicate heterogeneous experiences across …

George C. Roberts Award Recipients

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

No abstract provided.

The Survival Of Sugar In Post-Emancipation British Guiana: East Indian Indentured Immigration And The Cheapening Of Labor, Wazir Mohamed

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

This Paper revisits the post-emancipation changes in the labor market of British Guiana. British Guiana, Mauritius, Trinidad and Tobago, Fiji, and several other locations were spaces where East Indian Indentured Immigrants from Idia became pivotal in the economy.[1] In the decade after emancipation (1838-1848), the rise of global free trade in sugar spurred by the equalization of duties in sugar factored in the search for a cheaper and the importation of a more pliable labor force to keep the wheels of sugar turning in British Guiana. With this background in mind this paper focuses on indentured immigration of East …

Submission Guidelines

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

No abstract provided.

Statement From The Indiana Academy Of The Social Sciences And Board Of Directors

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

No abstract provided.

Mission And Editorial Policy

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

No abstract provided.