bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The MMPI-Based Criminal Classification System
Authors: ZAGER LYNNE D.
Published: March 2007

The purpose of this article is to review the origin and development of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Based Criminal Classification System and to evaluate critically the most recent literature with regard to the system's reliability (including interrater, test-retest, and replicability), validity, and practical utility (including the characteristics and institutional adjustments of the groups and the prevalence of use of the system). Finally, recommendations for further research are offered. Overall, the system appears to have demonstrated its reliability, validity, and practical utility.
Intoxication as a Defense against Criminal Charges in Florida
Authors: MASSEY RENELLE F.
Published: March 2007

Intoxication by alcohol is sometimes viable as a partial or complete defense in certain criminal cases. Rulings and laws concerning such a defense are generally based on beliefs held by the American public and criminal justice system about the behavioral effects of alcohol. Recent psychological research, however, has yielded evidence indicating that alcohol may not always influence behavior as expected or believed in American society. In this article the relevant psychological research and case law are reviewed and then compared. In some cases, the research appears to validate legal rationale, but in others research findings challenge present views on intoxication as a criminal defense. Implications are discussed and suggestions offered for better synchronizing judicial treatment of the intoxication defense with psychological research.
The Emergence of Extralegal BIAS During Jury Deliberation
Authors: MacCOUN ROBERT J.
Published: March 2007

Does deliberation attenuate extralegal biases in jury verdicts, or does it exaggerate them? Consistent with an information-integration theory analysis, Kaplan and Miller in 1978 found that deliberation can eliminate such biases. However, in the present study, the physical attractiveness of a criminal defendant only influenced postdeliberation mock juror and jury judgments. When the defendant was attractive, there was a shift in judgments toward acquittal, but when the defendant was unattractive, there was no such shift. As a result, mock juries were more likely to acquit the attractive defendant than the unattractive defendant. Because a shift toward acquittal is the modal pattern during deliberation in close criminal cases, the results suggest that the unattractive defendant did not receive the benefit of the doubt that is usually granted to criminal defendants. The results of this and other studies are discussed in terms of social influence patterns in jury deliberation.
Future Directions in the Treatment of Physical Child Abuse
Authors: KAUFMAN KEITH L. , RUDY LESLIE
Published: March 2007

The incidence of physical child abuse has continued to increase over the past 15 years. During this time, studies have identified a myriad of serious acute and long-term consequences for its victims. Early approaches to treatment varied on a number of dimensions but failed to consistently demonstrate their effectiveness with perpetrators of physical abuse. Despite an obvious and pressing need, intensive efforts to identify the most efficacious treatment approaches appear to have been abandoned in favor of prevention, early intervention initiatives and in general, the area of child sexual abuse. This article examines the shift in priorities, selectively examines treatment approaches, discusses key research and programmatic issues, and offers suggestions for future directions.
Urban and Rural Attitudes toward Participating in an Auxiliary Policing Crime Prevention Program
Authors: SMITH GEORGIA , LAB STEVEN P.
Published: March 2007

Researchers and practitioners have noted the importance of citizen crime prevention, but little attention has been focused on the crime prevention behavior of rural residents. This article compares urban and rural attitudes toward participation in an auxiliary policing program. Using data from the 1982 ABC News Poll of Public Opinion on Crime, a probit regression analysis reveals that the models explaining participation for urban and rural respondents are similar. Differences between the present results and those of past studies suggest that the present results are more reliable than past analyses.
MMPI Profile Subtypes of Nonincarcerated Child Molesters
Authors: KALICHMAN SETH C. , HENDERSON MARGIT C.
Published: March 2007

Sexual offenders against children are known to be a heterogeneous population with respect to psychological and behavioral characteristics. To subdivide child molesters into homogeneous subgroups, Duthie and McIvor cluster-analyzed the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) profiles of nonincarcerated child molesters. They identified eight subgroups of offenders which varied in psychopathology and demographic characteristics. Because their 1990 study was an initial step toward the development of a classification system, cross-validation was needed to support Duthie and McIvor's conclusions. In the present study, the same clustering procedure was employed to analyze the MMPIs of 113 child molesters similar to Duthie and McIvor's sample in demography and circumstances of evaluation. Six of the eight clusters reported by Duthie and McIvor were cross-validated. In addition, subgroups were differentiated along dimensions of sexual deviance. Implications for the utility of the Duthie and McIvor cluster-coding system are discussed.
The Scale for the Prediction of Aggression and Dangerousness in Psychotic Patients (PAD):
Authors: BJØRKLY STÅL
Published: March 2007

The Scale for the Prediction of Aggression and Dangerousness in Psychotic Patients (PAD) is a rating scale constructed for the assessment of psychotic patients in relation to 29 situations or interactions. The instrument is used to rate the potential of these situations/interactions for precipitating aggressive behavior in psychotic patients. These assessments result in a profile of situational vulnerability that describes a patient's potential for aggressive behavior in relation to the 29 situations or interactions. In this pilot study, 10 psychotic patients at a special secure unit were assessed by means of this scale. After the completion of the PAD ratings, systematic observations of episodes involving verbal, threatened, and physical aggression were made throughout a 2-year follow-up period. The results indicate that the PAD was able to predict the patients' potential for aggression and, to some extent, the situations that were the most potent precipitants of aggressive behavior.
Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment of Incarcerated Offenders
Authors: HENNING KRIS R. , FRUEH B. CHRISTOPHER
Published: March 2007

Recidivism rates were compared in two groups of male offenders from a medium-security state prison. Offenders in the first group ( n = 55) voluntarily participated in a cognitive-behavioral treatment program that addressed “thinking errors” related to criminal behavior. A second group of offenders ( n = 141) from the same facility, who did not participate in the treatment program, served as a comparison group. A significant difference in recidivism was observed between the groups, with 50% of the offenders from the treatment group recidivating, compared to 70.8% of the comparison group. More favorable results for the program were observed when these data were subjected to survival analyses and implications. Practical limitations of the present study for the treatment of a general population of incarcerated offenders are discussed.
A Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the Lifestyle Criminality Screening Form
Authors: WALTERS GLENN D.
Published: March 2007

A confirmatory factor analysis of the Lifestyle Criminality Screening Form (LCSF) was performed using data derived from 542 male medium-security federal prison inmates. The results demonstrate the superiority of a four-factor solution, encompassing the four standard LCSF subscales (Irresponsibility, Self-Indulgence, Interpersonal Intrusiveness, and Social Rule Breaking), over a one-factor model and three two-factor models. An empirical model, comprised of four factors obtained from an earlier exploratory factor analysis, achieved the best fit of any of the models tested, suggesting that the factor structure of the LCSF is dimensionally complex.
Technology and Urban Management
Authors: Dutton William H. , Kraemer Kenneth L.
Published: March 2007

This study argues that as automated information systems in local governments are more oriented to providing top management with information, top managers gain control vis-à-vis lower level managers and staff. clients, and lay policy officials. A measure of "management oriented computing" is developed which indicates the degree computing is oriented to serving top management. This index is related to both the hypothesized payoffs and the hypothesized preconditons of computing being oriented to serve the interests of top management. Survey response datafrom most of the larger U.S. cities and counties tend to support the power shift hypothesis and identify certain local government milieus most conducive to management-oriented computing. These milieus tend to be characterized by administrative reform values and top management control of computing decisions.
Public Administration and the Critique of Domination
Authors: Denhardt Robert B. , Denhardt Kathryn G.
Published: March 2007

Public administration is viewed here as facing a crisis of legitimacy which derives from (1) the field's association with societal tendencies toward regulation and control and (2) the failure ofpublic administration theory to adequately connect with adminis trative practice. In contrast, a critical approach to public administration is outlined, one which holds forth some promise of meaningful reflection and enlightened action in the public sector.
Ethics for the Senior Executive Service
Authors: Rohr John A.
Published: March 2007

The Senior Executive Service (SES), the showcase of the Civil Service Reform Act, has been caught up in controversies on the degree to which it will "politicize" the higher reaches of the career civil service. This article argues that the creation of the SES represents a formal recognition of the higher civil service as an institution of government with significant normative consequences for those who hold these positions. Chief among these consequences is the extent to which SES personnel should welcome or resist political pressures. A method of integrating the ethical aspects of this question into management training programs is developed in this article.
Joint Union-Management Committees
Authors: Martin James E.
Published: March 2007

The operation and effectiveness of joint union-management committees in six federal government facilities were examined over a four-year period. Hypotheses derived from previous cross-sectional studies and reviews of the literature relating organizational and bargaining unit variables, labor relations variables, and committee variables to committee effectiveness were tested longitudinally. While much of the prior work in the area was supported by the results, committee effectiveness were tested longitudinally. While much of the prior work in the area was supported by the results, committee effectiveness appeared to be most closely related to the labor relations variables, particularly the labor relations climate.
Idle Talk and Modern Administration
Authors: Killingsworth James R.
Published: March 2007

This article attempts first to define idle administrative talk in terms of Speech-Act philosophy, then proceeds to illustrate the value of such an approach as a framework for the empirical study of idle talk in modern administration. Finally, the article concludes with two suggestions about why idle talk is so prominent in modern public and private sector administration. On the one hand, it may be a buffer device matched to the everyday ideological struggles occurring in complex organizations. On the other, its prominence may be due to the `fictional "nature of administrative work itself
Structure and Change in the Political Economy of Douglass North
Authors: Curtis James L.
Published: March 2007

In Structure and Change in Economic History Douglass North outlines a non-Marxist structural analysis that he uses to describe behavior that cannot be accounted for with a simple rational actor model. His consideration of political structures as a context for economic activity carries him far beyond the limits of historical neoclassical analysis. Problematic assumptions produce difficulties for his attempt to build a macrohistorical theory, but his approach is potentially invaluable for social scientists studying behavior within a single general structure such as the modern state.
Organizational Revolution
Authors: Scott William G.
Published: March 2007

Managerialism is one of the main philosophical issues of our times. Its orthodox values trivialize the human essence, diminish human dignity, and widen the gap between a privileged class of managers and the rest of the people. This orthodoxy must be revolutionized before a homegrown form of American totalitarianism emerges. This article presents a critique of the orthodox values, suggests a vision of four ways a revolution in values could proceed, and addresses specifically how schools of administration and professional associations might provide forums for moral discourse, which is a necessary preliminary to revolution.
Karl Weick's Organizing
Authors: Lane Larry M.
Published: March 2007

Karl Weick's creative approach to organizing is gaining increasing influence in the academic world. Additionally, with the great success of In Search of Excellence, which was heavily influenced by Weick's ideas, his concepts are receiving prominent attention at managerial levels throughout the private and public sectors of the economy. Because of this prominence, Weick's theorizing requires critical review, particularly with regard to his subordination of the importance of purpose in organizing activity. Weick's concepts lead to a one-sided behavioral view that ignores essential questions of organizational purpose and morality. A complete model of organizing requires attention to the administrative function as a moral endeavor.
On the Organizational Theory of Evaluation
Authors: Heilman John G. , Martin David L.
Published: March 2007

This article uses Wamsley and Zald's discussion of the political economy of public organizations to develop categories of constraints on evaluation in bureaucratic settings. It argues that the relevant literature focuses largely on political factors, in part because this literature concentrates on the utilization of evaluation results. Interviews with federal administrators concerning the establishment of an evaluation unit are used to explore a mix of economic and political factors. The article concludes that program managers choosing an evaluation agent have some latitude to determine the timing and context of different struggles over evaluation.
Crafting Urban Partnerships
Authors: Goodman Marshall R.
Published: March 2007

Neighborhood Assistance Programs (NAPs) have become popular policies among the states as an alternative way to fund community-based organizations and as a way to provide various social services in the face of federal budget cutbacks. Through use of a tax incentive, NAPs seek to encourage business investment in community projects, while strengthening the bond between the public and private sectors. Analysis of NAP performance in three states finds that the programs and their tax incentive concept have many conceptual flaws. Consequently, NAPs fail as a reliable long-term mechanism for inducing high rates of meaningful private sector participation in social programs.
Populism, Decentralization, and Arts Policy in California
Authors: Savage James D.
Published: March 2007

Arts policy in California reflects the division separating the "elite" and "populist" arts. The state arts agency, the California Arts Council, favors the populist or community arts. The council's success in preserving and expanding its populist arts policy in a sometimes hostile political environment has depended ultimately upon its ability to alter its organizational structure in a fashion that minimizes administrative stress and maximizes its political assets. In this regard, the 10-year history of this public organization with its rather unorthodox origins confirms some of the conventional wisdom that has accumulated in the study of public administration and public policy.
Hong Kong Facing China
Authors: Lui Terry T , Cooper Terry L.
Published: March 2007

China `s imminent resumption of sovereignty over Hong Kong has brought about significant social and political changes in the territory. Amidst the turbulence, civil servants in Hong Kong play a critical role in maintaining stability. This article focuses on their confidence in, and commitment to, the future. The discussion is based on a questionnaire survey of a selected sample of senior administrators. The findings reveal a strong sense of uncertainty which seems to be related to the possible loss of Hong Kong's autonomy. The confidence problem in the civil service is therefore political in nature and cannot be adequately resolved by administrative means alone.
Competition, Negotiation, or Cooperation
Authors: Dehoog Ruth Hoogland
Published: March 2007

Contracting for public services from public or private suppliers is now a common prescription to improve government efficiency. The competitive bidding model is usually viewed as the ideal contracting process. However, this article explains that two other approaches—the negotiation model and the cooperation model-may be more appropriate under certain conditions. The primary factors that are likely to determine which of the three approaches is most suitable are (a) the characteristics of the external environment (especially the number of service suppliers), (b) the level of organizational resources (e.g., personnel, funds, time, and expertise), and (c) the degree of uncertainty about funding, future events, service technologies, and causal relationships between service outputs and desired outcomes. The main point is that there is no one best way to contract for services; rather, government units should adapt their contracting procedures to both internal external conditions to implement service contracting in an effective manner.
The Perceived Inequity of Systems
Authors: Ashforth Blake E.
Published: March 2007

It is argued that formal, man-made systems tend to be perceived as inequitable by individuals transacting with them. More specifically, (a) as special purpose tools, systems often deal poorly wit/i complexity and dynamism; (b) as interacting subsystems, systems frequently relegate clients' needs to poorly mapped interfaces between subsystems; (c) as arbiters of meaning, systems tend to stereotype quantities; (d) as regulators of behavior, systems often put internal needs above clients' needs; (e) as mass producers, systems tend to reify procedures; (n as symbols, systems frequently neglect substance; and (g) as amoral entities, systems often neglect common moral and ethical principles. Further, cognitive and motivational biases predispose system clients to view systems as much less equitable than do system administrators. Perceived inequities lead to unmet expectations, reduced system legitimacy, reactance, increased resentment and cynicism, and decreased initiative and trust. This analysis suggests that the very attempt to organize an activity may lead to structures and processes that undermine the activity. General means and a process for reducing perceived inequities are discussed.
Decline of Empire
Authors: Kreml William P.
Published: March 2007

Although the American decline has frequently been depicted as the result of economic disinvestment, military overextension, and the like, this article suggests that America's decline results from increasingly fragmented political institutions. Citing organization theory research documenting structural tendencies toward decentralization, and the writings of Toynbee, Spengler, and others who have identified decline with institutional fragmentation, the author argues that the U.S. government has recently undergone dysfunctional structure decentralization. Additionally, it suggests that America's institutional fragmentation restricts the government's ability to comprehend the issues it faces, because contractually induced analytic cognitions now overwhelming aggregationally induced synthetic cognitions.
Balancing Government Necessity and Public Employee Privacy
Authors: Richman Roger
Published: March 2007

In the mid 1980s the Rehnquist court introduced a new constitutional doctrine making the Fourth Amendment's warrant and probably cause requirements dispensable when the government establishes a legitimate "special need." The new doctrine has been employed to allow, among other "special needs, " large-scale public employee drug testing programs that courts, applying traditional constitutional analysis, had previously struck down. Analysis of judicial implementation of the new doctrine suggests the Supreme Court's broad characterization of government's special needs may be poorly reasoned and ultimately may be constitutionally flawed An assessment of the doctrine suggests that it is predicated on traditionalist perceptions of management roles, and that it reinforces those roles.
Renewing Hope in the Inner City
Authors: Rubin Herbert J.
Published: March 2007

A recent literature documents the successes of community-based development organizations (CBDOs) in providing housing and employment in impoverished communities. Such successes provide hope that it is possible to reverse urban decline. Whether, at the same time, it is possible to create jobs and housing in ways that empower the people within poor communities and increase community capacity for self-directed growth is less certain, as funders emphasize physical production over the goals of empowerment and capacity building. This article, based on in-depth interviews with more than 100 community activists, describes the efforts of CBDOs to balance pressures to concentrate on physical production with their efforts to build capacity and create empowerment within poor communities. The implications of how they do so for the new institutionalism paradigm in organization theory are explored.
Seeing Through Organization
Authors: Weinberg Lisa
Published: March 2007

This article reframes the relationship between people and organization to reveal the constitutive quality of social relations. Although agreeing with Karl Weick that organization emerges in interaction, the author theoretically integrates the work of Mary Parker Follett and Bowenian family systems theorists to go beyond Weick's focus on behaviors, examining instead the interpersonal dynamics thatfuel behavior According to this theoretical orientation, people exist in relationship to one another and are made different by their interdependence. The quality of their interaction thus determines the consciousness they bring to the organizing process, and with it, the nature of organization itself
Nih
Authors: Halasz Michael F.
Published: March 2007

Structural evolution of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is studied with organizational theory. NIH's transition from a functional to a market divisional structure as the agency's client biomedical research community underwent segmentation is described using as case examples the formation of two institutes. Strategies followed by professional groups seeking to influence an executive agency are illustrated. How a structure focused on servicing particularmedical constituencies may compromise the study section review of research grant applications on which NIH credibility rests is examined. NIH response to the more dynamic recent environment (AIDS, molecular biology) by recourse to matrix form is considered. Prospects for survival of the agency's unique administrative synthesis are evaluated.
Creating Crises and Avoiding Blame
Authors: Cohn Daniel
Published: March 2007

The new public management (NPM) is the result of both pushes (attempts at crisis creation) and pulls (attempts to get along with less and to act more businesslike). These led to a new elite consensus on the role of the state, described by Jessop as the Schumpeterian workfare state. The NPM is seen as the management technology of this policy paradigm. To the degree that the NPM represents a broad agreement on how government should operate in light of this new consensus on the role of the state, it is a positive development. However, the NPM can also be attractive due to another, more cynical, pull. This is the desire to avoid blame for the costs that transition to this new policy paradigm imposes on society. To the degree that the NPM is used as technique for blame avoidance, its benefits to society decline.
Creating New Public Management Reforms
Authors: Galnoor Itzhak , Rosenbloom David H. , Yaroni Allon
Published: March 2007

The New Public Management (NPM) has been well studied in nations with previously reformed, modern administrative systems. Considerably less is known about the feasibility of adopting NPM reforms in countries such as Israel, in which national bureaucracies never gained a high degree of institutional identity, administrative, expertise, or autonomous power. What strategies and designs are appropriate for instituting such reforms and what barriers may they face? Israel’s well-designed effort to create self-sustaining administrative reform during 1994 through 1996 reveals both workable approaches and some of their limits. Considering the Israeli case along with other single-country studies can enrich our explanatory and prescriptive theories of administrative reform.
The Contribution of Africentric Values and Racial Identity to the Prediction of Drug Knowledge, Attitudes, and Use among African American Youth
Authors: Belgrave Faye Z. , Brome Deborah Ridley , Hampton Carl
Published: March 2007

This study investigated the relative contribution of cultural variables, in particular Africentric values and racial identity, to the prediction of drug use, drug knowledge, and drug attitudes in conjunction with individual, peer, and family domain variables. Data collected from 195 African American youth were used in this study. The results indicate that Africentric values were a significant, yet modest predictor of drug knowledge accounting for approximately 4% of the variance. Similarly, racial identity was a significant predictor of drug use and of drug attitudes accounting for approximately 2% and 8% of the variance, respectively. Also, gender, an individual domain variable, was a significant predictor of drug use, attitudes, and knowledge. Males reported more drug use, had attitudes more tolerant of drugs, and had less drug knowledge than females.
Consequences of the Black Sense of Self
Authors: Allen Richard L. , Bagozzi Richard P.
Published: March 2007

In this study, the authors proposed that African Americans, unlike their European American counterparts, fashion a sense of self with a more collectivistic focus. Moreover, it was hypothesized that Black self-constructs should have a marked influence on a range of outcomes. Using a sample of African American adults, the influence of a multifaceted Black self-construct (African self-consciousness, ethnic identity, and Black identity) was examined on specific social and political orientations. Separating these self-constructs into African-centered and non-African-centered, the authors were able to show that the separate facets of the self-construct are correlated, reflect a strong sense of self, indicate a collectivist orientation, and tend to affect a number of important social and political orientations. African self-consciousness, as an example of African-centered theorizing of the concept of self, had an effect on almost all the outcomes in predictable ways and, in a comparative sense, was a more significant construct than the other facets.
Ego Development and Black Identity
Authors: Looney Jacqueline
Published: March 2007

The relationship of ego development and Black identity formation was explored in thirty Black male and thirty Black female college students. The subjects were administered the Washington University Sentence Completion Test and the Racial Identity Attitude Scale. A significant inverse relationship was found between ego development and Black identity. This suggests that if an individual has strong ego, he or she defines self; if the individual's ego is weak, others define self. Social and cultural differences, the definition of self, and the perception of development, identity, and change are discussed as other possible explanations for this inverse relationship.
Learning Styles of African American Children: A Review of the Literature and Interventions
Authors: Willis Madge Gill
Published: March 2007

A review of theories, research, and models of the learning styles of Black children reveals that Black children generally learn in ways characterized by factors of social/affective emphases, harmony, holistic perspectives, expressive creativity, and nonverbal communication. Underlying these approaches are assumptions that Black Americans (African Americans) have been strongly influenced by their African heritage and culture, and that Black children's learning styles are different-but not deficient. Implications for interventions include recommendations for instructional interventions, curriculum organization, assessment, and suggestions for future research.
A Pilot Study of Sexual Communication and Negotiation among Young African American Women: Implications for HIV Prevention
Authors: Wingood Gina M. , Hunter-Gamble Dinese , DiClemente Ralph J.
Published: March 2007

Recent epidemiological studies indicate that African American female adolescents are at a markedly higher riskfor diagnoses with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) than their White female counterparts. Although epidemiologic data are informatve with respect to monitoring the course of the epidemic and quantifying the differential riskfor AIDSIHIV infection among young Afican American women in relation to other populations, they provide less insight into the influence of the diverse cultural, gender, andpsychosocial determinants ofHIV-associated risk behaviors. Afactor ofparticular importance is communication between sexual partners about condom use. Focus groups were conducted with African American women aged 18 to 25, to explore the process ofsexual communication and barriers toward sexual negotiation of condom use. HlVprevention programs tailored to African American women should emphasize training in sexual negotiation, conflict resolution, and refusal skills.
Obstacles to Reducing AIDS among African Americans
Authors: Quimby Ernest
Published: March 2007

The major obstacles to sustaining mobilization efforts are objective conditions, attitudes toward sexuality, perceptions of substance abuse and HIV/AIDS, and conflicting policy views. Organizational responses to the epidemic occur within circumstances ofperceived oppression, neglect, competing and conflicting agendas, and religious conservatism. Suspicion, often dismissed by public health officials and community-based outreach workers, neutralizes programmatic activities. Popular reactionsfocus on debates about conspiracy theories, fear of racist stigmatization, anda pervasive sense that only marginal groups are affected. Ambivalence hampers prevention and treatment. Public health education is still not sufficiently penetrating African American neighborhoods. Efforts have not been systematic or continous. Many are top-down actions organized by professional elites aimed at their constituencies rather than neighborhoods. Addicts and their sex partners have not been sufficiently empowered or persuaded in large numbers to change their vulnerable actions. Unfortunately the crisis has not waned.
Racial Ideology and Racial Centrality as Predictors of African American College Students' Academic Performance
Authors: Sellers Robert M. , Chavous Tabbye M. , Cooke Deanna Y.
Published: March 2007

The study focuses on the relationship between racial identity and academic achievement for African American college students. The Multidimensional Model of Racial Identity (MMRI) was used to assess the relationship between racial centrality, racial ideology, and academic performance. A total of 248 participants were recruitedfrom a predominantly Black college and a predominantly White college and were administered the Multidimensional Inventory of Black Identity (MIBI) to assess their racial ideology and racial centrality. Participants also were asked to report their cumulative grade point averages (GPAs). Consistent with the MMRI, racial centrality moderates the relationship between racial ideology and academic performance such that assimilation and nationalist ideologies were negatively associated with GPA and a minority ideology was positively associated with GPA for students who scored high on racial centrality. Racial ideology was not a significant predictor of GPA for participants who scored low on racial centrality.
Behavioral Predictors of Intended Sexual Behavior Among a Sample of African American Undergraduates
Authors: Braithwaite Ronald L. , Stephens Torrance T. , Taylor Sandra E. , Braithwaite Kisha
Published: March 2007

The research reported herein tested the prediction of intended sexual behavior among a sample of African American college students.from self-reported past sexual behavior, selecteddemographic attributes, and sociobehavioral variables. This study is guided by the hypothesis that selected demographic and sociocognitive variables, in addition to past sexual behavior, can predict intended sexual behavior over an ensuing 12-month period. Demographic variables included gender, age, and whetherparticipants had been treatedfor a sexually transmitted disease (STD). Sociocognitive variables included prevention practices, stigma associated with HIVIAIDS, social distance, repressive attitudes, perceived susceptibility, barriers to risk reduction, and knowledge. Questionnaires were collected from 1,593 students. Intended sexual behavior yielded a regression coefficient of .59. The results provide considerable support for gender, sexual practices, and past sexual behavior in the past 12 months as being viable predictors of intended sexual behaviors among this sample.
Correlates of Low-Income African American and Puerto Rican Fathers' Involvement with Their Children
Authors: Fagan Jay
Published: March 2007

Determinants offathers 'involvement with theirchildren were examined in a study of 60 low-income African American and 25 low-income Puerto Rican men residing with their children in two-parent families. Allfathers had at least one preschool-age child in Head Start. The variables measured were the father's accessibility, direct interaction, play, outings, reading, and responsibility for children in Head Start. The findings showed that higher levels of paternal involvement with children were negatively related to the father's self-esteem and positively related to maternal employment, mothers' hours in paid work and school, family income, and paternal nurturance. The study concluded that a combination of sociostructural, psychological, and parenting skillfactors influences the involvement of African American and Puerto Rican fathers with their children.
Observations of Bullying in the Playground and in the Classroom
Authors: Craig Wendy M. , Pepler Debra , Atlas Rona
Published: March 2007

The present study employed naturalistic observations to compare bullying and victimization in the playground and in the classroom. The results indicated that there were more opportunities to observe aggression and receive and initiate aggression in the playground than in the classroom. The frequency of bullying was higher in the playground (4.5 episodes per hour) than in the classroom (2.4 episodes per hour). The nature of bullying reflected the constraints of the context (i.e. direct bullying was more prevalent in the playground and indirect bullying was more prevalent in the classroom). Being at the receiving end of aggression was more likely to occur in the playground as compared to the classroom. Nonaggressive children were more likely to bully in the playground, whereas aggressive children were more likely to bully in the classroom. There was no difference across context in the proportion of episodes of reinforcement with peers present or in the rate of peer and teacher intervention. The results highlight the necessity of a systemic intervention programme that addresses not only the individual characteristics of bullies and victims, but also the roles of the peer group, teachers and the school.
Cross-Cultural Study on the Rights of the Child in Slovenia
Authors: Pavlovic Zoran
Published: March 2007

In the introduction to this article, a brief outline of this small mid-European country and young democracy is given. Also, Children's Parliament is described, as an example of cooperation of the state and of the non-governmental organizations in the field of children's rights. In the main section, main findings of the CrossCultural Study on the Rights of the Child are presented. In the years 1991 to 1992, we interviewed a nationally representative sample of children aged 12-14 years and 16-18 years, their teachers and school counsellors. We found the survey instruments to be reliable and age-sensitive. WVhile developmental differences regarding students are well documented, the adults in our sample did not follow the changes accordingly-middle school students are seen as being just as much 'children' as the elementary school students. A number of other findings are also discussed. In the years 1994 to 1995 we carried out a new pilot study where we tested several possible improvements of the survey instrument. Some of them are used in the questionnaires that are being used in the 2000-2001 survey sweep.
A Kenya Standardization of the Raven's Coloured Progressive Matrices
Authors: Costenbader Virginia , Ngari Stephen Mbugua
Published: March 2007

This study established for the first time a Kenyan standardization of the Raven's Coloured Progressive Matrices (RCPM), a nonverbal instrument widely used to assess academic aptitude in young children. The sample of 1370 children between the ages of six and ten years was gathered in the primary schools of the Municipality of Nakuru, a region representative of the overall population of Kenya. Percentile scores for boys and girls by age group were generated. Demographic and academic information on participants was gathered using a teacher questionnaire. Test-retest reliability for the instrument was established by re-administering the Raven's to a randomly selected subsample of 50 children at a two week interval. Internal consistency reliability was generated using Cronbach's alpha. Using the current data, the RCPM appears to be a reliable and valid instrument for use in screening Kenyan children.
Anxiety and Learning Disabilities
Authors: Spillios James C. , Janzen Henry L.
Published: March 2007

Regardless of the various theoretical approaches and definitions of a learning disability, it is evident that anxiety plays a role as a secondary factor involved in the learning process. Previous research (Chapman, 1979) provided evidence to suggest that affective variables play a major role in the learning disabilities syndrome. The present research was designed to investigate the effects of a differential relaxation procedure in reducing anxiety levels in 9-to 12-year-old learning disabled boys and, further, to assess behavioural treatment effects on subsequent academic performance. A postulated circular relationship involving stress, anxiety and inappropriate responses was used to explain the involvement of anxiety in learning disabilities. In addition, the Hull-Spence model of learning was used as a framework to explain the relationship between anxiety and academic performance.
The Special Education Assessment and Decision-making Process in The Netherlands and the USA
Authors: Ysseldyke James E. , Meijer C. J.W.
Published: March 2007

For the last seven years researchers in both The Netherlands and the United States have been studying the assessment and decision-making process that leads to the placement of students in special education programmes. Researchers at the Institute of Educational Research (RION) in Groningen, The Netherlands and at the University of Minnesota Institute for Research on Learning Disabilities (IRLD), Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, have been asking the same kinds of research questions and collecting similar kinds of data. In both countries, early research on the use of assessment data to make placement decisions about students led to a recognition of the importance of referral decisions, and thus to subsequent research on referral decisions and on factors influencing referral. In this paper, we bring together the results of the research conducted separately by two sets of investigators in two countries with different social/governmental structures and different special education delivery systems in order to reach some conclusions about the process of making referral decisions, about pre-referral intervention and about the purposes served by referral of children and placement in special education. It is not our purpose here to review the many specific studies conducted in the two research institutes, but to make some general observations based on what we have learned. The work at RION resulted in the development of many research reports. The original reports are available from C.J.W. Meijer. The work at the IRLD resulted in the development of more than 160 monographs and research reports. An annotated bibliography of these is available from James Ysseldyke. The reports are on the ERIC system* or they may be ordered from Ysseldyke.
School Psychology and the Nigerian Cultural Situation
Authors: Jimoh Shehu Ahmed
Published: March 2007

For more than 40 years, efforts have been made by successive governments as well as agencies, organizations and individuals in Nigeria to ensure the provision of adequate services for the psychological development of the Nigerian schoolchild. There is a department in the federal Ministry of Education charged with this specific function. Many psychologists and guidance counsellors have been trained to serve in schools. Test materials appropriate to school pupils have been produced. Seminars and workshops are frequently organized to examine some school-related adjustment problems. However, certain cultural factors that can impede school psychology services do not appear to have received adequate attention yet. Perhaps the most important of these is the average Nigerian's inadequate conception of causality, which makes him believe that his problems are always caused by things and people outside of himself. The recommendations put forward include the need to relate what goes on in school to the realities of life in the larger society outside school, and the need for an enlightenment programme aimed at developing in Nigerians a more scientific concept of causality.
Job Satisfaction among American School Psychologists
Authors: Levinson Edward M. , Hohenshil Thomas H.
Published: March 2007

Job satisfaction has been associated with a variety of personal, social and work related variables, all of which have potential implications for practising school psychologists. The present study utilized a modified form of the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire and a demographic data form to investigate overall levels of job satisfaction among practising school psychologists in the State of Virginia (USA), the degree of satisfaction expressed with each of twenty subfactors of job satisfaction, and the relationship between job satisfaction scores and selected demographic variables. A response rate of 87.36 percent was achieved, and responses from 267 practitioners were analysed. Results indicated that 84.27 percent of the respondents were either satisfied or very satisfied with their jobs. Of the twenty job subfactors measured, school psychologists expressed dissatisfaction wit1} only two: school system policies and practices, and advancement opportunities. Three significant predictors of job satisfaction emerged: membership in the Virginia Association of School Psychologists (positively related), membership in the National Education Association (negatively related), and contract length (negatively related). Four other variables were found to be significant correlates of job satisfaction: tendency to remain in current position (positively related), tendency to remain in the profession of school psychology (positively related), membership in the Virginia Education Association (negatively related), and membership in the National Association of School Psychologists (positively related).
Theory and Practice in Dealing with Communication Difficulty
Authors: Watson Judith
Published: March 2007

The implications of some research findings covering communication in young children are discussed. It is suggested that attempts to help children with delayed or impaired early communication could benefit by taking more account of such studies. Suggestions are made about conditions which appear to facilitate spontaneous confident conversation.
Validity of the British Ability Scales Short-Form for a Sample of US Students
Authors: Buckhalt Joseph A. , Denes Gabriel E. , Stratton Stephen P.
Published: March 2007

In a study of the validity of the British Ability Scales (BAS), 121 sixth-and seventh-grade students were administered the BAS Short Form, consisting of four subtests: Speed of Information Processing, Matrices, Similarities and Recall of Digits. Scores were intercorrelated and compared with students' performance on the Raven Standard Progressive Matrices (RPM) and the Otis-Lennon School Ability Test (OLSAT). Analyses for race differences showed significant black-white differences on the RPM, OLSAT and the BAS IQ. Differences by race were found for two BAS subtests: Matrices and Similarities. The distribution of BAS IQ scores for this sample was normal and comparable to the other measures of general intelligence. Discrepancies from British norms were found, however, for three of the four subtests.
Hispanic-Anglo Differences in Academic Achievement
Authors: Strassburger Lisa A. , Rosen Lee A. , Miller C. Dean , Chavez Ernest L.
Published: March 2007

The contribution of self-esteem and locus of control to the discrepancy in academic achievement between Hispanics and Anglos was investigated. Subjects were 67 Hispanic and 304 junior high school students. Variables were: (a) ethnicity, (b) grade-point average, (c) academic self-esteem, (d) academic locus of control and (e) socioeconomic level. Results indicated that Hispanics had a significantly lower mean grade-point average than Anglos. However, there were no significant differences in mean self-esteem or mean locus of control scores between the two groups. Interestingly, there was a significant interaction between locus of control and achievement for Anglos, but not for Hispanics, although the effect size was small. There was also a significant difference in grade-point average associated with socioeconomic level with Hispanics having a significantly lower mean socioeconomic level than Anglos. In addition, results indicated that self-esteem accounted for the largest amount of variance in student's GPA, regardless of the student's ethnicity. These results were discussed in terms of implications for future research and intervention designed to raise grade-point average.
Take Care of the Interventions and Evaluation
Authors: Maines Barbara , Robinson George
Published: March 2007

The concept of and processes involved in an assessment by an educational psychologist have changed considerably during the last twenty years and there is now a willingness to accept reports which do not quote IQ figures and percentile rankings. Nevertheless, the expectation persists that the subject of the assessment will be the child: it is her/or his name which appears at the top of the written report.