bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
On Bounded Rationality and the Framing of Decisions in International Relations: Towards a Dynamic Network Model of World Politics
Authors: Faber Jan
Published: March 2007

This article reflects the feedback of empirical research on theorizing about international relations. The empirical results obtained by both Faber (1987a) and Houweling & Siccama (1988) can be explained by the theory of risky prospects developed by Tversky & Kahneman (1981). As this theory is easily integrated into Simon's concept of bounded rationality in human decision-taking, a theoretical framework for the explanation of international relations based on the resulting theoretical notions concerning human decision-taking is developed. Accordingly, decision-taking by governments concerning international relations is conceived to be steered by their bounded rationality with respect to their behavioural options and interaction opportunities and the goal of minimizing losses in their relative power positions with respect to foreign as well as domestic contenders. Because military power capabilities are not equally distributed across the member-states of the international system, the relative power positions of nations result in group-formation among them due to either actual domination or fear of domination. The dynamics of group-interactions is argued to give rise to global stability in international relations. When the power position of a nation deteriorates and the dynamics of group-interactions is absent the probability of an outbreak of war rises sharply.
Does the Nuclear Arms Race Matter?
Authors: McLAUCHLAN GREGORY
Published: March 2007

In The Nuclear Seduction: Why the Arms Race Doesn't Matter - and What Does, William A. Schwartz and Charles Derber present a provocative critique of the near universal assumption that the nuclear arms race represents the main danger of nuclear war. Despite the obsession with the technological characteristics of weaponry by peace movements, arms controllers and nuclear hawks alike, what is called `weaponitis', the authors contend that short of near-total nuclear disarmament changes in the arms race cannot significantly affect the likelihood or the effects of nuclear war. The real danger of nuclear war, documented in seventeen case studies covering the entire postwar period, lies in superpower intervention and regional conflicts around the world. The cases indicate that during Cold War crises the risks of miscalculation, accidental use of nuclear weapons, and unanticipated dangers leading to nuclear conflict have often been much greater than commonly assumed. The book concludes with a critique of the politics of arms control, and calls for development of a peace movement which has a broader, political vision of the requirements for peace, rather than one reacting defensively to the endless, yet in the authors' view relatively insignificant, threats of technology. The Nuclear Seduction makes a strong case that there is a `deadly connection' between superpower intervention or regional conflict and the possibility of nuclear war. The book is not successful, however, in demonstrating a necessary dichotomy between the politics of opposition to the arms race and the politics of anti-intervention. In synthesizing as well as challenging much of the recent literature on the arms race and nuclear danger, The Nuclear Seduction makes a major, and what many will find controversial, contribution to both scholarly and political discourse.
Blinding Laser Weapons and International Humanitarian Law
Authors: Anderberg Bengt , Bring Ove E. , Wolbarsht Myron L.
Published: March 2007

Multilateral arms regulations may restrict or prohibit the production and possession of specific weapons (the disarmament approach) or the use of specific weapons considered excessively inhumane or indiscriminate in their effects (the humanitarian law approach). This article focuses on the second approach, seen against the background of the St Petersburg Declaration of 1868, which states that whenever scientific developments lead towards improvement in armaments, the Contracting Parties will `come to an understanding' in order to `conciliate the necessities of war with the laws of humanity'. The article discusses the prospects for and the legal arguments against battlefield laser weapons which can cause permanent blindness on human beings. Since aggressive use of force is forbidden under the UN Charter, it follows that any use of any weapon is prohibited within the context of aggression. But where international law does not prohibit the use of armed force — as in the case of self-defence or Security Council mandated actions — the right of parties to the conflict to choose methods and means of warfare is not unlimited. The argument is made that systematic use of laser-beams against the eyesight of individuals is prohibited under the existing law of warfare. It is also argued that the use of anti-eye laser weapons is prohibited under existing law, although this conclusion will need to be confirmed in a multilateral document.
Developing a Security Regime for Eastern Europe
Authors: CHALMERS MALCOLM
Published: March 2007

Without a security regime to replace the vacuum left by the collapse of the Soviet empire, democratization in formerly communist Europe may be insufficient to prevent a prolonged period of military insecurity and conflict. Criteria for the use of military force in support of a security regime in Eastern Europe should be developed, drawing on just-war theory. The objectives of military intervention should be legitimate, the costs involved should outweigh the benefits, and there should be legitimate authority for action. The article recommends a commitment by CSCE to the principle of military action in defence of existing international borders and/or in order to avoid massive loss of life within a member-state as a result of government action. Within this framework, CSCE members could then, where appropriate, make explicit statements of intent to come to the aid of states under threat of attack, backing up such commitments militarily, for example by basing multinational military forces in the countries concerned. The article suggests that peacetime security guarantees should be given to those former communist countries that have progressed furthest towards creating modern democracies and which have adopted moderate policies towards their neighbours. But it argues that, given the paramount need to prevent a future conflict with Russia, it is not appropriate at this stage to include former Soviet states in a system of formal guarantees.
Military Conversion Policies in the USA: 1940s and 1990s
Authors: Alexander J. Davidson
Published: March 2007

Conventional theory of converting military to civilian economies holds that macro-economic policies which stimulate aggregate demand and labor policies which enable unemployed defense industry workers to move to new employment are sufficient to effect optimal transition from military to civilian production, without further need to interfere with market processes. The experience of the USA following World War II is often cited as evidence for this and recommended as a model for a much smaller 1990s conversion. This article briefly compares the four major conversions of the 20th century, 1918-21, 1944-47, 1953-55, 1968-74, but focuses on the conversion after World War II. It argues that both very favorable circumstances and considerable advance government and business planning also contributed to the relative success of the 1940s US conversion. Nevertheless, that success was sharply limited. For example, socially weak groups involuntarily left the labor force, and many facilities were lost to productive use. These failures resulted from conflicts over income distribution and a piecemeal planning vision. Under the unfavorable macro-economic circumstances of the 1990s and contrary interests of the military-industrial complex, optimal conversion requires an alternative policy approach to re-employ up to 2 million defense workers, and comprehensive decentralized planning for alternative use of production facilities.
Israel and Future Borders: Assessment of a Dynamic Process
Authors: Barzilai Gad , Peleg Ilan
Published: March 2007

This article deals with the question of determining a future Israeli-Palestinian border within the context of an originally developed analytical framework. Following the presentation of a previous model (Tägil et al., 1977, 1984), the authors offer a greatly modified and more detailed framework for the analysis of border determination. The modified framework emphasizes factors such as national ethos and two alternative national `imperatives' (territorial and ethnic) as important determinants of borders. The article then applies the model to the Israeli case, offering detailed historical and statistical data related to the determination of a future Israeli-Palestinian border. The article demonstrates the dramatic transformation (among Israel's elites and public alike) from a territorial to ethnic imperative and from integration (annexation of the West Bank and Gaza) to separation (Israeli withdrawal from the territories). In offering a general model for studying interstate and intercommunal conflict, and in demonstrating its applicability to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, this article is of immediate relevance to numerous other ethnic disputes around the world. The article, originally submitted three months prior to the Israeli-Palestinian mutual recognition of September 1993, has assumed particular importance by identifying the parameters that may determine the future borders in the Middle East.
Towards Complementarity in Conflict Management: Resolution and Settlement in Northern Ireland
Authors: Bloomfield David
Published: March 2007

This article argues the case for a model of conflict management based on a complementary view of two approaches to conflict, resolution and settlement, which have traditionally been presented in the literature as opposed. It employs empirical evidence of complementarity in practice to highlight the failure of this dichotomized theoretical debate. It endorses a theoretical model based on complementarity which both unblocks the paralysis caused by such dichotomization and energizes the prescriptive potential of both approaches. The article first describes and defines the two schools of thought and their respective prescriptions for conflict management, and then considers the potential for complementarity between the two at the theoretical level. Fisher & Keashly's contingency model of intervention (1991) is critiqued, and two descriptive weaknesses are identified: an overdependence on a sequential view of conflict, and an assumption of intra-party cohesion. Evidence for complementarity in practical conflict management strategies in the Northern Ireland conflict is then reviewed. Finally, an expansion of the contingency model based on such empirical study is discussed, in particular a means of building a model which is more flexible and context-responsive through the use of embedded criteria at the prescriptive stage.
Unofficial Nonviolent Intervention: Examples from the Israeli—Palestinian Conflict
Authors: Rigby Andrew
Published: March 2007

How can citizens of one country or region best intervene to affect the process and outcome of conflicts taking place in other parts of the world? Unofficial third party intervention by nonviolent means has often been too restricted in its focus and too frequently equated with direct physical intervention in the zone of conflict itself. Here a typology of different forms of unofficial nonviolent intervention is presented, based on three main criteria: geographical location, action style, and prime objective. Unofficial nonviolent intervention in the Israeli—Palestinian conflict by peace groups and others is drawn upon for illustration and as a vehicle for evaluating the relative effectiveness of different forms of interventionary action. The article concludes that the options for intervention are far wider than the extreme of sacrificial interpositionary action.
Tibetan Nationalism: The Politics of Religion
Authors: Kolås Åshild
Published: March 2007

Tibetan Buddhism, rather than secular nationalist ideology, provides vital idioms for the political discourse on Tibetan independence. This article deals with the interrelations between Tibetan politics and religion within Tibet and in exile Tibetan settlements in India. It is argued that within and outside Tibet, popular expressions of Tibetan identity rely on religious symbolism. In Tibet, religious idioms are reappearing in completely new contexts, as political expressions of opposition to Chinese rule. In India, Tibetan refugee elites reinterpret these idioms in their own terms while redefining Tibetan identity and culture for the outside world and for refugees themselves. The educated, English-speaking sections of the refugee population are also the main producers of nationalist rhetoric in the secular sense. This is particularly true of those who are based in Dharamsala, the Indian headquarters of the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government-in-exile. After examining the `culture' of Tibetan politics, the questions raised are how and why secular nationalist arguments, rather than arguments based on religion, become a part of political discourse. The choice of arguments is found to reflect the notions of legitimacy and rhetoric of the different audiences addressed. Power relations surface in every aspect of politics, including the use of political languages and definition of the boundaries and contents of `the political'.
The Political Economy of Defense Spending in South Korea
Authors: HEO UK
Published: March 2007

The collapse of communism in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, as well as developments surrounding peace talks in the Korean peninsula, have led to public demands in South Korea for reductions in defense spending. Those favoring cutbacks argue that reductions in defense spending will stimulate a `peace dividend'. The opposition points to the recent nuclear crisis with North Korea as evidence of the need to maintain or even increase current levels of military spending. According to this argument, defense cutbacks are premature in view of existing threats to national security. In this study, I evaluate both sides of the argument by examining the impact of defense spending on economic growth on South Korea. Overall, the results show that military expenditures have no significant, direct effects on economic growth in South Korea.
Identity Formation in the Shadow of Conflict: Projective Drawings by Palestinian and Israeli Arab Children from the West Bank and Gaza
Authors: Elbedour Salman , Bastien David T. , Center Bruce A.
Published: March 2007

Social identity is thought to be the means through which individuals understand themselves in their social context. Understanding the processes of identity formation in the context of intergroup conflict is particularly important, since social identity is critical to understanding how people act. Social identity, though, has been a difficult process to study since it is a purely internal construct. In this study, we argue that free-form drawings provide the greatest insight into how people see themselves in their social context. Data were gathered from Arab subjects in Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip. Among the important findings is that subjects exposed to the greatest conflict tend to organize their identities in ways that include their enemy as well as themselves. This necessarily creates a situation where the conflict becomes self-perpetuating.
Three Generations of Environment and Security Research
Authors: Rønnfeldt Carsten F.
Published: March 2007

The claim that environmental factors should be integrated into the concept of security was first made in the early 1980s (for example by Richard Ullman). By the early 1990s, a `second generation' approach appeared, aiming at identifying the causal pathways from environmental scarcity to conflict by means of empirical case studies (for example by Thomas Homer-Dixon and the Toronto Group). This essay reviews the issues raised in the literature of these two approaches - the initial debate and the empirical studies - and goes on to examine a number of conceptual critiques. The emerging `third generation' draws attention to improved methodology, including the comparative study of cooperation as well as conflict as a response to environmental scarcity, which in turn focuses attention on the nature of regimes and of the role of the `state-in-society'.
Global Civil Society, Anarchy and Governance: Assessing an Emerging Paradigm
Authors: Turner Scott
Published: March 2007

The realist, state-centric paradigm of international relations is reevaluated in light of the emerging role of transnational social movements and nongovernmental organizations. It is argued that global civil society potentially poses both an empirical and normative challenge to realist assumptions. It is shown that realist theory is grounded in the Hobbesian assumption that human beings are naturally avaricious, thus justifying both the state's monopoly of the legitimate use of violence and the anarchical, state-centric system. In contrast to the Hobbesian assumption, global civil society is widely characterized by voluntary cooperation and non-violent political action. It is argued that the Kropotkian tradition of anarchist theory provides a useful counterpoint to the Hobbesian tradition in conceptualizing global civil society. This alternative anarchist tradition views the state itself as the major source of violence in the world, and it highlights the sorts of non-violent, cooperative activities that largely characterize contemporary global civil society. By interjecting an alternative set of assumptions concerning human nature and anarchism, the Kropotkian tradition supports a potentially auspicious reevaluation of the prospects for peaceful international governance in an era of global transformation of the familiar state-centric world order.
Democracy and the Environment: An Empirical Assessment
Authors: Midlarsky Manus I.
Published: March 2007

This article examines empirically the relationship between democracy and the environment. Theorists and policy-makers have been eager to put forward the virtues of democracy as a benign political influence on the environment, especially in contrast to the obvious environmental degradation under Communism that became obvious after its fall. Six measures of environmental protection or degradation are examined as the dependent variables, with the independent variables emerging from earlier tests of the impact of the environment on democracy. In the multiple regression analyses of three of the environmental indicators, deforestation, carbon dioxide emission, and soil erosion by water, the statistically significant effect of democracy on the environment actually was negative, contrary to prediction. In the fourth case, protected land area, the impact of democracy was positive while in the remaining two instances, freshwater availability and soil erosion by chemicals, there was no significant effect of democracy on the environment. Other variables such as economic development, agricultural density, European location, age of the polity, and precipitation behaved empirically as one would intuitively expect. These findings suggest that democracy cannot be viewed unidimensionally in its relationship to the environment, and that assumptions by theorists and policy-makers concerning the positive effect of democracy on the environment need to be re-examined.
Environmental Terrorism: Analyzing the Concept
Authors: Schwartz Daniel M.
Published: March 2007

The term `environmental terrorism' (or `ecological terrorism') has found its way into North American politics, media, and academia. The concept of `environmental terrorism', however, remains an ambiguous one. When is it appropriate to call environmental destruction `environmental terrorism'? To date, the term `environmental terrorism' has been misused by North American politicians, media, and academics alike. In this article, I devise a taxonomy that allows one to systematically discern the types of environmental destruction that can legitimately be labeled `terrorism' and those that can be labeled `environmental terrorism'. Environmental destruction or the threat thereof can be labeled `terrorism' when: (1) the act or threat breaches national and/or international laws governing the disruption of the environment during peacetime or wartime; and (2) the act or threat exhibits the fundamental characteristics of terrorism (i.e. the act or threat of violence has specific objectives, and the violence is aimed at a symbolic target). An act of environmental destruction can be termed `environmental terrorism' only when the two latter criteria are met, and when the environment is used by the perpetrator as an authentic symbol that instills fear in the larger population over the ecological consequences of the act.
Ripples from the Waves? A Systemic, Time-Series Analysis of Democracy, Democratization, and Interstate War
Authors: Crescenzi Mark J. C. , Enterline Andrew J.
Published: March 2007

Few puzzles in international relations research have received as much attention as the relationship between political regimes and interstate conflict. Here we examine a particular aspect of this puzzle: the systemic relationships between democracy, democratization, and interstate conflict. We test hypotheses aimed at exploring three dimensions of this general inquiry. First, that democracy, democratization, and war are endogenous phenomena. Second, that the relationships between these three processes vary across time with respect to their strength and direction. Lastly, that these relationships also vary spatially, paying particular attention to geographic regions. Using time-series techniques with data for the period 1816-1992, we employ Granger causality and vector auto-regression (VAR) techniques to test our hypotheses. Briefly, we find evidence confirming the endogeneity of these processes, though this endogeneity is not as extensive as we anticipated and is conditional on the spatial and temporal sample selected. Perhaps more importantly, we find evidence suggesting that the statistical strength and sign of the relationships of interest exhibit considerable spatial and temporal heterogeneity. We conclude that the regional level, rather than the global level, holds more promise for understanding the interrelationships between systemic democracy, democratization, and interstate conflict.
Social Defence Strategy: The Role of Technology
Authors: Martin Brian
Published: March 2007

Social defence - namely, nonviolent community resistance to aggression as an alternative to military defence - requires the development of strategy, as does military defence. The role of technology in social defence strategy has never received much attention. Of the various perspectives on technology, perhaps the most useful for the purposes of social defence is that artefacts, by embodying social relationships, influence but do not determine their uses. In practical terms, it is fruitful to survey different types of technology to see which ones are most supportive of strategic goals. Studies of social defence have dealt with operational and social dimensions of strategy and, to a lesser extent, the logistical dimension. In contrast, the technological dimension of social defence strategy has been almost entirely neglected. Technology can play a crucial role in social defence in direct defence against attack and, more importantly, in supporting operational, logistical and social dimensions of strategy. For example, decentralized media are valuable for social defence operations, and systems for self-reliance in food and energy are valuable for social defence logistics. To illustrate technology assessment for social defence, a hypothetical example of Czechoslovakian social defence planning, drawing on experience from the 1968 invasion, is outlined.
Relative Deprivation and Deviant Adaptations: The Mediating Effects of Negative Self-Feelings
Authors: STILES BEVERLY L. , LIU XIAORU , KAPLAN HOWARD B.
Published: March 2007

Theoretically informed models are estimated that specify individual-level effects of relative deprivation (using diverse comparison groups), mediated by negative self-feelings, on different modes of deviant adaptations. The models are estimated by using multivariate logistic regression techniques on survey data (N = 6,074). In general, the results are consistent with the hypothesis that perceived economic deprivation relative to friends, neighbors, and the nation induces negative self-feelings, which, in turn, motivate adoption of deviant patterns that variously take the form of property crimes, violence, and drug use.
Does Adolescent Religious Commitment Matter? A Reexamination of the Effects of Religiosity on Delinquency
Authors: JOHNSON BYRON R. , JANG SUNG JOON , LARSON DAVID B. , DE LI SPENCER
Published: March 2007

This study reexamines the relevance of religiosity to the etiology of delinquency, given the inconsistent and inconclusive evidence found in the literature. Like previous researchers, the authors test whether the effects of religiosity on delinquency are spurious or completely indirect via social bonding, social learning, and sociodemographic variables. Unlike previous researchers, however, the authors (1) control for measurement errors in estimating the structural effects of religiosity on delinquency by applying a latent-variable modeling approach and (2) analyze longitudinal data collected from a nationally representative sample of adolescents in the United States. The effects of religiosity on delinquency are found independent of the theoretical and statistical controls while being partly mediated by nonreligious variables of social control and socialization. They also find some evidence of bidirectional causal relationships between religiosity and other predictors of delinquency and briefly discuss the theoretical and practical implications of the findings.
An Empirical Test of a General Theory of Crime: A Four-Nation Comparative Study of Self-Control and the Prediction of Deviance
Authors: VAZSONYI ALEXANDER T. , PICKERING LLOYD E. , JUNGER MARIANNE , HESSING DICK
Published: March 2007

The current investigation examined the psychometric properties of Grasmick et al.'s self-control measure and its relationship with deviance on large, representative adolescent samples ( N = 8,417) from Hungary, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the United States. Important findings indicate that (1) the self-control measure is multidimensional; (2) the self-control measure is tenable for males, females, five different age groups (15-, 16-, 17-, 18-, and 19-year-olds), and adolescents from four different countries; (3) deviance as assessed by the Normative Deviance Scale (NDS) can be reliably measured in different countries; (4) self-control accounts for 10 to 16 percent of the total variance explained in different types of deviance and for 20 percent in total deviance; and (5) developmental processes involving self-control and deviance are largely invariant by national context. The investigation provides further support for the multidimensional self-control measure and its relationship with deviance independent of national context.
African American Male Adolescents' Involvement in the Criminal Justice System: The Criterion Validity of Self-Report Measures in a Prospective Study
Authors: PASCHALL MALLIE J. , ORNSTEIN MIRIAM L. , FLEWELLING ROBERT L.
Published: March 2007

This study examined the criterion validity of self-report measures of involvement in the criminal justice system and delinquent behavior in a cohort of African American male adolescents. Audiocassette-recorded questionnaires and audio computer-assisted self-interviewing (ACASI) methods were used to collect four rounds of self-report data. Juvenile and adult court records were used as criterion measures. Con-current validity analyses indicated that adolescents who reported contact with the criminal justice system were 5 to 15 times as likely to have a court record as adolescents who did not report contact with the criminal justice system. Predictive validity analyses indicated that adolescents who reported prior contact with the criminal justice system or delinquent behavior were about twice as likely to have future court records as adolescents who did not report prior contact with the criminal justice system or delinquent behavior. These findings suggest that audiocassette or ACASI interviewing methods used with African American male adolescents can yield self-report measures with a fairly high degree of criterion validity.
Policing is Not a Treatment: Alternatives to the Medical Model of Police Research
Authors: THACHER DAVID
Published: March 2007

Recent research about policing often aspires to emulate the model of medical research—randomized experiments designed to establish conclusively what works. This approach to scientific research produces instrumental knowledge about the best means to a given end, and it can contribute usefully to many important debates in policing. But by itself, it cannot speak to the full range of concerns relevant to criminal justice practice, which is characterized by a great variety and ambiguity of values. Police will benefit from instrumental knowledge, but they will also benefit from better forms of practical reasoning—something that scholarship can help to develop in ways that this article describes. Knowledge about policing should be more like legal knowledge than medical knowledge (or more precisely, than the aspect of medical knowledge that criminal justice scholars have emphasized).
The Parole Violator: An Organizational Reject
Authors: Takagi Paul , Robison James
Published: March 2007

One important aspect of parole recidivism rates is the parole agent's designation of the client as a "success" or a "failure." This means that recidivism is not totally an attribute of the client but that it represents, in part, a judgment by the worker. This paper examines parole agent responses to ten hypothetical case histories of parolees and the factors that influence these responses.
Problems in Operationalizing Theoretical Ideas in Correction
Authors: White Mervin F. , Dean Charles W.
Published: March 2007

This report describes some of the problems of implementing a theoretically oriented correctional program. An inexperienced and inadequately trained staff was unable to perform the profes sional roles specified in the original proposal. A lack of staff solidarity made it impossible for the staff to relate to the resi dents in a consistent way. The combined effect of these condi tions was that certain vital rehabilitative tasks were not accom plished. The lack of consensus among the staff created consider able anxiety among the residents, which resulted in a desire for rules. The establishment of rules led to a formalization of resident-staff interaction so that both groups came to view their relationships as "we-they." This seriously interfered with the rehabilitative effectiveness of the staff. The clear split in staff- resident relations was similar to that in the reformatory setting. This provided fertile ground for the development and perpetu ation of a resident subculture, with goals that contradicted the official goals of the program. Inadequate preparation of inmates for life in the center led to further problems in training, com munity relationships, and personal adjustment. These problems, along with a hostile community setting, reduced the function of the center to mere custody and survival, with the original ideas of the proposed project largely forgotten.
Delinquent Subcultures in Neighborhood Settings: A Social System Perspective
Authors: Alissi Albert S.
Published: March 2007

A social systems perspective is utilized here as a frame of reference for examining the nature of delinquent subcultures in neighborhood settings. It is argued that the tendency of delin quent subculture theorists to treat neighborhood and larger social entities as homogeneous wholes obscures a proper under standing of the delinquent subculture. Instead, the delinquent subculture is seen as a subsystem in interaction with other en vironing systems which together make up the neighborhood. The resulting configuration of subsystems must be specified and the delinquent subculture placed within this context before the true nature of its functioning can be determined. A particular neighborhood study serves as a case illustration to demonstrate the utility of this conception.
Paroling Policy Feedback
Authors: Hoffman Peter B.
Published: March 2007

Parole board members make two types of decisions about parole: individual case decisions and paroling policy decisions. The latter set the framework within which the former are made. Paroling policy decisions generally are not explicitly stated. The lack of clearly articulated policy guidelines has resulted in considerable criticism of parole board decision-making practices.

This report describes a study being conducted in collaboration with the parole board members of the Youth Correction Division of the United States Board of Parole. The aim is to provide a feed back device capable of making more explicit the presently implicit policies used in making case decisions. A feedback device of this type may enable parole board members to: compare actual poli cies with those desired and take corrective action if indicated, reduce disparity in individual case decision-making by noting deci sions which appear to vary substantially from usual practice, and reduce the criticism leveled against the parole board as having unfettered discretion.

The relationships between decision-makers' evaluations of four specific case factors (severity of the offense, institutional program participation, institutional discipline, and chances of favorable parole outcome) and paroling decisions are studied. From these relationships, a method of describing and articulating implicit paroling policy is demonstrated; and preliminary results concerning the relative weights given to the above factors in practice are described.
The Staff in Correctional Settings
Authors: Cheatwood A. Derral
Published: March 2007

Staff members in correctional institutions are caught between the demands of the administrative subculture and the inmate subculture. As part of a larger project, data were gathered on the perceptions and attitudes of administrative personnel, staff personnel, and inmates toward "restricted" boys-youths judged potentially harmful to themselves or others and labeled as such -within one juvenile correctional setting. Official directives in dicated that the administration discriminated between the re stricted youth and the other boys and regarded their restrictive labels as valid. The boys themselves generally displayed no such discrimination and evaluated the restricted boys as being no different in behavior or attitudes from the other boys in the institution. Responses by the staff personnel indicated that they, in agreement with the boys, saw no differences in behavior or attitudes between restricted and nonrestricted youths. Yet these same staff personnel indicated that they regarded the label at tached to the restricted boys as accurate and valid, thus agreeing with the administration evaluation. It was suggested that the necessity for staff to reconcile these apparently irreconcilable attitudes produces a set of values and norms unique to the staff, containing situational definitions and meanings related to both the administrative and inmate cultures, yet beyond evaluation or understanding solely in terms of either one.
The Development of a Parolee Classification System Using Discriminant Analysis
Authors: Brown Lawrence D.
Published: March 2007

A parolee classification system using discriminant analysis is presented. Approximately 13,000 parolees released in 1969 and followed for two years constitute the data base. The sample is split into two parts so that the model can be first tested and then validated. The results of both the test and holdout samples suggest that the discriminant model is quite useful for classifying parolees into "good" versus "poor" parole risks.

When we compare the multivariate results with those obtained using un ivariate analysis, we show that the multivariate results are superior to the un ivariate results and demonstrate that results generated from univariate analyses can be quite misleading. In particular, it is demonstrated that the "best" univariate discriminator is a relatively poor multivariate discriminator. Moreover, the best multivariate discriminator appears to be a far less impor tant discriminator in a univariate framework.
An Integrated Theoretical Perspective on Delinquent Behavior
Authors: Elliott Delbert S. , Ageton Suzanne S. , Canter Rachelle J.
Published: March 2007

This paper presents an integrated theoretical model of the etiology of delin quent behavior. The proposed model expands and synthesizes strain, social- learning, and social control perspectives into a single explanatory paradigm which avoids the class bias inherent in traditional perspectives and takes into account multiple causal paths to sustained patterns of delinquent behavior. Major variables in the model include two types of social bonds (integration and commitment), attenuation experiences (such as failure in conventional social settings), and delinquent learning and performance structures. Two dominant etiological paths to delinquency are postulated by the paradigm. The first path is characterized by weak integration into and commitment to the social order and by involvement in delinquent peer groups. Characteristics of the second major path are initially strong bonds to the social order, subse quent attenuation, or weakening, of those bonds, and exposure and commit ment to delinquent peer groups.
Control Criticisms of Strain Theories: An Assessment of Theoretical and Empirical Adequacy
Authors: BERNARD THOMAS J.
Published: March 2007

Strain theories have been subjected to a number of theoretical and empirical criticisms, resulting in a decline in strain-oriented research. A review of those criticisms finds that theoretical objections are largely self-contradictory, and empirical studies that focus on seriously delinquent populations provide considerable support. Separate causal processes may be at work in basically nondelinquent but somewhat “wild” youths.
Gender Differences in Criminality among Heroin Users
Authors: COVINGTON JEANETTE
Published: March 2007

Female crime has been explained in terms of feminist and traditional (control, cultural deviance, commitment to conventional institutions) theories. In this study, self-reported arrests were examined for 170 female and 202 male heroin users in treatment to determine if these theories differ in their capacity to account for female as opposed to male criminality. The results indicate that control theory best explains female arrests, perhaps because breakdowns in familial supervision have more devastating impact on females. On the other hand, it is conceivable that this relationship might reflect biased treatment of unsupervised females by the juvenile justice system, thus creating an association between crime and familial detachment. Cultural deviance predictors were fairly effective in explaining male arrests but had no impact on female arrests. In fact, the most criminal females were those least attached to deviant subcultures. It was argued that these results reflect the absence of a subcultural image to reinforce female crime. Finally, the analysis of feminist predictors indicates that it is the most traditional females who report the most arrests. It is suggested that the limited criminal opportunities available to deviant females and the consequent need for many to attach themselves to males in passive, dependent relationships may select for such traditionalism in female criminals.
An Exploratory Study of Transactional Classification
Authors: WRIGHT KEVIN N.
Published: March 2007

Correctional literature suggests that an interaction between individual needs and environmental demands and opportunities in determining inmate behavior in prison may exist. This research was undertaken to learn more about this phenomenon so new classification techniques could be developed to place individuals in specific prison settings. In conducting these analyses, it was assumed that prisons operate under the dual goals of maintaining security and minimizing individual functional deterioration. Three dimensions—individual, organizational, and transactional—were hypothesized to be determinants of prison adjustment. All three were found to be related to outcome. Of particular significance was the empirical support for the hypothesis that the congruence of individual characteristics and the environment is important in determining outcome. After considering numerous possibilities, 10 two-way classification schemes were identified as potentially useful in reducing the number of adjustment problems inmates experience during their incarceration. The Megargee MMPI typology was found to be the most useful scheme in differentiating individuals. Environments that were distinguished by their social stimulation, safety, support, and structure appeared to be the most important contextual variables. Based on the assessments of the schemes, it was projected that the occurrence of adjustment problems could be reduced by up to 36%. These figures suggest that transactional classification strategies are potentially useful in fostering institutional security and control and reducing individual deterioration in functional ability.
Community Corrections in Kansas: Extending Community-Based Corrections or Widening the Net?
Authors: JONES PETER R.
Published: March 2007

Community corrections acts (CCAs) have been established in several states and have become increasingly popular at a time of widespread prison overcrowding. While community corrections needs to be perceived in wider terms than simply as an alternative to incarceration, it is the case that an important feature of all such programs is the diversion of prison-bound offenders into the community. Emerging from recent correctional evaluation literature has been a recurrent and disconcerting trend—the failure of many “diversionary” programs to target the appropriate clients. In many cases community-based programs become adjuncts to probation rather than alternatives to incarceration, thereby widening the net of social control. This article presents findings from a recent evaluation of the 1978 Kansas CCA. It suggests that such “net-widening” is not an inevitable by-product of community-based alternative programs and that present crowding problems faced by Kansas would have been far worse without the CCA.
An Integrative Conflict Model of the Criminal Law Formation Process
Authors: McGARRELL EDMUND F. , CASTELLANO THOMAS C.
Published: March 2007

This article reviews traditional theoretical debates on the criminal law formation process and then presents an integrative, theoretical model of this process. This model suggests that an understanding of the origins of crime and justice legislation must operate on three analytical levels. These levels focus attention on the structural foundations, the actual and perceived experience of crime in a social system, and the immediate triggering events of crime and justice legislation.
Are White-Collar and Common Offenders the Same? An Empirical and Theoretical Critique of a Recently Proposed General Theory of Crime
Authors: BENSON MICHAEL L. , MOORE ELIZABETH
Published: March 2007

This article addresses two propositions on white-collar crime derived from a general theory of crime recently proposed by Gottfredson and Hirschi. This theory predicts that white-collar offenders are (a) as criminally versatile and (b) as prone to deviance as common offenders. To assess the validity of these propositions, the authors investigate the criminal records of white-collar and common offenders and their respective levels of participation in deviant activities. As the general theory predicts, some white-collar offenders are involved in crime and deviance to much the same degree as typical street criminals. A large majority differ significantly from street criminals in these regards, contradicting the theory and limiting its generality. The authors argue that the theory's rejection of motives as important causal forces is misguided and that a more complex causal structure is needed to account for patterns of white-collar offending.
Early Problem Behavior and Later Drug Problems
Authors: WHITE HELENE RASKIN
Published: March 2007

Data from a longitudinal study of males and females tested at ages 15, 18, and 21 years are used to study the cross-sectional and longitudinal relationships among 11 problem behaviors and the stability of problem behaviors from middle adolescence to early adulthood. In addition, the author tests how well this cluster of problem behaviors at ages 15 and 18 predicts later drug problems at age 21. Although the data support the existence of a problem behavior syndrome in terms of the clustering of certain problem behaviors at various points in the life cycle, they suggest that the constellation of problems varies by gender. The data also demonstrate that the associations among problem behaviors over time are unstable. Further, the predictors of problem drug use at early periods of development are different from those at later periods and are different for males and females. Thus the focus of drug abuse prevention programs will have to vary by age and gender and programs will need to be aimed at the age and gender appropriate predictors for the target population.
Social Indicators for Criminology
Authors: FELSON MARCUS
Published: March 2007

Social indicators are measures of social change. Not only does social change often impinge on crime but it may undermine crime theories. By paying more attention to social indicators, criminology can keep in better touch with today's realities and adjust itself to an emerging future. A social indicators program for criminology can focus crime indicators and sharpen other social indicators to make them more relevant to crime. In sum, social indicators can help drive criminology, while criminology can help drive the collection and organization of social indicators.
Criminal Expertise and Offender Decision Making: An Experimental Study of the Target Selection Process in Residential Burglary
Authors: WRIGHT RICHARD , LOGIE ROBERT H. , DECKER SCOTT H.
Published: March 2007

This article reports the results of an experiment designed to explore (a) the environmental cues used by active residential burglars in choosing targets, and (b) the extent to which such offenders possess specialized cognitive abilities (commonly referred to as expertise) that might facilitate this decision-making process. Forty-seven active residential burglars and a matched group of 34 nonoffenders were shown photographs of houses and asked whether the dwellings would be attractive or otherwise to burglars. Subsequently, subjects were given a surprise recognition test where, in some photographs, physical features of the setting had been changed. Results revealed that active residential burglars were significantly better than nonoffenders at recognizing certain “burglary relevant” environmental changes. Moreover, offenders differed from controls in the mix of environmental cues they employed when selecting targets. These results argue for the importance of acquired expertise in explanations of offender decision making.