bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
What Was Hegel's Main Problem?
Authors: Wisdom J.O.
Published: March 2007

Hegel's main problem derived from reflection on the tradition since Descartes in which the problems of the search for certain knowledge and the relation of mind to matter were dominant. If the question is pressed further even into extraphilosophical problems there can be detected a desire to demonstrate the realm of something personal, the presence of and communication with others, thus demonstrating the unreality of isolation, loneliness, and depression, the solipsism that is the philosopher's ultimate belief.
Interpretation and Understanding in Hermeneutics and Deconstruction
Authors: Nuyen A.T.
Published: March 2007

It seems that Derrida objects to Gadamer's hermeneutics on the grounds that it is, as Gadamer puts it, "a discipline that guarantees truth," taking it as something that partakes in the "metaphysics of presence." However, this criticism is based on a misunderstanding of the nature of hermeneutic truth. It would be on target if hermeneutic truth were some kind of universal condition of correspondence. Gadamer has tried to correct this conception of hermeneutic truth in his various attempts at opening a dialogue with deconstructionism. In this article, the author argues that in a possible debate between hermeneutics and deconstructionism, there are good reasons to judge in favor of the former.
The Voices of Rhetoric and Politics in Social Epistemology
Authors: Fuller Steve
Published: March 2007

Although Wes Shrum advertised my critics as representing quite distinct points of view, they nevertheless managed to converge on a set of concerns that revolve around the meanings of "rhetoric," "politics," and "multiculturalism" in the project of social epistemology. Either the critics were not chosen correctly or the book under discussion is quite obviously flawed! Rather than make that Hobson's choice, I will address my critics' concerns in a way that I hope will prove illuminating to other normatively oriented theorists in the social sciences who want to take the challenge of postmodernism seriously but who also realize that postmodernism may soon become the orthodoxy, rather than the challenger, in cultural politics.
Hegel's Break with Kant: The Leap from Individual Psychology to Sociology
Authors: Hund John
Published: March 2007

The author calls attention to and discusses certain basic but neglected and/or obscured features of Hegel's idealism. He treats these features as paradigmati cally sociological and uses them as a baseline with which to chart Hegel's critique of, and against which to measure, Kant's Critique of Pure Reason. Section 1 introduces Hegel's criticism of Kant's idealism; in contrast to his own objective idealism, transcendental idealism is individualistic. This criticism is elaborated in section 2, issuing in the quasi-Wittgensteinian indictment that Kant cannot account for the possibility of language and human thought. Section 3 argues that Hegel's criticism that mind is social and that objectivity cannot be understood in isolation from social interaction amounts to a sociological critique of Kant.
A Note on a Two-stage Least Squares Estimator for Higher-order Factor Analyses
Authors: BOLLEN KENNETH A. , BIESANZ JEREMY C.
Published: March 2007

This article extends Bollen's two-stage least squares (2SLS) estimator to estimate confirmatory higher-order factor analysis models. This includes estimation of the higher-order and lower-order factor loadings and their intercepts. This 2SLS estimator does not require that the observed variables come from normal distributions, and it is less sensitive to specification errors than are the full information estimators. As such, this makes the 2SLS estimator a useful complementary estimator to the other full information estimators.
Ratio Variables in Aggregate Data Analysis
Authors: Bollen Kenneth A. , Ward Sally
Published: March 2007

This article discusses three different uses of ratio variables in aggregate data analysis: (1) as measures of theoretical concepts, (2) as a means to control an extraneous factor, and (3) as a correction for heteroscedasticity. In the use of ratios as indices of concepts, a problem can arise if it is regressed on other indices or variables that contain a common component. For example, the relationship between two per capita measures may be confounded with the common population component in each variable. Regarding the second use of ratios, only under exceptional conditions will ratio variables be a suitable means of controlling an extraneous factor. Finally, the use of ratios to correct for heteroscedasticity is also often misused. Only under special conditions will the common form ofregres sion with ratio variables correct for heteroscedasticity. Alternatives to ratios for each of these cases are discussed and evaluated.
The Analysis of Social Interaction Data
Authors: Baker Frank B. , Hubert Lawrence J.
Published: March 2007

A nonparametric technique is presented that is appropriate for comparing two social interaction matrices, either when both are obtained empirically, or when one is generated from some given theoretical position. Depending on whether the diagonals of the matrices are considered relevant to the analysis, the com parison can be carried out using some variation on a cross-product statistic. In all cases, the chosen index is referred to an exact (or approrimate) permutation dis tribution, based on the random matching of the rows and columns of one matrix to those of a second. Several examples are provided along with formulas for the first two moments of the permutation distributions for the suggested indices.
Audiovisual Records as a Primary Data Source
Authors: ERICKSON FREDERICK
Published: March 2007

Full understanding of the reflexivity of social action necessitates specification of modes of interactional coordination through investigation of (1) directly observable content of action, and (2) interpretations of meaningfulness held by the actors. This article outlines procedures for analyzing sound-image records (SIR) of interaction—identifying hierarchical organization, constituent subevents and more or less typical behaviors. The approach advocated is one of moving from whole events to increasingly small constituent units. The method of microethnography is contrasted with more traditional participant observation.
Estimation of Contamination Parameters and Identification of Outliers in Multivariate Data
Authors: BERKANE MAIA , BENTLER P. M.
Published: March 2007

Multivariate outliers may be modeled using the contaminated multivariate normal distribution with two parameters indicating the percentage of outliers and the degree of contamination. Recent developments in elliptical distribution theory are used to determine estimators of these parameters. These estimators can be used with an index of Mahalanobis distance to identify the multivariate outliers, which can then be eliminated to obtain approximately normal data. The performance of the proposed estimators and outliers rejection procedures are evaluated in a small simulation study.
Response Effects in a Network Survey
Authors: CZAJA RONALD F. , TRUNZO DEBORAH H. , ROYSTON PATRICIA N.
Published: March 2007

A reverse record check study was conducted to measure the response effects in a network survey designed to locate a rare population subgroup. In this field experiment, diagnosed cancer patients and certain specified relatives were interviewed using a survey instrument based on the National Health Interview Survey questionnaire and a supplemental set of questions designed to identify persons with cancer. The measurement errors associated with obtaining reports on cancer diagnosis and the date of diagnosis are presented. In general, high rates of patient identification were found in both patient and relative households; in only 6% of the patient-relative pairs was the patient not reported. Females and Whites were more likely to be reported than males and non-Whites. A significant amount of variation and error in reporting date of diagnosis was found for both the patient and the relative households. Contrary to expectations, most households were likely to backward rather than to forward telescope the date of diagnosis. Suggestions on how to deal with error due to memory factors are proposed.
Some Specification Tests for the Linear Regression Model
Authors: Long J. Scott , Trivedi Pravin K.
Published: March 2007

A great deal of recent work in econometrics has focused on the development of tests to detect violations of the assumptions of ordinary least squares regression. These tests are referred to collectively as specification tests. This article evaluates some important and computationally convenient specification tests for the normal regression model as applied to cross-sectional data. Because these tests achieve their optimal properties in large samples, their size and power in finite samples are of great interest and are evaluated with Monte Carlo simulations. Although the authors' experiments showed a tendency toward overrejection in some tests, their results suggest that specific variations of the RESET and information matrix tests behave quite well even in small samples. They conclude by proposing a strategy for the sequential application of specification tests.
Statistical Models for Social Support Networks
Authors: WALKER MICHAEL E. , WASSERMAN STANLEY , WELLMAN BARRY
Published: March 2007

In recent years, the conceptualization of social support in the literature has become increasingly sophisticated, facilitating the consideration of more complex theories. Researchers no longer consider the mere availability of social ties, but look instead at the flow of specific resources through a social network. This article discusses how the social network has been defined in the context of social support. Research is reviewed, indicating how characteristics of individual tie (e.g., tie strength, proximity, frequency of contact, similarity) are related to the provision of support. Also examined are how characteristics of the personal network (e.g., size, density) relate to support and wellbeing. Statistical models for network analysis and how they should prove useful in studying social support are then discussed.
Structural Latent Class Models
Authors: FORMANN ANTON K. , KOHLMANN THOMAS
Published: March 2007

Linear logistic latent class analysis (LCA) relates the item latent probabilities of LCA to basic parameters representing the effects of explanatory variables. Applications of this model to dichotomous data comprise paired comparisons (the compared objects are the explanatory variables); the measurement of change due to, for example, therapeutic interventions (the treatments are the explanatory variables); simple scaling models of the Rasch type (the item difficulties and the person abilities are the explanatory variables); and similar models that try to explain the item difficulties by a hypothesized item structure (the cognitive operations needed to solve the items are the explanatory variables). The two latter types of models approximate the Rasch model and the linear logistic test model (LLTM), respectively, and become equivalent to these models for a sufficiently large number of classes. The same principle of semiparametric maximum likelihood estimation allows one to approximate the mixed Rasch model with its class-specific item difficulties and the mixed LLTM with its class-specific operation difficulties. Generalizations of linear logistic LCA include models for dichotomous items having varying discriminatory power and/or being affected by guessing (three-parameter linear logistic LCA) and models for the analysis of polytomous data.
Indian diaspora, globalisation and multi culturalism: A cultural analysis
Authors: Jain Ravindra K.
Published: March 2007

The paper focuses on Indian diaspora as a case study of globalisation and multiculturalism. It raises the question of a structural and historical distinction between the socio-cultural pluralism of societies like India and the ones overseas where Indian populations migrated and settled, and answers it in terms of dialectically related civilisations and settlement societies. A cultural analysis, using the comparative and theoretical approach of socio-cultural anthropology, leads to the positing of a 'field of forces' paradigm to orientate and position empirical instances of Indian diaspora globally. Three major issues affecting the overseas Indian communities are explored, namely, difference and translation, hybridity and creolisation, and policies of multiculturalism. The conclusion underscores factors such as the locationality of the analyst, the general pacifist orientation of diaspora communities and slippage between the imaginary and the imagined in relation to India that characterise Indian diaspora and influence its sociological study.
Hobbes's Biblical Beasts
Authors: SPRINGBORG PATRICIA
Published: March 2007

Beyond the actual works of nature a poet may now go; but beyond the conceived possibility of nature, never. I can allow a Geographer to make in the Sea, a Fish or a Ship, which by the scale of his map would be two or three hundred mile long, and think it done for ornament, because it is done without the precincts of his undertaking; but when he paints an Elephant so, I presently apprehend it as ignorance and a plain confession of Terra incognita.

Hobbes's Answer to Sir William Davenant's Dedicatory Preface to Gondibert, 1651, 81.
Mass Media and Crisis Communication in China
Authors: Liao Kuang-Sheng
Published: March 2007

Crisis communication has been an important area of investigation in international politics The examination of reactions of China's mass media to international conflict will help political scientists and China specialists understand the reliability of using the mass media to infer Peking's foreign policy The major purpose of this research is to examine two general hy potheses in the context of the reactive behavior of the mass media in China in the prewar crisis of the 1962 Sino-Indian border conflict The first hypothesis is that the more information politically interested people in two or more states have about each other, the more likely these states are to resolve their differences without violence. The second hypothesis is that the more accurately and dispassionately communication is transmitted to people of different nations, the more likely their leaders are to find ways of resolving conflicts peacefully In order to investigate these two hypotheses, the factor or factors affecting the increase of publicity and hostility reflected in China's mass media will be examined
GRATIFICATIONS SOUGHT AND OBTAINED IN PROGRAM DEPENDENCY
Authors: WENNER LAWRENCE A.
Published: March 2007

This study examined the role of gratifications sought (GS) and gratifications obtained (GO) in predicting dependency on network evening news programs and 60 Minutes. Correlational analyses for both network news programs and 60 Minutes showed GS to be most strongly correlated to corresponding GO and less strongly correlated to noncorresponding GO. For both network news programs and 60 Minutes, paired group t-tests showed that mean GS levels were lower than the mean GO levels for all corresponding gratification items except for two surveillance items. Considerable promise for an additive transactional model was seen in the hierarchical multiple regression analyses which showed the added influence of GO in predicting dependency on network news programs and 60 Minutes after the ordered effects of demographic variables, habitual media use, and GS had been controlled for.
MEDIA AND THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF REALITY
Authors: ADONI HANNA , MANE SHERRILL
Published: March 2007

A theoretical framework common to studies of the role of the mass media in the process of the social construction of reality from both European and American communication research traditions is developed in this article. The framework is derived from the theories of Schutz (1967) and Berger and Luckmann (1967) on the process of reality construction. A model composed of two dimensions—type of reality and distance of social elements from direct experience—is developed. Studies of the media and the social construction of reality are classified and discussed according to the model. The authors suggest that a holistic approach, as defined in this article, is the best suited perspective for a more complete understanding of the role of the mass media in the process of the social construction of reality, and for the integration of the two schools of communication research.
PROGRAMMING DECISION MAKING IN POPULAR MUSIC RADIO
Authors: ROTHENBUHLER ERIC W.
Published: March 2007

Popular music as heard on the radio is seen as the product of social organization. The question asked is: Which social organization—the local community or the national industry? The decision making of an album-oriented rock radio station was studied for approximately nine months. Both qualitative observational data and statistical analyses of the processes and criteria of programming decision making support the conclusion that the decision makers were far more sensitive to national, industry-wide criteria than to local contingencies.
Cultural Differences in Self-Consciousness and Self-Monitoring
Authors: GUDYKUNST WILLIAM B. , YANG SEUNG-MOCK , NISHIDA TSUKASA
Published: March 2007

The present study examines self-consciousness (Fenigstein, Scheier, & Buss, 1975) and self-monitoring (Snyder, 1974; Snyder & Gangestad, 1986) across cultures. Data from samples in Japan, Korea, and the United States were collected. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the three-dimensional model of the self-consciousness scale and the 18-item one-factor self-monitoring scale provided the best fit to the data from all three cultures. Multivariate analysis of variance revealed that culture affected the three dimensions of self-consciousness, with significant differences emerging between the United States and Japanese samples on public self-consciousness, between Japan and Korea on private self-consciousness, and between the United States and both Japan and Korea on social anxiety. In addition, the U.S. sample reported significantly higher levels of self-monitoring than both the Japanese and Korean samples. These results are consistent with the hypotheses generated from Hofstede's (1980) theory of cultural differentiation.
Understanding Science
Authors: GRIFFITH BELVER C.
Published: March 2007

A diverse group of researchers and scholars has achieved a better understanding of social and cognitive processes, general throughout science. The key elements proved to be communication and information. Communication is the only general scientific behavior; other behaviors are mostly specific and technical. Information and its representations are its principal and general artifacts. This article explores the development of theory and the discovery of some strong empirical relationships among measured communication and information that, in turn, capture important features of social process and cognitive change in science.
“To Thine Own Self Be True”
Authors: SHAH DHAVAN V. , DOMKE DAVID , WACKMAN DANIEL B.
Published: March 2007

This article builds on multidisciplinary research on framing, motivation, and decision making to examine the relationships among media frames, individual interpretations of issues, and voter decision making. Chosen for an experimental study were two research populations, evangelical Christians and undergraduate students, who were expected to differ in their values and priorities. Subjects were presented simulated newspaper articles about an election contest and asked to make a candidate choice. Within issue environments containing candidate stands on four issues, the media frame of a single issue, health care, was altered: one experimental group in each population received an ethical textual frame and the other a material textual frame. Findings indicate that media frames and issue interpretations, in conjunction, substantially influence the type of decision-making strategy voters employ. Implications for future research on politics and media are discussed.
How “Real” Are Computer Personalities?
Authors: MOON YOUNGME , NASS CLIFFORD
Published: March 2007

How “real” are computer personalities? Using a psychological criterion for “reality,” 2 studies tested whether people respond to computer personalities the same way they tend to respond to human personalities. In Experiment 1, dominant and submissive subjects were randomly matched with a computer endowed with the personality characteristics associated with dominance or submissiveness (N = 48). Consistent with similarity-attraction theory in interpersonal interaction, subjects were more attracted to the similar computer compared to the dissimilar computer. Experiment 2 (N = 88) used the same experimental design to assess users' psychological responses to changes in personality-based behavior in computers. Consistent with gain-loss theory in interpersonal interaction, changes in the direction of similarity had a more positive effect on attraction than a consistently similar personality. Loss effects were not obtained. The findings suggest that computer personalities are psychologically real to users.
Factors Moderating the Effect of Televised Aggression on Viewer Behavior
Authors: HOGBEN MATTHEW
Published: March 2007

Soem researchers and theorists still question the existence of a link between televised aggression and aggression by viewers of televised aggression, but most quantitative reviews of the literature have reported overall positive linear relationships. Using basic learning theory, a sample of correlational studies, and a meta-analytic strategy, this article posits and tests for an asymptotic effect of televised aggression on viewer aggression. This effect is tested across time and via type of population. This review also tests prespecified moderators of the overall effect based on predictions from cognitive social learning theories. The overall relationship between televised aggression and viewer aggression was positive (d = 0.21) and significantly different from zero. An asymptotic effect was detected for the overall results and across exposure and outcome measures. The prespecified social learning-based moderators were also supported. Theoretical and applied policy implications of the results are discussed.
Effectiveness of Treatment-Based Drug Courts in Reducing Criminal Recidivism
Authors: PETERS ROGER H. , MURRIN MARY R.
Published: March 2007

This study examined outcomes for two treatment-based drug court programs during a 30-month follow-up period. Outcomes for drug court graduates were contrasted with those of nongraduates and of comparison groups that consisted of offenders who were placed on probation supervision during the same period and did not receive drug court services. Drug court graduates from both programs were significantly less likely to be arrested and had fewer arrests during follow-up in comparison to matched probationers and nongraduates. For both drug courts, the rates of arrest during the 30-month follow-up period declined in direct relationship to the duration of drug court involvement. Drug court graduates had lower rates of substance abuse than comparable groups of treated offenders. The implications for clinical practice and the need for additional drug court outcome research are discussed.
Actuarial Assessment of Risk for Violence
Authors: GRANN MARTIN , BELFRAGE HENRIK , TENGSTRÖM ANDERS
Published: March 2007

This article explores the predictive validity of two actuarial risk assessment instruments among mentally disordered offenders in Sweden: the historical part (H-10) of a historical, clinical, and risk management factors instrument (HCR-20) and the Violence Risk Appraisal Guide (VRAG). Actuarial scores were obtained retrospectively in two populations: one group of violent offenders with personality disorders and one with violent offenders diagnosed with schizophrenia. The predictive accuracy was evaluated with receiver operating characteristic analysis using a violent reconviction within 2 years from release or discharge as the criterion variable. Both scales fared better in the group of personality-disordered offenders than in the group of offenders with schizophrenia, and the H-10 fared better than the VRAG in both offender groups. The study found that historical data maintain a robust predictive validity in a population of personality-disordered offenders, whereas clinical and risk management factors may be of greater importance in offender populations in which major mental disorders are prevalent.
Drug Treatment Availability and Effectiveness
Authors: LURIGIO ARTHUR J.
Published: March 2007

Rates of illicit drug use, especially heroin and cocaine, are many times greater among criminal justice populations than in the general population. Research demonstrates that among crimeprone persons, illegal drug use intensifies criminal activity. This article presents the abundant research evidence that supports drug treatment as an effective means to reduce illegal drug use, crime, and recidivism among offender populations. The article is divided into four sections. The first describes the findings of three large-scale investigations of drug treatment's effects. The second reviews the literature on drug treatment effectiveness and availability. The third discusses the benefits of coerced treatment for criminal justice clients. The final section enumerates the principles of effective drug treatment.
Comparison of Mental Health and Legal Factors in the Disposition Outcome of Young Offenders
Authors: CAMPBELL MARY ANN , SCHMIDT FRED
Published: March 2007

The relative contribution of court-ordered mental health reports and legal factors in determining young offender dispositions was examined. Poor quality of home conditions and severity of substance abuse, as coded from mental health reports, significantly increased the odds of receiving custody over a term of probation once legal factors were controlled. Legal factors significantly predicted probation length, whereas mental health factors only made a small contribution through externalizing behavior problems. The overall concordance between clinicians' mental health recommendations and court dispositions was 67.5%. Although these results suggest mental health reports influence disposition decision making, this influence is more limited than expected given that the purpose of these reports is to assist such decision making. The implications and limitations of these findings are discussed.
Females in Law Enforcement
Authors: HERNANDEZ ERNIE
Published: March 2007

Photographs and biographical descriptions of female deputy strangers were used to examine the effects of feminity and competence on male deputy attraction to and work acceptance of female deputies. Repeated measures were obtained for patrol work acceptance, staff work acceptance, and personal attraction. Four different but equally attractive females were employed to yield four experimental condition categories: feminine-competent, feminine-incompetent, masculine-competent, and masculine-in-competent. Each female was used in all photo-biograph combinations, though male subjects were only exposed to one combination. Results indicated that effects of pose and biograph were significantly different in each of the repeated measurements. Findings included an attraction preference for feminine-competent female deputies, and greater tolerance of feminine-incompetent female deputies for staff work than for patrol work.
A Consideration of Sex Roles and Motivations for Crime
Authors: McCORD JOAN , OTTEN LAURA
Published: March 2007

Circumstantial evidence seems to indict the women's movement for contributing to an increase in crime. This article reports a study designed to assess that putative relationship. Responses to questionnaires measured aggressiveness, criminal behavior, and attitudes toward sex roles. Males showed greater aggression and more criminality, while females concurred with more of the profeminist judgments. Aggressiveness was significantly correlated with criminality among both males and females. Most importantly, the data lend no support to a view that profeminist attitudes contribute to criminality. For each sex, attitudes toward women's rights and criminality were unrelated.
Mental Health Status of Prisoners in an Urban Jail
Authors: GUY EDWARD , PLATT JEROME J. , ZWERLING ISRAEL , BULLOCK SAMUEL
Published: March 2007

The mental health status of a group of 486 admissions to the Philadelphia Prisons was systematically examined in a carefully controlled study using multiple indices of psychopathology. In addition to measures of psychopathology, demographic information and descriptive personality and intelligence data were collected on all subjects. Subsets of subjects also received individual psychiatric interviews and psychological evaluations. The results indicate that approximately two-thirds of the subjects were identifiable by relatively stringent criteria as being psychiatrically disturbed and in need of specific mental health treatment services, and 34% were identifiable by all indicators of psychopathology used. Furthermore, 11% were in need of immediate inpatient psychiatric hospital care. Implications for treatment planning in correctional service settings are discussed.
Trends in Inmate Classification
Authors: KENNEDY THOMAS D.
Published: March 2007

Trends in the classification of prison inmates—readily-scored objective models and computerized psychometric profiles—are discussed in the context of a status evaluation of two psychometric approaches: the Megargee MMPI Typology for federal inmates and the Eber Diagnostic and Risk Assessment Profile for state prison inmates. Testing of youthful offenders has demonstrated that the Megargee system differentiates 10 types of inmates that vary on a broad array of variables. Cross-validation attempts with other than federal youthful offenders have yielded mixed results. Recent studies suggest that the instrument is not effective as a predictor of inmate violence or aggression during incarceration. Test-retest reliability investigations reveal a marked instability and higher than anticipated changes in group membership. The most frequent application of the typology has been in making intrafacility housing assignments. The original validation sample of 3,323 “uncontaminated” cases of Georgia state prison inmates on which the Eber system is based has not been cross-validated with other states' inmates although test results have been used in making classification decisions, institutional and program assignments, and release recommendations. Incremental validity and test-retest reliability have not been determined. Unpublished concurrent- and predictive-validity studies have yielded mixed results demonstrating the problems in predicting low base-rate behaviors. At least one state has experienced a marked reduction in the percentage of inmates initially classified to maximum security since the system's inception. Poor training and supervision of test users and organizational factors appear to detract from the system's potential usefulness.
Criminal Careers of Female Offenders
Authors: WARREN MARGUERITE Q. , ROSENBAUM JILL LESLIE
Published: March 2007

This article examines the subsequent lives of a sample of females who were committed to the California Youth Authority during the 1960s. The criminal careers of these women were analyzed in terms of the persistence and duration of offense behavior, crime specialization, and escalation of seriousness over sequential career periods (prior to youth authority commitment, the commitment period including time on parole, and post-release). In addition, the article focuses on the adult period in somewhat more detail to identify the nature and extent of offense patterns and the Criminal Justice System's response to these patterns.
A Cross Classification of Five Offender Typologies
Authors: VAN VOORHIS PATRICIA
Published: March 2007

This article presents the results of a pilot study that examines the predictive and construct validity of five psychological classification systems. The sample consists of 52 newly admitted male federal penitentiary inmates. Types identified by both the Megargee MMPI-based taxonomy and Quay's taxonomy of adult offenders were found to be correlated with disciplinar infractions. Subjects diagnosed at lower stages of Conceptual Level and I-level were noted to be more likely to incur victimizations or threats. Results were also somewhat supportive of the construct validity of the following dimensions: (1) cognitive development (Conceptual Level, Moral Development, and I-level), (2) neurotic (Quay and I-level), and (3) committed criminal subtypes (Quay, MMPI, and I-level).
Coping, Imprisonment, and Rehabilitation
Authors: ZAMBLE EDWARD , PORPORINO FRANK
Published: March 2007

The results of a recent longitudinal study of coping in prison are reviewed with respect to their implications for rehabilitation. The failure of the conditions of ordinary imprisonment to change behavior generally, and the demonstration of substantial coping deficits among prisoners in particular, are both justification for increased adoption of treatment programs aimed at behavioral change. More specifically, the data indicate that programs should begin at the start of a prison term rather than later, and they also delineate some of the particular targets for change. These all justify the conclusion that the empirical study of the process of imprisonment and the behavioral precursors of criminal actions can help to maximize the effectiveness of treatment programs.
Who Decides?
Authors: KERSTETTER WAYNE A. , VAN WINKLE BARRIK
Published: March 2007

A criminal complainant's decision to prosecute has long been recognized as an important aspect of criminal justice case processing. Much of the literature regards this decision as a simple expression of a victim's volition. On the basis of interviews with detectives, prosecutors, and a victims' advocate and quantitative analyses (based on a sample of police files), it was concluded that police officers have a substantial influence on a complainant's decision to prosecute. The study also assessed evidence for three explanations for officials influencing complainants' decisions: feminist conflict theory, Black's “behavior of law” hypotheses, and the need to efficiently allocate scarce resources. It was found that the need to efficiently allocate resources best explained the data.
Victimization and Fear of Crime
Authors: SMITH LYNN NEWHART , HILL GARY D.
Published: March 2007

This article employs multi-item measures of fear of crime and a seriousness-weighted index of victimization experience to explore the differential effects of property and personal victimizations on fear of crime. Analysis from a probability sample of adults in North Carolina ( N = 3,109) reveals that, controlling for other variables in the model, fear of crime, at the individual level, is tied to property victimization. Victims of violent crime appear to express higher levels of fear only when they have also experienced property victimization. These findings are discussed in terms of a general social vulnerability effect noted also for gender, age, and education.
Evaluation of Treatment Outcome for Adult Perpetrators of Child Sexual Abuse
Authors: BECKER JUDITH V. , HUNTER JOHN A.
Published: March 2007

This article reviews therapy outcome studies on adult sexual perpetrators of child victims. The majority of studies reviewed indicate relatively low recidivism rates for treated child molesters. Future research issues are discussed.
Police Corruption
Authors: SECHREST DALE K. , BURNS PAMELA
Published: March 2007

This article examines how mandated changes in the screening, selection, and hiring of Miami police officers in the early 1980s contributed to corruption of significant proportions. It is hypothesized that police corruption occurred as a result of both social structural (or community) changes, and departmental problems. These factors are documented, as is the extent of police corruption. Screening, selection, and hiring practices for this period are addressed, particularly those related to affirmative action and testing procedures. Recommendations are made regarding future police hiring and supervision practices.
Causes of Drug Use
Authors: MUNCER STEVEN J. , EPRO RICHARD , SIDOROWICZ LAURA , CAMPBELL ANNE
Published: March 2007

The perceived causes of drug use and their interrelationship were examined by network analysis. Subjects were asked in a free-response format to nominate causes of drug use. The 10 most frequently cited causes were used as labels on a matrix, and subjects were asked to determine whether there was a cause-and-effect link between each pair of nominated causes. Individual matrices were combined, and the composite matrix was subjected to network analysis. The results indicate that subjects view personal problems (stress and depression) and peer-related societal acceptance as important causal factors in drug use. These findings are discussed with respect to current approaches to the drug problem.
The Criminality of Mentally Disordered Offenders
Authors: HODGINS SHEILAGH , CÔTÉ GILLES
Published: March 2007

Although many incarcerated offenders suffer from major mental disorders, little is known about their criminality. The present study addressed two hypotheses: (a) mentally disordered inmates, as compared to nondisordered inmates, would have a history of more convictions and more convictions for violent offenses; (b) among the mentally disordered, those with co-occurring antisocial personality disorder (APD) would have more total convictions and more convictions for violent offenses. A representative sample of male inmates of the penitentiaries situated in Quebec were examined. Mental health was assessed using the Diagnostic Interview Schedule. Comparisons were made between the 107 inmates who had suffered at least one episode of a major mental disorder and the other 349 inmates. The first hypothesis was not supported, as it was found that the criminal careers of mentally disordered and nondisordered inmates differed little. However, the hypothesis that APD combined with major mental disorder increases the risk of crime was supported; the risk of violent crime, however, was not increased. The results argue for the existence of two distinct groups of mentally disordered inmates.
Violent Recidivism of Mentally Disordered Offenders
Authors: HARRIS GRANT T. , RICE MARNIE E. , QUINSEY VERNON L.
Published: March 2007

Multivariate techniques were used to derive and validate an actuarial instrument for the prediction of violent postrelease offenses by mentally disordered offenders. The 618 subjects were a heterogeneous group of men who had been charged with serious offenses. Approximately half had been treated in a maximum security psychiatric institution and the rest had been briefly assessed prior to imprisonment. The actuarial instrument consisted of 12 variables and significantly predicted violent outcome in each of five subgroups. The instrument's practical application and its use in clinical appraisals of dangerousness are discussed.
Assessment of Criminogenic Factors, Program Assignment, and Recidivism
Authors: DHALIWAL GURMEET K. , PORPORINO FRANK , ROSS ROBERT R.
Published: March 2007

A sample of 107 federally incarcerated male offenders in Canada was followed to examine the outcome of a classification approach, Case Management Strategies. Cases were tracked from point of reception to 6- and 18-month postrelease to assess how criminogenic factors were matched to programs, whether and how these program recommendations were acted on, and whether completion of appropriate programming affected postrelease outcome. The results largely failed to support the efficacy of this case management and program assignment process in classifying offenders to correctional programs as part of the rehabilitation process. Only about half of the program assignments were judged appropriate in targeting criminogenic factors. Only a small proportion of the recommended programs actually were completed by the offenders. Finally, the completion of program interventions, based on appropriate targeting of criminogenic factors, was unrelated to postrelease outcome after 6- and 18-month follow-ups.
Institutional and Organizational Antecedents of Role Stress, Work Alienation, and Anomie among Police Executives
Authors: CRANK JOHN P. , REGOLI ROBERT , HEWITT JOHN D. , CULBERTSON ROBERT G.
Published: March 2007

This study assessed the idea that pervasive features of the occupational environment adversely affect the working psychology of police executives. These features of the chiefs' occupational environment, it is suggested, overwhelm individual characteristics that in themselves are perceived to have positive effects. Data were provided from nationally based random-sampling surveys of police chiefs and sheriffs. Individual characteristics of interest to police reformers were selected. It was found that measures of these characteristics were consistently associated with positive psychological outcomes. However, when measures of institutional and organizational effects were included, the beneficial outcomes often disappeared.
The Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles
Authors: WALTERS GLENN D.
Published: March 2007

The validity scales of the Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles (PICTS)—Confusion (Cf) and Defensiveness (Df)—were subjected to empirical analysis by contrasting inmates in three response set conditions: nonsimulation, positive simulation, and negative simulation. Relative to inmates in the nonsimulation group, inmates in the negative simulation condition attained significantly higher scores on the Cf scale and on seven of the eight PICTS thinking style scales. The Df scale, on the other hand, failed to differentiate among the three groups. The problems associated with using the Cf and Df scales to identify dissimulation on the PICTS are discussed.
Religious Beliefs, Attributional Styles, and Adherence to Correctional Orientations
Authors: LEIBER MICHAEL J. , WOODRICK ANNE C.
Published: March 2007

Grasmick and colleagues contend that religious fundamentalism and dispositional attributional styles provide a context for understanding attitudes toward punitiveness among the general public. The present study examined the relationships among religion, attributional style, and the orientations of punitiveness and diversion in a sample of juvenile justice personnel. The findings failed to provide support for a positive relationship among religion, dispositional attribution, and a punitive orientation. A strict interpretation of the Bible and societal attribution was predictive of attitudes toward punitiveness and diversion. However, these effects of religion and societal attribution varied in their directions and association with specific correctional responses. The results have implications for the clarification of sociocultural factors underlying juvenile justice decision making.
The Factors Related to Rape Reporting Behavior and Arrest
Authors: BACHMAN RONET
Published: March 2007

Using recently released data from the redesigned National Crime Victimization Survey from 1992 to 1994, this article examines those factors related to the probability of a rape victimization being reported to police and the subsequent probability of an arrest being made. The contextual characteristics examined were the victim-offender relationship, injuries sustained by victims, weapon use by offenders, marital status and age of victim, and location of occurrence. Analyses focused exclusively on one-on-one incidents of rape against adult women perpetrated by males. The only factors that appeared to significantly increase the likelihood of a rape victimization being reported to police was if the victim sustained physical injuries in addition to the rape and if the offender used a weapon. None of the contextual factors were significant in predicting the probability of police making an arrest. Implications for policy and the effectiveness of rape law reforms are discussed.
Action Research
Authors: Sherwood Frank P.
Published: March 2007

The nature and origins of "action research " are described. In its current form, action research is a technique for conducting applied research with the collaboration of a client organization for the purpose of intervention. Implica tions for organizations which pursue learning and development are explored.
Executive Leadership Versus Budgetary Beha vior
Authors: Hale George E.
Published: March 2007

Existing studies underestimate the barriers to using the budgetary process as a mechanism for "steering" public organizations. This analysis describes the apparently infinite adaptability of public administrators to changes in executive priori ties by examining budgeting under two successive, sharply contrasting chief executives in Delaware. The study also looks at how budget examiners respond to changing executive priorities and at how this may, in fact, undermine executive leadership. It also identifies alterations in legislative behavior which follow shifts in executive priorities and agency actions. Two very different patterns of budgetary behavior are identified and important limitations on "steering" and executive leadership are outlined.
Organization Setsize and Diversity
Authors: Whetten David A. , Aldrich Howard
Published: March 2007

This study investigates the interorganizational linkages ofpeople-processrng organiza tions. Specifically, the determinants of the size and diversity of their organization sets are examined. Predictors are grouped according to the amount of discretion local agency directors have to manipulate them. It is shown that the best predictors of organization set size and composition are variables over which local adminrstrators have little control. The implications of this finding for the design of social service de livery systems are discussed.
Professional Models for Policy Analysis
Authors: Foster John L.
Published: March 2007

A number of proposals for improvement of public policy-making call for the development of a professional group which blends technological skills, humanistic goals, and a sense for practical politics. This article suggests that several very different professional roles may be appropriate to different public policy areas. These differing roles suggest varying degrees of professional power over policy-making, different professional ethical standards, and lead to questions of the feasibility of developing a single profession to encompass all of policy analysis.
Inter Organizational Policy Systems and Research on Public Organizations
Authors: Milward H. Brinton
Published: March 2007

This article argues that the basic unit for much of public organization analysis is not the organization as is the convention in organization and management theory. Rather, it is an interorganizational unit—the policy system-which centers on a public policy domain.
Reflections on the Categorical Imperative
Authors: Foster John L.
Published: March 2007

The term "scientifically noncontroversial" in the Davis and Portis "categorical imperative" needs to be specified more carefully to be a useful guide for applied social scientists. A strict interpretation would likely define most scientific advice to policy makers as unethical. Further questions concern whether nonscientists are capable of understanding the limitations and uncertainties of scientific research, the adequacy of cross examination in the policy-making community, and the consequences of disqualifying controversial research from consideration in the policy-making process.
Computer Simulation Modeling
Authors: Whicker Marcia Lynn , Mauet Alfred R.
Published: March 2007

Computer simulation as a research methodology is presented as the intersection of modeling, simulation, and computer analysis. Five component parts of simulation models are identified: input variables, output variables, assumptions, algorithms, and parameters. Computer simulation (CSM) has two primary uses for those interested in the study of organizations or who work within them: theory development and policy planning. The advantages and disadvantages of CSM for each of these purposes are examined and recent examples for each are explored.