bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Conditions of Effective Implementation
Authors: HAMM MARK S. , SCHRINK JEFFREY L.
Published: March 2007

Over the past twenty years, a remarkable concentration of energy and talent has been devoted to finding and testing rehabilitation programs in corrections. Relatively ignored in this research has been the behavior of public officials who are responsible for implementing treatment policies. The present study attempts to examine the conditions under which the successful implementation of treatment programs is most likely to occur. Based on survey data, the study reveals that public officials demonstrate little opposition to the rehabilitative ideal. However, contemporary research also indicates that the complexity of correctional bureaucracy foreshadows the effort to cure criminal offenders. Therefore, an alternative implementation strategy is suggested for modern-day professionals who are seriously dedicated to rehabilitation. Finally, personal implications of the alternative model are discussed.
Psychosocial Control Characteristics of Delinquents and Nondelinquents
Authors: MAK ANITA S.
Published: March 2007

Previous research into control theory has primarily employed self-reported delinquency data and recruited students rather than young offenders as subjects. It has been uncertain if the control approach is useful in understanding the behavior of truly delinquent young offenders. The present study examined the psychosocial control characteristics of 103 pairs of official delinquents and nondelinquents matched on social background. Delinquents were found to have lower levels of personal and social control than nondelinquents. Delinquents were more impulsive, were less attached to their parents, liked school less, and had lower educational and occupational expectations and weaker beliefs in the moral validity of the law. These findings provide further evidence of the utility of extending Hirschi's (1969) social control theory to include personal control characteristics, particularly impulse control.
Release of the Guilty to Protect the Innocent
Authors: SOMMER ROBERT , SOMMER BARBARA A. , HEIDMETS MATI
Published: March 2007

To test Blackstone's assertion that it is better that 10 guilty escape than 1 innocent person suffer, students in California (USA) and Estonia (part of the USSR at the time of the study) were questioned as to the number of guilty offenders whom they would allow to escape unpunished in order to keep one innocent person from going to jail. In both nations, the number of guilty to be released varied positively with sentence length for the innocent person. The rank order for seriousness of crimes appears to be different in the United States than in the Soviet Union. American law students showed more desire than American liberal arts students to protect the innocent.
The Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles
Authors: WALTERS GLENN D.
Published: March 2007

This article describes the evolution, standardization, and preliminary validation of the Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles (PICTS), an instrument designed to measure thinking styles believed to be associated with serious patterns of criminal conduct. Responses obtained from 450 federal prison inmates were used to establish norms for the PICTS, assess the reliability of the various PICTS scales, and investigate preliminary validity issues. The results indicate that maximum-security subjects attained significantly higher scores on the PICTS thinking scales than minimum- and medium-security subjects and that the PICTS possesses sufficient reliability and initial validity to warrant continued investigation.
Children's Evidence
Authors: FLIN RHONA , KEARNEY BRIAN , MURRAY KATHLEEN
Published: March 2007

The authors first present an outline of recent concern in Scotland regarding children's ability to act as witnesses, followed by a summary of the Scottish rules of evidence governing children's testimony in both criminal and civil cases. Next, they review the main findings from two programs of psychological research into children's evidence in criminal cases funded by the Scottish Home and Health Department. The first project examined children's eyewitness memory, their knowledge of the legal system, and their ability to give evidence in criminal trials. The second study evaluated the first trial period of the video link system for child witnesses in Scottish courts.
The Interrater Reliability of the Scale for the Prediction of Aggression and Dangerousness in Psychotic Patients (PAD)
Authors: BJØRKLY STÅL , HAVIK ODD E. , LØBERG TOR
Published: March 2007

This study examined the interrater reliability of the Scale for the Prediction of Aggression and Dangerousness in Psychotic Patients (PAD), an instrument designed to predict the occurrence and severity of aggressive behavior in specific situations or interactions. The results supported the PAD's interrater reliability. Mean values of intraclass correlation coefficients were acceptable for predictions pertaining to acute phase of illness and for predictions pertaining to better phase of illness. Compared to those of individual raters, the predictions of groups of raters did not substantially improve interrater reliability.
Evaluation of Adolescent Offenders with Substance Abuse
Authors: ROGERS RICHARD , CASHEL MARY LOUISE , JOHANSEN JOHN , SEWELL KENNETH W. , GONZALEZ CHRISTINE
Published: March 2007

The adolescent version of the Substance Abuse Subtle Screening Inventory (SASSI-A; Miller, 1990) was developed to assess unacknowledged substance abuse. Despite its widespread use in clinical and forensic settings, the SASSI-A has not been cross-validated. The current investigation examined its effectiveness in classifying 317 adolescent offenders on a unit of dually diagnosed inpatients. Although the sample was limited in its number of nonusers, the SASSI-A had an unacceptably high number of false positives (68.4%) but was moderately effective at classifying nonadmitting alcohol and drug users (75.6%). As evidence of criterion-related validity, elevations on the SASSI-A scales had low to moderate correlations with interview-based data on impairment related to substance abuse. However, its scales appeared to be significantly affected by ethnicity, even when level of impairment was a covariate. It appears, then, that the SASSI-A (a) should not be employed to classify adolescents as chemically dependent and (b) has a circumscribed role in screening for suspected substance abuse.
Influence of attitudes On Organizational Control
Authors: Randall Ronald
Published: March 2007

Attitudes of middle-level managers in the Wisconsin State Employment Service are examined as an influence on behavior consistent or contrary to organizational goals and objectives. Shortly after a period of significant change in mission, managers' attitudes toward the change correlated with the performance of their offices in implementing the change. Moreover, responses by the resistant managers to the measures of need explicitly sanctioned by the organization, compared to their responses to implicitly sanctioned measures, forces a significant qualification to Blau's formulation about the importance of impersonal statistical data as a source of control.
The Lineage of New Public Administration
Authors: Frederickson H. George
Published: March 2007

The characteristics and values of the "new public administration" are viewed as flowing directly from a variety of values, some inconsistent, which guided traditional public administration. This lineage is traced through several disciplines, and the value implications for current practice are explored.
Myth, Magic, and Administrative Innovations
Authors: Marz Roger H.
Published: March 2007

An examination of the spread of administrative innovation through state and local governments which attributes the propensity to innovate to the unrequited search for certainty. This article borrows the framework of Mahnowski and the metaphor of magic to explain why governments adopt new procedures like benefit-cost analysis and zero-base budgeting and what the latent and manifest functions of such innova tions are.
A Typology of Budgetary Environments
Authors: Straussman Jeffrey D.
Published: March 2007

Budget reforms often have two goals that are not necessarily compatible. The primary goal is improving agency performance; the second implicit goal is exercising fiscal restraint to curb expenditure growth. The author describes four different budgetary environments to show that while fiscal restraint seems to be a necessary though not suf ficient requirement for successful budget reform, the interaction of reform and fiscal restraint actually may lead to unanticipated behavior among the major participants in the budget process. Reforms that seek to both improve agency performance and encourage fiscal restraint make the budgetary decision-making process unpredictable and more complex. This undesirable situation, from the standpoint of the participants in the process, is overlooked by proponents of budget reform. As aresult, the prospects for successful reform, in the author's opinion, are rather dim.
Administration's Many Instruments
Authors: McGregor Eugene B.
Published: March 2007

An analysis of Charles Lindblom's Politics and Markets reveals three basic elements from which organized social systems are created. The elements of authority, exchange, and persusasion are evaluated and the conclusion is reached that the three elements permit the development of a rich assortment of administrative instruments which can be competitively employed.
Organizational Responses to Affirmative Action
Authors: Sigelman Lee , Milward H. Brinton , Shepard Jon M. , Dumler Michael
Published: March 2007

This article tests the "elephant burial grounds " hypothesis of Milward and Swanson. Based on a much more elaborate data set than was employed in the original Milward and Swanson analysis, this study finds little support for the contention that organizations isolate women and minorities in positions away from the core activities of the organization.
The Internal Transformation of Community-Controlled Implementation Organizations
Authors: Lauria Mickey
Published: March 2007

Community-controlled implementation organizations are necessary to initiate redevelopment in many urban areas, but because of their dependency on external sources of capital they may be transformed into organizations that enhance the extraction of private profit rather than community reinvestment. Internal social and political processes may generate another transformation process with similar results. A contradiction may develop because the social power relations within the organization-defined by its morphological structure—are a mirror image (reversed) of those in society. This incongruence in social relations disrupts the legitimation and reproduction of the organization's morphological structure. If these internal problems are not understood and ameliorated, either the organization will be transformed into a bureaucratic, professionalized organization, or it will dissolve during the transformation process. A case study is presented to demonstrate the intricacies of this process. In this case, the professional bureaucratic transformation process was interrupted by the Office of Economic Development's termination of their funding. Suggestions are made to assist urban planners in minimizing their interactive effect on community-controlled implementation organizations, while facilitating the organization's effort to minimize the internal transformation process.
There is more than One Way to be Redundant
Authors: Lerner Allan W.
Published: March 2007

This article extends Landau's work on redundancy in organizations. Three basic and two hybrid approaches to redundancy are described and compared. The types are explored in the context of redundancy as duplication, and also in the context of redundancy as overlap, with modifications as appropriate. The dynamics of duplication versus overlap are also explored. Issues regarding the "triggering" of redundancy, the difference between redundancy and the `fail-safe" mentality, and redundancy in the special case of secrecy concerns are also discussed.
The Theory of Political Elasticity
Authors: Werlin Herbert H.
Published: March 2007

Political systems are most effective when authority is widely dispersed without diminishing the ultimate responsibility of top leadership for results. Administrative effectiveness depends upon the capacity and willingness of leaders to delegate operational responsibility to subordinates without reducing supervisory prerogatives and correctional potential. Insofar as leaders must rely upon nonpersuasive forms of power (e.g., coercion, corruption, or intimidation), their capacity to delegate responsibility is limited. The more elastic the organization or political system, the softer are the more normal manifestations of power, allowing and encouraging delegation of responsibility, decentralization, widespread participation, deregulation, communication from below, and constructive criticism. At the same time, supervision remains effective, facilitating the introduction of more intrusive forms of power (coercion, discipline, and punishment) as needed. Political elasticity theory is here used to overcome such persistent dichotomies in administrative literature as: leadership followership; conflict/harmony; centralization/decentralization; regulation/deregulation; private sector/public sector control; and elitism/pluralism. It is also used to revaluate development administration literature.
Political versus Administration Development
Authors: Phillips Claude S.
Published: March 2007

A conflict in political science of 25 years' duration revolves around the relationship of bureaucratic development to political development. One school argues that in the presence of weak political systems, it is necessary to strengthen the bureaucracy if economic development is to occur. Another school argues that while bureaucratic institutions must be strengthened to promote economic development, it is necessary also to strengthen political institutions to control the tendency of bureaucrats to promote their own interests in the absence of political control. Nigeria's period of military rule, 1966-1979, provides a test for the two positions. Under military rule, the civil service became extremely powerful. controlled only slightly by the uncertain policies of military rulers. Untrammeled by political control, and favored with a bonanza of oil money, the bureaucracy should have demonstrated considerable economic development, if one school is correct. The opposite school said an uncontrolled bureaucracy would promote its own, rather than the national, interest. This article marshals evidence that the bureaucracy of 1966-1979 did not promote economic development that could be attributed to the bureaucracy. and indeed pursued policies that enhanced the bureaucracy rather than Nigeria. Further evidence is presented that shows that the period of uncontrolled bureaucratic power actually weakened any measurable political development, as revealed in the events after 1979. The Nigerian experience supports the position that political institutions must be strengthened at the same time bureaucratic institutions are being strengthened.
Frederick Winslow Taylor and the Idea of Worker Participation
Authors: Schachter Hindy Lauer
Published: March 2007

The public administration literature tends to depict Frederick Taylor as promulgating a "men-as-machines" approach to motivation. The literature contrasts Taylor and Mayo/Maslow, leading to analysis that dichotomizes engineering and psychological theories of motivation. This dichotomization seriously distorts the thrust of Taylor's work, which actually prefigures many human relations insights currently attributed to Elton Mayo or Abraham Maslow. The partialization of Taylor's work raises questions about the way the discipline passes on knowledge.
The Zone of Acceptance in Organization Theory
Authors: Roe Emery M.
Published: March 2007

Theories and less formal explanations have been used to account for the destruction of the space shuttle Challenger on January 28, 1986. The accounts typically conclude that the accident was the predictable outcome off technological deficiencies, organizational problems, and human error; Yet such appeals to in evitability of the shuttle accident do not explain why it was the Challenger slight, and not earlier ones, that sailed. An organizations "zone of acceptance, first discussed in the work of Barnard, Simon, and Thompson, is developed further as the analytic framework in in which to answer his more specific questions.
Values, Policy-Making, and Implementation
Authors: Hyman Drew , Wadsworth Mike , Alexander David P.
Published: March 2007

This article used a "realist" paradigm to explore policy-making and implementation and examines the effects of policy culture on the implementation of public policy. The processing of energy termination mediation cases by a state utility regulatory commission was used to examine differential implementation of law by a profit-seeking industry and a regulatory body. The validity of the assertion that health and welfare issues should be divorced from energy regulatory policy due to the character of consumers was examined The study supports the conclusion that in the emerging political economy, studies of implementation should consider the broader political culture and discard the textbook separation of policymaking and implementation.
Women-Centered Reality and Rational Legalism
Authors: Hendricks J. J.
Published: March 2007

This article argues that there is a socially constructed women-centered reality that is shared by most women and some men. The characteristics of women-centered reality are discussed as are the ways of discovering it in time and in varied discourses. The invisibility of women-centered reality within traditional and liberal thought, and its diminution and reconsignment to a position relative to the male referent is discussed, using judicial and constitutional canon within the context of women ` position in the military and pornography. The same diminution and invisibility with regard to rational-legal settings, that is, organizations, is explained. Finally, the EEOC's Guidelines on Sexual Harassment are used to illustrate the dilemma for attaining women-centered reality within a rational-legal setting. Throughout, an argument is made for the positive contribution of women-centered reality.
Trust in the Public Sector
Authors: Carnevale David G. , Wechsler Barton
Published: March 2007

Trust is of major theoretical and instrumental significance for the study of public organizations. Despite an extensive literature detailing the implications of trust in organizational life, there has been little systematic research on its individual or organizational determinants. This article develops and tests a model of trust formation in public organizations. Results of this research show that organizational trust is a distinct work-related attitude. Trust is based on individual demographics, psychological and individual predispositions, attitudes and beliefs, and affective responses to organizational factors. The most important determinants of trust, however, are found in the organizational climate established by supervisory relations.
The Cabinet Member as Policy Entrepreneur
Authors: Thompson Carolyn Rinkus
Published: March 2007

The role of cabinet member as policy entrepreneur has received little attention in the literature of political science and public administration. Cabinet members have no formal authority or constitutional mandate. Additionally, their identification with particular agency missions has subjected cabinet secretaries to the suspicion of "going native," thus further diminishing their capacity for policy initiation. Presidential concern with controlling the executive branch perhaps reached its peak during the Reagan administration, when virtually all political appointments and policy decisions were controlled within the office of the president. This research examines the role of Cabinet Secretary Otis R. Bowen, MD in the evolution of Medicare catastrophic coverage within the Reagan administration. It demonstrates the potential of the cabinet member as policy entrepreneur, identifying weaknesses in the ability of even an ideologically cohesive administration to control fully its legislative agenda.
Identity and Excellence
Authors: Wheeland Craig M.
Published: March 2007

Citizens, practitioners, scholars, and elected officials continue to debate the range of skills, policy areas, responsibilities, roles, values, and work habits forming the city manager's identity. This study develops detailed profiles of three city managers identified by their peers as the best in their respective states. Seven specific recommendations are offered providing a "more coherent image " of the city manager. These profiles serve as role models (a) guiding the education of city managers, (b) orienting elected officials to the city manager' job, (c) enhancing the public's understanding and acceptance of this leadership position, and (d) testing theories of council-manager government.
Analyzing and Managing Policy Processes in Complex Networks
Authors: Klijn Erik hans
Published: March 2007

In the last 10 years, policy networks have become a popular concept to analyze policy making in muli-actor settings. This article argues that although stimulating and interesting, the research that has been done in this field can be improved in three ways. The first way to improve the usefulness of the concept network is to pay more attention to the dynamics of policy making. In this article, the concept game is used to conceptualize this dynamic character of policy processes. Second, the concept network stresses the context of policy making, buta coherent theoretical framework on how this coextisformed and changed is lacking. This article attempts to make some steps toward such a theoretical framework.Central in this framework is the idea of the duality of structure proposed by Giddens and the notion of rules. Finally, the literature on networks could gain relevance by directing more systematic attention on how complex policy processes in these networks can be managed Building on earlier work, especially in interorganization theory some management strategies are discussed.
Market-Based Reforms in Government
Authors: Blanchard Lloyd A. , Hinnant Charles C. , Wong Wilson
Published: March 2007

The classical concept that reconciles a free and sovereign people with the authority of government is the social contract. Increasingly, governments are pursuing alternative approaches to public service delivery with the hope of achieving greater effectiveness and efficiency. This article posits that market-based reforms reduce traditional conceptualizations of the social contract between citizens and government to one between citizens, government, and private-sector interests—the “social subcontract.” The relationship between citizens and government seems to have evolved into one where government sublets its responsibilities to private entities on behalf of the sovereign. With the social contract as our theoretical lens, we examine the evolution and development of the citizen-government relationship, as well as the challenges to this relationship when economic and political forces lead to a greater reliance on market-based policy and public management approaches. Finally, we seek to investigate the theoretical implications for legitimacy and accountability in public administration of moving toward a social subcontract.
The Irony of Privatization
Authors: Miller Hugh T. , Simmons James R.
Published: March 2007

What does privatization really mean? It depends on who is speaking and the specific language game in use. This article borrows an interpretive device, originally developed by Roland Barthes and further articulated by Jean Baudrillard, which lays waste to the assertion that a word has a single denotative meaning. Such an interpretation (that words represent, or correspond to, reality) is but the first step of a progressively unreal simulacrum that moves to skepticism, through masking (where a word connotes the radical absence of the object it points toward) to hyperreality. Hyperreality is the domain of self-referential imagery, where words and symbols refer only to themselves but provide titillation and visceral gratification in the process. The authors conclude that the very term privatization lacks foundational stability.
Informal Social Support Networks and Subjective Well-Being among African Americans
Authors: Taylor Robert Joseph , Chatters Linda M. , Hardison Cheryl Burns , Riley Anna
Published: March 2007

This article examines the influence of sociodemographic and family, friendship, fictive kin, church, and neighbor network variables on two measures of subjective well-being (i.e., life satisfaction and happiness) among a national sample of African Americans. The analyses were conducted on the National Survey of Black Americans, a national cross-section study of the adult (age 18 and older) Black population (N = 2,107). Multivariate analyses revealed that sociodemographic (i.e., age, income, region, health, marital status, urbanicity) and social relations and network factors (i.e., subjective family closeness, support from family, number of friends, presence of fictive kin, church attendance, and frequency of contact with neighbors) were significantly associated with subjective well-being. The findings are discussed in relation to previous work on the sociodemographic, health, and social network correlates of subjective well-being.
The Effects of Black English on Stereotyping in Intraracial Perceptions
Authors: Doss Richard C. , Gross Alan M.
Published: March 2007

This study hypothesized that as middle-class African Americans integrate more towards the mainstream of American culture, their perceptions of those African Americans who use Black English (BE) will be more negative than previously believed. A random sample of 38 Black undergraduate students from a predominantly White university served as subjects for the purpose of exploring intraracial perceptions among African American college students toward individuals who spoke BE versus those who spoke Standard English (SE). It was found that African Americans perceived same race SE speakers as more competent and more likeable than same race BE speakers in similar situations. These results raise questions conceming the role of BE among upwardly mobile African American college students.
Sex Role Orientation and Psychological Well-Being among Working Black Women
Authors: Napholz Linda
Published: March 2007

The purpose of this study was to identify the relationship of sex role orientation to indices of psychological well-being among 113 Black multiple-role working women. Analyses revealed significant differences among the four sex-typed groups on self-esteem and depression. The sex-typed group had significantly higher depression and lower self-esteem scores than the androgynous group. The undifferentiated group had significantly higher depression and lower self-esteem scores when compared with the androgynous and cross-typed groups. There were no significant differences between the four sex-typed groups on role conflict or life satisfaction. Further research is needed to understand how different sex role orientations support different roles that Black women occupy.
Toward a Theory of Afrocentric Organizations
Authors: Warfield-Coppock Nsenga
Published: March 2007

Organizational psychology begins in the Eurocentric tradition of Western psychology and establishes that organizations have human-like qualities of culture, levels of consciousness, personality, cycles of growth and decline, effectiveness, and efficiency. Because of the high degree of societal organization found in ancient Kemet, it is probable that many organization and leadership concepts have their historicalfoundations in that early African civilization. This article conceptualizes the study of organizations from the Afrocentric orientation. Three organization types are conceptualized based on their philosophy or worldview, values, epistemology, and management practices. The Eurocentric organization is based on the Western orientation toward materialism, hierarchical control, bottom-line profits, and competition. The Afrocentric organization is based on the philosophical orientation of harmony, spirituality, and humanistic/people-oriented principles with basic administration elements that include support of all members, communal management style, and people over profits. It is theorized that this style of organization probably does not exist in its true form but remains a model to which African American businesses and organizations may strive. The enculturated organization is afunction of the African American s attempt to survive with a damaged self-concept and enslaved mentality. As a consequence, this type of organization embraces the values and principles of the dominant culture. It is a hybrid of Eurocentric materialism and control orientation with an Afrocentric personalism that maintains a neocolonial oppressive atmosphere. Case sample descriptions are providedfor clarification.
The African American Acculturation Scale II: Cross-Validation and Short Form
Authors: Landrine Hope , Klonoff Elizabeth A.
Published: March 2007

A cross-validation study of the 74-item, African American Acculturation Scale (AAAS) was conducted with a new, independent sample of 1 75 African American adults, who differed significantly from the standardization sample in age and ethnicity of neighborhood of residence. Results revealed that the majority of the AAAS subscales and their Cronbach 's alphas were stable across the samples nonetheless. Data from the standardization and the cross-validation samples were therefore combined and factor analyzed to create a short version of the scale. Forty-one items were excluded in the factor analyses. The ensuing short form of the AAAS (AAAS-33) consists of33 items assessing I Ofactors (subscales) of African American culture. These subscales are similar to the original 8 theoretically based subscales. The correlation between scores on the shortform and the original versions of the scale was r = .94. Additional analyses revealed that the AAAS-33 has acceptable group differences and concurrent validity, as well as split-half reliability of r = .77 and internal consistency reliabilities of r = .81 to r = .88. Scores on the subscales and on the total AAAS-33 were not related to social class, education, or social class of origin. The AAAS-33 is presented as a short form of the scale for use in research where the long form may not be appropriate.
Multiple Dimensions of Racial Group Identification Among Adult Black Americans
Authors: Thornton Michael C. , Tran Thanh V. , Taylor Robert Joseph
Published: March 2007

Although increasing attention has been brought to examining group identity among Black adults, we know little about reference groups within the overall racial group category. Using National Study of Black America data for 2,107 respondents, the present study highlighted various components of group identification among adult Black Americans. Structural equation modeling revealed three dimensions to identity (masses, elites, and rebels) variously associated with a set of sociodemographic and residential variables. Respondents who were older, married, less educated, and living in the South and in rural areas were most likely to identify with the masses. Olde, rural, less educated, and married people also felt close to elites, as did those with low incomes. Finally, the young, males, those with low incomes, and not from the South felt close to rebels. The results support describing at least three reference groups within what is typically called Black group identity.
Application of the Azibo Nosology in Clinical Practice with Black Clients: A Case Study
Authors: Dennard Dana
Published: March 2007

Azibo (1989) has delineated a clinical syndrome nosology based on an African-centered analysis of Black personality. This article presents a case study of an African American male who came in,for a treatment (penile prosthesis device) he did not need. The cave readily illustrates the relevance of'African-centered thought to clinicalpractice, and an application oftheAzibo Nosology is described via this case. The utility of the nosology and limitations /f'using the nosology qf the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of'Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) are discussed. It is argued that the Azibo nosology ofjrrs a more comprehensive and appropriate method,for determining diagnoses in people of African descent because it is based on a culturally relevant standard of'normalcy in behavioral practice. In addition, it is argued that this improvement in diagnostic accuracy and relevance implicates a more comprehensive intervention approach than the DSM-IV nosology.
Differences between African American and European American College Students in Relative and Mathematical Time Orientations: A Preliminary Study
Authors: Rubin Diana F. , Belgrave Faye Z.
Published: March 2007

This preliminary study was designed to test the hypothesis that African Americans would be more likely to use relative or flexible time than would European Americans. Despite the formulations by many Afrocentric scholars of differences in time orientations, there has been relatively little empirical work on this topic. Data were collected from 55 African American and European American students attending a mid-sized private university on the East Coast. Participants responded to relative or mathematical (clock) time choices in 12 scenarios. The results indicated that African Americans were significantly more likely to use relative time for 5 of the 12 scenarios. Marginally significant differences were found for 3 of the 12 scenarios. European Americans did not differ from African Americans in use of relative time for more informal situations, but differed in more formal and structured situations. The implications of the findings for cross-cultural interactions and for African Americans who function within European environments are discussed.
Correlates of Bullying and Victimization among Intermediate Students in the Midwestern USA
Authors: Berthold Karen A. , Hoover John H.
Published: March 2007

The primary purpose of the investigation was to examine the relationship between bullying and risk behaviors among 591 fourththrough sixth-grade students in a mid-sized Midwestern (USA) town. More than one-third of respondents reportedly experienced bullying and about one-fifth reported bullying others. Victims tended to worry, dislike themselves and desire to stay home from school (for the sake of physical safety). Bullies were more likely than other students to spend time at home without adult supervision, drink alcohol, smoke or chew tobacco, cheat on tests and bring weapons to school. In addition, bullies' peers pressured them to emit high-risk behaviors such as smoking and drinking. Results were discussed in terms of previous research on bullies and in light of the possible relationship between bullying, antisocial and high-risk behavior.
Controllability Attributions for Academic Performance and the Perceived Scholastic Competence, Global Self-Worth and Achievement of Children with Dyslexia.
Authors: Frederickson Norah , Jacobs Sarah
Published: March 2007

This study was designed to investigate the relationship between controllability attributions for academic performance and the self-perceptions of children with severe and persistent reading difficulties (dyslexia) and classmates without learning difficulties. The participants were 20 children with dyslexia and 20 children with no identified learning difficulties aged 8-11 years in mainstream classes. Selfperceptions were measured using Harter's (1985) Self-Perception Profile for Children. Attributions for academic performance were assessed and classified as controllable or uncontrollable. Children identified as dyslexic using a modern working definition were found to have significantly lower perceived scholastic competence than their normally achieving peers, but their global self-worth was not significantly lower. In these respects the results of this study closely paralleled the results of previous research which employed IQ-achievement discrepancy definitions of dyslexia. Children with uncontrollable attributions had significantly lower perceived scholastic competence than children with controllable attributions, even when actual reading attainment was taken into account. The relationship between controllability attributions for academic performance and perceived scholastic competence was found to be similar for children with dyslexia and their normally achieving classmates. It is suggested that intervention focused on the these variables in mainstream classrooms may benefit both pupils with dyslexia and their normally achieving peers.
Putting Cognitive Psychology to Work Teaching Handicapped Children to Read
Authors: Howe J. A.M.
Published: March 2007

Our aim was to teach word decoding skills to mildly mentally and physically handicapped children, using a computer-based approach. In contrast to earlier work carried out at Stanford University by Atkinson (Atkinson, 1974), which was based on a behaviourist model of the acquisition of reading skill, the method which we devised is based on a cognitive model of the processes underlying reading.
Primary School Children's Preferences Concerning Teachers and Teaching Methods
Authors: O'Hagan Frank J. , Robertson Jane C.
Published: March 2007

A questionnaire designed to examine preferences concerning teachers and teaching methods was completed by 54 boys and 54 girls attending six primary schools. These pupils were asked to rank, in order of preference, six items in four separate areas: namely, personal qualities of the teacher, classroom organization, discipline and teaching styles. The items ranked first in these domains were 'patient', 'makes sure the pupils have the materials they need', 'treats all pupils in the same way' and 'explains the work pupils have to do', respectively. Calculations using Kendall's coefficient of concordance indicated that in each area there was a significant degree of association. Sex differences were most obvious with regard to discipline.
A Pure Concept of Mobbing Gives the Best Results for Treatment
Authors: Pikas Anatol
Published: March 2007

The author presents a method for the treatment of mobbing (defined as group violence among schoolchildren) and discusses social/psychological needs discovered while teaching this method.
School Achievement,Perceived Academic Competence and Global Self-esteem 1
Authors: Alsaker Franqoise D.
Published: March 2007

The relationships between school achievement, global (negative) self-evaluations and the more specific academic facet of self-evaluations (Perceived Academic Competence: PAC) were examined in four cohorts of children in grades six through nine. The entire sample included 1102 girls and 1207 boys. The analyses lead to the following results and conclusions. (1) School achievement was only weakly related to global negative self-evaluations (r around -0.20). However, the correlations between PAC and achievement were somewhat higher than previously reported results (r around 0.65). (2) We found little or no support for the widespread assumption that perceived importance of school achievement moderates the relationship between perceived academic competence and global self-esteem (interactive hypothesis). (3) We found perceived importance to be moderately correlated with PAC (r around 0.30). The correlations were somewhat higher in higher grades. Our main conclusion was that time is ripe to question the usual model for the relation between global self-esteem and other dimensions of self.
Use of the WISC-R Performance Scale and K-ABC Non-Verbal Scale with Deaf Children in the USA and Scotland
Authors: Gibbins Spencer
Published: March 2007

The WISC-R Performance Scale and the Non-verbal Scale of the K-ABC were administered to 50 severely/profoundly hearing-impaired children in the USA and to a comparable sample of 51 hearing-impaired children in Scotland. The US sample achieved scores on both instruments similar to those of the tests' standardization samples. The Scottish children achieved scores comparable to those of the US standardization samples for the WISC-R but not for the K-ABC Non-verbal Scale. The correlation between the two scales was 0.84 for the US sample and 0.71 for the Scottish sample. Factor analyses revealed only one factor associated with the subtests of each instrument for each sample and when subtests of both instruments were pooled. The use of the WISC-R Performance Scale in Scotland appeared supported by these data but use of the K-ABC merits more study.
Evaluation of an Urban School Adolescent Suicide Program
Authors: Angerstein Gearld , Linfield-Spindler Suzanne , Payne Laura
Published: March 2007

In recent years school-based suicide programs have proliferated in US public schools (Harris and Crawford, 1987). These programs often vary in purpose, scope and quality (Garfinkel, 1986). How widely the programs vary is unknown since many failed to include an evaluative component. The purpose of this paper is to review a comprehensive school-based suicide program developed and implemented in north Texas public schools and to report the findings of an evaluation of the program. The program evaluation includes a review of goals, pilot testing of staff training, pre-/post-training measures and the impact of the program on the attitudes of district administrators and counselors. Pilot testing of training was found to be an effective method of program development. Pre-test/post-test measures indicated that crisis training was educationally effective. In addition, a significant difference was found between administrators and counselors who were exposed to the program and administrators and counselors from another district which had no program. Strengths and limitations of the evaluation will be reviewed as a guide to future study.
School Psychology Today
Authors: Nixon Mary
Published: March 2007

This article considers the report by Oakland and Cunningham (this issue, pp. 99-129) in the light of four broad issues: (1) conceptions about present-day psychology and education; (2) topics which appear to be central to school psychology; (3) requirements for effective research and evaluation; and (4) limits to the resources available to school psychology. Can the central topics which emerge from their report lead to formulation of a core curriculum for the training of school psychologists? This question deserves further investigation.
Sources of Stress
Authors: Sharp Sonia , Thompson David
Published: March 2007

This paper explores the potential for mismatch between pupils' own understanding of and responses to the experiences which they find stressful and pastoral care staffs awareness and understanding of these. Consideration is given to the role which schools can play in reducing or inducing stress for students. The paper examines how the structure of the pastoral system can serve both to promote and reinforce this role. Data is presented which was gathered during a study investigating student stress which took place in three secondary schools and involved 455 year 9 and 11 students. This data indicates instances where there is clear agreement among many of the students regardless of age, gender or school as to what causes them stress and how they responded to this. This is contrasted with the views of pastoral care staff in the three schools. These teachers seemed to be using stereotypes gained from general life experience when describing stress for the pupils rather than basing their understanding of pupil stress on the actual experiences and behaviour of pupils themselves. Among the implications for future research arising are questions about how useful it might be to incorporate stress management for children into both the curriculum and existing teacher stress management training and in what ways staff awareness of pupil stress might be enhanced. This paper sets out to consider the extent to which there is a mismatch between some students' experiences of stress and the awareness of this experience by pastoral care staff in their schools. The paper is based on a study which took place in three secondary schools in a South Yorkshire town investigating causes and effects of stress in 12-and 14-year-old pupils. The paper will go on to consider how the pastoral care system can promote stress management within the school community.
Parental Choice of Schools
Authors: Tatar Moshe , Benyamini Kalman
Published: March 2007

The first part of this article surveys discursive and research literature pertaining to parental choice of schools. Those in favor rely on parents' basic right to determine the kind of education they desire for their children. Allowing parents the choice of schools is said to encourage institutional competition and, as a result, improve the educational quality of schools. Opponents of this approach claim that in reality parental choice is limited to the choosing of an educational system and not of a particular school. It has also been argued that in the absence of objective information about schools, parents' choices tend to be biased by unfounded school reputations. In the second part of the article a survey conducted among 458 parents of sixth, eighth and ninth graders attending Jerusalem schools is presented. Respondents ranked a series of possible factors according to which they would choose a school for their child if they had a choice. The highest priorities were given to the quality of teaching and curricula, educational programs and school management. Secondary status was accorded to more extrinsic factors such as school reputation, social status of the school's population, etc. Similar patterns of preference were found among different subgroups of parents. Conditions under which parents' choices might in fact be guided by such intrinsic school factors as were found in the present inquiry are discussed.
Sex Differences in the Effectiveness of Peer Tutoring
Authors: Topping Keith , Whiteley Marjorie
Published: March 2007

Many elementary school teachers have always encouraged children to help each other. However, in the United Kingdom, interest is currently growing in 'peer tutoring', which takes the simple notion of cooperation between children and lends it more purposeful structure. The organization of peer-tutoring projects has come to be seen as an important option in the repertoire of British educational psychologists.
Child Sexual Abuse
Authors: Herrera Michael , Carey Karen T.
Published: March 2007

The United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child holds clear promise for improving the quality of life for all children world-wide. Article 19 of the Convention addresses the issues of child abuse and neglect. School psychologists can play a vital role in the prevention, intervention and treatment of these problems by providing indirect and direct services to children, teachers, parents and families.
Hispanic Parents' Attitudes and Participation
Authors: de La Luz Reynoso Maria , Tidwell Romeria
Published: March 2007

This research project focused on the attitudes toward education of Hispanic parents with children in regular and special education classes, and it assessed their level of participation in their children's education. One hundred and eighty Hispanic parents participated in this study; 80 Hispanic parents with children in special education classes and 100 in regular education classes were interviewed. Using a series of questionnaires, the attitudes of Hispanic parents toward education were examined, the parents' level of participation in their child's education was determined, their perceptions of common barriers to participation were assessed and their definition of participation was addressed. The special and regular education groups did not differ in their attitudes toward education. There were no significant relationships between parent participation and education, salary or acculturation. There were, however, significant differences between the two groups in availability of transportation, educational activities at home, attendance at parent meetings, parent-parent contact, involvement with administration and advocacy groups and dissemination of information.