Assessing Readiness to Change among Perpetrators of Intimate Partner Violence: Analysis of Two Self-report Measures

Recent interest in the construct of motivation to change among male perpetrators of intimate partner violence (IPV) has led to development of two self-report measures of this construct: the University of Rhode Island Change Assessment for Domestic Violence (URICA-DV; Levesque et al. 2000) and the Safe at Home Inventory (SAH; Begun et al. 2003). We examined the internal structure of these instruments using confirmatory and exploratory factor analyses in a sample of 199 male IPV perpetrators waiting to begin court-mandated batterer intervention programs. Results indicated that the scales had adequate internal consistency. However, using confirmatory factor analyses, the hypothesized structural models of each instrument fit the data poorly. Subsequent models suggested by a series of exploratory factor analyses failed to improve model fit substantially for both scales. For the URICA-DV, a 3-factor model including items from the Precontemplation, Contemplation, and Action subscales fit the data adequately. No acceptable model fit could be found for the SAH. Intercorrelations among similar subscales across the two inventories suggested only a modest degree of intercorrelation (r’s = 0.16–0.52), and a factor structure more dependent on scale of origin than item latent content, suggesting that the scales assess different facets of the readiness to change construct. These results suggest that before the stages of change construct can be fully applied to the IPV area, more research and evaluation are needed on how to accurately assess abuser readiness to change.     

Vote Blue,Go Green? Cameron's Conservatives and the Environment

How genuine is the Conservative party's rediscovery of the environment? Would a Conservative government led by David Cameron implement a wide‐ranging and progressive environmental policy? This article explores why Cameron has embraced the environment so enthusiastically when Conservative governments have had a poor record of environmental protection and the Conservative party has traditionally shown little interest in the issue. It assesses the impact of Cameron's strategy both on his own party and on the wider world of environmental politics and it evaluates the continuing commitment of the Conservatives to the issue by assessing what kind of policies a future Conservative government might implement. Although Cameron remains committed to the issue and he has already had a positive impact on Labour government policy, he has not yet convinced his party or its supporters, so a future Conservative government would probably represent continuity rather than significant change in environmental policy.     

服务型乡镇政府的职能定位及构建

服务型乡镇政府是以公共利益为目标，以服务为行政理念，以法治为准则，以承担乡村公共责任为己任的新型政府。其职能可概括为提供公共产品，管理公共事务；培育农村市场，引导农民发展生产；完善社会管理，维护乡村社会稳定等三个方面。实现乡镇政府的职能转型需要从改革政府管理体制、创新政府管理方式、提高公务员素质等方面入手。     

Soft budgets and elastic debt: farm liabilities in the agrarian political economy of post-Soviet Tajikistan

ABSTRACT

Since Tajikistan’s independence, market reforms and pressure from international donors have brought changes to the state’s role in the economy. The official narrative holds that the post-socialist state reduced its control over agriculture, but there are still various mechanisms through which it exerts control over farming. In this paper, I examine Tajikistan’s post-socialist agrarian change through the prism of farm debt. Farm debt used to be an accounting nuisance in Soviet agriculture as a result of so-called soft-budget constraints. In the political economy of post-socialist transformation, farm cotton debt has been transformed into indebted land. I classify this debt ‘elastic’ for its ambiguous nature. It ties farmers to land and makes farmers’ independence illusory. With an in-depth analysis based on original ethnographic insights, I aim to provide a theoretical contribution to the way in which debt is conceptualised and politicised in post-Soviet Tajikistan.     

Change—and Scepticism—as a Constant: Anthony King on Parties and Party Systems

Tony King had a healthy disrespect for conventional wisdom but a deep appreciation for common sense. Drawing on an eclectic mix of sources, both qualitative and quantitative, he wore his learning lightly, the better to highlight and explain to academic and non‐academic audiences how shifts in society and public opinion drove change inside parties and in the party systems in which they operated. King asked great questions and provided answers that simultaneously captured complexity and the big picture. His provocative interpretations and analysis were always stimulating—and many of them proved highly prescient.     

The “Science of Science Policy”: reflections on the important questions and the challenges they present

Developing the “Science of Science Policy” will require data collection and analysis related to the processes of innovation and technological change, and the effects of government policy on those processes. There has been much work on these topics in the last three decades, but there remain difficult problems of finding proxies for subtle concepts, endogeneity, distinguishing private and social returns, untangling cumulative effects, measuring the impact of government programs in a true “but for” sense, and sorting out national and global effects. I offer observations on how to think about these issues. This paper was presented as the Keynote Address at the NSF Workshop on Advancing Measures of Innovation: Knowledge Flows, Business Metrics, and Measurement Strategies, Arlington, VA, June 2006.     

累进假释制：监狱行刑范式的变更构想——基于完善现行“直捷式”假释范式的省思

假释是我国刑事法律体系的重要内容，又是监狱行刑的重要奖励制度。现行的假释制度，拘泥于传统的“直捷式”的范式，幅度有限，比例受控，未能充分发挥出假释的矫正功能、社会功能和预防功能。因此，应当拓展假释的范式，建立旨在提高改造质量的累进式假释制。累进式假释制是对现行“直捷式”假释制度的变更与完善，与现行的法理精神、监狱刑罚执行的程序规定相通，具有可行性和可操作性，不失为一条解放思想，加大落实“首要标准”力度，拓宽行刑范式的重要路径。     

以自主创新促进国民经济又好又快发展

创新型国家的实践昭示，创新对于经济增长的贡献率与日俱增，以创新依靠型取代资源依赖型增长模式业已成为发展路径的必然选择。资源性约束与增长模式惯性成为中国国民经济又好又快发展的巨大障碍：人均资源短缺，资源消耗量大，产出效率比较低。从广义的创新主体视域观之，首先应树立全社会致力于自主创新的自信心，妥善处理政府与企业的互动关系，充分发挥政府对于自主创新的主导作用，以及大力发挥企业作为自主创新的主体作用，最终实现我国经济发展模式由要素驱动型向创新驱动型的嬗变。     

从预期社会化的角度看大学新生的角色转变

大学新生正在实现由高中生向大学生的角色转变,从预期社会化的角度去分析大学新生角色转变中存在的问题,有利于他们顺利地实现角色转变,具有重要的意义。     

机构改革背景下公务员职业生涯规划研究

本文通过分析机构改革引起的公务员职业环境的变化，明确了新环境对公务员职业素质的新要求。提出公务员的职业生涯规划应当契合职业环境的发展变化，结合工作实际，及时调整合适的职业奋斗目标。并为实现这一目标做出行之有效的安排。