Caribbean electricity restructuring: an assessment

This article assesses the privatisation of the electricity sector in two Caribbean countries, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, to determine if they have been successful and whether they have contributed benefits to the respective societies. Two general methods are applied in assessing the success of the divestments; attainment of governments' stated objectives and commonly used utility performance metrics together with social and customer focus indicators. The results indicate that the stated objectives were broadly achieved, and the privatisation and its attempts brought benefits to the consumers and the society in general. The short to medium term benefits were accrued through lower labour costs per unit of electricity, higher performance of plant and operations and business led decision‐making. Long‐term benefits are accrued through the reduction or elimination of electricity supply deficits. However, although the basic privatisations were successful, the absence of an adequate regulatory framework in one case may have reduced the quantum of benefits through failure to enforce continuous improvement in the privatised generation company, and reductions in worker rents in the public distribution company. Further, benefits were reduced by long divestment processes, accompanying strategic drift, opportunity costs from delayed sale proceeds and efficiency enhancement, and the costs to sustain interim operations. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Using the good cop/bad cop profile with the MMPI-2

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) has been widely used in a variety of ways to screen candidates for law enforcement positions. This study extends the use of the MMPI Good Cop/Bad Cop (GC/BC) profile (Blau, Super, & Brady, 1993) to the MMPI-2. The MMPI-2 profiles of 39 veteran police officers were used to predict their performance (No Apparent Problems, Borderline, or Serious Problems Possible), and these predictions were compared with supervisors’ ratings of the officers’ actual performance. The MMPI-2 predictions were accurate for 46% of the officers, a rate that was significantly better than chance (p=.024). Based on the current data, the best selection outcome would be obtained by accepting officers whose MMPI-2 profiles place them in the No Apparent Problems or Borderline groups, and rejecting officers whose profiles suggest Serious Problems Possible. This could be accomplished simply by rejecting any officer who obtained a score above 65T on any of the clinical scales. This selection strategy would have resulted in the acceptance of 22 officers, 19 of whom were highly rated by their supervisors, and the rejection of 17 officers, 11 of whom were rated as borderline or poorer by their supervisors. It would also result in the erroneous rejection of 6 officers who were highly rated by supervisors. AUTHOR NOTE: An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 1994 annual meeting of the Society for Police and Criminal Psychology, in Roswell, New Mexico. The authors wish to thank Jim Herndon, Ph.D., for this comments on this study.     

Fear Factor: Northeast Asian Responses to China's Rise

Abstract

In 2008, India and Japan made a joint security declaration while asserting that a strategic partnership between the two countries would become an essential pillar for the future architecture of the region. This article examines whether the security declaration is a step toward building an enduring security partnership. It will consider perceptions in Japan and India of the bilateral security relationship, proposals for how to give it substance, and key issues that may impede the deepening of the relationship. This article will conclude that although there is no clear consensus as to the substance of the relationship, the relationship between India and Japan is likely to grow in coming years.     

Indian Strategic Thinking About the Indian Ocean: Striving Towards Strategic Leadership

It is sometimes claimed that India has ambitions to become the leading power in the Indian Ocean. This article examines the different streams of Indian strategic thinking about the Indian Ocean and how they will likely contribute to future Indian strategic behavior. It argues that although many among its elite aspire for India to eventually become the leading power in the Indian Ocean, there is little conceptualization as to what India needs to do to achieve this. For several reasons, including an attachment to ideas of non-alignment and strategic autonomy, Indian strategic behavior in the Indian Ocean will likely continue to be relatively reactive and constrained.     

Understanding Bystander Behavior: The Influence of and Interaction Between Bystander Characteristics and Situational Factors

Most researchers point to the death of Kitty Genovese in 1964 as the genesis of interest in studying bystander response to crime (Laner, Benin, & Ventrone, 2001; Levine, Cassidy, Brazier, & Reicher, 2002; Moriarty, 1975; Schwartz & Gottlieb, 1980). Since then, researchers have examined the role of situational variables and of victim, perpetrator, and bystander characteristics on whether or not bystander intervention occurs. In the present study, the researchers used a factorial design to determine whether the self-reported likelihood of bystander intervention and type of intervention (passive/active) varied by the location of the offense, time constraints, and bystander characteristics (e.g., height/weight, self-defense training, and life-saving training). Results suggest that gender, race, location of offense, self-defense training, and height and weight play a role in self-reported bystander behavior. An interaction between gender, location of offense, and self-defense training was also evident.     

The effectiveness of psychological profiles

Although psychological profiling of unknown offenders is becoming a popular media topic, there has been little research on the effectiveness of these profiles. In this study, surveys were sent to 95 police departments in the United States, asking participants to indicate if they use psychological profiles to solve crimes. The survey also asked whether the profile was helpful, and in what sense it was helpful. The results from this sample indicate that profiles are used mainly in cases of rape and homicide, and that police officers view profiles as an effective tool to guide interrogations of a suspect and to guide the criminal investigation but not necessarily to identify the suspect.     

A fatality involving U4Euh, a cyclic derivative of phenylpropanolamine

A fatality following ingestion of diazepam and 4,5-dihydro-4-methyl-5-phenyl-2-oxazolamine, a cyclic derivative of phenylpropanolamine known as U4EuH or 4-methyl aminorex, is described. Solid dosage samples of U4EuH were analyzed using gas chromatography, ultraviolet and infrared spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance, and mass spectrometry. Physiological fluids were analyzed quantitatively by gas chromatography and qualitatively by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Concentrations of 4,5-dihydro-4-methyl-5-phenyl-2-oxazolamine were: in blood 21.3 mg/L; in urine 12.3 mg/L. Diazepam concentration in blood was 0.8 mg/L.     

Predicting aggression in police officers using the MMPI-2

This study attempted to determine if any of four MMPI-2 scales formulated to measure various forms of hostility or aggression is useful in predicting aggressive behavior among police officers. In our analysis of 80 officers from two police departments, we found that some scales predicted supervisor ratings of officer performance in one of the departments but not in the second department. In one department, officers with higher ANG scores or HOS scores, or lower O-H scores, were judged by supervisors to be more assertive. Officers from the same department with higher HO scores or lower O-H scores received moire justified citizen complaints. We discuss the importance of predicting aggression in police officers, the difficulty of making this prediction using MMPI-2 scores, and differences between the two departments that might have impacted the outcome of this research. Authors' Note: Communications should be addressed to the authors at James Madison University, School of Psychology, MSC 7401, Harrisonburg VA 22807.