Rolling translators

THERE is a popular new term of art in Chinese business circles these days - ＂win-win.＂ Even to the uninitiated, the concept should be more or less self-explanatory. But in entrepreneurial parlance it refers to a mutually advantageous business model in which no cost is incurred by any of the participants, customers included, and in which all parties to the arrangement come away with a tidy profit.     

Employing the Mental Health System to Control Sex Offenders After Penal Incarceration*

In the 1930s, several states provided civil commitment in mental institutions for certain sex offenders. Civil commitment of these sex offenders abated after most states repealed their statutes in the 1960s. In the 1980s, however, these statutes returned, as outraged citizens deplored the offenses of repeated sex offenders. The author of this essay examines civil commitment statutes for sex offenders in Washington and Minnesota, two of the leading states in this area, as well as recent rulings from each state's Supreme Court upholding the constitutionality of these statutes. Particularly, the author focuses on the psychiatric or mental health discussions by the justices in the majority in both state rulings. Furthermore, the author criticizes the legislatively defined mental abnormality statutes that sanction these commitments, proposes use of the ordinary civil commitment statutes for individuals who are seriously mentally ill, and concludes that sex offenders who do not meet the criteria for traditional civil commitment should be handled by the criminal justice system.     

REDUCING FIREARMS VIOLENCE THROUGH DIRECTED POLICE PATROL*

Research Summary: This evaluation of a directed police patrol project utilizes a pre-post quasi-experimental design with a non-equivalent control group as well as an interrupted time series analysis. The results suggest that directed patrol had an impact on firearms crime in one of the target areas but not the other. Policy Implications: The results suggest that a specific deterrence strategy whereby the police utilize directed patrol to focus on suspicious activities and locations reduced violent gun crime. In contrast, a general deterrence strategy focused on maximizing vehicle stops did not have an apparent effect.     

SERVANT LEADERSHIP,TRUST, AND THE ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT OF PUBLIC SECTOR EMPLOYEES IN CHINA

So‐called servant leaders strive selflessly and altruistically to assist others before themselves, work to develop their followers' greatest potential, and seek to benefit the wider community. This article examines the trust‐based mechanisms by which servant leadership influences organizational commitment in the Chinese public sector, using data from a survey of civil servants. Quantitative analysis shows that servant leadership strongly influences affective and normative commitment, while having no impact on continuance commitment. Furthermore, we find that affective trust rather than cognitive trust is the mechanism by which servant leadership induces higher levels of commitment. Our findings suggest that in a time of decreasing confidence levels in public leaders, servant leadership behaviour may be used to re‐establish trust and create legitimacy for the Chinese civil service.