A Framework for Immigration

Abstract

This paper presents a framework for immigration, regardless of country of origin or of destination. It identifies factors that precipitate emigration and those that affect immigration, providing a background for understanding the immigration experience.     

A Clinical Trials Recruitment Education Program for Immigrant Chinese Americans

Abstract

This study was designed to develop and evaluate a community-based education program to facilitate enrollment of immigrant Chinese into clinical cancer screening trials. The program included workshops with culturally tailored health education materials. It was piloted to recruit persons into an ongoing lung cancer screening trial from a senior citizen center in Manhattan's Chinatown and compared with a control program at a second senior center. Survey results from a convenience sample of seniors showed that the workshop raised awareness about cancer screening and clinical trials. However, it did not change attitudes towards cancer screening. The results highlighted prior focus group findings in which factors influencing participation in cancer screening and clinical trials are similar. Important facilitative factors include doctor recommendation, friend/family recommendation, the belief that early detection could “save lives,” no cost, and having an-interpreter.     

Re-Conceptualization of Literature in Marketing on the Measurement of Differences within Immigrant/Ethnic Populations

Abstract

First, the importance of understanding what the key differences are between individuals in any ethnic population is highlighted. Next, the concept of assimilation is introduced as a construct by which these differences may be accounted for. Following this, the literature on the measurement of differences within ethnic markets is surveyed and classified in light of the assimilation construct and a set of conclusions based on this survey are drawn up. Finally, based on these conclusions, a set of recommendations is developed to guide researchers in the future who might wish to rigorously measure the major differences within any ethnic population group.     

Impact of the 1996 Welfare Reform and Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Acts on Caribbean Immigrants

SUMMARY

This paper examines the impact of the 1996 Welfare Reform and Illegal Immigration and Immigrant Responsibility Acts on Caribbean immigrants in the United States. Drawing from the conceptual framework posited by Dye's (1984) Elite Preference Modelof policy analysis, the author argues that the three laws have created enormous economic and psychological difficulties among families in the United States. Developing countries in the Caribbean region have been severely impacted by the law since they have had to accommodate returning citizens when they are deported under provisions of immigration policies. The question for consideration by this paper is how may the legal and human rights of deportees be balanced against the rights of the U.S. government to secure its borders and ensure the security of its citizens? The paper also addresses issues of immigration, and international relations particularly the north-south dialogue between powerful developed countries such as the United States and small developing states of the Caribbean.     

Addressing the Needs of Survivors of Torture: A Pilot Test of the Psychosocial Well-Being Index

Survivors of torture experience numerous psychosocial stressors that threaten individual well-being in resettlement. This study reports findings from a pilot test that applied the newly developed Survivors of Torture Psychosocial Well-Being Index. The study used a case-level mixed design to assess survivor psychosocial well-being across 16 life domains from intake up to 18 months. Ecological systems theory grounds this study. Participants demonstrated increased well-being as evidenced by statistically significant change on the mean ratings of their total scores. Three case examples illustrate the instrument. Practice applications, lessons learned, study limitations, and future directions are presented.     

Progrssive Regrimes, Partnerships and the Involvement of Local Communities: A Framework for Evaluation

This paper examines the nature of community involvement in urban politics as it is played out through regeneration partnerships. At a theoretical level, it explores the potential for a community dimension to local governance, that is, a strategic influence for communities within local power structures. It is argued that the nature of involvement can be explicated by considering three concepts: power (as expressed by urban regime theory), participation and partnership. The paper explores these three broad themes and then focuses on the particular issues pertaining to community involvement in partnership working. Building on this frame-work, the paper develops a model – a 'wheel of involvement'– for analysing the effectiveness of community involvement in regeneration partnerships. This model enables the effectiveness of involvement to be 'quantified by the use of a simple questionnaire survey. It provides a tool for academic researchers and practitioners concerned with evaluating partnerships to begin to explore the quality and level of community involvement in the process of urban renewal. The results of an analysis of two regeneration partnerships are presented as an illustration of the efficacy of the evaluative technique.     

Blocked Mobility and the Rise of Cultural Nationalism: A Reassessment

This paper provides an empirical assessment of the blocked mobility thesis, especially in regard to its use to explain the rise of cultural nationalism. The thesis states that young university students see their upward mobility thwarted and as a result develop nationalist movements which, they believe, will provide them with an independent state and open up career opportunities for them. Using quantitative archival data from Ireland during the early 1900s and Canada during the 1960s, this paper challenges the major assumptions of the blocked mobility thesis. For these two cases it was found that there was neither an overproduction of graduates nor a contracting state structure, two essential preconditions of the blocked mobility thesis. This empirical finding forces us to develop an alternative approach to explaining the rise in cultural nationalism. Part of this paper is taken up with outlining this alternative approach.     

Support for Palestinians among Jewish Americans: the importance of education and contact

The violent and protracted Israeli–Palestinian conflict continues, and Jewish Americans play a significant role in influencing related US foreign policy as well as in promoting positive interactions with Palestinians globally. Diaspora populations have played an important role in international peace processes and American Jews are actively involved in peace efforts for Palestinian human rights. Previous research indicates a relationship between views about Israel, knowing Palestinian narratives, and promoting peace processes. Thus, the attitudes and experiences that Jewish Americans have are important to understand and predicting their support for Palestinians. An online internet survey distributed to Jewish listservs (n = 173) measured variables of gender, age, political views, Jewish socialization, family and own attitudes about Israel, courses on the conflict, and having been to the West Bank. Results indicated younger, more liberal Jewish Americans who had taken courses and been to the West Bank predicted more support for Palestinians. Implications for future research and education as an important process in moving the peace process forward both through interpersonal relationships and public policy efforts are discussed.     

“Yardsticks” for Victim Sensitive Process: Principle-Based Standards for Gauging the Integrity of Restorative Justice Process

For almost two decades restorative justice practices have demonstrated positive impacts on crime victim satisfaction when compared to court and other adversarial processes. Although restorative justice practice has by no means addressed the myriad needs of the majority of crime victims, researchers and policy makers have puzzled about how to interpret these generally positive findings. We suggest that remaining difficulties in interpretation and application of findings are due largely to (1) the lack of clear standards for gauging the integrity, or “restorativeness,” of interventions and (2) the failure to articulate logical mechanisms (i.e., intervention theories) that connect practices to immediate and intermediate outcomes, and these outcomes to long term changes in the well-being of victims, offenders, and communities. This article focuses primarily on the first problem, defining the “independent variable” in restorative practices aimed at having an impact on crime victims. Using qualitative data from a national case study, a principle-based approach to evaluation with implications for intervention theory and both input and outcome measures in future research is proposed and briefly illustrated.     

Councillor Perceptions of the Boundary Review Process: Recommendations for Future Practice

Local ward boundary reviews are designed to equalise electorates within each local authority, thereby satisfying the requirement of ‘one vote, one value’. In 2010 this responsibility was passed to the Local Government Boundary Commission for England which has sought to engage with key stakeholders about the process generally. The main actors affected by this process are incumbent councillors who frequently find their own ward boundaries have altered significantly. Such changes may prompt some councillors to stand down before the new boundaries are implemented but others continue and represent new wards. Using data gathered from a survey of councillors whose boundaries were reviewed the paper examines their attitudes towards the principle of boundary revision and the period that should elapse between one review and the next. Councillors are clearly divided over the respective merits of electoral equalisation and communities of local interest when constructing new boundaries. Those serving in the most rural authorities value more the relationship between ward and community boundaries while councillors in the most urbanised areas are more willing to support the strength of argument favouring electoral equality. The paper concludes with a recommendation that there should be more research undertaken immediately after each future review is completed in order to assess the extent and reasons why some councillors choose to stand down and others continue to stand for election to the new wards. This research should also measure more precisely the subsequent impact on councillors in terms of their workload when new electoral boundaries are introduced.     

Fighting for the Soviet Union 2.0: Digital nostalgia and national belonging in the context of the Ukrainian crisis

This paper focuses on the use of Soviet-era symbols, myths, and narratives within groups on VKontakte social media site over the initial stage of the Ukraine crisis (2014–2015). The study is based on qualitative content analysis of online discussions, visual materials, and entries by group administrators and commentators. It also applies link-analysis in order to see how groups on social media are interrelated and positioned online. It reveals that these online groups are driven primarily by neo-Soviet myths and hopes for a new version of the USSR to emerge. Over time, the main memory work in these groups shifted from Soviet nostalgia and “pragmatic” discourse to the use of re-constructed World War II memories in order to justify Russian aggression and to undermine national belonging in Ukraine. Reliance on the wartime mythology allowed for the labelling of Euromaidan supporters as “fascists” that should be eliminated “once again.” This powerful swirl of re-created Soviet memories allowed effective mobilization on the ground and further escalation of the conflict from street protests to the armed struggle.     

Parameters in a Successful Process Outsourcing Project: A Case From the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,Finland

The purpose of this article is to analyze the success factors of a critical business process outsourcing project (visa issuing) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) in Finland. This has been done by mapping the success factors on the organizational “Star Model” of Galbraith (2002 Galbraith, J. 2002. Organizing to deliver solutions. Organizational Dynamics, 32(2): 194–207. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). The reasons for success include strong employee participation, good communication, and, in particular, the commitment of the organization in St. Petersburg.     

A game-theoretic model for protest in the context of post-communism

In recent years, large-scale protests have forced several incumbent governments in former Soviet countries from power. Scholarly examinations of these events have lacked a cohesive explanation of the reasons for the success of certain movements and the failure of others. This study uses prior research on the dynamics of protest to formulate a game-theoretic model for why protest takes place and how its eventual outcome comes about. The model is tested through logistic regression analyses of monthly protest data. The statistical analysis shows that elections, prior protests and government transgressions increase the likelihood of anti-government protests.     

Bureau Bashing and Public Service Motivation: A Case for the Civil Service of Bangladesh

This paper explains the negative impacts of bureau-bashing on the Public Service Motivation (PSM) of civil servants. It differentiates between policy bashing and rhetoric bashing and argues that while policy bashing may be constructive in nature, rhetoric bashing often de‐motivates bureaucrats in terms of their rational, normative and affective motives (Perry and Wise, 1990 Perry, J.L. and Wise, L.R. 1990. The motivational bases of public service. Public Administration Review, 50(3): 367–373. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar] Perry, 1996 Perry, J.L. 1996. Measuring public service motivation: An assessment of construct reliability and validity. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 6(1): 5–22. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]) In Bangladesh context, in critiquing public service, the previous attempts aimed to analyze the structural problems and recent attacks are directed towards the bureaucrats themselves. However, there are few empirical studies to measure the performance of bureaucrats by analyzing the initiatives they take and the problems they face in carrying out their responsibilities. Based on Perry &; Wise's (1990 Perry, J.L. and Wise, L.R. 1990. The motivational bases of public service. Public Administration Review, 50(3): 367–373. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) PSM model, we argue that in Bangladesh, bureau bashing is mostly rhetoric and thus it might have created a negative impact on PSM amongst bureaucrats, contributing to the poor state of governance.     

A comprehensive model for the evaluation of standard expenditure needs and standard level of local services

ABSTRACT

This paper addresses the problem of the simultaneous evaluation of local governments’ standard expenditure needs together with the related level of standard public services proposing a new approach to fiscal equalisation based on quantitative methods. Standard expenditure needs are estimated using quantile regression, moreover robust non-parametric methods are employed for the computation of composite indicators of demand and supply factors. Data from English local authorities over the period 1997–2006 have been used to test the internal and external validity of the model.     

Patterns of Enterpreneurship: A Study of Gender Training Frameworks for Officers of the Indian Administrative Service

Abstract

The awareness of women as a category of development promoted the establishment of Women in Development (WID) organizations but these remain on the peripheries of mainstream development concerns. This research examines the entrepreneurial roles of Indian Administrative officers for gender aware planning and implementation of gender aware development planning. The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is a critical stakeholder in the innovation process for gender aware development planning. This article reviews the introductory training program of all IAS candidates to establish the institutional culture and organizational procedures describing the audience of the IAS organization. The institutional culture and procedures of the IAS perpetuate a gender bias for WID and not Gender and Development (GAD) programs. Bureaucratic advocates for this type of development planning hold conflicting roles within government agencies as system maintainers and policy advocates. This study reviews the content and implications of three different gender-training frameworks dominate in the field: gender analysis, gender-planning, and social relations. Comparing these frameworks provides insights into the positioning of IAS officers and departments as possible agents of innovation for gender aware planning and policy. The range of innovations vary from acquiring skills for job performance, or creating separate agencies and new institutions to assessment of entrenched attitudes and procedures reinforcing gender inequity within the agency. Implicit in each framework are different views about IAS officers as planners and administrators.     

The “Independent Variable” in Restorative Justice: Theory-Based Standards for Evaluating the Impact and Integrity of Victim Sensitive Process (Part II)

For almost two decades restorative justice practices have demonstrated positive impacts on crime victim satisfaction when compared to court and other adversarial processes. Although these practices have by no means addressed the myriad needs of crime victims, researchers and policy makers have puzzled about how to interpret these generally positive findings. We suggest that remaining difficulties in concluding that positive findings are a result of restorative process rather than some other factor (e.g., procedural justice) are due largely to (1) the lack of clear standards for gauging the integrity, or “restorativeness,” of interventions and (2) the failure to articulate logical mechanisms (i.e., intervention theories) that connect practices to immediate and intermediate outcomes, and these outcomes to long-term changes in the well-being of victims, offenders, and communities. In part 1 of a two-part discussion previously published in this journal, we described alternative definitions of restorative justice and outlined three core principles that provide a useful normative theory of restorative justice. In part 2, we focus on the “intervening variable” in restorative justice, utilizing qualitative data from a national case study to illustrate some potential immediate and intermediate outcomes of restorative justice practice on victims. We also discuss the implications of these outcomes for intervention theory and future research.     

Refining and Resolving the Blur of Gault for Juvenile Capital Offenders in Texas: A World without the Juvenile Death Penalty

Texas's approach to juvenile capital offenders has been profoundly lacking any balance of the interests of accountability and rehabilitation. Texas has employed adult transfer for juvenile capital offenders with potential life imprisonment and possible parole in 40 years and determinate sentencing to adjudicate capital offenders in juvenile court, yielding a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison. Legislative initiatives in the 1990s to curtail parole have led to only 22 percent of violent offenders receiving early release while serving an average of 61 percent of their sentence. Aggravated offenders, including youth capital offenders, serve at least 80 percent of their total incarceration time. Notably the Texas framework does not effectively allow for offenders whose acts were the product of either an undeveloped or disabled mental capability to be punished appropriately and distinctly from those who possess psychotic or antisocial tendencies—or adult offenders. This deficiency is worsened as a result of the recently passed legislation SB.60, which establishes that juvenile capital offenders must receive the sentence of life without the possibility of parole upon conviction. Texas can create a more precise approach with three modifications: (1) centralize all youth capital adjudications to a criminal court, (2) effectuate separate imprisonment and enhanced educational programs for the first ten years of incarceration, (3) implement a “soft-ten” sentence where after the initial ten years of imprisonment the presumption for release favors the offender unless the state establishes that additional time is needed; this determination is primarily based on a complete psychological assessment of the offender.