Tourism in Australia and Hawai'i: Historical Perspectives

Books reviewed in this article:
Jim Davidson and Peter Spearritt, Holiday Business: Tourism in Australia since 1870
Mansel G. Blackford, Fragile Paradise: The Impact of Tourism on Maui, 1959-2000     

Training,experience, and magistrates' sentencing philosophies

The lay magistracy is unique to the English legal system, and this study investigates how those appointed as magistrates change in their sentencing policy and attitudes toward defendants as a result of the experience gained during the first year on the bench and as a result of the mandatory training program. An experimental design was used to evaluate the effects of training in which a group of newly appointed magistrates was randomly assigned to defer their training for one year and compared to those who completed their training during the first year in the usual way. In addition, the use of a group of nonmagistrates as controls enabled a quasiexperimental evaluation of the effects of experience on the bench. Magistrates and controls completed a questionnaire in which they sentenced a number of cases at the time of the magistrates' appointment to the bench and again one year later. The results showed that magistrates as a result of their experience became more committed to the aims of deterrence and punishment, became more pessimistic about the prospects of reforming defendants, regarded the severe sentences as more appropriate, and took a less sympathetic view of defendants. The training program, however, tended to ameliorate these effects. Possible explanations for these findings and the implications for the training of magistrates are discussed.This study was supported by a grant from the Nuffield Foundation     

Toward a national youth employment policy: Mapping the route from problems to programs

The United States has not had a consistent, comprehensive youth employment policy. Program objectives are not clear and are often in conflict with the objectives of other programs aimed at the same target population. The primary needs at this juncture are a clearly specified policy objective and a method for identifying the ways in which potential interventions can help attain that objective.The authors argue that the genesis of public concern with youth employment problems lies in the general acceptance of greater equality of opportunity as a national goal. The appropriate objective of youth employment policy is conceptualized as the reduction of certain inequalities in economic opportunity that confront the young.Equality of economic opportunity is a long-run concept. The relations between actions at a point in time and opportunity over time are developed within a model of youth behavior. The analysis focuses on the notions of career paths, employment success, and economic oportunity.The Research reported here was supported by the Office of Economic Opportunity. The authors owe much to the deliberations and suggestions of: K. Arrow, A. Carlin, J. Coleman, A. Cook, Jr., R. Dorfman, G. Fishman, T. Glennan, Jr., D. Greenberg, P. Katsky, S. M. Lipset, L. Rapping, T. Schelling, E. Sheldon, R. Summers, T. Tomlinson, B. Williams, W. Williams, and A. Wohlstetter. Sole responsibility for any errors or omissions, of course, resides with the authors.     

Application of the Suchey-Brooks method to three-dimensional imaging of the pubic symphysis

Age determination is a major field of interest in forensic anthropology. Among the different methods based on macroscopic skeletal study, the Suchey-Brooks method, which analyzes the pubic symphysis, is one of the most reliable. We applied the Suchey-Brooks method to three-dimensional computed tomographic reconstructions of the pubic symphysis. We demonstrated excellent agreement between the results of analysis of bone samples and those of the three-dimensional images, in particular regarding ridges of the articular surface and delimitation of the extremities. The accuracy of age estimation did not significantly differ (Wilcoxon test) between the Suchey-Brooks method applied to bones and the same method applied to CT images. Using high-quality images, this approach seems as reliable as the standard Suchey-Brooks method and offers several advantages: no bone preparation, no damage to bone material, and the possibility of application to living individuals.     

Regional distribution of methamphetamine in autopsied brain of chronic human methamphetamine users

We measured levels of methamphetamine and those of its metabolite amphetamine in 15 autopsied brain regions of 14 human methamphetamine users. Only slight regional differences were observed in drug concentrations among the brain areas. Although, some redistribution of the drugs probably occurred postmortem, these data suggest that methamphetamine might not be preferentially retained in dopamine-rich brain areas but is heterogenously distributed in brain of chronic human users of the drug. The possible pharmacological actions of methamphetamine in both dopamine-rich and poor brain areas of chronic drug users need to be considered.     

The Effect of Prior Youth Court Dispositions on Current Disposition: An Application of Societal-Reaction Theory

This paper tests hypotheses implicit in the societal-reaction perspective concerning the nature and pattern of the relationship between prior and current youth court dispositions. The dispositional stage is the most critical decision-making level which young offenders encounter in their contact with the youth court system. Previous research has produced inconsistent results in the attempt to determine which model or models of justice underlie dispositional decisions by youth court judges. Log-linear modeling is employed on 16,636 youth court cases in Canada in 1993/1994 to determine the nature and magnitude of the relationship between current and prior dispositions. The results indicate that prior youth court dispositions exert a significant impact on current dispositions, even when relevant variables are controlled. Evidence is found mainly of stabilization—the repetition of the same type of disposition—and also of escalation in dispositions. These findings provide support for the societal-reaction theory and possibly for the desert-based theory of sentencing.