Multijurisdictional drug task forces: An analysis of impacts

In the past decade, municipal police organizations have devoted significant resources toward drug enforcement. One popular strategy in addressing the American drug problem is the formulation of multijurisdictional drug task forces. Despite their popularity, the impact of these cooperative ventures on law enforcement agencies has not been adequately evaluated. The research reported here examined the effect of membership in a drug enforcement task force on levels of drug enforcement outputs and perceptions of effectiveness by comparing law enforcement agencies participating in drug task forces to agencies which do not participate. Results suggest that task force membership impacts perceptions, but does not appear to influence objective measures of drug enforcement outputs.     

Aryan visions for the future in the West Virginia Mountains

This article examines the worldview of William Pierce, a prominent figure among fringe right and neo‐Nazi groups. A self‐proclaimed ‘race separatist’, Pierce established his own spiritual community in the mountains of south‐eastern West Virgina in 1985. Characterized by an idiosyncratic blend of ideas including Darwinian evolution, Teutonic mythology, and the ‘scientific’ findings of early racial theorists, Pierce's Cosmotheist Community observes an unusual religion based on notions of racial destiny and the Aryan path to god‐hood. Home to a small group of devoted believers, the Cosmotheist Community looks toward the day when a white revolution will topple an American government thought to be corrupted by ‘Jewish interests’. Generally viewed as the intellectual leader of the American far right, Pierce is the author of The Turner Diaries (1978), a violent, futuristic novel which may have influenced the perpetrators of the Oklahoma City bombing. Pierce is director of National Alliance, an organization dedicated to the ‘racial purification’ of North America. Specializing in the production of anti‐Semitic and racial propaganda, National Alliance has become a lucrative operation. This article is based on an interview conducted with Pierce.     

Semiotic technologies: a case study of discipline-based practices and pedagogy

This paper examines semiotic technologies, both in terms of the resources they harness and the practices developed around their use. It draws on data collected as part of an ethnographic investigation into the meaning-making practices deployed within civil engineering study. The data is used as a case study for examining semiotic technologies as socially situated resources for disciplinary practices. Using a multimodal social semiotic approach, we argue that technologies are not self-evident, and that their use constitutes specific social practices that require development in the classroom. In order to deploy technologies in pedagogically effective ways, we need to understand the semiotic resources they draw on (including embodied resources). Awareness that technologies are not neutral or value-free, but are socially situated and ideologically laden, may enable meta-level understanding of the discipline, thus creating the possibility for improved pedagogical practices.     

Transparency in government communication

• Basic to a successful democracy is the existence of a public informed about government actions. This requires government information to be open and accessible to the public. This study sought to understand how communicators in government value and practice transparency. Constant comparative thematic analysis of 18 semi‐structured interviews of government communicators revealed a transparency model for government communication. This paper outlines that model and identifies practices and structures that promote transparent communication practices.

Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Self-protective behaviors and injury in domestic violence situations: does it hurt to fight back?

Research examining the impact of self-protective behaviors on outcomes in nonsexual assaults involving intimates has focused solely on one mainstream sample (National Crime Victimization Survey) in which violence is a relatively rare event. Using the Women's Experience of Violence (WEV) project which collects data from a sample of incarcerated women, we explored the phenomenon of self-protective behaviors to assess whether their use impacts the probability and severity of subsequent injury during a domestic violence incident. In addition to utilizing a unique sample, we considered an alternative operationalization of self-protective behaviors that separates physical and verbal responses to include whether the behavior involved an element of force. Results suggest some similarities between a mainstream sample and our marginalized sample. Namely, the frequency in which they utilize countermeasures and the effect of "fighting back" appear to be consistent with previous research. However, the more nuanced categorization of self-protective behaviors demonstrates the importance of considering whether the strategy was forceful when examining women's responses to violence.     

Texas Christian University (TCU) Short Forms for Assessing Client Needs and Functioning in Addiction Treatment

The TCU Short Forms contain a revised and expanded set of assessments for planning and managing addiction treatment services. They are formatted as brief (1-page) forms to measure client needs and functioning, including drug use severity and history (TCUDS II), criminal thinking and cognitive orientation (CTSForm), motivation and readiness for treatment (MOTForm), psychological functioning (PSYForm), social relations and functioning (SOCForm), and therapeutic participation and engagement (ENGForm). These instruments facilitate optically-scanned data entry, computerized scoring, and rapid graphical feedback for clinical decisions. The present study (based on 5,022 inmates from eight residential prison treatment programs) examines evidence on scale reliabilities and measurement structures of these tools. Results confirmed their integrity and usefulness as indicators of individual and group-level therapeutic dynamics.     

An Evaluation of Six Brief Interventions that Target Drug-Related Problems in Correctional Populations

Finding brief effective treatments for criminal justice populations is a major public need. The CJ-DATS Targeted Intervention for Corrections (TIC), which consists of six brief interventions (Communication, Anger, Motivation, Criminal Thinking, Social Networks, and HIV/Sexual Health), were tested in separate federally-funded randomized control studies. In total, 1,573 criminal justice-involved individuals from 20 correction facilities participated (78% males; 54% white). Multi-level repeated measures analyses found significant gains in knowledge, attitudes, and psychosocial functioning (criteria basic to Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices (KAP) and TCU Treatment Process Models). While improvements were less consistent in criminal thinking, overall evidence supported efficacy for the TIC interventions.