An evaluation of a group treatment approach for children who have witnessed wife abuse

The present study evaluated a time-limited group treatment program developed by Jaffe et al.(1986) for child witnesses of wife abuse. The sample of children between the ages of 8–13 years, in both the treatment and control groups, was referred by agencies in the community. The evaluation based on the Child Witness to Violence Questionnaire, measured three variables: attitudes and responses to anger, knowledge of support and safety skills, and sense of responsibility for the parents and for the violence. An analysis of covariance of the pretreatment/posttreatment data showed significant differences on the first and third variables: attitudes and responses to anger, and sense of responsibility for the parents and violence measured. The second variable, safety and support skills, showed no significant difference between groups. Consideration was given to additional findings, limitations of the study, and recommendations for program change.     

Moral judgment development: The effects of education and occupation

Data from the Rest longitudinal study of moral judgment development were used to (i) consolidate past research into a single process model of moral judgment development, and (ii) assess the relative contributions of education and work to moral judgment development. Subjects were 102 individuals who were first interviewed in 1972–1974 and were followed up in 1983. A general model was specified which included moral judgment development in adolescence, dedication, educational attainment, occupational attainment, fulfilling career, and adult moral judgment development. The model was tested on the total sample and in a subsamples analysis that examined the unique pathways to moral development of subsamples which had either completed 2 years or more of college (higher education) or had completed less than 2 years of college (lower education). The general model confirmed that both education and occupation play important roles in the explanation of adult moral judgment development; the subsamples analysis suggested that work-related variables were the most important determinants of development in the lower education group and that education was the most important determinant of the higher education group.Dr. Boldizar died on March 28, 1992.     

Prosecutors' Discretionary Use of the Grand Jury to Initiate or to Reinitiate Prosecution

This study examines the exercise of prosecutorial discretion in two areas: the decision to initiate prosecution by indictment (in lieu of a preliminary hearing) and the decision to reinitiate prosecution by indictment after preliminary hearing discharge. To explore concerns about prosecutors' use of the grand jury to pursue prosecution in cases with insufficient evidence to convict at trial, the author studied prosecutors' practices in murder cases in Cook County, Illinois. To gather the information the author collected disposition data for prosecutions initiated by grand jury and by preliminary hearing, interviewed prosecutors, and examined prosecutors' case documents indicating reasons for declining or pursuing prosecution of discharged cases. The data show similar conviction rates for prosecutions initiated by grand jury and those by preliminary hearing but a significantly lower rate for prosecutions reinitiated after discharge. Three reasons for the latter finding are discussed: special evidentiary characteristics of reinitiated cases, seriousness of the offense studied, and prosecutors' special motivations and practices in serious cases. The author suggests that although prosecutors typically are constrained by practical, organizational, professional, and ethical concerns, they may in extraordinary situations reinitiate prosecution of weak cases. In light of the study's findings, the author assesses several proposals to eliminate or restrain prosecutors' power to reinitiate.     

Policy research and analysis: an empirical profile, 1975–1980

A content analysis was conducted on 181 randomly sampled articles published in nine leading social policy journals from 1975 through 1980. The purpose of the study was to obtain a methodological and substantive profile of the state of the art of the policy sciences. Results indicate the existence of two prevailing types of policy analysis: quantitative-empirical and rhetorical-discussive.The positions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the National Science Foundation, the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, or Applied Science Associates, Inc.