Who ‘Tweets’ Where and When,and How Does it Help Understand Crime Rates at Places? Measuring the Presence of Tourists and Commuters in Ambient Populations

Journal of Quantitative Criminology - Test the reliability of geotagged Twitter data for estimating block-level population metrics across place types. Evaluate whether the proportion of Twitter...     

The snakes and ladders of accountability: Contradictions between contracting and collaboration for Canada's voluntary sector

Abstract: Although governing in Canada is in transition towards a model of horizontal “governance” that emphasizes collaboration with a variety of non‐governmental actors, the contracting culture and its associated accountability regime remain a legacy of “new public management.” As part of this transition, however, contracting is being used not only as a means to control performance but also as a governance tool to guide the development of more collaborative relationships between government as a whole and entire sectors. In its relationship with the voluntary sector, the Government of Canada is caught in these contradictory trends ‐ between the control of contracting and the collaboration inherent in a governance contract. This article first examines the impact on voluntary organizations of the very stringent federal rneasures over contribution agreements that were brought in as a reaction to crisis in 2000. The effects are found to be significant and overwhelmingly negative, imposing direct financial costs on voluntary organizations and stifling innovation. The authors then consider whether the implementation of the Accord Between the Government of Canada and the Voluntary Sector and its Code of Good Practice on Funding might mitigate the negative effects of these accountability measures. Sommaire: S'il est vrai que le Canada s'oriente vers un modèle de « gouvemance horizontale « privilégiant la collaboration avec différents acteurs non‐gouvernementaux, la culture de marchés (contrats) et le régime d'imputabilité qui I'accompagne n'en demeurent pas moins un legs de la nouvelle gestion publique. Toutefois, dans le cadre de cette transition, les marchés (contrats), en plus de servir de moyen de contrôler le rendement, sont aussi un outil de gouvernance pour accroître la collaboration entre le gouvernement dam son ensemble et des secteurs tout entiers. Dam sa relation avec le secteur bénévole, le gowernement du Canada est pris dans ces tendances contradictoires ‐ entre le contrôle des marchés (contrats) et la collabordtion inhérente à un contrat de gouvernance. L'article se penche en premier sur l'incidence pour les organismes bénévoles des mesures contraignantes imposées par le gouvernement fédéral relativement aux ententes de contribution introduites pour fairc face a la crise qui a sévi en 2000. Ces impacts sont à la fois considérables et des plus négatifs, imposant des frais de financement directs aux organismes bénévoles et suffoquant l'innovation. Les auteurs cherchent ensuite a déterminer si la mise en application de l'accord passé entre le gouvernement du Canada et le secteur bénévole et son Code de boMes pratiques de financement pourraient atténuer certains effets négatifs de ces mesures d'imputabilité.     

Charlottesville Paradox: The ‘Liberalizing’ Alt-Right, ‘Authoritarian’ Left,and Politics of Dialogue

In the aftermath of the 2017 Charlottesville tragedy, the prevailing narrative is a Manichean division between ‘white supremacists’ and ‘anti-racists’. We suggest a more complicated, nuanced reality. While the so-called ‘Alt-Right’ includes those pursuing an atavistic political end of racial and ethnic separation, it is also characterised by pluralism and a strategy of nonviolent dialogue and social change, features associated with classic liberalism. The ‘Left,’ consistent with its historic mission, opposes the Alt-Right’s racial/ethnic prejudice; but, a highly visible movement goes farther, embracing an authoritarianism that would forcibly exclude these voices from the public sphere. This authoritarian element has influenced institutions historically committed to free expression and dialogue, notably universities and the ACLU. We discuss these paradoxes by analysing the discourse and actions of each movement, drawing from our study of hundreds of posts and articles on Alt-Right websites and our online exchanges on a leading site (AltRight.com). We consider related news reports and scholarly research, concluding with the case for dialogue.     

Strength in Numbers or Quality over Quantity? Examining the Importance of Criterion Measure Selection to Define Validity Groups in Performance Validity Test (PVT) Research

Mirroring clinical guidelines, recent Performance Validity Test (PVT) research emphasizes using ≥ 2 criterion PVTs to optimally identify validity groups when validating/cross-validating PVTs; however, even with multiple measures, the effect of which specific PVTs are used as criterion measures remains incompletely explored. This study investigated the accuracy of varying two-PVT combinations for establishing validity status and how adding a third PVT or applying more liberal failure cut-scores affects overall false-positive (FP)/-negative (FN) rates. Clinically referred veterans (N = 114; 30% clinically identified as invalid) completing a six-PVT protocol as during their evaluation were included. Concordance rates were calculated across all possible two-and three-PVT combinations at conservative and liberal cutoffs. Two-PVT combinations classified 72–91% of valid (0–4% FPs) and 17–74% of invalid (0–40% FNs) cases, and three-PVT combinations classified 67–86% of valid (0–6% FPs) and 57–97% of invalid (0–24% FNs) at conservative cutoffs. Liberal cutoffs classified 53–86% of valid (0–15% FPs) and 39–82% of invalid (0–30% FNs) cases for two-PVT combinations and 46–75% of valid (3–27% FPs) and 60–97% of invalid (0–17% FNs) cases for three-PVT combinations. Irrespective of whether a two-or three-PVT combination or conservative/liberal cutoffs were used, many valid and invalid cases failed only one PVT (3–68%).Two-PVT combinations produced high FNs and were less accurate than three-PVTs for detecting invalid cases, though variable accuracy was found within both types of combinations based on the specific PVTs in the combination. Thus, both PVT quantity and quality are important for accurate validity classification in research studies to ensure reliability and replicability of findings. Applying more liberal cutoffs yielded increased sensitivity, but with generally higher FPs yielding problematic specificity, particularly for three-PVT combinations.     

Book review

Richard Nixon, 1999: victory without war

(New York: Simon and Schuster, 1988; London: Sidgwick and Jackson, 1988)

Anders Stephanson, Kennan and the Art of Foreign Policy. (Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1989, pp. xiv + 380, £27.50)

Jacques S. Gansler, Affording Defense. (MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1989, £22.50)

John D. Steinbruner (ed.), Restructuring American Foreign Policy. (The Brookings Institute, Washington, 1989, pp. 260, £8.75 (paperback) & £23.95 (cloth))     

Who graduates from drug courts? Correlates of client success

Drug courts combine punishment and treatment to provide an intermediate sanction for offenders. This paper contains an analysis of drug court case files for 196 participants in one mid-Atlantic jurisdiction. Logistic regression reveals that employment status before and during the program, race, education, and referral time are significant predictors of successful completion. Policy implications and suggestions about participant screening and program administration are offered. The authors would like to thank the editor and the anonymous reviewers for their very helpful comments and suggestions.     

UK Initiatives on Forced Marriage: Regulation, Dialogue and Exit

The literature on feminism and multiculturalism has identified potential conflicts between the recognition of cultural diversity and securing women's equality. Three broad approaches to this dilemma have emerged in the practices of contemporary states: regulation, working with the communities, and exit. Each of these is apparent in current initiatives regarding forced marriage, but the overwhelming emphasis in the UK has been on enabling individuals to exit from the threat or reality of a forced marriage. In assessing these initiatives, this paper highlights the limitations of exit and the danger of moving towards immigration regulation as the preferred solution.