SOME NEGLECTED POLICY IMPLICATIONS OF COMPARABLE WORTH

Comparable worth, the lkivil rights issue of the eighties, is based on the notion that women in traditional female occupations such as nursing make, on average, wages 20 percent lower than men In traditionally male occupations such as truck drivers despite the fact that both jobs are of equal value to the employer. The question is who will bear the cost; employers who implement comparable worth will bear the cost, but if pay inequities continue, women will. The cost can be mitigated if comparable worth is implemented incrementally. The problem cannot be solved by women shifting to male dominated occupations, for that would cost more than comparable worth. Comparable worth would help the women who work full time but are still below poverty and, while it would cost employers, taxpayers would realize a savings of $186 million. If the employer is a public agency, the taxpayer burden remains constant.     

Policing the deinstitutionalized mentally ill: Toward an understanding of its function

Although the police have long been recognized as a community health resource in the United States, this role has expanded significantly over the past several decades as a result of the deinstitutionalization movement. From a critical perspective, this article provides an analysis of the relationship between this enlarged police role and the current American socio-political order, in general, and the welfare state in particular. It is argued that in the course of handling the mentally ill the police carry out a number of functions for both the welfare state and the socio-political order, and in doing so, shore-up the social conditions which have inhibited the development of a positive, long-term care policy for the mentally ill. This article discusses three such functions and identifies an alternative social arrangement; one in which the police would not have to serve as a support for liberal-capitalism and its attendant inadequate welfare state.     

Violence in relationships: A seventh grade inventory of knowledge and attitudes

The purpose of this research was to contribute to existing efforts of battered women's advocates, schools, and researchers by developing a valid and reliable inventory to evaluate educational interventions regarding violence in relationships. Content validity was established by national experts (N=32)solicited to complete an inventory rating scale and comment on the statements' ability to elicit early adolescents' knowledge and attitudes about violence in relation-ships. The revised inventory was tested with seventh grade health education students (N=99).The test-retest reliability criterion was .50. Spearman's rho correlations were .566 for the knowledge section and .669 for the attitude section. Knowledge and attitude sections were measured for internal con- sistency with Cronbach's alpha, with respective values of .3178 and .7207. Item analyses with Wilcoxon Rank Sum tests identified 11 knowledge statements and one attitude statement as significantly discriminating at both test and retest. Gender differences were noted and additional findings were reported. Recommendations for the further establishment of a valid and reliable inventory were made.     

Education Reform and Accountability Issues in an Intergovernmental Context

Since the early 1980s, widespread expressions of concern aboutpublic education in the United States have been accompaniedby various proposals for improving public school performance.This article develops a conceptual framework for analyzing educationreform and accountability issues in an intergovernmental context.The writers then identify and discuss common themes in fiveprominent education reform efforts in the United States: (1)the promulgation of specific goals and requirements for publicschools; (2) the introduction of open-enrollment plans; (3)the establishment of charter schools; (4) the encouragementof private contracting for the delivery of school services;and (5) the development of public and private voucher programs.While diverse, each of these efforts involves a deliberate attemptto change the accountability mechanisms in the delivery of education,and all have been affected by intergovernmental politics.