Crime,social disorganization,and social structure: A research note on the use of interurban ecological models

The social disorganization perspective, as set forth by Clifford Shaw and Henry McKay, has enjoyed renewed interest in criminological explanations of crime and delinquency. This paper extends this perspective beyond the traditional intraurban focus of the neighborhood to a more encompassing interurban model, using 682 SMSA counties. The results using these counties were generally consistent with neighborhood studies, demonstrating the robustness of the social disorganization model.     

No home in their native land: Homeless canadians as marginal persons in the social order

This paper sets out to assess a problem which the author claims has not been given sufficient attention: homelessness. The author observes that the homeless are a disorganised and politically disenfranchised people. This paper analyses the composition of the homeless, and notes the increasing numbers of women, young men, teenagers, and children who are homeless. Effort is made to debunk many of the popular myths associated with homelessness. The real process by which people become homeless is explored and homelessness is shown to be the product of the capitalist system of distributing housing.     

Government supported industry-university research centers: Issues for successful technology transfer

In order to increase the use of federally supported research and development to increase U.S. industrial competitiveness, new partnerships are being developed among the research producers, users, and funders. This paper summarizes the evolution of federal technology transfer models with particular attention to university-industry cooperative research centers sponsored by the National Science Foundation. The advantages and potential problems associated with such centers are presented and the implications for technology and innovation are discussed.     

At-Risk Youth and Locus of Control: Do They Really See A Choice?

Cognitive learning theory of delinquency proposes mat as a result of early negative conditioning, particularly in the family and school settings, at-risk youth are more apt to develop an insecure, alienated belief system which increases the likelihood that they will perceive the world as a hostile place where their fate is in the hands of outside circumstances. According to the cognitive perspective, as the at-risk level of youth increases, their world view or locus of control will tend to become more external. The present study tests this proposition by investigating the relationship of at-risk level to locus of control for a sample of 196 juvenile shoplifters. The study utilizes an at-risk scale developed by the author and the Nowicki-Strickland Locus of Control Scale for Children. Results generally confirm the hypothesis that level of risk is positively related to an external locus of control. Ways to reverse the cumulative process of learned insecurity and perceived alienation are discussed.     

Methods and mindsets: Towards an understanding of the tyranny of methodology

This article attempts to examine familiar things through a different comparative focus. The results given here are preliminary and intended for comment and further development. The article takes as its basis the tradition which has arisen from the export of methods to developing countries in all manner of scientific and technical development projects. In the area of global development the traditions of technology transfer and development intervention by donor agencies and their related consultancy groups is well documented. Not so well covered in the literature is the related issue pertaining to the export of the methods which accompany and, to some extent, confer respectability upon all manner of technology, intervention and work towards nation building. The article is concerned with what might be called the ‘tyranny of methods’, which, it is argued, are applied often uncritically in development work. The mindsets which are invoked by traditional western scientific methods are reviewed using a psychological model. Following from this, the article investigates two areas of existing experience in the adoption of methods and then goes on to develop a critical perspective of one particular form of information systems development method, drawing on the experiences related. The article briefly investigates traditional, linear methods and makes links to the experiences of fanning systems research and rapid rural appraisal. Although no definitive conclusions are made, observations relating to an action plan are provided. The core of this relates to self-analysis and points to be conscious of in the export of any method.