Hidden corporate profits in the U.S. prison system: the unorthodox policy-making of the American Legislative Exchange Council

Using a leaked document trove containing 800 model bills, we analyze the American Legislative Exchange Council’s (ALEC) hidden corporate profit making in the prison–industrial complex. We find that ALEC seeks to expand the private prison industry in three ways: (1) promoting greater use of private prisons, goods, and services, (2) promoting greater use of prison labor, and (3) increasing the size of the prison population. ALEC’s efforts to increase the prison population by expanding definitions of existing crime, creating new crimes, enhancing enforcement of existing crimes, amending the trial process to increase the likelihood of incarceration, and lengthening prison sentences for crimes pose a threat to civil liberties. ALEC’s unorthodox policy approach exemplifies John Gaventa’s theory that powerful interests maintain their power by creating conditions in which citizens are not able to identify and advocate on behalf of their interests.     

“I could not have made it without them”: Examining Trainee Cohort Perspectives on MSW Education for Public Child Welfare

This article reports findings from an evaluation of an MSW child welfare training program focused on increasing retention of knowledgeable, competent and experienced child protective service workers. From qualitative data gathered as part of the process evaluation, we found the cohort effect to be the most salient factor participants experienced as contributing to their successful program completion and their 100% retention rate. Analysis of the cohort effect yielded five themes instrumental in participants' individual and collective success: mutual support, empowerment, belief in self and their finding of a home base which ultimately helped them to launch their professional selves.     

行政伦理学应关注的四个重大问题

本文认为行政伦理学的发展必须倡导对该领域内重大问题的关注以及学者们在此类研究中的合作努力,作者提出四个值得关注的重要问题公共行政伦理学研究的规范性基础、全球化、组织设计、平等问题。     

'And You Can't Find Me Nowhere': Relocating Identity and Structure within Equality Jurisprudence

This paper explores key tensions in conceptualizing equality. It begins by arguing for the equality of lives lived and then goes on to link this to equality based on power. Yet, although equality of power seems to offer a more radical model than approaches to equality based on resources, satisfaction, and recognition, it nevertheless is not entirely suitable, since it too centres equality's subject. After addressing some of the analytical problems a subject-centred framework raises, including how to deal with reactionary identities and practices, the paper considers instead a structural approach to equality. This focuses on targeting social organizing principles, while recognizing the complex relationship between inequalities of gender, race, sexuality, and class and inequalities associated with unpopular viewpoints or beliefs. Finally, using lesbian and gay sexuality as an example, the paper considers the ways in which normative-epistemological organizing principles — proper place and the public/private — naturalize, legitimize but also hold the possibility of undercutting asymmetries of power.     

Motivations for becoming a police officer: Re-assessing officer attitudes and job satisfaction after six years on the street

Few studies had examined the stability of motivations for becoming a police officer over time, especially among minority and female officers. Moreover, research had not explored the links between original motivations and job satisfaction, a likely proxy measure of motivation fulfillment. The current research was a follow-up to Raganella and White (2004) who examined motivations among academy recruits in the New York City Police Department (NYPD). Using the same survey and analysis, this study re-examined motivations among officers from the same NYPD recruit class after six years on the job, and explored both motivation stability and the relationships among motivations and job satisfaction. Results suggested that motivations have remained highly stable over time, regardless of officer race/ethnicity and gender. Findings also suggested that White male officers were most likely to report low job satisfaction, and that there is a link between low satisfaction and unfulfilled motivations. Moreover, dissatisfied officers were much less likely to have expressed strong commitment to the profession through their original motivations, suggesting that low commitment up front may lead to low satisfaction later on. The article concludes with a discussion of implications for police departments, particularly with regard to recruitment and retention practices and efforts to achieve diversity.