Patterns of governance: the rise of transnational coalitions of NGOs

This paper explores patterns of governance in transnational development non-governmental organisation (NGO) coalitions. Governance is a term that has increased in usage during the last decade; it has been used in a variety of ways, by a variety of actors. Here, governance is broken down into two elements—governance as a purposive activity, and governance as an explanatory framework. This is an empirically grounded paper which focuses on the mechanisms of governance as a purposive activity, illustrated by interviews with four transnational development NGO coalitions. The principal aim of this research is to illustrate the workings and mechanics of governance.     

A comparison of instruments for assessing competency to stand trial

The present study compared two instruments for assessing competency to stand trial, The Competency Screening Test and a revised version of The Georgia Court Competency Test. in a sample of 140 defendants admitted to the forensic unit of a state hospital for court-ordered pretrial evaluation. Scores on the tests were used to predict staff decisions about competency. Correlates of scores on the two tests also were examined. The tests were highly correlated with one another and with the decisions of forensic examiners. Although neither of these instruments should provide the sole basis for competency decisions, both may be useful components of a comprehensive program of competency evaluation.Portions of this paper were presented at the annual convention of the American Psychological Association, Washington, D.C., August, 1986.     

Constituting 'the public' in public participation

The emphasis on public participation in contemporary policy discourse has prompted the development of a wide range of forums within which dialogue takes place between citizens and officials. Often such initiatives are intended to contribute to objectives relating to social exclusion and democratic renewal. The question of ‘who takes part’ within such forums is, then, critical to an understanding of how far new types of forums can contribute to the delivery of such objectives. This article draws on early findings of research conducted as part of the ESRC Democracy and Participation Programme. It addresses three questions: ‘How do public bodies define or constitute the public that they wish to engage in dialogue?’; ‘What notions of representation or representativeness do participants and public officials bring to the idea of legitimate membership of such forums?’; and ‘How do deliberative forums contribute to, or help ameliorate, processes of social inclusion and exclusion?’     

Protective order legislation: Trends in state statutes

Very little research has examined state legislation on protective orders. This study examined recent state statutes and compared the findings with a landmark 1988 study. Results indicated that more recent laws provided greater access to victims and expanded their eligible populations to include categories that were excluded in earlier legislation (i.e., dating partners, sexual partners, and same-sex partners). Orders increased slightly in duration and there were more access to them outside of normal working hours. Compared with earlier legislation, newer laws were more apt to authorize judges to fashion remedies that address financial matters. Penalties for violations remained relatively stable, although states were increasingly willing to use enhanced sanctions for repeat offenders. States continued to use mandatory arrest to enforce orders, although this trend was not as pronounced as one might have anticipated. Finally, legislators incorporated many aspects of new federal legislation into state statutes.     

Short-term effects of restorative justice conferences on post-traumatic stress symptoms among robbery and burglary victims: a randomized controlled trial

Objectives

To examine the impact of face-to-face restorative justice conference (RJC) meetings led by police officers between crime victims and their offenders on victims’ post-traumatic stress symptoms.

Methods

Two trials conducted in London randomly assigned burglary or robbery cases with consenting victims and offenders to either a face-to-face restorative justice conference (RJC) in addition to conventional justice treatment or conventional treatment without a RJC. Post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) were measured with the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) within 1 month of treatment for 192 victims. We assessed the prevalence and severity of PTSS scores following treatment, using independent sample t tests and chi square statistics. We further measured the magnitude of the differences between the groups, using effect size analyses.

Results

Analyses show that PTSS scores are significantly lower among victims assigned to RJC in addition to criminal justice processing through the courts than to customary criminal justice processing alone. There are overall 49 % fewer victims with clinical levels of PTSS, and possible PTSD (IES-R?≥?25). Main treatment effects are significant (t?=?2.069; p?Conclusions Findings suggest that restorative justice conferences reduce clinical levels of PTSS and possibly PTSD in a short-term follow-up assessment. Future research should include longer follow-up, larger and more stratified samples, and financial data to account for the cost benefit implications of RJ conferences compared to ordinary PTSS treatments.     

Territorial functioning and victimisation: conceptualisation and scale development

The purpose of this study was to develop and validate territorial functioning measures and to examine the link between territorial functioning and victimisation in a high-crime context. To this end, four sequential stages of scale development were undertaken: conceptual model development, item generation and content validation, exploratory study and confirmatory study. Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the three dimensions of territorial functioning, namely, neighbourhood attitudes, sense of control and marking behaviour, as dimensions of the second-order territorial functioning construct. The results of the structural model support findings reported in the literature that associate high territorial functioning with low victimisation. The theoretical and practical implications of the study and directions for future research are discussed in the concluding sections of this study.     

All Boys Club or Gender Differences? Male Officers Perception of Female Officers’ Workplace Experiences in Federal Law Enforcement

Since the passage of the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972, there has been a vast body of literature demonstrating women’s difficulties integrating into all levels of law enforcement. While scholarship continues to highlight women’s experiences in the workplace, very little research has incorporated male officers into the dialogue. Using survey data collected from 324 male and female federal law enforcement officers employed by a mid-sized federal law enforcement agency, this study examines gender differences on perceptions to women’s workplace occupational barriers. We find that there are gender differences between the experiences encountered by female officers and the perception of male officers to those experiences, most notably sexual discrimination and a perceived glass ceiling to promotions. The differing perceptions are shaped by gender stereotypes and mild remnants of a masculine culture that continue to exist throughout law enforcement.