Packaging Support for Low‐Income Families: Policy Variation across the United States

This paper addresses a gap in state‐level comparative social policy research by analyzing policies that support low‐income families with children. Variation in state policy “packages” is measured by considering three characteristics of 11 social programs. Individual measures of policy are found to be weakly and inconsistently inter‐correlated at the state level, but when cluster analysis is used to analyze multiple dimensions simultaneously, five clusters or regime types are identified that have distinctive policy approaches. These range from the most minimal provisions, to conservative approaches emphasizing private responsibility, to integrated approaches that combine generous direct assistance with employment support and policies that enforce family responsibility. A comparison of a subset of programs at two points in time (1994 and 1998) suggests that states made substantial changes in cash assistance and taxation policies after the 1996 federal welfare reforms. The magnitude and direction of these changes remained consistent with the state clusters identified in 1994. © 2001 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.     

Book reviews

The following books are reviewed.

Between the lines: letters and diaries from elsie inglis's russian unit AUDREY FAWCETT CAHILL, 1999 Edinburgh: The Pentland Press. x + 372 pp., ISBN 1 85821 630 3, £17.00

For Freedom's Sake: the life of Fannie Lou Hamer CHANA KIA LEE, 1999 Urbana: University of Illinois Press, xvi + 225 pp. ISBN 0 252 02151 7

To Keep the Waters Troubled: the life of Ida B. Wells Linda O. McMurry, 1998 New York: Oxford University Press. xvi + 400 pp., ISBN 0 19 508812 3

Telling Women's Lives: narrative inquiries in the history of women's education KATHLEEN WEILER & SUE MIDDLETON (Eds), 1999 Buckingham: Open University Press. x + 166 pp., ISBN 0335 20173 3, paperback, £16.99

Remaking Women: feminism and modernity in the Middle East LILA ABU-LUGHOD (Ed.), 1998 Princeton: Princeton University Press. xi + 287 pp., ISBN 0 691 05792 3, paperback

Women's Writing of the First World War: an anthology ANGELA K. SMITH (Ed.), 2000 Manchester: Manchester University Press. xii + 340 pp., ISBN 0 7190 5072 3, hardback, 0 7190 5073 1, paperback     

Dynamic Conditional Correlations in Political Science

Time-varying relationships and volatility are two methodological challenges that are particular to the field of time series. In the case of the former, more comprehensive understanding can emerge when we ask under what circumstances relationships may change. The impact of context—such as the political environment, the state of the economy, the international situation, etc.—is often missing in dynamic analyses that estimate time-invariant parameters. In addition, time-varying volatility presents a number of challenges including threats to inference if left unchecked. Among time-varying parameter models, the Dynamic Conditional Correlation (DCC) model is a creative and useful approach that deals effectively with over-time variation in both the mean and variance of time series. The DCC model allows us to study the evolution of relationships over time in a multivariate setting by relaxing model assumptions and offers researchers a chance to reinvigorate understandings that are tested using time series data. We demonstrate the method's potential in the first example by showing how the importance of subjective evaluations of the economy are not constant, but vary considerably over time as predictors of presidential approval. A second example using international dyadic time series data shows that the story of movement and comovement is incomplete without an understanding of the dynamics of their variance as well as their means.     

An evaluation of a group treatment approach for children who have witnessed wife abuse

The present study evaluated a time-limited group treatment program developed by Jaffe et al.(1986) for child witnesses of wife abuse. The sample of children between the ages of 8–13 years, in both the treatment and control groups, was referred by agencies in the community. The evaluation based on the Child Witness to Violence Questionnaire, measured three variables: attitudes and responses to anger, knowledge of support and safety skills, and sense of responsibility for the parents and for the violence. An analysis of covariance of the pretreatment/posttreatment data showed significant differences on the first and third variables: attitudes and responses to anger, and sense of responsibility for the parents and violence measured. The second variable, safety and support skills, showed no significant difference between groups. Consideration was given to additional findings, limitations of the study, and recommendations for program change.     

Patterns of prior offending by child abductors: A comparison of fatal and non-fatal outcomes

Our study examines the prior offending of 750 individuals who are known to be responsible for the abduction of a child under the age of 18 years. The first group comprised of 311 offenders (42%) who had abducted a child that was later located alive (found alive, referred to as FA). The second group was comprised of 439 offenders (58%) who had abducted a child that was either found murdered or was still missing and presumed dead (found murdered, referred to as FM). While males perpetrated the majority of the abductions, women perpetrated 31 (10%) of the offenses in the FA group and 10 (2%) of the offenses in the FM group. The average number of prior offenses as reflected in the NCIC criminal history of each offender was seven with these occurring over an average of 12 years. Seventy-five percent of the offenders had prior arrests for an assortment of different crimes while 25% had no known criminal history, a finding that was consistent across both the FA and FM groups. Of those with a criminal history, 41% had been arrested for assault, 40% for larceny, 35% for burglary/breaking and entering, 33% for forcible sex offenses, 25% for drug/narcotic offenses, 21% for weapons law violations, 17% for motor vehicle thefts, 15% for robbery, and 14% for kidnapping. Our findings are congruent with the theme of criminal diversity among child abductors and argue against the specificity in offending that is often assumed with this type of sexual offender. This information is relevant to our understanding of the progression in criminal offending that is manifested by offenders who abduct children and will hopefully be used by law enforcement in helping to direct and focus their investigations.     

Gorbachev's Wage Reform

The wage reform, an aspect of perestroyka, is described as it affects industry, and changes in the wage system are outlined. To stimulate better work, wages are being raised and differentials increased; to induce economies in labor, wage increases are to be financed from the enterprise's income. Self-financing and implementation of the reform to date are addressed as well, as are inconsistencies between the wage reform rules on self-financing and those of the Law on the State Enterprise. Finally, problems such as enterprise footdragging and unemployment and prospects for continued reform, inflationary pressure, and worker morale are considered. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: 027, 124, 824.