A mobility strategy for improving opportunity

Abstract

Postwar changes in the metropolitan settlement structure have profoundly altered the geography of opportunity in the older cities of the Northeast and Midwest. Poverty is concentrated in once‐central cities, while employment continues to deconcentrate to the suburbs. In the face of these changes, antipoverty policy has become a geographic exercise of moving people and resources from certain places to other places.

The three main strategies for confronting inner‐city poverty are dispersal, development, and mobility. These strategies are discussed and compared, with particular emphasis on the mobility approach. The article argues that the mobility approach—which connects poor inner‐city residents to suburban employment opportunities without changing the location of households or firms—is the most promising near‐term strategy for combating urban poverty.     

Forecasting Recidivism in Mentally Ill Offenders Released from Prison

Little research has focused on assessing the risk of mentally ill offenders (MIOs) released from state prisons. Here we report findings for 333 mentally ill offenders released from Washington State prisons. Logistic regression identified sets of variables that forecasted felony and violent reconviction as accurately as state-of-the-art risk assessment instruments. Sums of simple recoded versions of these variables predicted reoffense as well as complex logistic regression equations. Five of these 9 variables were found to be relative protective factors. Findings are discussed in terms of the value of stock correctional variables in forecasting risk, the need to base actuarial risk assessments on local data, the importance of protective factors in assessing MIO risk, and the need for dynamic, situational, and clinical variables that can further sharpen predictive accuracy of emergent risk in the community.     

The use of pornography during the commission of sexual offenses

The goal of this study was to examine the use of pornographic materials by sex offenders during the commission of their crimes. A sample of 561 sex offenders was examined. There were 181 offenders against children, 144 offenders against adults, 223 incest offenders, 8 exhibitionists, and 5 miscellaneous cases. All but four cases were men. A total of 96 (17%) offenders had used pornography at the time of their offenses. More offenders against children than against adults used pornography in the offenses. Of the users, 55% showed pornographic materials to their victims and 36% took pictures, mostly of child victims. Nine cases were involved in the distribution of pornography. Results showed that pornography plays only a minor role in the commission of sexual offenses, however the current findings raise a major concern that pornography use in the commission of sexual crimes primarily involved child victims.     

Another UK General Election: More Books!

Kavanagh, D. and Butler, D. (2005 ) The British General Election of 2005. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Bartle, J. and King, A. (eds) (2005 ) Britain at the Polls 2005. Washington DC: CQ Press.
Geddes, A. and Tonge, J. (eds) (2005 ) Britain Decides: The UK General Election 2005. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Worcester, R., Mortimer, R. and Baines, P. (2005 ) Explaining Labour's Landslip: The 2005 General Election. London: Methuen.     

A study of the psychosexual characteristics of sex killers: can we identify them before it is too late?

Thirty-three sex killers were compared to 80 sexual aggressives, 23 sadists, and 611 general sex offenders on sexual history and preferences, substance abuse crime, violence, mental illness, personality, neurological and endocrine abnormalities. Compared to other groups, sex killers started their criminal careers earlier, more often had been to reform school, were members of criminal gangs, set fires, and were cruel to animals. They tended so show more sadism, fetishism, and voyeurism. They more often collected pornography, but they did not use it in their offenses. They more often abused drugs and some suffered from drug induced psychoses. Their most common diagnosis was antisocial personality disorder, but only 15.2% met criteria for psychopathy. Sex killers showed most signs of neuropsychological impairment, grades failure, and learning disabilities. Results suggest that greater emphasis be placed on studying adolescent sex offenders and conduct disordered children which may help identify potential sex killers.     

To PPB or Not PPB – Budgeting in Victorian Local Government

Budgeting is an important element in a public sector organisation's accounting control system. There are a number of budgetary methods that could be used, each with an explicitly different focus. This article investigates possible reasons for Victorian local government selecting line item budgeting, planning programming budgeting (PPB) or a combination of the two. While program budgeting arguably failed in the USA, research shows it was adopted by local government. Australian researchers report similar findings, yet the introduction of program budgeting into local government has not been explored. Four reasons are postulated: (1) PPB will be adopted because of the complexity of the organisation; (2) PPB will be adopted because it is perceived as an aid to planning; (3) line item budgeting will continue to be used because users are familiar with this type of budgeting; and (4) management's support for the adoption of PPB will be a significant factor in its introduction. A questionnaire was distributed to all the local governments in Victoria and 60 percent were returned. The findings reported in this article confirm the reasons postulated.