Learning to de-escalate: evaluating the behavioural impact of Verbal Judo training on police constables

ABSTRACT

This article presents findings from an assessment of the immediate behavioural impact of the ‘Verbal Judo’ de-escalation training program, delivered to officers in a Canadian police service in 2017, and represents the first evaluation of Verbal Judo. The evaluation utilized systematic observations of officers in videotaped simulations, comparing a baseline group of officers to officers trained in Verbal Judo. The study found that five of 15 coded behaviours were impacted at a statistically significant level in the hypothesized direction, and these tended to be simpler behaviours encouraged by the training (such as identifying oneself or providing a reason for contact), while more complex behaviours (such as empathizing with the subject) were not impacted. The evaluation also found that likelihood of utilizing de-escalation skills decreased as an officer’s years of experience increased. The paper closes by outlining the implications of these findings for de-escalation training, and elaborates the main limitations of the study.     

You Can't Fix What You Don't Measure: How ALICE Can Help Rebuild the Middle Class

Seventy percent of Americans identify as middle class, but one in three middle‐income households do not earn enough to support their family at the most basic level, and four in five do not earn enough to afford a sustainable budget. This incongruity explains the increasing frustration of many workers. Yet official government measures do not capture this reality, and as a result, policy makers continue to create economic policies that perpetuate the structural mismatch between wages and costs. This Viewpoint essay addresses these shortcomings. After reviewing alternatives to the federal poverty level, it argues that the most realistic and accurate floor to the middle class is the ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) Household Survival Budget. The essay then turns to policies that help realign wages and cost of living and presents initiatives that are being implemented in states across the country. Four policy areas would enable more workers to support their families and fulfill the promise of being middle class in America: meaningful work with stable and sufficient wages, upskilling and digital retooling, fiscal cushion for periods of financial instability, and affordable credit.     

Development of an Index of Subsidized Housing Availability and its Relationship to Housing Insecurity

Housing insecurity is a known threat to child health understanding predictors of housing insecurity can help inform policies to protect the health of young children in low-income households. This study sheds light on the relationship between housing insecurity and availability of housing that is affordable to low-income households.

We developed a county-level index of availability of subsidized housing needed to meet the demand of low-income households. Our results estimate that if subsidized units are made available to an additional 5% of the eligible population, the odds of overcrowding decrease by 26% and the odds of families making multiple moves decrease by 31%. Both of these are known predictors of poor child health outcomes. Thus, these results suggest that state and federal investments in expanding the stock of subsidized housing could reduce housing insecurity and thereby also improve the health and well-being of young children, including their families' food security status.     

Legislative oversight in Nigeria: an empirical review and assessment

This article builds upon and extends the analyses presented by Fashagba (2009) and drills down on the analyses of oversight in Nigeria presented by Pelizzo and Stapenhurst (2014). It presents more nuanced findings. Based on an in-country document search and 45 personal interviews with politicians, parliamentary staff, civil society representatives and journalists, the article demonstrates that the Nigerian National Assembly possesses the tools and constitutional powers to undertake oversight; what it lacks so far is the political will of National Assembly representatives and senators to use these tools and powers effectively.     

Policy Transfer and Policy Learning: A Study of the 1991 NewZealand Health Services Taskforce

Research into policy transfer and lesson drawing has been criticized asfew authors have convincingly shown how cross-national policy learning actually influences policy formation in a particular jurisdiction. This article addresses this gap by presenting a study of the development of the 1991 health policy in New Zealand. By studying the process of policy development, rather than just a policy document, it was possible to disaggregate different aspects of the policy and to identify sources and influences. This article finds that the 'conspiracy' model of policy formation does not fit this case as it presents an overly simplistic view, which allows little space for policy learning. This case illustrates the subtle and multifaceted influence of different jurisdictions, different institutions, and different individuals on a given policy.