Federalism in Africa: Origins,Operation and (In)Significance

Abstract

Recent years have seen major advances in the comparative study of federalism and a growing literature on decentralization in Africa, but there has been surprisingly little systematic comparison of African federalism. This article explains several commonalities in the origins and operation of Africa's three main federal states: Ethiopia, Nigeria and South Africa. Each country used ‘holding-together’ federalism in order to accommodate ethnic pluralism. Each country—especially Ethiopia and South Africa—also experienced several key centripetal forces: dominant governing parties, top-down state administration and high degrees of fiscal centralism. Federalism mattered in offering accommodative decentralization, but in its operation subnational governments have limited autonomy because of these interlocking centralizing features. This African variant of federalism can have certain salutary features, even as it precludes the possibility of many of the theorized advantages of federalism that are predicated on real subnational autonomy.     

My Life for A Voice: The Influence of Voice on Health-Care Decisions

Are people willing to give up affordable healthcare and future years of their lives in exchange for having a voice in healthcare decision-making? Drawing upon research on the psychology of justice, we claim that the fairness of healthcare decision-making procedures, expressed by the availability of voice, can be more important than critical health-related outcomes. We examined this proposition using a forced-choice paradigm that required participants to choose between voice and better healthcare outcomes (affordable healthcare and greater life expectancy). Findings from three studies revealed that people maintain a strong preference for voice even at the expense of tangible healthcare outcomes. In study 1, participants preferred a healthcare plan that offered them a voice when it was $3,000–$12,000 more costly than a plan that did not offer such voice privileges. In study 2, participants preferred a voice plan to a no-voice plan when the no-voice plan was 5–20 years greater in its average life expectancy compared with the voice plan. In study 3, which used a more demographically diverse, non-student sample, the preference for the voice plan persisted across all conditions, even when the no-voice plan was 25 years greater in its life expectancy, and even when participants’ expected to personally live longer under the no-voice plan. These results are explained by participants’ expectation to enjoy better personal healthcare outcomes and greater autonomy when afforded voice. These findings demonstrate the importance of voice in hypothetical decision-making relevant to policy-making.     

Global perspectives on scientists’ roles in legislative policymaking

Policy Sciences - The question of how scientists should engage in policymaking has spurred both pragmatic and philosophical debates for decades. Scant empirical research addressing how experts...     

Book notes

John Connell, The End of Tradition, Country Life in Central Surrey, Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1978, pp. 231, £6.95.

Cheryl Parsons, Schools in an Urban Community. A Study of Carbrook, 1870–1965, Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1978, pp. 155, £5.95.

Peter R. Rowe, J. Mixon, B. A. Smith, J. B. Blackburn Jr., G. L. Calloway and J. L. Gervirtz, Principles for Local Environmental Management, Ballinger Publishing Co., 1978, pp. 272, £10.40.

Frank Stacey, Ombudsmen Compared, Clarendon Press, Oxford University Press, 1978, pp. 256, £10.00.

Hugh Stretton, Urban Planning in Rich and Poor Countries, Oxford University Press, 1978, pp. 220, £4.50 hardback, £2.25 paperback.

F. J. Lyden and E. G. Miller, Public Budgeting, Program Planning and Evaluation, Rand McNally Third Edition, 1978, pp. 460, £7.50.

Ivor H. Seeley, Local Government Explained, Macmillan, 1978, pp. 202, £10.00 hardback, £3.95 paperback.

Paul N. Balchin and Jeffrey L. Kieve, Urban Land Economics, Macmillan, 1979, pp. 478, £4.95.

David J. Bartholomew and Andrew F. Forbes, Statistical Techniques for Manpower Planning, John Wiley and Sons, 1979, pp. 247 & appendices, £14.75.

R. G. S. Brown, Reorganising the National Health Service, Martin Robertson and Basil Blackwell, 1979, pp. 232, £8.95.

Gary Craig, Marjorie Mayo and Nick Sharman, Jobs and Community Action, Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1979, £5.95 paperback.

Paul Halmos, The Personal and the Political. Social Work and Political Action, Hutchinson University Library, 1978, pp. 200, £2.95.

Graham C. Hockley, Public Finance, An Introduction, Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1979, pp. 448, £9.95 hardback, £5.95 paperback.

John Irvine, Ian Miles and Jeff Evans (eds.), Demystifying Social Statistics, Pluto Press, 1979, pp. 450, £8.50 hardback, £4.95 paperback.

C. Perrow, Complex Organisations. A Critical Essay, Scott, Foresman and Company, 1979 (second edition), pp. 270, £4.50.     

Eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing for offence-related trauma in a mentally disordered sexual offender

Abstract

Research demonstrates a high incidence of offence-related trauma in mentally disordered offenders convicted of violent and sexual offences. The adaptive information processing (AIP) model offers a theoretical framework for understanding the hypothesised relationship between offence-related trauma and reoffending. Evidence suggests that for a sub-population of offenders presenting with offence-related trauma: (1) therapy may retraumatise them, and (2) unresolved trauma severely blocks the positive benefits of talking therapies. Thus, it is postulated that traumatised violent and sexual offenders may be released into the community when they are still at risk of reoffending. A single case study is presented, which describes the application of eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing (EMDR) for a sexual offender presenting with offence-related trauma, whose offences occurred in the context of serious mental disorder. The identification of offence-related trauma and subsequent resolution of trauma symptomatology are discussed in regard to effective offender rehabilitation. Furthermore, the idiosyncratic nature of offence-related trauma and the application of the standard EMDR protocol for a single traumatic event are considered.     

An Eight State Study on the Relationships Among Domestic Violence Shelter Services and Residents’ Self-Efficacy and Hopefulness

Survivors of intimate partner violence have myriad reasons why they turn to domestic violence shelter programs. While all are seeking immediate safety and feel a pressing need to leave their homes to obtain it, safety is rarely the only issue survivors are grappling with upon shelter entry. Other concerns are particular to each person’s history and circumstances, and include but are not limited to employment, counseling, social support, health care, addiction recovery services, immigration help, housing, and services for their children. The current study involved secondary analysis of survey data completed at two points in time by 565 shelter residents. The original research involved 215 domestic violence programs across eight states in the U.S., and surveys were completed by shelter residents shortly after they arrived in shelter and again as they were close to exiting. Results confirmed that survivors had numerous needs in addition to safety when entering shelter. Residents’ overall rating of how helpful their stay at shelter had been for them was predicted by how much help they had received across their presenting needs, as well as how they were treated by staff. The amount of help received, as well as treatment by staff, also related to survivors’ hopefulness at shelter exit, as well as the extent to which they felt better able to do things on their own. The study findings provide further evidence that domestic violence shelter staff assist residents with a variety of complex needs in addition to safety, and that this assistance is related to positive outcomes for survivors.     

Using indirect questions to detect intimate partner violence: the SAFE-T questionnaire

A screening instrument for detecting intimate partner violence (IPV) was developed using indirect questions. The authors identified 5 of 18 items studied that clearly distinguished victims of IPV from a random group of health conference attendees with a sensitivity of 85% and a specificity of 87%. This 5-item instrument (SAFE-T) was then tested on 435 women presenting to three emergency departments and the results compared to a direct question regarding current abuse. The SAFE-T questions detected only 54% of the women who admitted being abused and correctly classified 81% of the women who said they were not victims. The 1-year prevalence of IPV in this sample of women presenting to an emergency department was 11.6%. The authors conclude that indirect questioning of women appears to be more effective at ruling out IPV in an emergency department population and may be less useful for women "early" in an abusive relationship.     

Proactive Policing: a Summary of the Report of the National Academies of Sciences,Engineering, and Medicine

This paper provides a summary of our report for the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine on proactive policing. We find that there is sufficient scientific evidence to support the adoption of many proactive policing practices if the primary goal is to reduce crime, though the evidence base generally does not provide long-term or jurisdictional estimates. In turn, we conclude that crime prevention outcomes can often be obtained without producing negative community reactions. However, the most effective proactive policing strategies do not appear to have strong positive impacts on citizen perceptions of the police. At the same time, some community-based strategies have begun to show evidence of improving the relations between the police and public. We conclude that there are likely to be large racial disparities in the volume and nature of police–citizen encounters when police target high-risk people or high-risk places, as is common in many proactive policing programs. We could not conclude whether such disparities are due to statistical prediction, racial animus, implicit bias, or other causes.

     

Promoting Stability for Youth Returning from Residential Care: Attorney Perspectives

Aftercare services have been suggested to improve reintegration for youth departing residential care programs. The purpose of this study was to collect views from legal professionals about the challenges youth and families face during reintegration and solutions to improve stability. Views were collected from 14 legal professionals (e.g., guardian ad litem, legal counsel) through a survey and 90‐minute nominal group technique focus group. Results indicated parent expectations about re‐entry and lack of services, supports and resources were challenges. Solutions suggested by participants included family, mental health and educational supports, and transition planning. Study limitations and future implications are discussed.     

Accuracy and Reliability of Total Body Mass Estimation Techniques from Stature and Bi‐iliac Breadth in Non‐Hispanic U.S. Whites from the Bass Donated Skeletal Collection

This paper tests the fidelity of a recent method that used the NHANES III dataset as a proxy to estimate total body mass from stature and bi‐iliac breadth in U.S. White males and females. The bi‐iliac breadths of 230 males and 152 females identified as non‐Hispanic U.S. White from the Bass Donated Skeletal Collection were measured, and along with stature from predonor paperwork, total body mass estimates were calculated and then compared to body masses recorded on predonor paperwork. Male and female samples were subdivided by body mass index (BMI [kg/m²]) categories established by the World Health Organization. Our results suggest that total body mass estimates can be accurately assessed provided that the individual is within 18.50 ≤ BMI ≤ 29.99 for White males and 18.50 ≤ BMI ≤ 24.99 for White females. Recommendations on how to report total body mass estimates are also presented.