Politics and Administration: A Trichotomy?

This article compares changes in the education and career paths of senior federal civil servants in Canada between 1967 and 1987. It shows that there has been a marked trend toward managers with less formal education than had previously been the case and also a shift toward managers with less experience in the policy areas within which they are responsible for providing policy advice and program management. This finding is consistent with Osbaldeston's study of Canadian deputy ministers, and with studies of bureaucratic elites in other Western democracies. In an increasingly complex environment, problems facing government decision-makers require high levels of technical expertise. This requirement is central to Weber's concept of bureaucracy, and it has been used as an explanation for the increasing prominence of bureaucrats in the policy-making process. In recent decades, however, bureaucratic reforms have emphasized the administrative functions of senior managers at the expense of their technical roles. In Canada, at least, this process appears to have gone so far that it may have seriously compromised the capacity of senior civil servants to give informed advice and to make knowledgeable decisions about the policies and programs of their departments.     

PLEA BARGAINING Bargain Justice?

An historical overview of the plea bargaining process through the past few centuries is presented. The advantages and disadvantages of the use of the legal mechanism are given. A research project conducted in Pima County, Arizona, covering 500 convicted persons who had been involved in plea bargaining is described, and the findings indicate that the majority of individuals included in the study willingly accepted the concept and felt that the practice should not be discontinued. A recommendation for modification of the misuse of the process is that cases should be reviewed for plea bargaining by an independent agency apart from the court and prosecutor. This would insure that the individual was aware that he was abrogating his rights of appeal, thereby eliminating any further investigation of his case.     

JAILS AND SERVICES FOR INMATES A Perspective on Some Critical Issues

The nature and scope of the jail role within the criminal justice system is explored. Questions are raised as to the types of functions which jails should perform, the appropriateness of jail services, and alternatives for the administration of jails. The authors suggest that solutions to the various issues require active involvement of an informed public providing policy direction to the criminal justice system. The paper concludes by observing that many of these critical jail issues can find satisfactory solution when there is a joint commitment on the part of practitioners, researchers, and the community sector to actively seek answers.     

BITING ONCE,TWICE: THE INFLUENCE OF PRIOR ON SUBSEQUENT CRIME LOCATION CHOICE

Properties, victims, and locations previously targeted by offenders have an increased risk of being targeted again within a short time period. It has been suggested that often the same offenders are involved in these repeated events and, thus, that offenders’ prior crime location choices influence their subsequent crime location choices. This article examines repeated crime location choices, testing the hypothesis that offenders are more likely to commit a crime in an area they previously targeted than in areas they did not target before. Unique data from four different data sources are used to study the crime location choices of 3,666 offenders who committed 12,639 offenses. The results indicate that prior crime locations strongly influence subsequent crime location choices. The effects of prior crime locations are larger if the crimes are frequent, if they are recent, if they are nearby, and if they are the same type of crime.     

ADOLESCENT RISK. The psychological assessment and management of problem areas contributing to adolescent criminal behavior

Psychological assessments were completed on fifty adolescent offenders (ages 13 through 18). All evaluations were court ordered to assist with legal disposition and focused on assessment and management of problem areas that were believed to contribute to repeated criminal behavior. A process for the psychological evaluation of problem areas and the development of management strategies to address these areas is described. Frequencies of problem areas are presented with discussion of the most frequent. School problems, past aggressive acts, negative peer influences, and a guarded/ avoiding personality style were the most frequently cited. Management strategies for high frequency problem areas are also discussed.     

Mapping Difficult Terrain: "Legal Culture,""Legal Consciousness," and Other Hazards for the Intrepid Explorer

By this time Gertrude Stein was in a sad state of indecision and worry. I sat next to her and she said to me early in the afternoon, what is the answer? I was silent. In that case, she said, what is the question? Then the whole afternoon was troubled, confused and very uncertain. … (Toklas, 1963: 173)