Refugee Returns, Civic Differentiation, and Minority Rights in Croatia 1991-2004

Many studies on refugee returns tend to amalgamate the experiencesof migrants and concentrate on return as an end point of therefugee cycle. In reality, however, returnees do not share thesame experience and endure the effects of their displacementlong after they have returned. This study claims that a moreuseful tool of analysis is to consider both the paths of dislocationand the challenges of return and reintegration. It introducesthe concept of ‘civic differentiation’ as a meansof exploring patterns of return and reintegration in post-warCroatia where returning migrants enjoy vastly different accessto critical resources, above all housing and employment. Thisstudy considers the relevance for reintegration of ethnic identity,property ownership, exit routes and time spent in exile, anddescribes five return scenarios: settlement as ethnic colonization;forcible relocation as a result of regional policies; the returnof retirement; settlement following property repossession; marginalizationand exclusion.     

Trade,Development, and Nonproliferation: Multilevel Counterterrorism in Central Asia

This article was presented in its original form in October 2005 at the Conference on Central Asian Security in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. This article seeks to add to the discourse on counterterrorism by looking at the challenges posed by sub-state radicalism to development and regionalization. Specifically, adequate counterterror campaigns require addressing socioeconomic feeders of radicalism while simultaneously dealing with the threat of political violence itself. In terms of development, this means advocating increased trade volumes and export oriented growth while concurrently controlling for illicit trade (which often finances terrorist movements) and trade in strategic goods (which could serve to undermine the security of the state). The authors use the case study of Uzbekistan and Central Asian insecurity to illustrate the utility of customs modernization, border security, and export control legislation as integral components in wider counterterror campaigns. The study addresses circumstances specific to present day Central Asia but has wider implications in stymieing the relationship between “grey areas” and terrorist movements worldwide.     

“Membership in a Particular Social Group”: International Journalists and U. S. Asylum Law

At least thirty non-U.S. journalists in the last decade have argued in U.S. Courts of Appeal that U.S. immigration authorities erroneously denied their asylum applications based on persecution in their native countries. However, only about 20% of journalists were successful, mirroring the approximate national asylum success rate for all applicants. The U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act does not include journalism as a basis for asylum, but some circuit court judges have stated that reporting on systemic official corruption is inherently political and, as a result could be grounds for asylum for persecuted journalists. A 2007 opinion from the U.S. Board of Immigration Appeals defining “particular social group,” a key requirement for asylum, is examined for its application to journalists.     

Top-Down Approaches to Joined-Up Government: Examining the Unintended Consequences of Weak Implementation

Since forming part of Blair’s modernization agenda in the UK, joined-up government has become a central ambition of governments in many industrialized countries. While there continues to be an absence of core methods and principles for achieving joined-up government, consensus has emerged around the effectiveness of top down approaches. Research has found that joining must happen at multiple levels and be supported by a range of cultural and structural interventions. This article presents findings from a study into the Australian Social Inclusion Agenda and explores the long-term and unintended consequences of joined-up initiatives that take a top-down approach.     

The Food Stamp Program and Supplemental Security Income

The Food Stamp Program (FSP) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) are important parts of national public assistance policy, and there is considerable overlap in the populations that the programs serve. About half of all SSI recipients reside in FSP recipient households. This article uses Social Security administrative data and the Food Stamp Quality Control samples for federal fiscal years 2001-2006 to study the prevalence of food stamp receipt among households with SSI recipients, the contribution of FSP to household income, and the importance of various FSP features in contributing to the well-being of recipient households. The prevalence of FSP participation among households that include SSI recipients is estimated to have grown steadily over the entire 2001-2006 period, rising from 47.4 percent in 2001 to 55.6 percent in 2006. This growth has occurred across all age groups of SSI recipients. The FSP contribution to household income has grown as well. In 2001, FSP increased the income of the households of SSI/FSP recipients by 13 percent; by 2006 the increase was 16.8 percent. Almost 80 percent of the food stamp recipient households that include SSI recipients receive increased benefits because of excess housing costs. In 2006, 44 percent of SSI recipients lived in households that did not receive food stamps. Given available information, it is difficult to gauge the FSP eligibility of nonparticipating households and, therefore, to assess the potential benefit of outreach efforts. Currently available measures of FSP take-up probably overstate participation among eligible households that include SSI recipients, and there is some evidence that enhanced state promotion of the FSP raises participation among households with SSI recipients. We conclude with recommendation for review and renewal of collaboration between the Food and Nutrition Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (the agency responsible for administering the FSP) and the Social Security Administration in ensuring that eligible SSI recipients utilize FSP benefits.     

An Investigation of Normal Urine with a Creatinine Concentration Under the Cutoff of 20 mg/dL for Specimen Validity Testing in a Toxicology Laboratory,

In clinical and forensic toxicology laboratories, one commonly used method for urine specimen validity testing is creatinine concentration. In this study, workplace guidelines are examined to determine their relevance to forensic and clinical toxicology samples. Specifically, it investigates the occurrence of urine creatinine concentrations under 20 mg/dL and notes potential issues with factors influencing creatinine concentration by utilizing a simple, novel method consisting of cation‐paring high‐pressure liquid chromatography in tandem with ultraviolet detection to determine the creatinine concentration in 3019 donors. Of the 4227 sample population in this study, 209 (4.94%) were below the cutoff value of 20 mg/dL for dilute urine. Because there are many factors that can influence the urinary creatinine concentration, samples that have creatinine under the 20 mg/dL cutoff do not always implicate sample adulteration.     

What to do about stalking: a preliminary study of how stalking victims responded to stalking and their perceptions of the effectiveness of these actions☆

While stalking researchers have cataloged various strategies used by victims to deal with stalking, little research has examined whether these strategies have proven effective. Using data collected from undergraduates at a Midwestern university, we examined the effects of informal responses for victims of both violent and nonviolent stalking who responded to the stalker on their own and victims who enlisted the help of others. Findings indicated that victims who enlisted help from family and friends in their informal responses to the stalker were more successful in attenuating the effects of both violent and nonviolent stalking. Victims of stalking generally were more likely than nonvictims to feel that formal coping strategies were ineffective.     

Institutional Collective Action During COVID-19: Lessons in Local Economic Development

At this point, little is known about local government responses to the economic crisis caused by COVID-19. This crisis is happening on Main Streets around the nation. This article examines how some local governments are taking collective action in partnership with other governments as well as with organizations at the local and regional levels. What is unique is that collective action is rare as it relates to traditional economic development practices, yet it is occurring and leading to offerings of multi-institutional grants and low-interest loans. However, some newer supply- and demand-side actions are the result of a lack of resources and need for expediency. Practitioners can learn about the collaborative economic development actions that governments are taking and how these partnerships can stabilize their local economies.