AUTO THEFT Offender and Offense Characteristics

Few empirical studies describe auto thieves. The most influential and frequently cited research is that by Wittenberg and Blusterier who characterize auto theft as a “favored-group” delinquency. The findings of the present study challenge this conclusion. Although the majority of those arrested for auto theft are white. blacks are disproportionately represented; most thieves come from lower-class neighborhoods: and the distribution of juvenile thieves by fathers’ occupational status does not appear to differ from that of other delinquents. Five types of out theft are suggested; the offender and offense characteristics are empirically examined.     

CORRELATES OF PRISON DRUG USE An Evaluation of Two Conceptual Models

This study, essentially an extension of the recent work of Akers et al., represents an attempt to evaluate the utility of two theoretical paradigms in accounting for illicit drug use in a prison setting. Based on self-report data obtained from a sample of 273 adult felons who were confined in a medium security penitentiary, the analysis presented demonstrates that virtually all of those inmates who reported drug use within the prison had also used drugs prior to their confident. Thus, contrary to the implications of the “deprivation model,” but fully consistent with those of the “importation model” this particular pattern of prison behavior is clearly not a direct function of the conditions of confinement. Instead, while the structure of the prison may well influence the probability that those who have used drugs prod to con/unmet will continue to do so while in prison, drug use appears to be an example of a type of behavior within the prison which is best predicted by preprison socialization and experience.     

SHOULD ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM COMMISSIONS BE DECOMMISSIONED?

This article compares two approaches to administrative reform. The first, the traditional approach, relies on the generation of a reform blueprint by an autonomous commission made up of non-bureaucrats. The second and more recent approach relies instead on a small unit often staffed by civil servants and reporting directly to the highest political authorities. The new approach offers reformers the flexibility needed to circumvent opposition yet achieve rapid results: an advantage essential to successful reform, yet signally lacking in the traditional approach. This is amply borne out by case studies from Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The administrative reform commission may now be an obsolete instrument.     

SPECIFYING THE SES/DELINQUENCY RELATIONSHIP

Theoretical and empirical work concerning socioeconomic status (SES) and delinquency has mainly been devoted, throughout the past decade, to specifying the conditions under which SES and delinquency are likely to be highly related. Three broad categories of conditions, with 12 particular subconditions, have been hypothesized as specifiers of the SES/delinquency relationship. Here, we review the recent empirical literature as it bears on these potential specifications. The results do not support any of the conditional hypotheses about SES and delinquency, and they again challenge the idea that a negative SES/delinquency relationship is general and pervasive. Almost all of the recent research finds some condition under which SES and delinquency are significantly related, however, and several of the specification hypotheses have not been thoroughly enough investigated to permit firm conclusions about their potency. This poses a quandary for scholars trying to understand delinquent behavior. Possible responses to the situation are discussed.     

Data Protection in Britain: Governance and Learning

This article focuses upon the implementation of data protection as a learning process involving both regulators and those whose information practices are regulated. From this conceptual perspective, and using the British data protection system as an example, it describes the interactions in this process of governance within the context of factors that influence implementation and affect the achievement of policy objectives. It refers to related analytical strategies for understanding governance and learning in this rapidly changing and technologically conditioned field of regulation.