An experimental evaluation of teen courts

Teen Court (TC) is a juvenile diversion program designed to prevent the formal processing of first-time juvenile offenders within the juvenile justice system. TC instead utilizes informal processing and sanctions in order to prevent future offending. Despite its widespread popularity throughout the United States of America, little rigorous research has been conducted on the effectiveness of the TC model for reducing recidivism. Using an experimental design, this study examined the effectiveness of TC in reducing recidivism and improving the attitudes and opinions of juvenile offenders in comparison with a control group of youth who were formally processed. Self-reported delinquency was higher for those youth who participated in TC. TC youth were also found to have significantly lower scores on a scale of belief in conventional rules than had youth who were processed in the Department of Juveniles Services. Implications of these findings are discussed.

Soft Power: A Comparison of Discourse and Practice in Russia and China

This article compares soft power as a normative and operational construct in the Russian and Chinese political context. I examine Russian and Chinese discourse on soft power as well as the efforts of the Kremlin and Beijing to devise programmes for its implementation. I then compare and evaluate the similarities and differences in Russian and Chinese soft power strategy. The similarities between the two states indicate their joint status as authoritarian regimes with a Marxist–Leninist heritage. The differences can be attributed to their vastly disparate economic circumstances, but also to historical, social, and political factors that influence soft power policies.     

Guilty Property: A quantitative analysis of civil asset forfeiture

The objective of this article is to explore how property seized under the federal civil-judicial forfeiture laws for drug law violations is proceeded against by the government. The methodology is primarily exploratory. A sample of federal civil-judicial drug forfeiture cases is described and then analyzed in regard to the relative importance of the cases’ characteristics. The findings raise serious questions about the use of this policy and the government’s intent behind forfeiture. Implications and suggestions for future research are also presented.     

Personality differences between police and fire applicants

An increasingly common administrative policy is to combine police and fire departments into one collective unit titled something such as “Department of Public Safery”. However, in order to make such a combination, job incumbents must be able to perform the duties of both a patrolperson and a firefighter. Thus a combination of police and fire departments assumes that police and fire applicants are similar in skills, abilities, and personality characteristics. The purpose of the present study was to determine if police and fire applicants were similar in terms of personality. The results indicated that there were significant personality differences between police and fire applicants. These differences were discussed in terms of the policy of combining police and fire departments.     

Analyzing factors influencing readmission to a battered women's shelter

Factors that distinguished first admission and readmission to an emergency woman's shelter were examined using discriminant function analysis. Records from 563 women who were residents were analyzed. Results suggest that source of income, number and developmental stage of children, and prior history of physical assault are precursors of readmissions. This study was discussed in terms of improving follow-up services to former residents of emergency shelters.