Combating crime and citizen attitudes: A study of the corresponding reality

The effectiveness of crime deterrence projects such as increased street lighting in ghetto environments has been questioned. The present study not only examines whether increased street lighting in fact reduces crime, but also investigates the attitudes towards local government of citizens who live within that particular environment. The findings illustrate that it would be advisable for governments to address citizen attitudes before undertaking certain crime prevention projects.     

Urban Regimes, Sports Stadiums, and the Politics of Economic Development Agendas in Chicago

Sports issues have increasingly become prominent items on the urban policy agenda. Most demands for sports-related policies have been woven into the general fabric of economic development in the community. in this article, the authors examine the issues surrounding sports stadium development in Chicago from 1985–90. An urban regime framework, based on the notion of governing coalitions, is used to analyze the incorporation of stadiums into Chicago's policy agenda during these years. The article is instructive of the way in which progressive city administrations have used the regime to mediate corporate demands for the often intangible benefits of sports.     

Changing men who batter: A developmental model for integrated interventions

Kohlberg's theory of moral development is adopted to explain the change process of men who batter their wives and offer a rationale for implementing interventions. The theory presents six successive stages of development. The modality of an intervention, therefore, needs to be suited to the stage specific reasoning processes. Moreover, a sequence of integrated interventions is warranted to promote this change process in batterers, rather than only short-term deterrence or counseling programs.     

Temporal regularities in homicide: Cycles,seasons, and autoregression

It has long been assumed that there exists a relationship between crime (including homicide) and season. After discussing three analytic approaches to this problem (looking for seasonality, a general autoregressive process, and cycles), we review the literature and show that confusing and conflicting findings have been reported about the temporal regularities of homicide. Employing monthly data from the Supplementary Homicide Reports (1976–1989), we find evidence for seasonality, autoregression, and cyclicality of homicide. Our modeling approaches clarify the previous conflicting research; implications for theory and future research are discussed.The data utilized in this study were made available by the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research. The data originally were collected by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Neither the collector of the original data nor the Consortium bears any responsibility for the analyses or interpretations presented here. The authors contributed equally to this article.     

Overcoming Weak Entrepreneurial Infrastructures for Academic Spin-Off Ventures

We discuss the characteristics of academic “spin-off policies” in environments outside of high tech clusters and where technology transfer and entrepreneurship infrastructures have been weak. We explore whether the policies could explain the lack of growth potential of spin-off ventures that have repeatedly observed. We studied the case of Belgium, gathering data from nine of spin-off policies in the eight largest academic institutions and in 47 firms. We propose that spin-off policies in academic institutions significantly affect the growth potential of ventures.     

Adult children of alcoholics: An exploration of Axis II disorders and replicated dysfunctional family patterns

This study examined Axis II personality disorders and replicated dysfunctional family patterns in adult children of alcoholics (ACAs). Parental and spousal confirming and disconfirming communication patterns, and replicated physical, sexual, and emotional abuses were explored. Sixty ACAs were assessed using structured clinical interviews and self-report measures. Sixty-five percent met DSM-IIIR criteria for one or more Axis II disorders. Failure to feel confirmed (valued) by one's alcoholic parent was significantly associated with ACA Axis II disorders and alcohol abuse. Significant relationships between physical and sexual abuses and Axis II pathology were found. Replication of childhood abuse and dysfunctional communication was also noted.