Evaluating the benefits and costs of the job corps

Social programs have a wide variety of effects and often have the explicit objective of improving the economic status of the people they serve. In order to be useful to policymakers, benefit—cost analysis of social programs should explicitly take account of these two important program features. The approach used in this analysis of the benefits and costs of the Job Corps does this and provides a useful methodology for evaluating other social programs. According to the analysis, the program has substantial net value for society as a whole as well as for the average Corpsmember.     

Determination of the predictive validity of the assessment center approach to selecting police managers

In recent years, assessment centers have become an increasingly popular approach to selecting and promoting police managers. Yet few empirical studies have been conducted on the validity of these assessment centers. The intent of this investigation was to conduct one of the first criterion-related validity studies of an assessment center in law enforcement. Findings indicate that this center was capable of differentiating between effective and ineffective managerial performance, as measured by a follow-up evaluation of performance two years later. The study also revealed that the dimensions of communication skills and interpersonal skills were the major determinants of assessment ratings. In addition, a closer analysis of the conduct of the assessment center suggests that its effectiveness cannot be attributed to the commonly cited assessment factors contributing to the success of assessment centers in the private sector.     

Book reviews

Gilles Deleuze and the Question of Philosophy PHILIP GOODCHILD London: Associated University Presses, 1996

Baudelaire and Schizoanalysis: The Sociopoetics of Modernism EUGENE HOLLAND Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1993

Australian Television and International Mediascapes STUART CUNNINGHAM & ELIZABETH JACKA Melbourne: Cambridge University Press, 1996

Sociolingwistics and Language History: Studies based on the Corpus of Early English Correspondence TERTTU NEVALAINEN & HELENA RAUMOLIN‐BRUNBERG (Eds) Language and Computers: Studies in Practical Linguistics No 15, Amsterdam/Atlanta., GA: Rodopi, 1996

Fear of the Dark. ‘Race’, Gender and Sexuality in the Cinema LOLA YOUNG London and New York: Routledge, 1996

Deleuze: A Critical Reader PAUL PATTON (Ed.) Oxford: Blackwell, 1996

A Guattari Reader GARY GENOSKO (Ed.) Oxford: Blackwell, 1996

Counterworks. Managing the Diversity of Knowledge R. FARDON (Ed.) London: Routledge, 1995     

Russia,NMD and the ABM treaty: The dangers of American unilateralism

In order to consolidate its strategic bilateral relations developed in Africa over the past 14 years, South Africa must choose five key ‘hubs’ (regional powers) in each of Africa's five sub-regions. In addition, South Africa should pick two additional ‘spokes’ (influential actors) in each sub-region. These 15 strategic partners can increase South Africa's engagement on the continent in the areas of diplomacy, conflict management, and trade relations. South Africa's bilateral relations would thus resemble a gigantic bicycle, with five hubs and ten spokes. The five hubs are Mozambique, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, and Algeria. The ten spokes would be Zimbabwe, Angola, Burundi, Rwanda, Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire, Sudan, Tanzania, Egypt and Libya. It is around these countries that South Africa can build solid strategic bilateral relationships in Africa.