The Family Support Act of 1988: Federalism, Developmental Policy, and Welfare Reform

Revising the usual distinction between developmental and redistributivepolicies, I suggest that state and federal governments eachseek programs they believe will help them gain their developmentalgoals. But there is little consensus on the types of welfareprograms that actually do create economic development. Stateand federal participants in welfare reform consequently promotethe kind of federal arrangements that are likely to producethe policies they favor. The developmental politics of the FamilySupport Act of 1988 are shown through five main reform issues:child support; national minimum benefits; transitional benefits;welfare for families having both parents present; and education,training, and employment programs.     

The Chinese laundry: International drug trafficking and Hong Kong's banking industry

Hong Kong — Britain's Crown Colony in Asia — is reputed to be one of the world's leading centers for the laundering¹ of drug money. Located on the southeast coast of China, Hong Kong is not far from the Golden Triangle in Burma, Laos and Thailand, the source of much of the world's heroin supply. Ethnic Chinese criminal organizations based in Hong Kong and elsewhere have long been involved in the refining, transporting and financing of Southeast Asian heroin. With its bank secrecy laws, its large and sophisticated international banking industry, and its complete absence of currency exchange controls, Hong Kong has all of the necessary components of a modern financial secrecy jurisdiction. It is alleged that billions of dollars are being washed in Hong Kong by both local and overseas drug traffickers, to be reinvested eventually throughout the world. Hong Kong government officials deny the allegation, and cite other reasons to account for the vast sums of U.S. currency that are being repatriated to the West Coast. This paper examines critically the arguments for both positions.     

The USSR State budget under late stalinism (1945–55): Capital formation,government borrowing and monetary growth

This paper examines the contribution of government finance to the macroeconomic balance of the Soviet economy in the years of postwar reconstruction, late Stalinism and the immediate aftermath of Stalin's death. Different concepts of budget balance are considered. Various balances of the USSR State budget are estimated, including the unreported contributions of revenues from foreign trade and of monetary expansion. The influences of the budget upon monetary expansion, macroeconomic equilibrium and capital formation are analysed.     

Police use of excessive force: Does the race of the suspect influence citizens' perceptions?

Instances of excessive force by police officers, most notably the Rodney King incident in Los Angeles and the Malice Green fatality in Detroit, suggest that the race of the suspect may influence the decision to use excessive force. If police practices are simply a reflection of the expectations of larger society, then it follows that citizens' evaluations of police brutality toward minorities might reflect this sentiment. As part of a larger study focusing on the exploration of police misconduct, a telephone survey containing 16 vignettes was developed, each vignette described a separate type of misconduct in which a hypothetical officer was involved. Of these 16 vignettes, 3 described the misconduct of excessive force and are analyzed for the present study. A random sample of 992 Ohio citizens were surveyed. The hypothesis that citizens in general assign significantly lower seriousness scores to excessive force on African Americans and Hispanics than on whites was tested. Our hypothesis was not supported. Instead, we found evidence to suggest that the behavior of the suspect during the arrest and the behavior of the police officer are much more significant correlates of citizens' perceptions of police use of excessive force than is the race of the suspect.     

Cognitive-behavioral group treatment for male spouse abusers

Two studies evaluating cognitive-behavioral treatment programs for male spouse abusers are reported.³ Both programs resulted in significant reductions in both indirect and direct threats of violence and direct and severe violence towards spouses. Study 1 identified reduced levels of guilt proneness and increased levels of group conformity as a result of the intervention program. In addition, changes in attitudes toward love were noted from pre- to post-test indicating greater physical attraction, intensity of emotion, and commitment to the lover. Changes were maintained at a six month follow-up. Study 2 evaluated a modified cognitive-behavioral treatment formal that focused more on communication, problem-solving, and sexual attitudes and practices. All levels of violence were significantly reduced and changes in endorsement of sexual attitudes were noted. In addition, males showed lower levels of passive-aggressiveness and increasing levels of narcissism as a function of treatment. Implications for program development and research are discussed.