Regional Matters: An Inter-agency Approach to Understanding Regional Issues

Whole-of-government approaches to policy development are increasingly seen as critical in developing comprehensive understanding of issues and development of policies. This article argues that cooperative approaches to using and understanding information are as important as cooperative approaches to policy development and implementation. In August 2002 the Victorian government released Regional Matters: An Atlas of Regional Victoria which was the result of whole-of-government collaboration. The publication provided a review of regional issues across a wide range of topics. This article highlights both the opportunities and challenges of a whole-of-government approach using the experience of this Regional Atlas project. This article also puts forward some lessons that may be used to enhance whole-of-government approaches to research and information provision.     

Men's attitudes toward affirmative action: Justice and intergroup relations at the crossroads

Two studies were conducted to examine some factors that may motivate support of or opposition to affirmative action programs for women. In the first study, a sample of 96 French-speaking male managers and professionals were presented with one of three versions of an affirmative action program to benefit women in blue-collar jobs. The men were asked about their endorsements and beliefs about the program described to them and (using a neosexism scale) about sex equity. Results indicate that neosexist attitudes influence support of the program presented, and articulating adherence to a merit principle in affirmative action influences perceptions of fairness. The second study evaluated reactions to an affirmative action program targeting jobs similar to those of the participants. Four conditions were designed to determine which element or combinations of elements of information presented in the first merit condition might have a stronger impact on fairness evaluations. A total of 131 francophone male managers and professionals participated in this study. Results reveal that neosexist attitudes influence level of support for the program. Both neosexism and the four conditions had an impact on evaluations of fairness.     

Public choice in private markets

He has written widely on social and economic issues.     

A comparison of the neuropsychological profiles of adult male sex offenders and non-offenders with a learning disability

Abstract

The present study compared the neumpsychologlcal pmfiles of a group of adult male sex offenden with a laming disability (n-42) with a group of adult male non-offenders with a learning disability (n-42) using the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale - Revised (1986). The groups wen matched for full-scale IQ. Thc study found that the non-offender group had significantly higher Verbal 1Q scorn than the sex offender group. No significant differences wen found for Performance IQ. The non-ofinder group was also found to have significantly hlgher scores on the Vocabulary sub-test than the sex offender group and the sex offender group was found to have significantly higher scores on the ObJecr Assembly subtest than the non-ofinder group. Finally. the sex offender group was found to have a significantly lower Verbal IQ than Performance IQ. No significant Verbal-Performance discrepancy was found for the non-offender group. Possible implications of these findings are dlscusscd.     

Up the slippery slope: Groupwork with sex offenders with a learning disability

Abstract

Techniques developed for work with sex offenders are not always applicable to or appropriate for sex offenders with a learning disability due to the cognitive and social difficulties which such individuals may have. This paper describes an attempt to adapt and combine a number of psychological and art therapy techniques in group work with sex offenders with a learning disability. The aim was to identify areas relevant in sexual offending behaviour and to adapt treatment approaches for the above client group.     

What should be done?

Francine F. Rabinovitz is professor of public administration at the University of Southern California and vice president of Hamilton, Rabinovitz and Alschuler, Inc. (HR&A), policy and management consultants, with offices in Los Angeles and New York. HR&A produced the first comprehensive study of the homeless in the Skid Row area of Los Angeles, The Changing Face of Misery: Los Angeles’s Skid Row Area in Transition.That study was adjudged one of the two best quality analyses of the homeless mentally ill population in the nation to date by the U.S. General Accounting Office in 1988.