Citizenship status and arrest patterns in the United States: evidence from the arrestee drug abuse monitoring program

The purpose of the study was to estimate associations between citizenship status and arrest for crimes among male arrestees. The primary hypothesis was that citizenship status (a rough proxy for immigration) has significant effects on arrest for violent personal crimes, property crimes, and four other selected offenses. Data were derived from the Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (ADAM) Program for the years 2000 through 2002 inclusive. Our sample comprised male arrestees only. Logistic regression models were fitted to the data to estimate the citizenship status-crime relationship. Results showed no significant association between citizenship status and arrest for violent crimes. Non-citizens were 15% less likely than citizens to be arrested for property crimes; they were also less likely to be arrested for weapons offenses and drug offenses. Non-citizens were much less likely to test positive on NIDA-5 drugs than citizens. Non-citizens were, however, 50% more likely than citizens to be arrested for forgery/counterfeiting. It was concluded that public perceptions about the relationship of citizenship status to criminal behavior may be exaggerated and may not be borne out by empirical evidence. Limitations of the study are pointed out, including the fact that in the ADAM data, naturalized immigrants are lumped together with native born citizens.     

Intraobserver Error in Macromorphoscopic Trait Data, ,

As part of a much larger investigation into the use of macromorphoscopic trait data by forensic anthropologists to estimate ancestry from unidentified skeletal remains, we conducted a fourteen‐year (2002–2016) intraobserver error study. Motivated by the development of a large macromorphoscopic database―which will potentially utilize data collected in 2002―quantification of observer error, the impact of technological improvements in macromorphoscopic trait data collection and observer experience is necessary. To maximize comparisons between the two samples, ten macromorphoscopic traits were assessed. Results revealed three patterns of error relating to observer experience, the introduction of new technologies, and error inherent in the method. Overall, this study found the effect of error on macromorphoscopic trait analysis could be predicted and did not significantly impact their utility.     

Diagnosing Crime and Diagnosing Disease‐II: Visual Pattern Perception and Diagnostic Accuracy

Previously, we reviewed how general cognitive processes might be susceptible to bias across both forensic and clinical fields, and how interdisciplinary comparisons could reduce error. We discuss several examples of clinical tasks which are heavily dependent on visual processing, comparing them to eyewitness identification (EI). We review the “constructive” nature of visual processing, and how contextual factors influence both medical experts and witnesses in decision making and recall. Overall, studies suggest common cognitive factors uniting these visual tasks, in both their strengths and shortcomings. Recently forensic sciences have advocated reducing errors by identifying and controlling nonrelevant information. Such efforts could effectively assist medical diagnosis. We suggest potential remedies for cognitive bias in these tasks. These can generalize across the clinical and forensic domains, including controlling the sequencing of contextual factors. One solution is an agnostic primary reading before incorporation of a complete history and interpretation.     

The Future of FOIA: Course Corrections for the Digital Age

After the fiftieth anniversary of the Freedom of Information Act in 2016, criticism of the law is considerable. FOIA has failed to live up to its initial promise of peeling back the layers that too often shroud the federal government in secrecy, frustrating the news media’s efforts to contribute to an informed electorate. Issues with response rates, unorganized systems and subjective interpretations of the act’s exemptions are not uncommon. This article utilizes data gathered from 2008 to 2015 that indicate that across multiple metrics, FOIA has increasingly failed to provide records to requesting parties. The trends suggest that significant overhaul is necessary. Rather than prescribing more amendments that are little more than Band-Aids on a withering dinosaur, this article concludes with a detailed set of recommendations – highlighted by a crowd-sourced request database – that move far from FOIA’s original paper-based model that still rests at its analog core.     

An approach to minimizing legal and reputational risk in Red Team hacking exercises

Robust cyber-resilience depends on sound technical controls and testing of those controls in combination with rigorous cyber-security policies and practices. Increasingly, corporations and other organizations are seeking to test all of these, using methods more sophisticated than mere network penetration testing or other technical audit operations. More sophisticated organizations are also conducting so-called “Red Team” exercises, in which the organization tasks a small team of highly skilled and trained individuals to try to gain unauthorized access to physical and logical company assets and information. While such operations can have real value, they must be planned and conducted with great care in order to avoid violating the law or creating undue risk and reputational harm to the organization. This article explores these sometimes tricky issues, and offers practical risk-based guidance for organizations contemplating these types of exercises.     

Book reviews

Sphinx and Commissar: the rise and fall of Soviet influence in the Arab world. Mohamed Heikal, London: Collins. 1978. 303 pp. £6.95.

Soviet Involvement in the Middle East: policy formulation 1966–1973. Ilana Kass, Folkestone, England: Dawson. 1978. 273 pp. £11.00.

The Limits to Power: Soviet policy in the Middle East. Edited by Yaacov Ro'i, London: Croom Helm. 1979. 376 pp. £10.95.

In the Direction of the Persian Gulf: the Soviet Union and the Persian Gulf. A Yodfat and M Abir, London: Frank Cass. 1977. 167 pp. £8.95.

Moral Claims in World Affairs. Edited by Ralph Pettman, London: Croom Helm. 1979. 199 pp. £8.50.

The United Nations: how it works and what it does. Evan Luard, London: Macmillan. 1979. 187 pp. £8.95.

The International Politics of the Nigerian Civil War, 1967–1970. John J Stremlau, Princeton University Press. 1977. 425 pp. £16.70. £6.25 pb.

The Arms Trade and International Systems. Robert E Harkavy, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Ballinger (distributed in the UK by John Wiley).

1975. 288 pp. £11.60.

The Terrorism Reader. Edited by Walter Laqueur, London: Wildwood House. 1979. 291 pp. £7.50.

International Terrorism in the Contemporary World. Edited by Marius H. Livingston et al, London: Greenwood Press. 1978. 522 pp. £24.50.

Cities of Peasants: the political economy of urbanisation in the Third World. Bryan Roberts, London: Edward Arnold. 1978. 207 pp. £4.50pb.

Shelter Provision in the Developing Countries: the influence of standards and criteria. A L Mabogunje, J E Hardoy and R P Misra Chichester, England: John Wiley. 1978. 94 pp. £4.75 pb.

Independence Documents of the World. Edited by A P Blaustein et al. Dobbs Ferry, New York: Oceana Publications/Leyden: A W Sijthoff. 1977. 2 Vols. 800 pp. $75.00.

Asia's Nuclear Future. Edited by William H Overholt, Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press. 1978. 285 pp. £11.75.

Commodity Agreements and Price Stabilisation. David McNicol, Lexington, Massachusetts: D C Heath. 1978. 335 pp. £10.00.

Stabilising World Commodity Markets. F Gerald Adams and Sonia A Klein, Lexington, Massachusetts: D C Heath. 1978. 335 pp. £17.50.

National Interests and Presidential Leadership: the setting of priorities. Donald E Nuechterlein, Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press (Distributed in the UK by Ernest Benn). 1978. 246 pp. £12.50.

Economics: an introduction to traditional and radical views. E K Hunt and H J Sherman, New York: Harper & Row. 1978. 617 pp. £5.95 pb.

The Alternative in Eastern Europe. Rudolf Bahro (translated by David Fernbach) London: New Left Books. 1978. 463 pp. £9.50.

Africa's International Relations: the diplomacy of dependency and change. Ali A Mazrui, London: Heinemann. 1977. 324 pp. £8.50.

The Foreign Polices of African States.. Edited by Olajide Aluko. London: Hodder & Stoughton. 1977. 249 pp. £4.50.

Drought in Africa 2. Edited by David Dalby et al, London: International African Institute. 1977. 200 pp. £5.00.

Landuse and Development. Edited by Phil O'Keefe and Ben Wisner, London: International African Institute. 1977. 232 pp. £5.25.

The Cyprus Revolt. Nancy Crawshaw, London: Allen & Unwin. 1978. 396 pp. £12.50.

Southeast Asian Transitions: approaches through social history. Edited by Ruth T McVey, Yale University Press. 1978. 242 pp. £12.60.

Elite Politics in an Ideological State: the case of Pakistan. Asaf Hussain, London: Dawson. 1979. 212 pp. £9.00.

Politics and Government in Malaysia. R S Milne and Diane K Mauzy. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press. 1978. 406 pp.

Towards Total Revolution: the writings and speeches of Jayaprakash Narayan. Edited by Brahmanand, Richmond, England: Richmond Publishing. 1978. Vols I‐IV. 1145 pp. £35.95.

India: population, economy, society. R H Cassen, London: Macmillan. 1978. 419 pp. £10.00.

Experiments in Family Planning: lessons from the developing world. R Cuca and C S Pierce, London: John Hopkins University Press. 1977. 261 pp. £2.50 pb.

Militarism in Modern China: the career of Wu P'ei‐fu, 1916–1939. Odoric Y K Wou. Canberra: Australian National University Press (distributed in the UK by Dawson). 1978. 346 pp. £12.50.

China's Economy: a basic guide. Christopher Howe, London: Paul Elek. 1978. 248 pp. £7.50.

China and Japan 1949–1976. R K Jain, New Delhi: Radiant Publishers (distributed in the UK by Martin Robertson). 1977. 336 pp. £10.50.

Finding a Voice: Asian women in Britain. Amrit Wilson, London: Virago. 1978. 179 pp. £2.50.

Role of Rural Women in Development. Report of an international seminar held at the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, 5 January‐10 February 1977. Edited by Vira Mazumdar, Delhi: Indian Council of Social Science Research. 1978. 125 pp. £3.00.

International Perspectives in Rural Sociology. Edited by Howard Newby, Chichester, England: John Wiley. 1978. 220pp. £10.95.     

Airbnb,technological change and disruption in Barbadian tourism: a theoretical framework

This paper focuses on how Airbnb, an internet platform which has created the possibility for mass participation in the tourism market, is resulting in class conflict between new entrants and the ‘traditional’ tourism industry. Specifically, it studies how traditional tourism interests in Barbados have responded to Airbnb by seeking to restrict participation in the industry and presents this as a microcosm of broader class transitions and conflicts associated with new technologies. The paper utilises a Marxist theoretical perspective buttressed by Joseph Schumpeter’s theory of ‘creative destruction’ – places emphasis on the process of destroying productive systems to understand how specific industries expand and survive – and Clayton Christensen’s notion of ‘disruptive innovation’ – a process by which a disruptive product transforms a market – for studying how transformations in technology are impacting the tourism industry in Barbados. Its aim is to provide an account of how the process of disruption is unfolding in Barbados by highlighting the reactions of the main hotel lobby group to Airbnb, while also applying the ideas of Marx, Schumpeter and Christensen as useful theoretical lenses through which to examine the unfolding of the process of disruption of settled class and historical control of a dominant economic sector by new technologies.     

Leadership Styles,Workplace Politics and Moral Identity of Ugandan Public Procurement Staff

The study predicts the moral identity of Ugandan public procurement staff using situational factors like leadership styles, social interactions, organizational politics and personal isomorphism, largely ignored in documented empirical literature. This study builds upon previous studies which assert that much remains to be learned about moral identity. Data were collected from staff handling the public procurement function in 105 randomly selected procuring and disposing entities (PDEs). Data relating to the study constructs were collected using self-administered questionnaires and an interview guide. The study established that workplace factors singularly and/or interactively predict moral identity of procurement staff in PDEs in Uganda. These findings have both policy and managerial implications which we discuss and present in this article.     

The Correlates of Local Government Responsiveness Under Decentralization: Do Performance Ratings Matter in the Philippines?

To improve local service delivery under decentralization, performance ratings are often introduced. In this article, performance ratings and other correlates of the citizens’ assessment of the responsiveness of their local governments are investigated with a regression analysis of survey data collected during the pilot test of a performance rating scheme in 12 Philippine cities and municipalities in 2001–2003. The local governments in the eight sites where the ratings were announced are assessed less responsive by their own constituents than those in the four control areas by theirs. Possibly, the citizens exposed to the ratings expected better performances from their officials.