Design for development: a review of emerging methodologies

This article reviews current methodologies for the design of development projects and identifies foundational reasons for conflict between design approaches and participatory methods. A number of alternative approaches to the design of interventions in social systems are examined, and the potential application of some of these new ideas within a visioning process that is based on communicative rationality is explored. We conclude that there are many problems to be overcome before describing a complete design methodology which moves away from the objectivist basis of existing design systems, and that the new approach will need to address power relationships and the consequent and interrelated problems of accountability and trust.     

Judicial Control of the CAC

This article both analyses the courts' decisions on applicationsfor judicial review of CAC determinations under the trade unionrecognition procedure in Schedule A1 to the Trade Union andLabour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 from 2000 to 2006and compares this body of case law with the courts' decisionsin the late 1970s and early 1980s on applications for judicialreview of both decisions of ACAS under the recognition procedurein the Employment Protection Act 1975 and decisions of the CACunder various legislative provisions in that earlier period.It suggests that there is a marked difference in judicial approachand that this reflects a difference in the policies underlyingthe legislation of the two periods, with the more radical aimsof the earlier period attracting a less sympathetic and moreinterventionist judicial response than has been evident in relationto the Schedule A1 recognition procedure.     

Fair Treatment or Preferred Outcome? The Impact of Police Behavior on Victim Reports of Domestic Violence Incidents

This research is an exploratory test of two hypotheses emerging from debates about how police behavior may influence domestic violence victim reporting. From a procedural justice perspective, victims should be more apt to report victimization when previous encounters with police are viewed as procedurally fair. From a distributive justice perspective, denying victims their preferred outcome may discourage future police utilization. We find that satisfaction with police is related to both distributive and procedural justice but that re-utilization of police is conditioned by preferred outcome. Specifically, if the offender was arrested in accordance with victim preference, the victim is significantly more apt to utilize police in the future.     

An investigation into the empirical relationship between time with peers,friendship, and delinquency

Purpose

Much of the research on peer influence has examined the relationship between peer associations and delinquency. Relatively little empirical research has addressed the effects of delinquent behavior on peer intimacy and time spent with peers. Our research attempts to fill these gaps in the literature as we hypothesize that, net of peer delinquency, delinquents spend more time with their peers but are less closely attached to their peers.

Methods

Using data from two waves of the National Youth Survey (NYS), we present two sets of regression models to account for selection bias resulting from whether respondents reported having friends. To assess the stability of our findings, we supplement our presented findings with extensive use of alternate estimation strategies.

Results

Conclusions regarding our hypotheses do not vary by estimation strategy. Delinquents spend more time with their peers, but delinquents and non-delinquents do not report differences in closeness to their peers.

Conclusions

Given our control variables, our finding introduces complexity in the causal priority between time spent with peers and delinquency. Prior delinquency may be a predictor of more time with peers, but partly as an avenue for opportunities for crime, not for the sake of friendship.     

The predictive validity of the Depression Hopelessness Suicide screening form for self-harm among prisoners

The Depression Hopelessness Suicide Screening Form (DHS) includes 12 ‘critical items’, which have not been validated for the prospective prediction of self-harm. We conducted a retrospective cohort study (N = 4196) to validate the ability of the DHS critical items to prospectively predict inmates with at least one incident of self-harm during the first six months of imprisonment. While the critical items were highly sensitive (89.5%) at predicting incidents of self-harm, 51.3% of the inmates endorsed at least one item. Five items reflecting more recent and specific risk factors reduced the referral rate to 17.7%, while maintaining high sensitivity (84.2%). While the DHS has high sensitivity to predict inmates at risk of self-harm, treating all items as equally critical results in excessive numbers of false positives that likely exceed the capacity of prison resources for professional assessment and intervention. Referral rules based on recency and specificity of risk factors are proposed.