Participation and accountability in development management

This article critically reviews the role of participatory theory in managing development projects and programmes in poor countries. Participation has emerged in response to global demands for greater individual and social control over the activities of state and private agencies, and especially to the manifest failures of traditional ‘top-down’ management systems in LDCs. Claims made on behalf of these participatory methodologies are critically reviewed and a distinction is drawn between strong and weak versions of the theory. Empirical evidence is then considered to evaluate the effectiveness of these methodologies, using long-standing insights of social science theory to show that participation can succeed for specific kinds of projects and programmes in favourable circumstances, but is unsuitable for many others. It commonly fails in contexts where local conditions make co-operative and collective action very difficult, or where it is manipulated by implementing agencies to justify their own actions or poor performance.     

Psychosocial Contributors to Delinquent Decision Making: Toward a Conceptual Framework for Adolescent Female Offending

The integration of psychosocial characteristics that play a critical role in delinquent decision making is crucial to conceptualizing adolescent female offending. This study found that adolescent female offenders (N = 213), despite making a delinquent decision, had high perceived decision-making competence. There was a significant negative association between delinquent decision making and the psychosocial characteristics of anger, substance abuse, and depression. This association was stronger for those with more exposure to trauma. Substance abuse appeared to provide a pathway between psychosocial characteristics and delinquent decision making. The results emphasize the fact that a conceptual framework for adolescent female offending should incorporate the complex interaction of psychosocial characteristics and their impact on delinquent decision making.     

Overcoming the Original Sin of the “Original Condition:” How Reparations May Contribute to Emancipatory Peacebuilding

This short article explores the relationship between transitional justice mechanisms and peacebuilding by analysing the role that reparations may play in transforming or deepening conflict. Research seeks to identify potential components of an emancipatory approach to peacebuilding through the prioritisation of ‘transformative reparations’ processes, framing this proposal within the case study of collective reparations to the trade union movement in Colombia.     

Alligator attacks in southwest Florida

The American alligator inhabits bodies of fresh water in Florida and other southeastern states. Although attacks on pets are frequent, alligator attacks on humans are relatively rare because of the animal's natural fear of man. Because of the rarity of attacks on humans, the pathologic findings and pathophysiology of death in such cases have not been well characterized in the literature. We report three cases of fatal alligator attacks that occurred in southwest Florida, each with different pathologic findings and mechanisms of death. Although the cause of death in each case was attributed to the alligator attack, the mechanisms of death differed and included exsanguination because of amputation of an extremity, overwhelming sepsis, and drowning. These cases illustrate the varied pathophysiologies associated with deaths due to alligator attacks on humans and the features that distinguish alligator bites from those of other aquatic predators.     

Do Metropolitan Special Districts Reinforce Sociospatial Inequalities? A Study of Sewerage and Technical Education in Milwaukee County

Public choice scholars state that federal systems are more responsiveand efficient than unified ones. In addition, through overlappingunits, federal systems provide a measure of interjurisdiclionalequity. This research addresses the equity claim and extendsthe testing of it beyond previously-examined federal, state,and county role! to the unexamined role of metropolitan districtsthat overlap cities and suburbs. Services provided by the MetropolitanMilwaukee Sewerage Qistricl and the Milwaukee Area TechnicalCollege are found to be disparity-reducing between the Cityof Milwaukee and its suburbs.