Need,justice and central–local relations: The case of social assistance in China

Social assistance is increasingly promoted as a means of tackling poverty. However, in established democracies stable delivery has often proved difficult because of tensions between national and local government, the former desiring comprehensiveness and uniformity, the latter requiring flexibility to meet local needs. These issues are explored in the context of China and Dibao, the world's largest social assistance system, with three questions posed: Do similar tensions exist in China as in the Western world? How are they resolved and what is the nature of the political compromise? How do recipients fare? Policy analysis in a village in south‐central China reveals similar tensions. A regime in which local government employed discretion to prioritize social stability over poverty alleviation has been replaced by an inherently unstable system based on surveillance of officials and local cadres who now prioritize their personal security over the needs of applicants.     

Elections as Focusing Events: Explaining Attitudes Toward the Police and the Government in Comparative Perspective

Traditional views hold that citizens' attitudes toward the police are driven by local concerns. We contend that public attitudes toward the police are responsive to systematic and periodic national-level political factors. In particular, we show that national elections as a focusing event alter periodically the determinants of attitudes toward the police. Using a logistic regression model and diachronic data from Costa Rica, Mexico, and the United States, we find that attitudes toward the police and the national government are linked, and this linkage is responsive to the influence of national election campaigns in varying degrees. In addition, we find that attitudes toward the Mexican police are sensitive to partisan changes in the composition of the national political government. We find no such sensitivity in the police attitudes of Costa Rican and U.S. citizens. This suggests that police attitudes are not only affected by the performance of the national political government but also by the character (consolidated versus unconsolidated) of the national political government. In short, police attitudes in new democracies are an indication of the unconsolidated nature of the state apparatus.     

Anarcho-cosmopolitanism: The Universalisation of the Equal Exchange

This paper concerns itself with the values which make up what has been labelled “ethical cosmopolitanism”—that which entails a universal scope of ethical concern. Conceptions of this ethic have underpinned the development of a “global civil society” and associated humanitarian and activist campaigns. However, such cosmopolitan campaigns have illustrated the ways in which the dismissals of difference and importance of embeddedness have caused suffering to the supposed beneficiaries of such campaigns. This is because of the unrecognised power relations that exist between moral agents, which result in “unequal exchanges”, that is, the exchange of physical, material and mental resources from positions of unequal negotiating positions, driven by power differentials and hierarchy. A theory of the “equal exchange” is developed upon which to base alternative cosmopolitan practices. Such a theory is grounded in Anarchist thought, which, it is argued, provides the most stringent philosophical underpinning for such a cosmopolitan theory.     

Development of a Marketing Campaign to Recruit Non-adjudicated and Untreated Abusive Men for a Brief Telephone Intervention

Although voluntary enrollment by abusive men in domestic violence perpetrator treatment programs occurs, most men enter treatment only after they have injured a partner or family member and have been arrested, convicted and sentenced. This leaves a serious gap for those who engage in abusive behavior but who have not been served by the legal or social service systems. To address this gap, the researchers applied social marketing principles to recruit abusive men to a telephone-delivered pre-treatment intervention (the Men’s Domestic Abuse Check-Up—MDACU), designed to motivate non-adjudicated and untreated abusive men who are concurrently using alcohol and drugs to enter treatment voluntarily. This article discusses recruitment efforts in reaching perpetrators of intimate partner violence, an underserved population. Informed by McGuire’s communication and persuasion matrix, the researchers describe three phases of the MDACU’s marketing campaign: (1) planning, (2) early implementation, and (3) revision of marketing strategies based on initial results. The researchers’ “lessons learned” conclude the paper. This project is supported by a grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, 1 RO1 DA017873.     

Fax machines and social surveys: Teaching an old dog new tricks

Fax machines offer solutions to many of the disadvantages associated with other methods of administering surveys. Faxes are faster than mail methods, offer more control than personal interviews, and require fewer resources than phone surveys. Fax surveys are not without their drawbacks, however. This research note examines the issues that surround this technique of conducting such a survey and considers its suitability as a survey method of the future.     

A Critical Review of the Psychometric Evidence Base of the Child Abuse Potential Inventory

Screening for potential child abuse is an essential component of work in many child and family services. The Child Abuse Potential inventory (CAP; Milner 1986) is one measure developed to help in this task. The primary aim of this review is to critically evaluate studies reporting psychometric information of the CAP. A previous paper by Milner (Clinical Psychology Review 14(6): 547–583 1994) reviewed studies evaluating the psychometric properties of the measure up to 1994. Since then over 100 articles have been published that consider the measurement properties of this tool. This review considers 27 papers published since Milner’s (Clinical Psychology Review 14(6): 547–583 1994) review that clarify previous findings in relation to specific psychometric properties of the CAP. In particular, this review focuses on studies that provide information on the cross-cultural validity of the CAP, on the internal consistency of the CAP measure as a whole and its subscales, or on sensitivity and specificity classification rates. Studies providing information on the differential validity of the CAP (using at least two differentiated sample groups) or the efficacy of the CAP to identify change are also considered. Published evidence suggests that the CAP can help assess for a range of difficulties associated with increased risk for physical child abuse. The CAP scales have shown good internal consistency estimates across sample groups and cultures, with similar underlying themes for CAP factors reported for the different cultures studied. The differential validity of the CAP has also been shown, although sensitivity and specificity classification rates have varied. The CAP appears able to indicate some degree of pre—to post-intervention change, although further investigation is required to clarify what changes in CAP scores actually reflect. Further investigation of this measure in other countries is also required.