Characteristics of Abstainers from Substance Use and Antisocial in the United States

PURPOSE: Whether lifetime abstainer's antisocial behavior are maladjusted or well-adjusted is unresolved. The aim of this study was to compare abstainers (defined as persons with no lifetime use of alcohol and other drugs and non-engagement in antisocial or delinquent behavior) with non-abstainers across a range of sociodemographic and mental health characteristics in the United States. METHODS: Data were derived from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions, a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults. Structured psychiatric interviews (N = 43,093) using the Alcohol Use Disorder and Associated Disabilities Interview Schedule - DSM-IV version (AUDADIS-IV) were completed by trained lay interviewers between 2001 and 2002. RESULTS: The prevalence of abstaining was 11%. Abstainers were significantly more likely to be female, Asian and African-American, born outside the U.S., and less likely to be unemployed. Multivariate logistic regression analyses revealed that abstainers were significantly less likely to evidence lifetime mood, anxiety, or personality disorder compared to non-abstainers. CONCLUSIONS: Findings indicate that abstainers are not maladapted and are comparatively more functional than non-abstainers.     

Effects of administrative ignition interlock license restrictions on drivers with multiple alcohol offenses

This study investigated, under real-world conditions, whether a statewide 2-year administrative ignition interlock license restriction program in Maryland was effective in reducing subsequent alcohol-related traffic violations among multiple offenders and whether any reductions in recidivism could be maintained after the program ended and interlock license restrictions were removed. A total of 1,927 drivers eligible for relicensure were randomly assigned to either the 2-year interlock license restriction program or the normal and customary sanctions afforded multiple offenders in Maryland. Recidivism was defined as incurring a subsequent alcohol-impaired driving violation during the 2-year intervention or 2-year postintervention periods. Compared to the control group, participation in the interlock license restriction program reduced drivers’ hazard (or risk) of a subsequent alcohol-impaired driving offense by a statistically significant 36% during the 2-year intervention, 26% during the 2-year postintervention period, and 32% during the entire 4-year study period. This investigation of interlock program effectiveness is the first to report significantly lower recidivism among the interlock group than its control group after the ignition interlock license restriction program ended. Possible reasons for this novel finding and areas for future research are discussed.     

A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK FOR STUDYING THE SOURCES OF VARIATION IN PROGRAM EFFECTS

Evaluations of public programs in many fields reveal that different types of programs—or different versions of the same program—vary in their effectiveness. Moreover, a program that is effective for one group of people might not be effective for other groups, and a program that is effective in one set of circumstances may not be effective in other circumstances. This paper presents a conceptual framework for research on such variation in program effects and the sources of this variation. The framework is intended to help researchers—both those who focus mainly on studying program implementation and those who focus mainly on estimating program effects—see how their respective pieces fit together in a way that helps to identify factors that explain variation in program effects, and thereby support more systematic data collection. The ultimate goal of the framework is to enable researchers to offer better guidance to policymakers and program operators on the conditions and practices that are associated with larger and more positive effects.     

The IMF,austerity and the state in Latin America

The Brazilian Economic Crisis

No to Recession and Unemployment: An Examination of the Brazilian Economic Crisis. Celso Furtado, London: Third World Foundation. 1984. 77pp. £2.95pb

Impact of Islam: domestic and foreign policies of Muslim states

Faith and Power: The Politics of Islam. Edward Mortimer, London: Faber and Faber. 1982. 432pp. £10.50pb

Islam in Foreign Policy. Edited by Adeed Dawisha, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1983. 191pp. £17.50

Central American Directions

Rift and Revolution: The Central American Imbroglio. Edited by Howard J Wiarda, Washington DC: American Enterprise Institute. 1984. 392pp. $10.95

Central America: Anatomy of Conflict. Edited by Robert S Leiken, Oxford: Pergamon. 1984. 351pp. £13.95.

Inevitable Revolutions: The United States in Central America. Walter LaFeber, London: W W Norton. 1983. 357pp. £14.95.

The Long War: Dictatorship and Revolution in El Salvador. James Dunkerley, London: Junction Books. 1982. 264pp. £12.50. £5.95pb.

International Organisations: Principles and Issues. A LeRoy Bennett, Hemel Hempstead, England: Prentice‐Hall International. 1984. 498pp. £26.75

Peacekeeping in Vietnam: Canada, India, Poland and the International Commission. Ramesh Thakur, Edmonton, Canada: University of Alberta Press. 1984. 375pp. $30.00

The World's Money: International Banking from Bretton Woods to the Brink of Insolvency. Michael Moffitt, London: Michael Joseph. 1984. 284pp. £9.95

Banking on Poverty: The Global Impact of the IMF and World Bank. Edited by Jill Torrie, Toronto, Canada: Between the Lines. 1983. 336pp. $22.95. $12.95pb

The Management of the World Economy. Evan Luard, London: Macmillan. 1983. 270pp. £25.00. £7.95pb

International Money and Capitalist Crisis: The Anatomy of Global Disintegration E A Brett London: Heinemann. 1983. 271pp. £13.50

Escape from Empire: The Attlee Government and the Indian Problem. R J Moore, Oxford: Oxford University Press. 1983. 376pp. £19.50

The Multinational Corporation. Sanjaya Lall, London: Macmillan Press. 1983. 264pp. £6.95pb

The New Multinationals: The Spread of Third World Enterprises. Sanjaya Lall, Chichester, England: John Wiley. 1983. 268pp. £13.50

Poverty and Aid. Edited by J R Parkinson, Oxford: Basil Blackwell. 1983. 264pp. £19.50

State of the World 1984. Lester R Brown et al, London: W W Norton. 1984. 252pp. $15.95

Development and the Environmental Crisis: Red or Green Alternatives? Michael Redclift, London: Methuen. 1984. 149pp. £9.50. £ 4.25pb

Deepsea Mining and the Law of the Sea. A M Post, The Hague, Boston and Lancaster: Martinus Nijhoff. 1983. 358pp. np

Climate and Development. Edited by Asit K Biswas, Dublin: Tycooly International. 1984. 146pp. £16.50. £5.95pb

The Political Economy of West African Agriculture. Keith Hart, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1982. 226pp. £19.00. £7.50pb

The Trouble with Nigeria. Chinua Achebe, London: Heinemann. 1984. 68pp. £1.95

The Struggle for Africa. Mai Palmberg, London: Zed Press. 1983. 286pp. £17.95. £5.95pb

State and Class in Africa. Edited by Nelson Kasfir, London: Frank Cass. 1984. 125pp. £18.50

Underdevelopment and Agrarian Structure in Pakistan. Mahmood Hasan Khan, Lahore, Pakistan: Vanguard. 1981. 335pp. Rs150.00

Pakistan: The Political Economy of Development. Karamat Ali, Lahore, Pakistan: Vanguard. nd. 381pp. Rs175.00

Rank and Rivalry: The Politics of Inequality in Rural West Bengal. Marvin Davis, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1983. 237pp. £20.00. £7.95pb

Rural Development and the State: Contradictions and Dilemmas in Developing Countries. Edited by David M Lea and D P Chaudhri, London: Methuen. 1983. 351pp. £9.95pb

The Hong Kong Crisis. Gregor Benton, London: Pluto Press. 1983. 114pp. £3.5pb

Revolutionary Islam in Iran: Popular Liberation or Religious Dictatorship? Surdosh Irfani, London: Zed Press. 1983. 267pp. £18.95. £6.95pb

The Foreign Policy Systems of North and South Korea. Byung Chul Koh, London: University of California Press. 1984. 274pp. £22.80

The Developing Economies and Japan: Lessons in Growth. Saburo Okita, London: University of Tokyo Press. 1983. 283pp. £14.00

Arab Oil Policies in the 1970s: Opportunity and Responsibility. Yusif A Sayigh, London: Croom Helm. 1983. 271pp. £11.95

Guyana: Fraudulent Revolution. Latin America Bureau, London: Latin American Bureau. 1984. 105pp. £2.95pb

Problems of Development in Beautiful Countries: Perspectives on the Caribbean. Ransford W Palmer, Lanham, Maryland: North South Publishing Co. 1984. 91pp. $12.50

The Grenada Intervention: Analysis and Documentation. William G Gilmore, London: Mansell. 1984. 116pp. £5.95pb

O Mercado da Segurança: Ensaios sobre economia politica da defesa. Clóvis Brigagão, Rio de Janeiro: Editora Nova Fronteira. 1984. 183pp. np

Argentina: The Malvinas and the End of Military Rule. Alejandro Dabat and Luis Lorenzano, London: Verso. 1984. 206pp. £20.00. £5.95pb

A Vision of Hope: The Churches and Change in Latin America. Trevor Beeson and Jenny Pearce, London: Fount. 1984. 290pp. £2.95pb

Oil and Politics in Latin America: Nationalist Movements and State Companies. George Philip, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1982. 577pp. £37.50     

Place-Based Leadership and Public Service Innovation

This article discusses two matters that are becoming increasingly important in debates about local government: place-based leadership and public service innovation. The troubling international economic outlook means that many local authorities are focusing on ‘efficiency savings’ and the prevailing mantra in public policy circles is ‘do more with less’. This article questions this approach. It aims to contribute to what one chief executive described to us as ‘more with more’ thinking. This approach strives to release the community and business energies of a locality. If this can be achieved the total resources available to improve the local quality of life can be increased, even if state spending is shrinking. A conceptual framework for studying place-based leadership is presented. This distinguishes three, overlapping realms of leadership in any given locality – political leadership, managerial/professional leadership, and community and business leadership. It is argued that the areas of overlap between these realms can be viewed as innovation zones – spaces in which established approaches can be questioned and new trajectories developed. These zones can, however, also become conflict zones with little learning and exchange taking place. Place-based leadership can influence whether such political spaces are used to promote creative problem solving or whether they become arenas for dispute and friction between sectional perspectives. By drawing on a study of the current Digital+Green initiative in Bristol, UK, the article suggests that an imaginative approach to place-based leadership – one that accepts intelligent risk taking – offers potential for improving the local quality of life as well as strengthening local democracy.     

Addressing the legitimacy of the council-manager executive in local government

This article uses the concept of legitimacy to contribute to the debate about leadership change in local government. It focuses on the council-manager form of executive, used in Australia, Ireland, Finland, New Zealand, the US, and was an option for English local authorities in the Local Government Act 2000. After reviewing the central features, underlying values, and variations that the council-manager model displays cross-nationally, the article draws on research carried out in Stoke-on-Trent, England, a city which adopted a variant of the council-manager form. The analysis assesses the model operating there in terms of legitimacy, and argues that some of its shortcomings are addressed by the introduction of a form of decentralised, deliberative, neighbourhood governance.     

Politicians,organisations and the public ‐ the provision of gypsy sites

Under the Best Value regime, the government requires local authorities to involve the public in determining the provision of services. Indeed, the Best Value legislation provides a legal basis for consulting citizens and the local community in relation to better management of local government functions. The guidance on Best Value also encourages local authorities to place performance management within a community strategy framework. These combined actions will, it is hoped, result in more innovative, effective and efficient provision. Arguably, however, the success of increased participation will be influenced by how and why the public are involved. This study draws on case study research to ask whether involving the public does result in innovative changes and to what extent those involved are empowered through the process, concluding that success for both the authority and service users is influenced by factors such as cost structures and whether the original intent includes careful consideration of how those involved might benefit from the process.