The goals of community-based corrections: An analysis of state legal codes

The increased reliance on community-based correctional programs has been influenced by rising offender populations and the need for states to lessen prison crowding. The ability of community-based corrections to provide rehabilitation, punishment, reintegration, and counseling services has been an issue among both researchers and administrators. Some researchers have asserted that community-based correctional programs have multiple or competing functions. This study examines 1992 legal codes for all fifty states to determine the legally prescribed goals as mandated by state legislatures. The findings suggest that rehabilitation is the primary legislatively mandated goal, and that most states have multiple purposes for handling offenders in the community. Suggestions for future research in the area of community-based corrections goals are made.     

Globalization: An Ascendant Paradigm?

International Studies is on the cusp of a debate between para-keepers , observers who are steadfast about maintaining the prevailing paradigms and deny that globalization offers a fresh way of thinking about the world, and para-makers , who bring into question what they regard as outmoded categories and claim to have shifted to an innovatory paradigm. This distinction is a heuristic that allows for various gradations and dynamic interactions between the keepers and the makers. It helps to identify anomalies in and discomfort with International Studies. Partly as a response to these problems, globalization studies has evolved and may be tentatively delimited by a distinct set of characteristics. But, in the near term, there is no looming Kuhnian crisis in the sense of an impending overthrow that would quickly sweep away reigning paradigms. Given that systematic research on globalization is only slightly more than a decade in the making, it is most likely that International Studies has entered an interregnum between the old and the new. At this time, as a paradigm, globalization is more of a potential than a worked-out framework. It may be best understood as a proto-paradigm.     

Utility of the minnesota multiphasic personality inventory personality disorder scales with adolescent psychiatric inpatients

Personality disorders play an important role in the treatment of many adult psychiatric disorders. Current research has begun to examine the role of personality disorders in adolescent psychopathology. Unfortunately, there is limited research available to document the reliability and validity of personality disorder assessment measures for use with adolescent psychiatric patients. The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) Personality Disorder Scales have shown adequate psychometric properties with adult samples, but have not been tested using adolescents. The present study was designed to examine the utility of the MMPI Personality Disorder Scales with 217 adolescent psychiatric inpatients. A multivariate analysis of variance revealed males scored significantly higher than females on the schizoid, narcissistic, and antisocial scales, a pattern that has been found in adult psychiatric patients. Also, the MMPI Personality Disorder Scales correlated in patterns consistent with research on adult samples. In addition, the MMPI Personality Disorder Scales were meaningfully correlated with the Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire. However, factor analysis revealed a different factor structure than that found with adults. The similarities between adolescent and adult data suggest that the assessment of personality disorders in adolescents may provide useful clinical information on the development of personality disorders.This article was presented at the American Psychological Association Convention, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, August 1993. The research was funded in part by a grant from the Charles Reiley Armington Foundation for Values in Children.Received M.A. from Case Western Reserve University. Her major research interests are in the areas of depression and personality disorders.Received Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the Ohio State University in 1986. Completed his predoctoral internship and postdoctoral fellowship at the Brown University Program in Medicine, Providence, Rhode Island. Actively involved in research on risk factors for suicide in adolescents and adults. Has published empirical studies, theoretical papers, and treatment guidelines related to suicide and its risk factors.Received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio. His major research interests include depression, suicide, adolescence, and family systems issues.