Book reviews

Sibyl Crowe and Edward Corp, Our Ablest Public Servant, Sir Eyre Crowe GCB, GCMG, KCB, KCMG, 1864-1925 (Braunton Devon: Merlin Books, 1993) £17.95. ISBN 0 86303 607-4.

Richard J. Aldrich, The Key to the South: Britain, the United States, and Thailand during the Approach of the Pacific War, 1929-42 (Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press, 1993).

John Saville, The Politics of Continuity: British Foreign Policy and the Labour Government, 1945-46 (London and New York: Verso, 1993). ISBN 0 86091 456 9.

John Kent, British Imperial Strategy and the Origins of the Cold War, 1944-49 (Leicester, London and New York: Leicester University Press, 1993). ISBN 0 7185 1330 4.

Frederick W. Marks III, Power and Peace: The Diplomacy of John Foster Dulles (Westport, CT & London: Praeger, 1993) £45. ISBN 0 275 94497 2.

Charles Grant, Delors: Inside the House that Jacques Built (London: Nicholas Brealey, 1994) pp.305. £12.99. ISBN 1 85788 039 0.     

THE CHILDREN ACT 1989 AND THE VOICE OF THE CHILD IN FAMILY CONCILIATION

Over the past 10 years, there has been a rapid development of conciliation throughout Great Britain in matters relating to divorce and separation. The growth has been in terms of the accessibility of services as well as in the styles of conciliation practice offered. Throughout this period, the question of the involvement of children in conciliation has persisted as a key issue. Should children be involved at all, and if so, how should this involvement best be brought about? This article suggests that the change of philosophy regarding child law intended by the new Children Act 1989 will give considerable impetus to this debate and should lead to a clarification of the role of conciliation in allowing the voice of the child to be heard following divorce or separation.     

Beyond crime seriousness: Fitting the punishment to the crime

This paper presents an exposition of how the factorial survey approach may enhance empirical assessments of the complex judgment principles involved in public views of just punishments for convicted offenders. Ratings of the appropriateness of sentences given across 50 typical crimes obtained from a household sample (N=774) of the Boston SMSA and several special-interest samples in 1982 are examined in three alternative ordinary least-squares (OLS) regression equations. These analyses show there is not a one-to-one direct relationship between public perceptions of the seriousness of criminal acts and desired sanctions. Crime seriousness is modified by the characteristics of the offenders and victims and by the consequences of the crimes. Preferred punishments also vary in severity by demographic, experiential, and attitudinal characteristics of the persons who make the judgments.     

Expectancy theory in developing nations: Motivating Botswana public servants

The degree to which individuals are motivated to apply themselves depends in part on how far they expect to be able to achieve given goals. This study, based on interviews of local government administrators in Botswana, not only stresses the importance of expectancy in motivation but reports the importance of altruistic goals among these administrators. Among those interviewed there was a strong desire to advance their own careers, both by developing themselves in the job they currently hold, and by advancing through the organizational hierarchy. Employees, however, were also anxious to accomplish concrete objectives in their current jobs and thus to contribute to the development of the nation. Here unless officials have the expectancy of being able to achieve these goals their motivation is affected. Thus emphasis is placed in this article on the need to supplement traditional attention to pay and promotion as devices to improve motivation with a concern to remove road blocks to development. The enquiry thus strengthens the case for the performance improvement programme of the United Nations.