Correlates of prisoner misconduct

Using a nationwide sample of 5586 state-prison inmates, relationships between the frequency of officially reported institutional misconduct (as reported by the inmates) and certain preinstitutional and institution-related inmate traits were examined. Findings indicate that rule-breaking behavior is associated with being young, black, and male, having a relatively high number of prior convictions, having been unemployed prior to incarceration, and having been imprisoned for a relatively long period of time. Furthermore, such misconduct shows no relationship to domestic status, educational achievement, alcohol and drug problems, military service, income level, current offense, interaction with family and friends outside of prison, hours spent outside of cell, and daily activity. Policy implications are addressed. Misconduct is considered within the broad context of interaction among inmate traits, prison-level characteristics, and extrainstitutional factors.Earlier version presented at the 1984 annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, San Antonio.     

PROFILE OF A PUBLIC SERVICE UNION: THE ACT BRANCH OF THE ADMINISTRATIVE AND CLERICAL OFFICERS' ASSOCIATION

Abstract: The ACOA is now the largest union in Australia whose members are exclusively engaged in public employment; and the ACT branch, with some 12,000 members, is the largest in the union. Over the past twenty years the association has been in the process of transforming itself into an organization more like an orthodox trade union. This process has accelerated during the past decade, with the adoption of certain types of sanctions to support endeavours for the attainment of its goals. While this change has been occurring throughout the ACOA its progress has not been uniform within its eight branches. When it comes to engaging in direct industrial action the ACT branch is usually at variance with other branches, preferring to adhere to established principles of conciliation and arbitration. The predominantly higher-paid, career conscious members in the ACT see less need to use aggressive bargaining tactics than their colleagues elsewhere. Nevertheless, the branch has not escaped the effects of changing attitudes among public servants to the role of their unions. Since the latter 1960s the internal political life of the branch has been marked by factional divisions. The principal division has been between an ALP-supporting faction which favours a more orthodox role for the union and a Catholic, conservative faction identified with the Democratic Labor Party before its demise and the National Civic Council. This latter faction favours a continuation of the traditionally conservative stance of the union. For the future there is no sign of a decrease in the controversy which has surrounded branch politics in recent years although the bulk of the members will probably opt for a continuation of the established ways of doing things.     

Building institutional capacity for policy analysis: An alternative approach to sustainability

The project approach to development assistance has been criticized for failing to build lasting capacity. The problem lies not in the project approach itself, but in a failure to understand the constraints to capacity development and a consequent misdirection of effort. Policy analysis capacity is developed as an example. Policy analysis requires skills and abilities that public sector institutions in developing countries cannot sustain, owing to a combination of structural and organizational factors, among which personnel constraints are key. These factors inhibit the effectiveness of the standard approach, which seeks to establish analytic capacity within a specialized government unit (‘internal’ capacity). An alternative approach is to build ‘process’ capacity—the ability to get analysis done by other institutions, rather than the ability to do analysis internally. The author concludes that project strategies should be redirected toward a greater emphasis on building process capacity as a useful adjunct to internal capacity.     

Responding to the immunoglobulin shortage: a case study

In fall 1997, a shortage of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) developed in the United States because of increased demand for the product, reduced supply, and product recalls. This shortage is a useful model for understanding how our health care system responds to scarcity. Although the U.S. government took steps to inform the medical community of the shortage, with few exceptions, the government did not respond to the shortage in a timely or effective manner. Instead, it took a relatively passive role, leaving IVIG manufacturers and distributors, health care institutions, and clinicians to fend for themselves. The shortage likely had an uneven impact on patients, based on the relative market strength of the health care institutions in which they received care and the individual patient's ability to absorb the increasing out-of-pocket costs of scarce IVIG. Market mechanisms have now largely alleviated the shortage and significantly reduced its detrimental impact on patients. However, future shortages of IVIG or other scarce medical products, such as vaccines and antibiotics, would benefit from more immediate and coordinated efforts not only to make sure that scarce health care resources are distributed in a just manner but also to identify and remedy the sources of health product supply problems.