Market Orientation and Public Service Performance: New Public Management Gone Mad?

The backbone of theory of the market‐based approach New Public Management is that market orientation improves public service performance. In this article, market orientation is operationalized through the dominant theoretical framework in the business literature: competitor orientation, customer orientation, and interfunctional coordination. Market orientation is examined from the vantage point of three stakeholder groups in English local government: citizens, public servants, and the central government’s agent, the Audit Commission. Findings show that market orientation works best for enhancing citizen satisfaction with local services, but its impacts on the performance judgments of local managers or the Audit Commission are negligible. The conclusion discusses important implications of these findings for research, policy, and practice.     

A Comparison of Hypothermic Deaths in South Australia and Sweden

Case files from Forensic Science South Australia and the Swedish National Forensic Database were reviewed over a 6‐year period from 2006 to 2011 for cases where hypothermia either caused, or significantly contributed to, death. Data were analyzed for age, sex, time of year/season, place of discovery, circumstances of death, and underlying medical conditions. Despite the considerable demographic, geographic, and climatological differences, hypothermic deaths occurred at very similar rates in South Australia (3.9/100,000) and Sweden (3.3/100,000). Deaths from hypothermia in South Australia occurred predominantly indoors at home addresses, involving elderly females with multiple underlying illnesses and limited outside contacts. In contrast, Swedish hypothermic deaths generally occurred outdoors and involved middle‐aged elderly males. These data show that hypothermia may be a risk in warmer climates particularly for elderly, socially isolated individuals.     

Why do mental health courts work? A confluence of treatment,support & adroit judicial supervision

The article contributes to the understanding of ‘what works’ in mental health courts (MHCs). There are now almost 400 MHCs in the US and more worldwide. A substantial body of evidence demonstrates that MHCs can succeed in reducing recidivism among offenders who suffer mental disorders. This article argues that MHCs succeed when they have achieved the right confluence of essential elements, including providing evidence-based treatment and psychosocial supports and using adroit judge-craft. After a brief review of some of the studies demonstrating MHC success, this article discusses the research into the necessary foundations of rehabilitation programs. It is argued that, although treatment and psychosocial services should be supplied within an evidence-based framework, neither of the two leading conceptual models – Risk–Needs–Responsivity and the Good Lives Model – are empirically proven with offenders who suffer from mental disorders. Despite the absence of proof, the Good Lives Model is argued to be appropriate for MHCs because it is normatively consonant with therapeutic jurisprudence. The MHC judge is another essential element. The judicial role is assayed to elucidate how it functions to promote the rehabilitation of offenders with mental disorders. It is argued that the role of the MHC judge during supervisory status hearings is to establish a therapeutic alliance and practice motivational psychology with each MHC participant.     

Barriers to Cross-Systems Collaboration in Child Welfare,Education, and the Courts: Supporting Educational Well-being of Youth in Care Through Systems Change

Cross-systems collaboration between child welfare, education, and the courts benefits when challenges and priorities are identified early. We measured perceptions of educational stability in foster youth with a statewide survey of 1,603 professionals in education, child welfare, and the courts. Results reveal commonalities among perceived challenges to collaboration across systems (e.g., multiple foster care placements; school changes) and differences in perceived importance or significance of a given issue by professional group. Results guided collaborative work in Kansas and may assist other states seeking strategies that inform cross-systems collaboration to improve educational well-being for youth in foster care.     

Review of point-of-reception mental health screening outcomes in an Australian Prison

The point-of-reception into prison is a critical juncture as it provides early opportunities to identify mental illness and initiate treatment. Although large numbers of mentally ill prisoners are received into prison each day, research investigating mental health screening outcomes at the point-of-reception is limited. This study aimed to address this gap by examining reception screening outcomes for all prisoners received into an Australian prison during 2009 (n?=?4229). Overall, 19% of all prisoners were mentally ill, and another 20% had a history of psychiatric illness that required ongoing care. Mentally ill prisoners had a higher risk of suicide or self-harm and required more observation than other prisoners. At reception, no mentally ill prisoners were transferred to the state’s forensic hospital and few were transferred to the prison’s mental health unit, or provided support service referrals. These findings highlight that outcomes made at the point-of-reception are heavily influenced by the availability of prison mental health resources.     

Health and social care services for women offenders: current provision and a future model of care

Secure provision for women in both the Criminal Justice System and the Health Service has evolved in the last decade, in line with emerging gender-specific policy. Notable gains have been the approach to self-harm in prison and a reduction in the inappropriately high levels of secure hospital care. Although treatment pilots in UK settings are in progress, much practice remains poorly described and insufficiently evaluated. Recent strategic initiatives by both the Ministry of Justice and the Department of Health, as well as the commissioning changes that have followed the Health and Social Care Act 2012, provide a basis for reconsideration and a further paradigm shift. Suggestions for a reinvigorated model of gender-sensitive provision are made, relying on principles of resilience and autonomy.     

Spatial patterning of vulture scavenged human remains

This article presents the results of a pilot study on the effects of vulture modification to human remains. A donated body from the Willed Body Donation Program was placed at the Forensic Anthropology Research Facility (FARF), an outdoor human decomposition laboratory located at Texas State University-San Marcos. The effects of vulture scavenging on the timing and sequence, and the rate of skeletonization, disarticulation, and dispersal were observed via a motion sensing camera and direct observation. Using GIS (Geographic Information Systems) and GPS (Global Positioning System) technologies and spatial analytical methods, the transport of skeletal elements was mapped in order to analyze dispersal and terrain-influenced patterns of active vulture scavenging. Results showed that the initial scavenging took place 37 days after placement at FARF. This delay in scavenging differs from previous research. After the initial appearance of the vultures, the body was reduced from a fully-fleshed individual to a skeleton within only 5h. This underscores the potential for errors in postmortem interval estimations made at vulture scavenged scenes. Additionally, spatial analysis showed that skeletal elements were dispersed by vultures to lower elevations, and that the disarticulation and dispersal of the skeletal elements occurs early in the scavenging sequence.     

A Cross-cultural Validation of the Brief Child Abuse Potential Inventory (BCAP)

The aim of this study was to provide preliminary findings on the cross-cultural validation and reliability of the Brief Child Abuse Potential Inventory (BCAP) developed by Ondersma et al. (Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 2005). A community sample of 324 parents was recruited through schools from a range of socioeconomic areas in a large UK city. The BCAP appears to be a reliable instrument that is easy to use and shows promise as a brief screening tool for parental child abuse potential within the UK. Modifications are suggested to the validity scales and the conceptual structure based on this sample, however, detailed testing of the utility of this scale for clinical practice outside the US should be pursued.