精神分析与公共行政:从弗洛伊德到戴蒙德

在传统公共行政学的组织理论中,一个基本的理论前提就是假设人类的行为是理性的,因而对组织的研究总是局限于研究基于人类理性所产生的规范和制度.而自从弗洛伊德创立精神分析方法以来,很多的学者开始运用这一方法来解释组织的行为,创立了精神分析的组织理论.其中,戴蒙德就是著名的代表.精神分析方法在组织理论研究中的运用,拓宽了公共行政研究的视野和思路.但同时也把组织理论从传统发展到了另一个极端,那就是过于强调人类行为的非理性,使得对组织的研究易于陷入不可知的状态。可见,精神分析方法对于公共行政学是有意义的。     

A comparative cost analysis of commodity foods from the U.S. Department of Agriculture in the National School Lunch Program

Schools that participate in the National School Lunch Program receive a portion of their federal funding as commodity foods rather than cash payments. This research compared the product costs and estimated total procurement costs of commodity and commercial foods from the school district perspective using data from 579 Minnesota ordering sites in school year (SY) 2008–2009. Though comparison of product prices indicates that commercial foods were an average of 17 percent more expensive than equivalent commodity foods, once full estimated procurement costs were included, the commercial products became 9 percent less expensive per food case than commodity products. Base case results were sensitive to the cost of risk to hold inventory. When this input was tested at zero, the estimated cost to procure commercial foods was 2 percent higher per case than commodity foods, though total commercial procurement costs remained less than commodity costs by 3 percent. It is estimated that Minnesota schools collectively spent an additional $1.7 to $3.7 million to procure USDA commodity foods in SY 2008–2009. © 2009 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.     

Using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) to Conceptualize Disability and Functioning in Psychological Injury and Law

The International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF) is the World Health Organization’s classification of human functioning and disability. The ICF is addressed as an important development in healthcare and of specific importance for informing assessment in forensic psychology. The utility of the conceptual framework of the ICF to inform case conceptualization in psychological injury and law is explored. Future prospects for the ICF in psychological healthcare are reviewed, including the need for more research on the intersection of the ICF and the psychological–legal context.     

Human rights and cultural conflict

Conclusion In speaking of a right in relation to identity formation, I have avoided many important questions, including questions about how properly to understand identity formation itself. Evoking such a right does draw from existing trends, but it remains speculative. Nonetheless, it captures one valuable insight in criticisms of human rights as a Western imposition, namely the insight that an important kind of oppression figures in the imposition of identities. By affirming a human right in relation to identity formation, we can not only confront this kind of oppression but see that it has specific weight in contemporary globalizing politics, economics, and culture. Moreover, we see that human rights can offer a critical relation to that kind of identity assertion and cultural imperialism that has itself employed the language of universal principles. One reason to emphasize this possibility of human rights discourse is to explore how this discourse offers more generally a significant normative perspective for challenging various kinds of oppression and domination today. Emphasizing such possibilities is a way of exploring the respects in which any viable notion of democracy must provide an important place for human rights.     

The Dynamic American Dream

The American Dream is central to the national ethos, reflecting people's optimism that all who are willing to work hard can achieve a better life than their parents. Separate from the support for the idea of the American Dream itself is whether the public believes it is attainable. We consider the origins and dynamics of the public's belief in the achievability of the American Dream. Is the American Dream a symbolic vision, rooted in political socialization rather than contemporary politics? Or does optimism about the American Dream follow from the viability of the dream, rising with economic prosperity and falling with declining opportunity? We develop a new macrolevel measure of belief in the American Dream from 1973 to 2018. We show that it moves over time, responsive to changes in social mobility, income inequality, and economic perceptions. As inequality increases, belief in the attainability of the American Dream declines.     

Correctional Policy for Offenders with Mental Illness: Creating a New Paradigm for Recidivism Reduction

Offenders with mental illness have attracted substantial attention over the recent years, given their prevalence and poor outcomes. A number of interventions have been developed for this population (e.g., mental health courts). They share an emphasis on one dimension as the source of the problem: mental illness. Their focus on psychiatric services may poorly match the policy goal of reducing recidivism. In this article, we use research to evaluate (a) the effectiveness of current interventions, and (b) the larger viability of psychiatric, criminological, and social psychological models of the link between mental illness and criminal justice involvement. We integrate theory and research to offer a multidimensional conceptual framework that may guide further research and the development of efficient interventions that meaningfully reduce recidivism. We hypothesize that the effect of mental illness on criminal behavior reflects moderated mediation (i.e., the effect is direct in the case of one subgroup, but fully mediated in another); and that the effect of mental illness on other “recidivism” is partially mediated by system bias and stigma. We use this framework to propose three priorities for advancing research, articulating policy, and improving practice.     

Guidelines for the identification of unknown samples for laboratories performing forensic analyses for chemical terrorism

Since the early 1990s, the FBI Laboratory has sponsored Scientific Working Groups to improve discipline practices and build consensus among the forensic community. The Scientific Working Group on the Forensic Analysis of Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Terrorism developed guidance, contained in this document, on issues forensic laboratories encounter when accepting and analyzing unknown samples associated with chemical terrorism, including laboratory capabilities and analytical testing plans. In the context of forensic analysis of chemical terrorism, this guidance defines an unknown sample and addresses what constitutes definitive and tentative identification. Laboratory safety, reporting issues, and postreporting considerations are also discussed. Utilization of these guidelines, as part of planning for forensic analysis related to a chemical terrorism incident, may help avoid unfortunate consequences not only to the public but also to the laboratory personnel.     

Skimming the Profit Pool: The American Mutual Fund Scandals and the Risk for Japan

This paper examines conditions and structures that led to abuses in the American mutual fund industry. The scandals unfolded in 2003 when a whistleblower alerted authorities to illegal and unethical trading practices between institutional investors and mutual fund companies. The abuses included late trading, market timing, illegal sales practices, and excessive fees, with damages estimated at well over US $4 billion per year. While this scandal involved American companies, there are indications that other countries could be at risk of similar wrongdoing. Archival data are used to understand the regulatory conditions that allowed for illegal practices to proliferate throughout the American mutual fund industry. These conditions are compared to those in Japan to assess the potential for similar abuses and how they might best be prevented.