The Push for Racial Equity in Child Welfare: Can Blind Removals Reduce Disproportionality?

We conduct the first quantitative analysis of “blind removals,” an increasingly popular reform that seeks to reduce the over-representation of Black children in foster care by eliminating biases in the removal decisions of investigators. We first show that over-representation in most foster care systems is driven by Black children being substantially more likely than White children to be investigated for maltreatment to begin with. Conditional on initial rates of investigation, investigators remove White and Black children similarly. Second, we find no evidence that blind removals impacted the already small racial disparities in the removal decision, but they substantially increased time to removal.     

Substantiated Childhood Maltreatment and Intimate Partner Violence Victimization in Young Adulthood: A Birth Cohort Study

Little is known about the associations between various types of childhood maltreatment and multiple forms of intimate partner violence victimization in early adulthood. This study examines the extent to which childhood experiences of maltreatment increase the risk for intimate partner violence victimization in early adulthood. Data for the present study are from 3322 young adults (55?% female) of the Mater Hospital-University of Queensland Study of Pregnancy with the mean age of 20.6 years. The Mater Hospital-University of Queensland Study of Pregnancy is a prospective Australian pre-birth cohort study of mothers consecutively recruited during their first antenatal clinic visit at Brisbane’s Mater Hospital from 1981 through to 1983. Participants completed the Composite Abuse Scale at 21-year follow-up and linked this dataset to agency recorded substantiated cases of childhood maltreatment. In adjusted models, the odds of reporting emotional intimate partner violence victimization were 1.84, 2.64 and 3.19 times higher in physically abused, neglected and emotionally abused children, respectively. Similarly, the odds of physical intimate partner violence victimization were 1.76, 2.31, 2.74 and 2.76 times higher in those children who had experienced physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect and emotional abuse, respectively. Harassment was 1.63 times higher in emotionally abused children. The odds of severe combined abuse were 3.97 and 4.62 times greater for emotionally abused and neglected children, respectively. The strongest associations involved reports of child emotional abuse and neglect and multiple forms of intimate partner violence victimization in young adulthood. Childhood maltreatment is a chronic adversity that is associated with specific and multiple forms of intimate partner violence victimization in adulthood.     

Managing the Budgetary Process in a Hung Council

This paper examines the impact of a change in 1994 from majority control to no overall control on the operation of a strategic medium-term budget and policy plan-ning process in Kirklees MBC. Six hypotheses are set out regarding the changes that might have been anticipated in the budget process, in the light of recent trends in the approach to budgeting in British local government, and the particular political context and recent political history of the authority. Use is made of a diary kept by a participant observer (who is also one of the authors) to document and analyse key events in the budget process. The six hypotheses are examined against the evi-dence, and with some exceptions are confirmed. It is concluded that Kirklees's well-structured budget process did survive the transition to no overall control, but not without considerable difficulty. Careful management from the Executive Board, especially in brokering discussion, was a critical factor and highly advantageous to the success of the process.     

Chinese Political Attitudes and Values in Comparative Context: Cautionary Remarks on Cultural Attributions

Cultural explanations have a long and distinguished tradition in the study of Chinese politics. This paper examines the extent to which standard cultural attributions about the Chinese are supported by survey evidence from the World Values Survey. Moreover, it compares the values and beliefs articulated by the Chinese respondents with those of their Taiwanese, American, Canadian counterparts. Although in some instances the survey data support conventional wisdom, in many other respects they contradict the stylized characterizations often found in the literature. One is therefore led to conclude that cultural attributions should be grounded in empirical evidence, evaluated comparatively, and made with sensitivity to the potential for change and hidden biases. Steve Chan is a professor of political science at the University of Colorado, Boulder. His recent research has addressed topics of democratic peace, power transition, and political culture. His most recent book is China, the U.S., and the Power-Transition Theory: A Critique (London: Routledge, 2008).     

Spending and Spirit

The making and remaking of Simone de Beauvoir

Kate Fullbrook and Edward Fullbrook, Simone de Beauvoir and Jean‐Paul Sartre. The Remaking of a Twentieth‐century Legend, Hemel Hempstead: Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1993.

Toril Moi, Simone de Beauvoir. The Making of an Intellectual Woman, Oxford: Blackwell, 1994.

Ms. en Abyme

Diane Elam, Feminism and Deconstruction: Ms. en Abyme, London and New York: Routledge, 1994.     

Eyewitness Lineups: Is the Appearance-Change Instruction a Good Idea?

The Department of Justice's Guide for lineups recommends warning eyewitnesses that the culprit's appearance might have changed since the time of the crime. This appearance-change instruction (ACI) has never been empirically tested. A video crime with four culprits was viewed by 289 participants who then attempted to identify the culprits from four 6-person arrays that either included or did not include the culprit. Participants either received the ACI or not and all were warned that the culprit might or might not be in the arrays. The culprits varied in how much their appearance changed from the video to their lineup arrays, but the ACI did not improve identification decisions for any of the lineups. Collapsed over the four culprits, the ACI increased false alarms and filler identifications but did not increase culprit identifications. The ACI reduced confidence and increased response latency. Two processes that could account for these results are discussed, namely a decision criterion shift and a general increase in ecphoric similarity.