What About Education in Xinjiang？

Arecent trip to westernand northern Xinjianggave me the chance togauge the real situationas regards education inthe region. Xinjiang Uygur AutonomousRegion covers one-sixth of China's totalterritory and its population encompasses47 of China's 56 ethnic groups. MuslimUygurs predominate, closely followedby Kazaks, also Muslim. Xinjiang'sfamily planning policy allows ethnicminorities in both rural and urban areasto have three children, but if all three areboys or girls, a couple may have a fo…     

A TEST OF GENERAL STRAIN THEORY*

Tests of general strain theory (Agnew, 1992) have focused primarily on the relationship between strain and crime, ignoring the intervening role of negative emotions and legitimate coping strategies. This research provides a more comprehensive test of general strain theory, including measures of both anger and other expressions of negative affect, as well as a measure of legitimate coping. Results suggest that strain, negative emotions, and legitimate coping are all related, although not always in the expected direction. Moreover, results indicate that the nature of the link among these three variables and criminal outcomes are shaped by the types of strain and negative affect individuals experience, and by sex differences in the links among central variables.     

REDUCING INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE: AN EVALUATION OF A COMPREHENSIVE JUSTICE SYSTEM‐COMMUNITY COLLABORATION*

Research Summary In 1999, three communities were selected to participate in a research demonstration designed to test the feasibility and impact of a coordinated response to intimate partner violence that involved the courts and justice agencies in a central role. The primary goals of the Judicial Oversight Demonstration (JOD) were to increase victim safety, hold offenders accountable, and reduce repeat offending using coordinated community services and integrated justice system policies in intimate partner violence court cases. The partnerships differed from earlier coordinated community responses to domestic violence by placing special focus on the role of the court, specifically the judge, to facilitate offender accountability in collaboration with both nonprofit service providers and other criminal justice agencies. This article presents the results of an impact evaluation of this demonstration in all sites. The demonstration received mostly positive responses from justice system agencies, service providers, offenders, and victims. Improvements were made in offender monitoring, consistent sanctioning, and increased supervision. However, these changes did not translate into gains in victim perceptions of their safety or into reductions in repeat violence in all sites. Policy Implications The demonstration had minimal impact on changing offender attitudes and behavior. The mixed results of the evaluation indicate that the most effective justice system responses to intimate partner violence must include a focus on protecting victims, close monitoring of offenders, and rapid responses with penalties when violations of court‐ordered conditions are detected. Indications were found that JOD strategies were effective for some subgroups, including younger offenders with fewer ties to the victim and offenders with extensive arrest histories. The observed reductions in intimate partner violence in selected subgroups in the JOD sites may suggest a fruitful way to begin designing new intervention strategies, including prevention programs for men and women.     

Detention Decision-Making in a Predominantly Hispanic Region: Rural and Non-Rural Differences

This study examines the implementation of juvenile detention policy by comparing decision making in two jurisdictions where Hispanics represent the numerical majority of the population. One jurisdiction is rural and the other is a jurisdiction with over 1000,000 population. Interviews with juvenile justice probation and parole officers and judges are combined with a quantitative analysis of official records from 1994. Detention decision making is different in these jurisdictions. There is more formal processing and detention of juveniles in the rural jurisdiction. This is attributable to a perception of the community as heterogeneous rather than homogeneous, and a lack of alternatives as compared to the non-rural jurisdiction.