Recidivism as a feedback process: An analytical model and empirical validation

A feedback model of the criminal justice system (CJS) incorporates the continuing input of people arrested for the first time (virgin arrests) and the recycling of individuals with prior arrests (recidivists). Such a model is needed to enable CJS planners to assess the impact of possible actions on the future arrests and system workloads. Using an empirically determined estimate of the number of virgin arrests in the U.S. as input to a feedback model of the CJS, recidivism parameters, probability of rearrest, and average time between arrests were estimated by matching the output of the model to the total arrests in the U.S. in the period 1960–70. The average deviation between the model output and total U.S. arrests was minimized at less than 4% when the probability of rearrest is equal to 0.875 and the average time between arrests equal to 1.1. years. The relative sensitivity of total arrests to changes in virgin arrests and the probability of rearrest are also presented.     

Shared services: An outline of key contractual issues

In the wake of the Gershon Report, commissioned to find ways of saving £20 billion in the UK public sector, and the growing strain on the public purse following the credit crunch and the global financial recession, procuring bodies are increasingly looking to the “shared services” procurement model to take advantage of economies of scale and best practice. This article examines the legal issues thrown up by the shared services model and ways of managing them.     

The experience of spermarche (the age of onset of sperm emission) among selected adolescent boys in Nigeria

This study examines the psychological experience of ejaculation among a sample of boys in relation to their emotional reactions to the experience, feelings of preparedness prior to the experience, pre- experience sources of information, and the extent of peer discussion after the experience. A total of 188 boys were selected for the study. The mean age of all the boys was 16.5 years (range 12–18 years). The results of the study revealed that the male experience of first ejaculation was not negative. The subjects indicated that they received more information from purely male sources, and they told friends about the experience after it happened. The level of preparedness of the subjects did not show any influence on the emotional responses of the subjects to first ejaculation. A simple ttest was used to compare subjects who were prepared and those not prepared for ejaculation on their emotional responses. The findings of the study were discussed and suggestion was made for further research.This research was supported by funds provided by the University of Ilorin Senate Research Committee.Also a member of the Counselling Association of Nigeria. Received master's degree in counselling psychology from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, and doctorate degree in guidance and counselling from the University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria. Research interests include transition from childhood to adulthood, Correlates of pubertal problems in Nigerian adolescents, Adolescent sexuality (teenage prostitution, teenage pregnancy, etc.), child abuse and neglect, and developing psychological support programs for pubertal adolescents.     

Parkinson's Law and the United States Bureau of Prisons

Conclusion From the foregoing discussion and the data presented, I think that is is safe to conclude that Parkinson's Law does hold, at least insofar as the United States Bureau of Prisons is concerned. Not only has the number of BOP employees increased in accordance with the Law, but it has actually exceeded the rate of increase which Parkinson predicted. Moreover, as we have seen, the increase in the number of BOP employees seems to be in no way related to the quantity or quality of the work to be done. Whether or not the BOP is indeed the “ultimate bureaucracy”, as I believe to be the case, has not been proven. Such proof would require comparisons between the BOP and all other existing bureaus of the U.S. Government—a task far beyond the scope of this paper. It is certain, however, that the BOP is enough of a Parkinsonian bureaucracy to startle any but the most hopelessly biased reader. That much alone is significant.