Patterns of violence and self-harm in women prisoners: characteristics,co-incidence and clinical significance

Self-harm and violence in women’s prisons in England are common and occurring with increasing frequency. We aimed to describe the characteristics and patterns of violent and/or self-harming behaviours in women in prison by conducting a retrospective analysis of routine data about self-harm incidents and adjudications. Incidence rates of self-harm and violence were calculated and associated factors explored using logistic regression. We found that only 6.7% of 5486 women prisoners self-harmed and 7.9% had been violent. Eighty per cent of all self-harm incidents related to 70 women. Almost 4 in 10 women prisoners who self-harmed were also violent. Multiple incarcerations and court movements are associated with incidents of self-harm and violence. Women with high-frequency self-harm (≥6) began self-harming early in their custodial period. We conclude that women prisoners who are very behaviourally disturbed can and should be identified early. They warrant clinical formulation and multi-agency responses to risk. Those with high-frequency self-harm should be cared for by external health services.     

Exploring the Link between Mentoring Program Structure & Success Rates: Results from a National Survey

Though mentoring has emerged as a promising and low-cost intervention for at-risk youth in recent years, the scientific knowledge base on the topic remains under-developed. The current study augments the knowledge base on youth mentoring by analyzing programmatic elements of mentoring programs situated in or adjacent to the juvenile justice system that are predictive of participant success. Poisson regression was utilized to analyze data collected through a national mentoring community saturation survey. Findings indicated that mentoring programs that require more frequent interaction and sustain relationships for longer timeframes realize higher success rates. Similarly, the use of formal mentor training was also observed as indicative of the use of evidence based practices and higher success rates, though likely beyond the logistical and fiscal reach of some local mentoring initiatives. The implications for further research and the mentoring community are discussed.     

The changing geography of metropolitan opportunity: The segregation of the poor in U.S. metropolitan areas, 1970 to 1990

Abstract

This analysis uses census tract data to measure the segregation of the poor in U.S. metropolitan areas in 1970, 1980, and 1990. Two measures of segregation are used: the indices of dissimilarity and isolation.

In 1990 the mean dissimilarity of the poor in the 100 largest U.S. metropolitan areas was 36.1, which is substantial but below the 60.6 dissimilarity of blacks. The 1990 isolation of the poor was 21.0. From 1970 to 1990, the dissimilarity of the poor increased by 11 percent, and the isolation of the poor rose by 9 percent; in contrast, racial segregation declined. Exploratory regression analyses reveal that income segregation in metropolitan areas was significantly greater in 1990 and increased more from 1970 to 1990 in the Northeast than in the South and West. Midwest areas generally were not significantly different from Northeast areas in 1990 segregation levels or in changes from 1970 to 1990.     

Reinventing the central city as a place to live and work

Abstract

Public policies for urban development have traditionally emphasized investment in physical infrastructure, the development of large‐scale commercial facilities, the construction of new housing, and the renewal of existing neighborhoods. Most efforts to revitalize central cities by building new facilities for visitors have focused on suburban commuters and tourists. At the same time, many housing initiatives in central cities have concentrated on low‐income communities because outlying suburban areas have attracted traditional middle‐income households.

This article argues that emerging demographic and cultural trends—combined with changes in the structure of business organizations and technological advances—provide new opportunities for cities to retain and attract middle‐class households. Using gay and lesbian populations as an example, it focuses on the role that nontraditional households can play in urban redevelopment. In light of the rise of nontraditional households and the growth of self‐employment and small businesses, cities should adopt policies that make them attractive places in which to live and work.     

Book Reviews

Comparative Civil (Private) Law. G. Eoersi. Budapest. 1979. Akademiai Kiado 651 pp. 850 ft.

Recherches sur l'Histoire des Institutions et du Droit. Ed. late G. Herlea. Association d'Histoire Comparative des Institutions et du Droit de la République Socialiste de Roumanie. Bucharest, vol. II (1978) 195 pp, vol. III (1979) 207 pp.

Manual of Law French J. H. Baker. Amersham; Avebury Publishing Co. 1979,207 pp. £7.50.     

Interorganizational Mobility within the U.S. Federal Government: Examining the Effect of Individual and Organizational Factors

Interorganizational mobility can make a positive contribution both organizationally and government‐wide. Using data from the U.S. Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey, this article seeks to provide a better empirical understanding of the determinants of interorganizational mobility within the U.S. federal government. A specific analytical framework is used, as the intention to take another job within the federal government is nested in the intention to leave the current organization. The results highlight that gender, minority status, length of service, and promotion are determinants of interorganizational mobility within the U.S. federal government.     

In search of enduring information effects: Evidence from a ten-week panel experiment

The extent to which the electorate uses issue information to update their candidate evaluations over the course of political campaigns has often raised questions about citizen competence. Using a ten-week panel experiment designed to capture the low-information context of most congressional races this study contributes to our understanding of when and by what processes issue information produces enduring effects. Findings reveal that when voters need to assess an ideologically moderate candidate, they rely less on partisan cues but instead of storing issue information in long-term memory – either via a memory-based or on-line process – considerations in short-term memory remained one of the most powerful predictors of candidate evaluation, particularly when new issue information deviated from partisan norms.     

Transnationalism,neo-liberalism,and the rise of the shadow state

This paper examines the processes through which a neo-liberal agenda is broadened and entrenched through time. The case study focuses on a federal immigration policy in Canada in the 1980s, which encouraged the rapid entry of wealthy entrepreneurs and investors from Hong Kong. One of the many impacts of the arrival of this Chinese business élite in British Columbia was the rapid growth of a key volunteer organization in Vancouver dedicated to social service provisioning for immigrants. With the donations and volunteerism of the new Chinese arrivals, this organization grew from a small, narrowly focused social service institution, to one of the largest and most extensive providers in the lower Mainland, supplying numerous goods and services formerly controlled primarily by the province and the federal government. As a result of the actions of this voluntary organization, a type of interstitial organization that some scholars have termed under the rubric, 'the shadow state', conservative politicians in the 1980s were able to roll back many welfare state programmes in British Columbia without a corresponding loss of legitimacy occurring from the immediate truncation of services. The Business Immigration Programme thus aided in the entrenchment of a neo-liberal agenda both through the increased circulation of capital and articulation with Asian networks, and also through the devolution of direct welfare-state governance. I argue that this immigration programme thus represents one good example of the multiple ways that seemingly simple policy shifts can have much broader effects, and can entrench neo-liberal policy socially,culturally and institutionally as well as economically.     

Walking and talking chester I. Barnard

The influence of Chester Barnard in contemporary management and organization theorising is substantial but often barely acknowledged. Contemporary authors sometimes ‘borrow’ a fragment to support their case but his was a fundamentally holistic work which sought to interweave and integrate rather than dissect and disintegrate. The research data reported in this paper were not generated to test Barnard's work but in the process of analysis, it emerged that Barnard spoke in a voice which echoed closely the comments of senior executives. Indeed, he is the only theorist to do so in such a comprehensive way. On further reflection, it was found that his work embraces a breadth and depth of conceptual thought which remains unequalled in our vast literature. His intellectual foundations were quite radical for his time, again in a way which does not find contemporary parallel. In what remains a rare gestalt analysis of organization, he manages to blend the contradictions and conflicts of individual and organization and inherent fickleness and ambiguity of social life together with a dexterity and integrity which resembles the practitioners of executive arts rather more than contemporary theorists. This paper seeks to highlight some of the areas in which his work still exposes our current lack of conceptual imagination and ability.