Issues in higher education for law enforcement officers: An Illinois study

The issue of whether criminal justice education, or education in general, has had an impact on the quality of policing in the United States has been studied since the mid-1960s. The results have been mixed. This study considers the value of education as it relates to the progress educated officers have made within the ranks of police departments in the state of Illinois. The results indicate that the majority of veteran police officers, particularly those with a college education, strive for promotion but are frustrated when they are not able to achieve it. This may be a factor in another finding, which indicates that a sizable group of subjects reported the strong opinion that promotion is based on politics, not on merit or education. For whatever reasons, it is obvious that in municipal police work, there is never going to be much room at the top. Most officers will serve their entire careers at the level of patrol officer, and those who want to be promoted beyond that rank will continue to seek out any positive enhancement that might distinguish them.     

COMPLAINTS AGAINST POLICE IN NEW SOUTH WALES: ADMINISTRATIVE AND POLITICAL DIMENSIONS

Abstract: The issue of public complaints against police in New South Wales has assumed the dimensions of a substantial administrative and political debate. Attempts at administrative reform within a framework of political compromise have resulted in recent times in continuing conflict between police representatives and, principally, the Ombudsman. Present trends appear to favour increased external control of the complaint investigation process — the core of conflict. This article describes the development of the New South Wales Police Department's complaint procedures from their origin to the present, placing emphasis on administrative and political dimensions. Relevant complaints and disciplinary data are examined but, due to limited availability, little can be concluded therefrom. So far, at least, there is nothing to suggest that changes in complaints procedures reduce police employee malpractice or even that public opinion of police generally improves as a result. However, several more years will need to pass before firm conclusions can be advanced on such matters. The issue of complaints against police in NSW poses a lasting administrative and political dilemma. The issue deserves the close attention of concerned public administrators and politicians alike because the form of resolution eventually arrived at will be crucial to the growth of police professionalism.     

From democratic socialism to neoliberalism: the metamorphoses of the people's national party in Jamaica

Why are leftist parties in government abandoning their state-led, redistributive economic development models in favor of market-determined neoliberal ones? Conventional explanations emphasize conditionality of international financial institutiosn. This argument, though, fails to account for differences in economic policy choices across countries or within a country over time. Analyzing the social democratic People's National Party of Jamaica during two periods when it accepted IMF-mandated neoliberal economic reform measures (1977–80 and 1989-present), an alternative approach is presented to illuminate why and how leftist governments switch economic policy programs. The two time periods show that IMF conditionality might be a necessary motivation for the adoption of neoliberal economic measures, but it is not sufficient motivation. I argue that the actual policies the PNP governments employed reflect changes in the relative influence of competing factions within the party. This approach, focusing on domestic actors rather than international ones to account for economic policy shifts, highlights the ways in which politicians can manipulate institutional rules to change the relative weight of different factions within the party to gain support for policy decisions that contradict the party's traditional social democratic ideology.     

The utility of the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory with offenders

Self-report instruments can provide useful information as part of a thorough clinical assessment. However, their use in forensic settings can be problematic. The State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory (STAXI) has recently been proposed as an effective instrument for screening and outcome measurement in anger management programs. This study evaluated the effectiveness of this instrument in a sample of both voluntary and court-ordered anger-management clients, all of whom were determined through diagnostic interviews to have significant anger problems. Contrary to findings in nonforensic samples, the STAXI Trait Anger scale identified only about half of the participants as having anger-management problems severe enough to require intervention. Supplemental analysis with two additional scales did not significantly improve sensitivity. In addition to thorough diagnostic interviewing, forensic use of the STAXI (like similar assessment methods) may require additional validity scales to detect denial or socially desirable response patterns.