The effectiveness of relapse prevention with offenders: a meta-analysis

Although relapse prevention models have been applied within offender treatment, there has been little controlled outcome research evaluating their effectiveness. This meta-analysis of 40 tests of relapse prevention treatment revealed moderate mean reductions in recidivism (0.15), and certain elements of the relapse prevention model (i.e., training significant others in the program model and identifying the offense chain) yielded stronger effects than others (i.e., provision of booster/aftercare sessions and developing coping skills). Further analyses revealed that the clinically relevant and psychologically informed principles of risk, need, and general responsivity yielded the strongest reductions in recidivism. The implications for future research and treatment are discussed.     

Explaining a paradox of mediation

Negotiation Journal -     

The Fourteenth Amendment and symbolic legality

This article examines several key tensions in thesymbolic legality or social representation of our society's core legal values. It argues that present Fourteenth Amendment jurisprudence ignores the realities of contemporary social life and serves up ineffective due process protections as poor substitutes for genuine or meaningful equal protection remedies. By documenting the importance situation and context and verifying the limits of due process, social science data underscore the rift between social reality and equal protection rhetoric and thereby increase existing tensions in the symbolic legality.     

Intergovernmental Challenges of the 1984 Olympic Games

Planning and managing the 1984 Olympic Games presented uniquefinancial and intergovernmental challenges for city officialsin Los Angeles, but governmental cooperation and an innovativepublic/private partnership to finance and run the Games provedto be successful. Under strict restrictions against spendinglocal tax dollars, the City of Los Angeles assigned managementof the Games to a non-profit committee which raised privatefunds to finance the Games. In cooperation with surroundingjurisdictions and the federal government, the city providedkey services (such as police and fire protection, transportationplanning, and visitor services) under contract to the OlympicCommittee and used two Olympic-related taxes to pay for theseservices, with the Olympic Committee paying for additional expenses.The 1984 Olympics resulted in an estimated economic impact of$3.3 billion on Southern California and left Los Angeles witha number of new and refurbished sports and cultural facilities.Moreover, the Olympic Organizing Committee accrued a surplusof over $215 million, 40 percent of which was targeted to benefityouth sports organizations in southern California.     

The development of competencies in international public affairs

This paper provides guidance to managers in the corporate public affairs (PA) community for internationalising their professional development and competency acquisition. It is increasingly necessary that PA managers have competencies in the range of global socio‐political matters that impact their organisations. Unfortunately, the provision of this knowledge, skill and ability (KSAs) has mostly come through unsystematic, personal and on‐thejob experience. This paper develops a list of international PA competencies, and calls for improved dedication by all PA leaders, to internationalising the developmental, experiential, on the job and post‐secondary educational ‘curriculums’ for PA managers. Copyright © 2003 Henry Stewart Publications     

Organisational Structures in the Australian Public Service

This article examines the nature of the organisational structures found within the Australian Public service (APS). Four basic dimensions of organisational structure are distinguished: the degree of formalisation or bureaucratisation, the degree of differentiation or specialisation, hierarchy and the extent of centralisation. The article will show that variations in the organisational structure of the APS are attributable to a range of factors including the political context, size, task complexity, the grading system, considerations of efficiency and political factors. The relative importance of these factors varies according to which aspect of structure is examined. Mechanistic organisational structures predominate in the APS due to the nature of the tasks performed, the imperatives of political control and the requirements of staff classification.