Changing the conventional rules: Surveying homeless people in nonconventional locations

Abstract

This paper describes the feasibility, validity, and cost‐effectiveness of supplementing surveys of shelter clients with surveys of people from nondwelling places (e.g., public places such as bus stations, parked cars and trucks, and abandoned buildings), nonresidential service locations (e.g., soup kitchens, day programs, health clinics), and other residential settings (e.g., jails, hospitals, group homes). The purpose of these supplements is to develop a more accurate estimate of how many homeless people there are, what their needs are, and the extent to which their needs are being met. The essential feature of these attempts involves systematic searches on a sample basis for homeless persons in these places. Reviewing ten studies that have attempted such surveys in the past decade and four that are now attempting to do so, this paper examines the comparative advantages and disadvantages of each approach and when each would be most appropriate. Particular attention is paid to the feasibility and desirability of surveying nondwelling or street locations.     

Comment on James R. Cohen's “abandoned housing: Exploring lessons from Baltimore”

Abstract

For most cities, the possibility of transforming unused property into community and city assets is as yet hypothetical. Fiscal constraints limit the amount of land acquisition, relocation, and demolition that cities can undertake. Private investors, unsure of which neighborhoods have a chance of becoming self‐sustaining, are reluctant to take risks in untested markets.

Cities need to create citywide planning strategies for land aggregation and neighborhood stabilization and to develop analyses of the risks and opportunities associated with redevelopment opportunities in specific markets. Research seems sorely needed. Although the policy world cannot and will not stand still waiting for academics to design the perfect study or to collect all the data to model the potential effects of various policy options and investments, analysis that can play a more immediately supportive role can and should be done now.     

Public Agronomy: Norman Borlaug as ‘Brand Hero’ for the Green Revolution

This article examines the role played by Norman Borlaug in promoting the notion of Green Revolution as a way to rapidly transform agriculture in the developing world. It develops the argument that Borlaug used his profile as a ‘public agronomist’, gained through his successful breeding of semi-dwarf wheat varieties, to actively and instrumentally bolster the case for Green Revolution style agricultural development. In effect he played and continues to play the role of a ‘brand hero’ for the Green Revolution.     

Case Report of a Migrating Bullet: An Unusual Cause of Postmortem Confusion

Migrating bullets are rare sequelae of penetrating gunshot wounds. Such cases have been described in the neurosurgical literature because they can produce complications in the management of patients such as decline in neurologic status, delays in rehabilitation, and difficulties in bullet removal. In contrast, few postmortem reports have described this phenomenon. We report a case of a gunshot wound in which the projectile entered the left side of the head and traversed to the right frontal area as documented by CT scan on hospital admission. At autopsy, the bullet was noted to have migrated back to the left side of the head from where it was recovered. Medical examiners need to be aware of this unusual phenomenon of retained intracranial projectiles.     

The effects of specialized probation and recovery management checkups (RMCs) on treatment participation,substance use,HIV risk behaviors,and recidivism among female offenders: main findings of a 3-year experiment using subject by intervention interaction analysis

Objectives

To examine the effects of specialized probation and recovery management checkups (RMCs) on participation in substance use treatment, substance use, HIV risk behaviors, and recidivism.

Methods

Women (n?=?480) released from the Cook County Jail’s Department of Women’s Justice Services were randomly assigned to either an RMC or control condition and interviewed quarterly for 3 years (greater than 90% completion per wave). At the beginning of each quarter, women were classified as currently on probation (n?=?1984) or not (n?=?2516). Current probation (subject) and experimental condition (intervention nested within probation status) at the beginning of the quarter were used to predict outcomes in the next quarter. Data included self-reports, urinalysis findings, and county and state arrest records.

Results

In the quarter after being on probation (or not), women offenders reported higher rates of participation in substance use treatment and recovery support services, as well as lower rates of substance use and HIV risk behaviors. Nevertheless, they were more likely to commit crimes and be rearrested or reincarcerated. During quarters when the women were not on probation, RMCs were associated with significant increases in participation in substance use treatment and significant reductions in substance use and HIV risk behaviors. However, RMCs had no additional quarterly benefits when women were on probation. Higher levels of substance use treatment, self-help engagement, and reduced substance use predicted reduced recidivism.

Conclusions

This study demonstrates the effects of specialized probation and RMCs (when not on probation) on favorable outcomes for criminally involved women with substance use disorders.

     

Ensuring safety, implementation and scientific integrity of clinical trials: lessons from the Criminal Justice–Drug Abuse Treatment Studies Data and Safety Monitoring Board

Data and safety monitoring boards (DSMBs) provide independent oversight to bio-medical clinical trials, ensuring safe and ethical treatment of research participants, data quality, and credibility of study findings. Recently, the type of research monitored by DSMBs has been expanded to include randomized clinical trials of behavioral and psychosocial interventions in community and justice based settings. This paper focuses on the development and role of a DSMB created by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) to monitor six multi-site clinical trials conducted within the Criminal Justice–Drug Abuse Treatment Studies (CJ-DATS). We believe this is one of the first such applications of formal DSMBs in justice settings. Special attention is given to developing processes for measuring and monitoring a range of implementation issues for research conducted within criminal justice settings. Lessons learned and recommendations to enhance future DSMB work within this area are discussed.     

Strength of Evidence,Extraevidentiary Influence,and the Liberation Hypothesis: Data from the Field

To examine relationships between strength of evidence (SOE) and extraevidentiary variables in the context of Kalven and Zeisel’s (The American Jury, 1966) liberation hypothesis, post-trial questionnaire data were collected from judges, attorneys, and jurors associated with 179 criminal jury trials. SOE ratings were strongly correlated with jury verdicts on the three most serious charges against the defendant, and several extraevidentiary variables (i.e., pretrial publicity, trial complexity, charge severity, and foreperson demographics) were moderately correlated with verdicts. Extraevidentiary-verdict relationships remained significant when SOE was controlled, although extraevidentiary variables yielded only modest improvement in classification accuracy beyond SOE. In partial support of the liberation hypothesis, several case-related extraevidentiary variables were significantly related to jury verdicts only when the prosecution’s evidence was rated as moderately strong.     

A behavioral power index

We propose an empirically informed measure of the voting power that relaxes the assumptions of equally probable and independent votes. The behavioral power index measures the voter’s ability to swing a decision based on the probability distributions of the others’ behavior. We apply it to the Supreme Court of the United States using roll-call data to estimate voting probability distributions, which lead us to refute the assumption of equally probable and independent votes, and estimate the equivalent number of independent Justices for the Warren, Burger and Rehnquist benches, which turns out to be very low.