The mass media's dual role: ‘watchdog’ and guardian of their own interests

The mass media are a special case of interest articulation in a democracy because they play two distinct roles. On the one hand, mass media provide information about efforts by various interest groups to influence public policy. On the other hand, being interest groups themselves, the mass media work to protect and advance their own interests. This article examines the compatibility of these two roles in Argentina and Uruguay by placing this in a broader discussion about the role of lobbying in democratic societies. The evidence suggests that despite impediments to the media's ability to fulfill both roles simultaneously, some have performed a credible job. The best explanation for the variance in performance among the media outlets includes a combination of the following factors: the size and density of the media market, patterns of media ownership, the relative strength of the state vis-à-vis the media, levels of public advertising, and the particular practices adopted by individual media companies. Evidence suggests that neither the traditional distinction between corporatist and pluralist societies nor government regulation of lobbying plays a dominant role in determining the media's performance. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Bridging the Gap Between Research and Practice: The Work of the Steering Team for the Child Welfare Research and Evaluation Translational Framework Workgroup

This article describes the framework developed by the Child Welfare Research and Evaluation Translational Framework Workgroup that was sponsored by the U.S. Children's Bureau for building evidence and bringing evidence-supported interventions to scale. The framework delineates five phases of implementation and evaluation: 1) identify and explore problem definitions and strength of evidence for promising interventions; 2) develop and test innovative interventions when evidence is suggestive; 3) compare and learn about alternative treatments where evidence is equivocal; 4) replicate and adapt better treatments when summary evidence is strong; and 5) apply and improve continuously the quality and integrity of evidence-based practice.     

German parties and internet campaigning in the 2002 federal election

This article examines German national parties' use of the Internet in the 2002 federal election. Its main goals are to determine what the parties were doing in their online campaigns and how far their use of the Internet can be understood in terms of two party-specific variables – organisational size and primary goal. These questions are of significance given the relatively limited study of parties' use of the net in Germany in the comparative literature on this topic. Also, research on parties' use of the Web across countries has suggested that while context does produce differences in approach, partyspecific factors also play a major role in determining online strategy. The article attempts to investigate these questions systematically by examining nine German parties' use of the Internet (specifically websites, e-mail, and intra-nets) using questionnaire data from national party personnel and content analysis of web pages. Our findings show that while the divide between major and minor parties can be seen quite clearly in the German context in terms of website quality and visibility, evidence to support the impact of party outlook in shaping parties' online strategy can also be found. In addition, the study reveals that major parties are now beginning to take the Internet very seriously as a communication tool, particularly in terms of election campaigning.     

The role of prior punishment in preventive detention decisions

ABSTRACT

Preventive detention legislation allows for ongoing detention or supervision following completion of an offender’s sentence. Consideration of public protection should drive the administration of preventive detention, however research has indicated retributive concerns also drive decision making. Two studies were conducted to examine the motives driving preventive detention decisions, and how contextual variables affected the balance between retributive and public protection motives. In Study 1, participants were presented with information about an offender’s remorse, prior punishment, and risk of re-offence. In Study 2, participants were presented with information about an offender’s prior punishment and offence type, and the relative strength of various potential mediators was tested, to determine factors driving effects of prior punishment information. Overall, results demonstrated participants were driven by both retributive and public protection motives, as well as personal characteristics (e.g. political orientation, prejudice against offenders) when making preventive detention decisions. Findings are discussed in terms of their implications for preventive detention legislation.     

Disability and the legal profession in the United States

There are more people with disabilities than any other minority group in the United States. However, little attention is paid to lawyers and potential lawyers with disabilities. This article examines difficulties faced by people with a disability as law students through to participation in the legal profession. Aspects of discrimination and issues relating to discipline of lawyers and disabilities are canvassed. The legal profession in the United States is taking steps to increase representation of people with a disability in its ranks but it is a slow process.     

Characterization of children's latent fingerprint residues by infrared microspectroscopy: forensic implications

The chemistry of children's latent fingerprint residues was investigated as a function of time and temperature by non-destructive spectrochemical analysis. Latent fingerprints from children, ranging in age from 2 to 11 years, were deposited onto aluminum-coated glass slides and were analyzed by Fourier-Transform Infrared Microspectroscopy. The results revealed that there are three major classes of compounds present in children's latent fingerprints: carboxylic acid salts, proteins, and esters. By studying the changes in the fingerprint residues as a function of time and at elevated temperatures, we discovered that the salts in the fingerprint residues are stable relative to the esters. These findings have relevant forensic implications; by targeting the acid salts instead of the esters or proteins, children's latent fingerprints may be recovered after extended periods of time have elapsed.     

Can a perceptual peer deviance measure accurately measure a peer's self-reported deviance?

Purpose

Social learning theory and self-control theory differ considerably in their interpretation of what qualifies as a “valid” measure of peer deviance. While the two theories are epistemological opposites in regards to how to operationalize the peer deviance construct, their differences are reconcilable. The current study seeks to identify a set of perceptual items that accurately measure a peer's self-reported deviance. This measure would satisfy the preferences of both learning and control theories because the measure is perceptual but also accurate.

Methods

Using data from 2,154 individuals in friendship pairs where each respondent perceived 26 peer behaviors and self-reported the same behaviors, regression, item-response, and mean difference tests are used to perform item deletion.

Results

Five perceptual peer deviance items are identified which are not significantly different from the peer's self-reported deviance. When scaled together and inserted into multivariate regressions, however, the perceptual peer deviance items are still related to the respondent's deviance more strongly than the peer's self-reported deviance.

Conclusions

We are unable to identify a set of perceptual items that is interchangeable with a peer's self-reported deviance. Accordingly, the theoretical debate between Akers and Gottfredson and Hirschi regarding the measurement of differential association may not be empirically resolvable.