MI Implementation in Juvenile Justice: A Case Report

Motivational interviewing (MI) is a communication style focused on enhancing clients’ own motivation towards change. In the justice system MI has evidence to support that it enhances communication and change behaviors in youth. As most MI training is designed for healthcare settings training and implementation of MI must be adapted to fit the juvenile justice model. This includes both rehabilitation and restorative justice. Here we describe the details that allowed one county small county in Pennsylvania to roll out MI training and initial skills review in less than 6 months. The case reviews the details of planning, trainings, and timing of activities. We then discuss what elements of those details fit into a greater implementation plan that may be applied elsewhere. Four key elements were instrumental to implementation: 1) appreciation of JPO time constraints, 2) cost containment 3) using blending to enhance JPO flexibility with MI use, and 4) policies that normalize use of MI. This outline may assist other courts in their own implementation efforts.     

Public administration reform for Aboriginal affairs: An institutionalist analysis

Persistent underperformance of public policy and program implementation in Aboriginal affairs is widely recognised. We analysed the results of two case studies of attempted reforms in public administration of Aboriginal primary health care in the Northern Territory, using a framework based on the institutionalist and systemic racism literatures, with the aim of better understanding the sources of implementation failure. Implementation of the agreed reforms was unsuccessful. Contributing factors were as follows: strong recognition of the need for change was not sustained; the seeds of change, present in the form of alternative practices, were not built on; there was a notable absence of sustained political/bureaucratic authorisation; and, interacting with all of these, systemic racism had important consequences and implications. Our framework was useful for making sense of the results. It is clear that reforms in Aboriginal affairs will require government authorities to engage with organisations and communities. We conclude that there are four requirements for improved implementation success: clear recognition of the need for change in ‘business as usual’; sustainable commitment and authorisation; the building of alternative structures and methods to enable effective power sharing (consistent with the requirements of parliamentary democracy); and addressing the impact of systemic racism on decision-making, relationships, and risk management.     

Measuring majority power and veto power of voting rules

We study voting rules with respect to how they allow or limit a majority from dominating minorities: whether a voting rule makes a majority powerful and whether minorities can veto the candidates they do not prefer. For a given voting rule, the minimal share of voters that guarantees a victory to one of the majority’s most preferred candidates is the measure of majority power; and the minimal share of voters that allows the minority to veto each of their least preferred candidates is the measure of veto power. We find tight bounds on such minimal shares for voting rules that are popular in the literature and used in real elections. We order the rules according to majority power and veto power. Instant-runoff voting has both the highest majority power and the highest veto power; plurality rule has the lowest. In general, the greater is the majority power of a voting rule, the greater its veto power. The three exceptions are: voting with proportional veto power, Black’s rule and Borda’s rule, which have relatively weak majority power and strong veto power, thus providing minority protection. Our results can shed light on how voting rules provide different incentives for voter participation and candidate nomination.

     

The political economy of labor market deregulation during IMF interventions

This study examines the relationship between policy interventions by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and de jure labor rights. Combining two novel data sets with unprecedented country-year coverage – leximetric data on labor laws and disaggregated data on IMF conditionality – our analysis of up to 70 developing countries from 1980 to 2014 demonstrates that IMF-mandated labor market policy measures significantly reduce both individual and collective labor rights. Once we control for the effect of labor market policy measures, however, we find that collective labor rights increase in the wake of IMF programs. We argue that this result is explained by the impact of union pressure on governments which, in such a context, are imbued with the policy space to respond to domestic interest groups. The study has broader theoretical implications as to when international organizations are effective in constraining governments’ choices.     

Sleep Quantity and Problems as Mediators of the Eveningness-Adjustment Link during Childhood and Adolescence

Journal of Youth and Adolescence - Chronotype, or morningness/eveningness, has been associated with adjustment in both children and adolescents. Specifically, eveningness has been linked to...     

Self-Control and Deviance: A Test of the General Theory of Crime in Argentina

Gottfredson and Hirschi’s General Theory of Crime (GTC) has been one of the most cited and tested theories in criminology. It posits to be in effect transcultural in its application and relevant for any norm-violating behaviors. As most empirical work has been completed in English speaking countries, the current study tested some of the main theoretical postulates in a sample of 214 Argentinean male adolescents, both offenders and non-offenders. More specifically, it tested the relationships between parental practices, self-control, criminal opportunities, and deviance. Findings provide evidence that offenders reported more deviant behaviors and more risk factors than non-offenders. They also provide partial empirical support for the main theoretical propositions. Maternal closeness, support. and monitoring had different effects on self-control and on deviance; both low self-control and opportunities had direct effects of deviant behaviors. Theoretical, research, and practical implications of study findings are discussed.     

Intentional Self Regulation in Middle Adolescence: The Emerging Role of Loss-based Selection in Positive Youth Development

Intentional self regulation describes how people make choices, plan actions to reach their goals, and regulate the execution of their actions, making processes of intentional self regulation central to healthy human functioning. Prior research has confirmed the presence of three processes of intentional self regulation—elective selection (ES), optimization (O), and compensation (C)—in middle adolescence (Grades 8 through 10) and concurrent and predictive relationships with measures of Positive Youth Development (PYD). A fourth process, loss-based selection (LBS), should also develop by the end of middle adolescence. The present study used data from the 4-H Study of PYD to confirm the presence of a four-scale structure of intentional self regulation (ES, O, C, and LBS) in a sample of 2,357 racially diverse Grade 10 youth (63% female) and examine its covariation with indicators of positive and problematic development. Results supported the identification of a four-part structure of intentional self regulation, and scores covaried positively with indicators of PYD and negatively with substance use, delinquency, and depressive symptoms. Implications of the findings for the understanding of self-regulatory actions in adolescence and for future research are discussed.     

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