Racial/ethnic differences in utilization of section 8 existing rental vouchers and certificates

Abstract

This study examines racial and ethnic differences in the success of Section 8 Existing Housing Program enrollees in using rental vouchers and certificates. The study uses data from a sample of large urban public housing authorities (PHAs) collected by Abt Associates for the Housing Voucher Demonstration.

The study finds that, excluding one site, average success rates for whites, blacks, and Hispanics are quite similar. However, minority success rates are significantly higher than nonminority success rates in some sites, and significantly lower in others. The racial and ethnic differences in success rates appear to be related to the proportion of enrollees in each program that were nonminority. Nonminority whites tend to be less successful than blacks or Hispanics in sites where most enrollees are minority, and more successful in sites where most enrollees are white. We believe this may reflect low enrollee success rates in searching for units outside the Section 8 submarket, as defined by existing recipients.     

Carl Schmitt in West German perspective

Carl Schmitt: Theorist for the Reich. By Joseph W. Bendersky. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1983. Pp.xiv + 320. £20.50.

Der Leviathan in der Staatslehre des Thomas Hobbes. Sinn und Fehlschlag eines politischen Symbols. By Carl Schmitt. Koln: Hohenheim Verlag, 1982 (reprint of the 1938 edition). Pp.244. DM34.80.

Land und Meer. Eine weltgeschichtliche Betrachtung. By Carl Schmitt. Köln: Hohenheim Verlag, 1981 (reprint of the 1942 edition). Pp.107. DM18.     

Impact of small arms insecurity on the public health of pastoralists in the Kenya–Uganda border regions

Small arms must be considered as a public health problem, but quantifying the public health impact of small arms is difficult and studies are sparse in areas of conflict. This study considers the remote cross border area between Kenya and Uganda where pastoral conflict in the form of cattle raiding with the use of small arms has escalated in recent years, and where health facilities are scarce. Hospitals and clinics in Karamoja, Uganda, and West Pokot, Kenya were visited by the author, to collect any available data on small arms injuries. Interviews with hospital staff helped to provide further insight into the statistics. Statistics showed that most injuries were sustained during raiding, though worrying incidences of injury among noncombatants and young children were found. Many serious injuries and limb fractures were documented, likely to have some long-term implications for pain, growth, disability, and livelihood. Deaths and injuries are likely to be significantly underestimated by the statistics, due to problems of transport, insecurity, deaths prior to arrival, admission fees for some facilities, and fear of reporting injuries due to the criminal element. Police statistics support this conclusion. The situation appeared to be worse in Uganda as opposed to Kenya, but cooperation between the two countries is needed since pastoralists readily cross the borders both to raid and to attend clinics and hospitals.

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The Relationship Between Interpersonal Victimization and Women’s Criminal Sentencing: A Latent Class Analysis

Latent class analysis was used to identify subgroups of incarcerated women differentiated by experiences of child abuse and intimate partner violence victimization. The abuse subscales of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire and the Abuse Behavior Inventory were used as indicators. Data were drawn from a probability sample of 217 incarcerated women housed in two state-level prisons in North Carolina. Four classes were extracted—Low Victimization, Child Abuse, Lifetime Physical and Psychological Abuse, and Lifetime Sexual Abuse; classes were then related to current sentence length, holding criminological predictors constant. Women in the Child Abuse and Lifetime Sexual Abuse classes had significantly longer sentences, despite the lack of significant between-class differences on criminological predictors. Results suggest that certain victimization patterns, notably experiences of sexual violence, were associated with sentencing disparities despite the use of structured sentencing grids. Recommendations for trauma-informed sentencing are provided.     

Neville Chamberlain and Strategic Relations with the US During his Chancellorship

The standard appreciation of Neville Chamberlain's attitude towards the United States and its relationship to Britain's strategic position in the interwar most often begins its analysis with his becoming Prime Minister in 1937. Those works make it appear as if the man never considered what the strategic worth of the United States was until that moment. This article argues that to do so misses the vital influences and the legacy of Chamberlain's important formative years as Chancellor of the Exchequer. It was in that role, and in particular during the confrontational era of negotiations concerning war debts in the period between 1932 and 1934, that his perceptions of the worth of the United States were influenced greatly. This article hopes to redirect future studies of Chamberlain's strategic thinking toward the idea of looking at the formulation of that strategic thinking in a more comprehensive fashion.     

Attitudes toward ex-offenders: A comparison of social stigmas

Ex-offenders have experienced both a loss of certain civil rights and employment discrimination in the past and continuing research is necessary if their problems are to be dealt with effectively. One hundred eighty-three subjects, representing four occupational categories, were exposed to a personnel management problem involving either an ex-offender, an ex-mental patient, an obese person, or a neutral, nonstigmatized person in order to measure relative discrimination. The ex-offenders fared no worse than the others. There was a relationship, however, between subjects' occupational identification and degree of discrimination toward each of the stigmatized persons. Implications for criminal justice and social policy are discussed.     

Police perceptions of spouse abuse: A comparison of male and female officers

The purpose of this article is to compare policewomen with policemen regarding their attitudes toward handling family fights, specifically, toward handling spouse abuse. Sixty-two policewomen responded to a questionnaire measuring their involvement, or professional concern about family fights. As hypothesized, policewomen scored significantly higher on this variable (r_pb = + .43). Although sample differences in education and other demographic variables accounted in part for this finding, police-officer gender correlated with involvement even when all other variables were controlled for. There was some evidence that identification with a feminist point-of-view and concern for the battered women were significant intervening variables that explained why policewomen scored higher on involvement. It was also found that policewomen and policemen differed in their perceptions of how policewomen handle family fights. Policemen tended to view policewomen as lacking assertiveness, while policewomen viewed themselves as more patient and understanding, and as less likely to escalate a conflict. The results of this study support the findings of an earlier study in which women in shelter homes described policewomen as more likely than male officers to be informative, to take time to listen, and to provide helpful information. It is suggested that the results of the current study could provide a basis for discussion among mixed groups of police officers concerning various approaches to handling family fights.