The Family of the Juvenile Delinquent

Juvenile delinquency has historically been responded to by “de-familization” of the young offender; that is, removal to a training school or other institutional setting. The trend over the past two decades toward deinstitutionalization has meant that delinquent youngsters, who are now remaining in the context of their own communities and families, have been “re-familized.” This poses a major challenge for the juvenile justice system and community, who are stuck with the family but are not sure what to do about it. Little objective and systematic information is available concerning families of delinquents, either as an aggregate group or in individual cases. It is hypothesized that the families are as heterogeneous as are delinquent youngsters, but the juvenile justice system tends to scapegoat families and assumes they are all necessarily dysfunctional. A 10-point continuum of family functioning is proposed. It is suggested that families of delinquent youngsters are found at various points on this continuum: from the extremely impaired or criminogenic family, through the family that has serious problems but has something to offer its youngster if it receives effective help with those problems, to the family of average functioning that can serve as a major rehabilitative resource for the youngster.     

CHILD CUSTODY EVALUATIONS

Judicial and legal changes in divorce rules and precedents over the last two decades have led to increasing involvement by mental health professionals in child custody disputes. This involvement usually entails an evaluation of the child and parents, along with a recommendation to the court regarding custody. To date, there is little empirical evidence supporting the efficacy of methods typically used by professionals in making recommendations to the court. This article presents a review of assessment methods currently used in resolving child custody disputes. It also reviews the limited number of outcome studies on child custody evaluation and methods used in litigation and mediation.     

Is There a Future for Contracting in the Australian Public Sector?

Contracting has moved from the margins to the centre of public management. Significant sections of the public workforce, from benefits delivery to corporate services, now find their functions open to tender. Governments prefer to concentrate on policy analysis and development, leaving service delivery to the market. As purchasers rather than providers, governments are redefining the role and scope of the state. But are Australian governments ready for this shift to contracting? Do they possess the full array of control and reporting mechanisms necessary if contracting is to deliver its promised benefits? There are significant difficulties finding evidence that answers such questions. Yet on the basis of concerns discussed across Australian jurisdictions, it appears contracting has developed so quickly it outstrips the capacity of government to monitor what is happening, and so learn from mistakes. In time governments will become better at maintaining accountability for contracted functions, because experience reduces the risks of moral hazard.     

Digital dental radiographic identification in the pediatric, mixed and permanent dentitions.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the utility of digital dental radiographic superimposition in the various stages of development of the human dentition. Digital, computer assisted dental identification is a means of identification which allows the spatial relationships of the root and support structures of the teeth to be compared one to the other. The technique has not been tested in patients with developing dentitions. Dental radiographs from patients in the pediatric, mixed and permanent dentition stages of development, simulating "antemortem" and "postmortem" radiographs, were digitized using a flat field radiograph scanner. Anatomic features were used as points of comparison utilizing image editing software whereby anatomic sections were digitally cut from the antemortem image and compared to the same anatomic locations on the postmortem image to assess for points of concordance. The technique was applied to 25 cases within the primary dentition, 25 cases within the mixed dentition and 25 cases within the permanent dentition. Results showed that this was a viable technique within both the pediatric and permanent dentition although it was of little value within the mixed dentition.     

The Conservative Member of Parliament as Lobbyist for Constituency Economic Interests

Interviews undertaken in the House of Commons with 70 backbench Conservative MPs in 1983–84 examined the extent to which they pursue their own localized industrial policy strategies as part of their efforts to maintain constituency electoral support. This involves lobbying efforts directed toward ministers in support of local industries, either in defence of jobs, in promotion of new jobs, or in a variety of quests for government benefits or relaxation of restrictions. It was found that 36 of the 70 Conservative MPs could be classified as 'constituency lobbyists', reflecting interview evidence that they consider lobbying on behalf of local industries to be a normal and important part of their representative role as MPs. The hypothesis that vulnerable constituencies—vulnerable in both political and economic terms—would be represented by constituency lobbyists was tested through the construction of an index of constituency 'security'. It was found that the more secure the constituency, the less likely is the MP to lobby on behalf of local industrial interests.     

PERFORMANCE PAY AS A COORDINATING MECHANISM IN THE AUSTRALIAN PUBLIC SERVICE

Abstract: Public sector management is in a state of flux. Pressures for greater efficiency and a stronger customer service orientation have led to changes to the structures and planning and reward systems of public sector organisations. In the milieu of reform, performance pay for managers has been given prominence in a recent critical report by the Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Public Administration which recommends a return to a more standardised approach to management salaries in the APS. I argue instead that performance pay should be considered as a third-or fourth-order coordinating mechanism and linked to the strategies of individual departments in the APS. A policy for greater decentralisation of the design, implementation and management of performance pay schemes in APS organisations is presented.