The Dynamics of Running Away,Deinstitutionalization Policies and the Police

Abstract Over the last decade, public concern about the risks associated with running away has risen, and conservative policy makers have advocated for a “rethinking” of the juvenile justice system's liberal reforms of the 1970s, especially the deinstitutionalization of status offenders (DSO). Yet questions over the impact of DSO remain unanswered. This study examines the emergence of and debates about DSO to understand the contemporary “status” of runaways. Official reports on runaways and interviews with police and youth workers suggest that most youth return home and that police efforts to locate and assist runaways are constrained by legal and practical forces.     

东北亚安全合作机制国际研讨会主要观点

“东北亚安全合作机制”国际研讨会于2005年8月3-4日在北京召开。会议由中国现代国际关系研究院与福特基金会共同主办,来自中、美、俄、日、韩、朝六国的20多位专家学者,围绕传统同盟关系、六方会谈、双边关系、非传统安全、经济合作与东北亚安全合作,以及建立东北亚安全合作机制的困难和方案等议题进行了广泛、深入的探讨。现将会议一些主要观点摘要选登如下,以飨读者。     

The Role of Budget and Financial Reform in Making Government Work Better and Cost Less

Budgeting and Financial Management play a crucial role in organizing and disciplining the federal management culture. Consequently, addressing improvements in their practice is essential in the National Performance Review's examination of government-wide management systems. This article briefly describes the recommendations and anticipated implementing actions relating to budgeting and financial management within the context of the National Performance Review's themes of cutting red tape, putting customers first, empowering employees to get results, and cutting back to basics. External factors, such as innovations in private sector management practices, rapid changes in information technology, and statutory reforms such as the Government Performance and Results Act, also influence needed changes in budgetary and financial management practices.     

The determinants of parenting competence in adolescent mothers

Recent research has implicated the maternal behavior of adolescent mothers as a significant factor in the high rate of developmental delays observed in infants of young mothers. In the present study, the interaction of 58 low-income adolescent mothers and their infants was observed and standardized and projective tests were administered. Factor analysis indicated that the variables of overall self-esteem and maternal efficacy explained 66% of the variance in terms of maternal self-perception, while expressivity and facilitation accounted for 83% of the variance in maternal behavior. Self-esteem and self-efficacy were more positively associated with involvement with the infant's father than with the mother's family of origin. On the other hand, support from the father was negatively associated with parenting competence. The capacity to interpret infant emotions was crucial to the development of parenting competence. Overall, the associations between the determinants of parenting competence and the quality of mother-infant interaction showed significant variations according to the age of the adolescent, suggesting a need to move away from use of maternal age as a continuous variable. Also required is the development of parenting models that recognize that the determinants of competence are different for adolescents than for adult women.     

“Ice is strong enough for a man but made for a woman”

This paper is concerned with the cultural and gendered context of crystal methamphetamine use among Asian Pacific Americans, and draws on recent sociological discussions on masculinities and feminities. The data are based on an ethnographic study of moderate to heavy ice users, and compares the experiences of Asian Pacific American women and men in their initiation to use, their motivations to continue using, and the changing nature of their relationship to the drug and significant others. The paper concludes with a gender comparison of the violence associated with crystal methamphetamine use.The research for this paper was supported by a grant to theInstitute for Scientific Analysis from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (R01-DA06853) awarded to Patricia Morgan, Ph.D., entitled Ice and Other Methamphetamine Use: An Exploratory Study. The data collected for this paper was helped by the collaborative efforts of the study research staff: Jerome Beck, Douglas McDonnell and Rachel Gutierrez. The author also acknowledges the Social Science Research Institute at the University of Hawaii. The opinions and conclusions are those of the author.