Playing by the rules: Impact and implementation of children's educational television regulations among local broadcasters

This study explores the institutional process involved in the implementation of the 1997 Federal Communications Commission regulations regarding educational programs for children. Through open‐ended interviews with representatives from twenty‐eight stations, this study assessed local broadcasters' reactions to these new rules in the early stages of policy implementation, examining their understanding of the new regulations; the implementation strategies and structural constraints that guide the selection of educational programs and the implications of these strategies for the success of the rules in achieving their goals as stated explicitly by the FCC. All respondents indicated that they would comply with the regulations by providing the minimum three hours of educational programming per week, along with other reporting and public file obligations. However, the ultimate effectiveness of these rules in ensuring better television for children seems complicated by the institutional constraints on local broadcasters and the widespread belief among broadcasters that educational programs are not viable in the market. The authors argue that future research on national policy evaluation should consider the implementation of the policy within a complex web of institutional and social structures.     

The evaluation of climate policy: theory and emerging practice in Europe

Climate policy is a relatively young and dynamic area of public policy making. However, its development has attracted far more attention than the results it delivers in practice, which of course are the concern of policy evaluators. This article attempts to provide the first systematic cataloging of the emerging patterns of policy evaluation undertaken in different parts of the European Union. Theories of policy evaluation suggest that these evaluation practices should acknowledge the inherent complexity of climate policy making, be reflexive by questioning official policy goals, and be participatory. A meta-analysis of 259 climate policy evaluations suggests that current practice engages with some but not all of these issues. This article concludes by analyzing the implications of this finding for those in the academic and practitioner community who are keen to understand the extent to which climate policy evaluation is delivering on its promises.     

Expanding the focus of correctional evaluations beyond recidivism: the impact of halfway houses on public safety

Objective

This article reports the findings of a quasi-experimental evaluation of the impact of residential halfway houses (HHs) on public safety in the immediate vicinity of the facilities.

Methods

Instead of focusing on recidivism reduction or cost effectiveness, as is common, outcome measures for this study are limited to the impact on community crime rates, here defined as offenses committed within 1/8 and 1/4 mi radii around a subject facility. A set of fixed effect Poisson regression models were employed to assess the changes in monthly crime counts associated with the opening or closing of an HH (N =?19). A second difference-in-differences analysis (DiD) compares HHs that ceased operation to HHs that remained consistently open for the duration of the study period. A series of robustness checks were conducted.

Results

We find the presence of an active HH is associated with an increase in crime within the immediate vicinity. We identify significant increases in monthly counts of overall crimes reported to law enforcement, as well as in counts for specific crimes of violence, including assaults and robberies with a firearm; property offenses, such as burglary; and in minor and misdemeanor offenses. A closing of an HH is associated with a decrease in reported crimes.

Conclusions

The location of a community-based correctional facility can have a significant and negative impact on public health, largely through decreased levels of local public safety. Evaluations of residential correctional programs should include indicators of community-level impact in addition to individual-level measures of recidivism, particularly when such programs are clustered in at-risk or vulnerable communities.

     

Trends in police research: a cross-sectional analysis of the 2010-2014 literature

ABSTRACT

This review provides a cross-sectional analysis of the police literature for years 2000 to 2014. It represents the ninth special feature review of police research published in Police Practice and Research: An International Journal. The study reports on trends over time in police literature according to substantive categories, publication medium, and methodological typology. The study also relies on findings from prior police research reviews as a basis for a discussion of the long-term patterns of police research over time from 2000 to 2014. A topically organized bibliography of the 2010 to 2014 police literature reviewed is also provided.     

Violence against women: outcome complexity and implications for assessment and treatment

This article reviews the major forms of violence against women, including sexual assault, intimate-relationship violence, and stalking and outlines the known psychological effects of such victimization. Also discussed are a number of variables that combine to determine the effects of such victimization, including type and characteristics of the assault; victim variables such as demographics, psychological reactions at the time of the trauma, previous victimization history, current or previous psychological difficulties, and general coping style; and sociocultural factors such as poverty, social inequality, and inadequate social support. The implications of this complexity are explored in terms of psychological assessment and the frequent need for multitarget, multimodal treatment approaches.     

A critical review of published competency-to-confess measures

The development of standardized assessments for competency-to-confess evaluations has remained largely neglected for the last several decades. Groundbreaking research was conducted on Miranda waivers during the late 1970s, but researchers have failed to sustain programmatic research. This critical review focuses on four published Miranda measures (Comprehension of Miranda Rights, Comprehension of Miranda Rights-Recognition, Comprehension of Miranda Vocabulary, and Function of Rights in Interrogation). When evaluated by contemporary standards, the validation of these measures is very limited. Major improvements are needed for interrater reliability, test-retest reliability, content validity, construct validity, and criterion-related validity.     

Cultivating small business influence in the UK: the federation of small businesses' journey from outsider to insider

This case study charts the classic transformation of a small business organisation from being a vehicle of protest that attracted a reasonable but transient membership into a much larger group with a more stable membership and a group with an effective insider policy style. The paper asserts that the change in style and the change in recruiting success are not causally linked, and, indeed, it claims that an insider style may harm recruiting. In the case of the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), however, any potential damage through adopting an insider style was more than offset by the separate decision to market the group door to door with a package of selective material incentives (Olson 1965). The paper describes the predominant insider politics style of political representation and finds that while the FSB has moved in that direction, it does not fully fit the stereotype. Copyright © 2003 Henry Stewart Publications