PROTECTING YOUTH PLACED IN UNLICENSED,UNREGULATED RESIDENTIAL “TREATMENT” FACILITIES

Throughout the country, there is considerable inconsistency in how states regulate residential treatment programs for youth. In states with little oversight, the health and safety of youth are unprotected and they may be subject to substandard treatment, rights violations, and/or abuse. Three initiatives to address this issue are reported: (1) an Internet survey of youth who are former residents, (2) a four‐state pilot study of how states regulate and monitor residential programs, and (3) a bridge‐building conference between residential treatment providers and mental health leaders. Recommendations address the next steps for lawmakers, lawyers, judges, mental health and education professionals, and parents.     

Finanzmarktwächter: Über die Synchronisation von Politik und Ökonomie

From the perspective of an actor-centered theory of differentiation, the article explores how political decisions and developments in a financialized economy are temporally coordinated. For the purpose of answering this research question, the paper develops a four-dimensional heuristic model capable of capturing societal differences regarding time. By sketching the concept of a “hybrid organization”, it models an arena in which such differences may be bridged. Assuming this theoretical perspective, the paper examines the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) in order to scrutinize how and to which extent the targeted synchronization of politics and finance is achieved. This qualitative organizational study shows that the BaFin accomplishes its function only to a limited degree: Global flows of capital and bureaucratic provisions erode its leverage as a supervisor of the financial market, and the accelerated dissemination of financial derivatives make it look like a lethargic authority. Thus, from a sociological point of view further structural alterations at the interface of the political and economic sphere are required in order to lower the risk of economic crises and post-democratic developments.     

Soviet Electric Power After Chernobyl': Economic Consequences and Options

A review of the role of nuclear power in Soviet electricity production and of economic and design factors that may have contributed to the accident at the Chernobyl' Atomic Power Station sets the stage for analysis of its economic and other impacts on the USSR and Eastern Europe. The paper outlines methods for estimating direct costs stemming from lost generating capacity, agricultural output, and plant infrastructure; clean-up and relocation; and medical care. Longer-term costs in the form of environmental and public health problems, reexamination of energy development strategies, and effects on international trade will be greater but more difficult to determine. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: 027, 124, 723.     

Patriotic Discourses in Russia's Penal Peripheries: Remembering the Mordovan Gulag

Using materials gathered during field work in the penal region in the southwest corner of the Republic of Mordoviya in 2007, the authors examine the official representations of the history of the Mordovan gulag from 1930 to the present day. Through an analysis of the penal authority's institutional newspaper, its museum and anniversary celebrations marking the founding of the Mordovan gulag, the authors argue that a stress in the official history on continuity and tradition of service is evidence of growing confidence of this part of the security apparatus after their loss of status in the 1990s associated with the collapse of the penal economy and negative comment by international monitors and domestic penal reformers.     

Making housemaid remittances work for low-income families in Sri Lanka

In rural Sri Lanka, remittances from housemaids working in the Middle East figure prominently in household livelihood strategies. This article examines the impact of housemaid remittances on living standards and suggests measures to maximise the benefits of remittances for recipient households while minimising the personal and financial costs of migration. The effectiveness of migration as a household strategy depends on a decent overseas job with a reliable income, a reduction in the costs of migrating and remitting, and the responsible management of household welfare and finances by recipients, including the maintenance of local income sources while the migrant is away.