Characteristics of individuals petitioned for civil commitment

This article explores the demographic and criminal characteristics of a group of sex offenders currently residing in a facility for civilly committed sex offenders. Legal and clinical records were used and data coded. This sample is compared to published data on a group of civilly committed sex offenders in another state. Results indicated that there were numerous similarities and some differences between the two groups. Further research needs to be conducted on civilly committed sex offenders in other states to better understand this population.     

The Liberal-National Government and Youth: 'Training for Real Jobs'

The Liberal-National party government is making major changes to a number of policy settings. It pledged a commitment to a strict program of budgetary restraint in its first Budget of August 1996. Its Workplace Relations and Other Legislation Amendment Bill (1996) signified its intention to introduce a 'revolutionary new era' in Australian industrial relations. This involved introducing individual employment contracts, limiting the Australian Industrial Relations Commission's (AIRC) powers and reducing unions' role in enterprise bargaining. Less noticeable has been the government's pursuit of major reforms to Australia's education and training policies. These education and training initiatives are taking place in a context of seemingly permanent unemployment or what has been called 'the end of work' (Rifkin 1995). If such claims overstate the case, the training and education initiatives are occurring in the wake of 'normal, autonomised processes of modernisation' which are opening paths to a new post-industrial order (Beck 1994: 3). But there are a number of questions to be raised about the extent to which a concern for equity and the protection of those most at risk in such a process may be compromised by complete faith in, and too eager a support for, market processes.     

The individuation process from a social-cognitive perspective in kibbutz adolescents

This study explores the individuation process, from a social-cognitive perspective, among kibbutz adolescents and youth. Individuation is defined as the separation of the self from the family. The individuation interview, Selman's self-awareness measure, and the Lunzer test were administered to 4th, 7th, and 10th grades, and to a post-high school group (N=61). Results confirmed age increases in individuation as follows: Late childhood subjects, consolidating on Level 1, exhibit identification with parental views while individual perspectives are secondary. Early adolescents, on Level 2, demonstrate increased self-awareness and the beginning of a decline of the parental view. Midadolescents, on Level 3, are characterized by the prominance of their self-system while the parental view becomes secondary. Late adolescents (young adults), on Level 4, show an ability to integrate the parental view within the self-system without loss of individuality. Furthermore, construct validation confirms the common as well as the discriminant qualities of the individuation sequence to self-awareness and Piagetian logical development. These results support the developmental sequence of the individuation construct in the kibbutz adolescent and fit the individuation model (Mazor, 1985) in a cross-cultural perspective.The research for this paper was funded in part by Seminar Hakibbutzim.Received Ph.D. from The University of Wisconsin-Madison. Current research in the parent-child relationship through adolescence.     

The Adolescent Society Revisited: Cultures, Crowds, Climates, and Status Structures in Seven Secondary Schools

The authors used data from seven schools in a metropolitan region to explore continuity and change in adolescent cultures and status structures; they identified six major types of status structures and explained variation among them in terms of characteristics of communities and schools. A key feature of the study is comparison of school climates, using both survey data and qualitative case studies that provide an interpretive context for the survey responses; this methodology allows a contextual level of analysis that is unavailable in either single-school ethnographies or large data sets that aggregate responses from individuals situated in many schools.Roberta Garner is Professor of Sociology at DePaul University. She received a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Chicago (1966). Her interests are in sociological theory, political sociology, and the sociology of culture.Judith Bootcheck is Associate Professor of Sociology at DePaul University and received the Ph.D. from Purdue University (1969). Her interests are in youth and the aging, families, and social problemsMichael Lorr is a Ph.D. student in Urban Studies at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He received an MA in sociology from DePaul (2002) and his interests are in sociology of culture, political sociology, and sociology of educationKathryn Rauch received an MA from DePaul University with a focus on sociology of education and youth     

Procedural Justice, Conflict of Interest and the Stolen Generations' Case

The Cubillo and Gunner hearing in the Federal Court of Australia possessed enormous historical, political and moral significance. The applicants' suit against the Commonwealth argued that having been removed they were then wrongfully detained, that government breached its statutory and fiduciary duties and duty of care, and the Commonwealth was responsible for the injuries and damages they incurred as a result of their removal and detention. They sought monetary compensation and exemplary damages. In response the Commonwealth government sought to have the case for damages dismissed on a variety of grounds. From the perspective of the plaintiffs, the case had the potential to set an important precedent. From the Commonwealth's perspective a lot was at stake. Beyond the financial costs, the government's reputation was at risk. The Cubillo–Gunner action tested the Australian legal system's capacity to deal justly with a critical range of moral, historical and political issues raised by the ‘stolen generations’. In his judgment delivered on 11 August 2000, O'Loughlin J dismissed each of the claims for damages by Lorna Cubillo and Peter Gunner. In this article attention is given to aspects of the case that have not yet received due consideration. It is argued here the Commonwealth government had an overriding resolve to win the Cubillo–Gunner case, which sat incongruously with the principle and practice of the federal government as a ‘model litigant’. I consider whether the Commonwealth breached those standards in respect to three central elements of the model litigant standards — namely (1) the exercise of proportionate power, (2) the over‐reliance on technical defences, and (3) a proper regard for accepting a responsibility to administer justice and fair play. I ask whether the appointment of Meagher as the Commonwealth's leading counsel was in the public interest? The case is put that Meagher had a conflict of interest relating to his own biography which connected to the HREOC report on the ‘stolen generations’ in general and the Cubillo–Gunner case in particular. Meager is the son of a man deeply implicated in the politics of Aboriginal affairs during the period under question. (Meagher's father was Chairman of the Aborigines Welfare Board and Minister for Aboriginal Affairs in Victoria until 1972.) Meagher junior was by his own public admission concerned about the findings of the HREOC report and its implications for his father's reputation. He felt it dishonoured his father's name while also sullying the standing of his father's contemporaries. Meagher indicated he believed the case must not be allowed to set a precedent. The public evidence on display in these comments reflects a hostility towards child removal policies which raises questions about the suitability of Meagher's appointment as counsel. As Meagher himself pointed out, he wondered whether his involvement in the case was ‘inappropriate for counsel’ and ‘possibly contrary to the client's interest’, but later decided it was not. His appointment raises questions about the Commonwealth's conformity to the model litigant standards.     

The World Bank and Policy Reform in Mexico and Argentina

This article examines the World Bank's role in the market policy reform experiences of Mexico and Argentina. It argues that while reform was driven by domestic elites, the bank played an important role, providing technical advice and financial support and helping to spread market reform ideas. The nature of the bank's involvement, however, differed substantially in the two countries because of their distinct political arrangements, histories, and geopolitical positions in regard to the United States. In the recent era of second-generation reforms, the World Bank's involvement in compensatory policy development has become more focused, although still more intense in Argentina than in Mexico. This involvement has important implications for the quality of democracy, insofar as the 1990s market reforms were formulated by insulated international policy networks unaccountable to the public. Recently, the bank has declared its commitment to involve civil society in its lending policies, a move that may have important implications for democratic development.