Facilitating Between Gang Members and Police

Confrontations between youths and the police are increasingly frequent in the United States as police lead the effort to reduce youth gangs, crime, and violence. As a result, police-youth relations are characterized by hostility, mistrust, misunderstandings and stereotypes. This article outlines a ten-stage dialogue process to improve relations between police and gang-related youths in a suburb near Washington, D.C. In addition to describing techniques used in this case, the authors offer advice on how such efforts could be improved.     

Nonfeminist and feminist students at risk: The use of case study analysis while transforming the postsecondary curriculum

Recent events at the University of Washington and at Fresno State University, where male students disrupted Women's Studies classes, serve as background to discuss some problems faced by nonfeminist and feminist students. These problems may be seen as one result of current attempts to integrate Women's Studies scholarship into the U.S. higher education's mainstream curriculum. Through illustrative case studies, the author analyzes the causes and effects of some of the complex problems faced by a diverse student population. In this paper, the case study approach itself is recommended as a methodology compatible with feminist theory and pedagogy. It serves as a vehicle to anticipate and to understand the concerns of different constituencies in the large Women's Studies core courses and in the courses in which feminist scholarship has been mainstreamed into the curriculum.     

Transnational innovation networks aren’t all created equal: towards a classification system

This paper examines the growth of transnational networks of innovation and proposes a preliminary classificatory system of four distinct kinds of forces which give rise to social networks that facilitate knowledge flows, relationship building, and collaborative activities important to accessing global markets. The networks may form around a technology sector, be identity based, emerge from a government-led initiative, or be stimulated by a civic or philanthropic organization. Each has a different mode of organizing, financing, and meeting its objectives, as shown by examples presented in the paper. The proposed classification of these characteristics is intended to open a conversation within the social sciences and among policy makers about how better to understand the ways in which transnational networks get formed, operate and produce desired results.