Intermediate punishment: Redistributing or extending social control?

During the past two decades, a major area of debate has been about the meaning and consequences of the community corrections movement that has now evolved into intermediate punishment. A question underlying this debate is whether or not this movement accomplishes its expressed purpose of reducing reliance on prisons by redistributing control into the community or merely extends community control without altering previous reliance on prisons. This study assesses Florida's intermediate punishment strategy of home confinement. Data from observations of program practices and interviews with home confinement officers, offenders on the program and various family members living in the home address the operational features of the program. Pre and post program statistics (1980–1987) on state population, felony convictions and forms of correctional sanctions explore the program's impact upon the state's characteristic sanctioning trends. The findings provide no support that home confinement has reduced Florida's reliance on prisons. Specifically, throughout the decade of the 1980s, and despite the operation of a home confinement program that has involved over 100,000 offenders, Florida's use of prisons experienced major increases disproportionate to the state's population, and conviction increases. The paper concludes with discussion of ironies associated with correctional reforms and related empirical and theoretical implications.     

Psychopathy and Recidivism Among Female Inmates

Despite a plethora of studies investigating psychopathy among male offenders, little is known about the applicability of this construct to female populations. Research has shown that prevalence rate, symptom presentation, and diagnostic comorbidity differ for females as compared to males. The current study is the first to examine the relationship between psychopathy and recidivism among women. Recidivism data on a sample of 78 female inmates were examined at a 1-year interval in relation to the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R), inclusion criteria for the Antisocial Personality Disorder Diagnosis from the Personality Disorder Examination (PDE), and selected scales from the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI; Antisocial and Aggression scales). The egocentricity subscale of the PAI, Factor 1 of the PCL-R, and the verbal aggression subscale of the PAI were the best predictors of future recidivism. Specific differences emerged between male and female offenders when comparing the present data with previous studies of male psychopaths.     

The politics of neoliberal economic reform in South America, 1980–1994

What political conditions facilitate market-oriented reform? Prior research suggests that neoliberal policies are inherently unpopular, politically hazardous, and consequently dependent upon the existence of strong and relative autonomous governments. This study reassesses the political costs and benefits of market-oriented reform and attempts to offer insights for future theory building by exploring five hypotheses on the basis of the post-1980 South American experience. The findings suggest that the political obstacles to reform have been exaggerated and theoretically misspecified. Neoliberal policies are less the product of the triumph of technocratic expertise over political calculus than of the structure of political incentives and opportunities created by broader sets of factors, including economic circumstances, structural conditions, pluralist pressures, institutional constraints, and international linkages.     

Implicit theories of intelligence and self-perceptions of academically talented adolescents and children

Beliefs about intelligence can vary from the view that it is stable to the view that it is unstable. Third through eleventh grade academically talented students (n =153) rated their beliefs on the stability of intelligence using a 6-point Likert scale. They also rated themselves on similar scales for how smart and hardworking they thought they were, and how much they liked hard tasks. Students' views of the stability of intelligence paralleled a normal distribution, with almost one-half having borderline views that can be easily modified to match environmental demands. Approximately 9% of these talented students were at risk for underachievement based on their self-perceptions of relatively low ability and the belief that intelligence is stable. High school students believed intelligence was more stable than elementary students and females described themselves as being harder workers than males. Findings may account for the differing academic experiences and performance of academically talented students over time.Received Ph.D. in Psychology from University of Maryland Baltimore County. Research interests include self-perceptions, achievement, motivation, metacognition, and family factors that contribute to the development of academic talent.Received Ph.D. in Psychology from Johns Hopkins University. Research interests include gender differences, cognitive styles, and exceptional ability. Her other interests include gifted-learning disabled students and international education.