Developmental and offence-related characteristics of different types of adolescent sex offender: A community sample

Abstract

Offence-related and developmental characteristics were compared in subgroups of a sample (n=184) of male sex offenders aged between 10 and 21 [mean=16.07; standard deviation (SD)=2.09] referred to a specialist community facility. Important differences were observed on key developmental and offence-related variables between adolescents who targeted peers/adults and those who targeted children. These differences support the validity of the distinction between these two groups. Much smaller subgroups with mixed (i.e. peer and child) victims, internet child pornography and indecent exposure offences are also described. The sample was followed-up for a mean period of 4 years 6 months (SD=30.5 months), during which a small number re-offended sexually (n=13) and many more re-offended non-sexually (n=90). Relationships between engagement with treatment and some background and offence-related variables were identified and these are discussed.     

Building bridges? South African foreign policy and trilateral development cooperation

As questions concerning international development climb the international agenda, so countries find themselves drawn into a burgeoning number of negotiations on issues ranging from the future shape and direction of the post-2015 development agenda to ‘aid effectiveness’ and international development cooperation. Moving from the position of a ‘beneficiary’ state in the traditional donor–recipient aid hierarchy, South Africa is looking to define its own niche within the wider development diplomacy context as a development partner. This paper provides an assessment of South Africa's evolving approach towards international development cooperation, with a particular focus on trilateral development cooperation, and what this means for Pretoria's foreign policy in bridging the divide between developed and developing country positions within the international development regime.     

Rights and Quarantine During the SARS Global Health Crisis: Differentiated Legal Consciousness in Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Toronto

Interventions in public health crises inevitably give rise to concerns about how the balance between rights concerns and community health security might be handled. During the SARS global health crisis, different jurisdictions struggled simultaneously with similar public health challenges posed by the previously unknown and deadly disease. Yet instead of a convergence of strategies, different jurisdictions responded with measures, especially with regard to the use of quarantine, that revealed a pattern of divergence about how to strike the balance between rights concerns and health security. The origins of this article stem from the realization that Toronto's use of quarantine was far more extensive than that of either Hong Kong or Shanghai, two jurisdictions with historically weak records regarding respect for fundamental rights and civil liberties. Perspectives on the balancing of individual rights and community health security are treated here as expressions of legal consciousness. Instead of assuming a uniform legal consciousness in Toronto, Shanghai, or Hong Kong, this article presents legal consciousness as varied among groups of individuals differently situated in the crisis. The promise of this differentiated approach to legal consciousness is that it facilitates both drawing contrasts between perspectives of differently situated groups within the same city and noting commonalities between similarly situated groups in other cities. Through an examination of three distinct perspectives on rights and quarantine in each city—those of senior public health officials, frontline hospital workers, and contacts of SARS patients—the competing legal meanings and understandings about the tensions between community health security and individual rights during the SARS crisis are identified in a way that enables us to better understand the pattern of different uses of quarantine.     

Addressing identity crime in crime management information systems: Definitions,classification, and empirics

Identity fraud as a term and concept in its formative stages was often presumed to be identity theft and visa versa. However, identity theft is caused by the identities (or tokens) of individuals or organisations being stolen is an enabling precursor to identity fraud. The boundaries of identity fraud and identity theft are now better defined. The absence of specific identity crime legislation could be a cause of perpetrators not classified as breaching identity crimes but under other specific entrenched law such as benefit fraud, or credit card fraud. This metrics overlap can cause bias in crime management information systems. This study uses a multi-method approach where data was collected in both a quantitative and qualitative manner. These approaches are used as a lens for defining different classes of online identity crimes in a crime management (IS) security context. In doing so, we contribute to a deeper understanding of identity crime by specifically examining its hierarchical classes and definitions; to aid clearer structure in crime management IS. We seek to answer the questions: should current law around identity fraud continue to be reinforced and measures introduced to prevent identity crime; should laws be amended; or should new identity crime laws be constructed? We conclude and recommend a solution incorporating elements of all three.     

Management by objectives -the experience of a federal government department

Abstract. Management by objectives is already well known in private business, and is currently being introduced in several departments of the federal government. The article describes the experience of one department in developing a concept of MBO and in applying it. The simplest form of MBO is a goal-setting procedure in which every employee knows exactly what he is expected to be trying to accomplish in a specified period. This definition of goals serves to tie together the various other management sub-systems—planning-programming-budgeting, performance measurement, management information system, manpower planning, etc. But goal-setting alone will not alter the quality of management itself. At least equally important are the application of recent discoveries by the behavioural scientists, and in particular organization development. So conceived, MBO becomes the total management process of an organization, and not just a technique nor just a doctrine. Its introduction in a government department requires several years of sustained effort, but it can make a major contribution to managerial effectiveness. Sommaire. La gestion par objectifs est déjà très répandue dans le secteur privé et est actuellement en cow d'application dans plusieurs ministères fédéraux. L'article décrit comment l'un de ces ministères a conçu et appliqué la GPO. L'aspect le plus accessible de la GPO est le processus d'établissement des buts gráCce auquel chaque employé sait exactement les résultats qu'il doit chercher à atteindre durant une période déterminée. Cette définition des buts facilite la coordination des différentes fonctions de la gestion et notamment la planifi-cation, la programmation, la prévision budgétaire, l'évaluation du rendement, le maintien des communications, la planification des ressources en main-d'æeuvre, etc. Mais l'établissement des buts ne suffit pas à lui seul à améliorer la qualité de la gestion. L'application des déuvertes réentes de la science du comportement et en particulier le perfectonnement des structures constituent des facteurs non moins importants. La GPO devient alors un processus global de la gestion d'une entreprise et non pas tout simplement une technique ou une doctrine. Son application dans l'administration publique demandera certainement plusieurs années d'efforts soutenus; mais le défi vaut d'être relevé car elle peut se révéler une contribution majeure à l'amélioration de l'efficacité de la gestion.