Book Review: <Emphasis Type="Italic">Critical Issues in Restorative Justice by Howard Zehr and Barb Toews (eds). Monsey,NY: Criminal Justice Press, 2004. Reviewed by Dan Okada,California State University,Sacramento</Emphasis>.

Book Review

Book Review: Critical Issues in Restorative Justice by Howard Zehr and Barb Toews (eds). Monsey, NY: Criminal Justice Press, 2004. Reviewed by Dan Okada, California State University, Sacramento.     

Federal policy and the mobility of older homeowners

The elderly's immobility is of public policy concern because it may jeopardize both individual and community welfare. Elderly households may face obstacles to moving which either lock them into their current homes or out of suitable alternatives. Only one federal policy (the one-time capital gains exclusion), addresses the mobility of the elderly, but it has been ineffective and probably inequitable. Alternative policies range from targeting the provision more tightly to reallocating its $1 to $2 billion in annual revenue losses for appropriate categorical assistance. Until the elderly's immobility is more clearly understood, tighter targeting is the preferred course.     

The contribution of family structure and differentiation to identity development in females

We examined the relationship between Minuchin's structural family model, adolescent separation-individuation, and identity development. One hundred sixty-four female undergraduate students completed the Structural Family Interaction Scale Revised (SFIS-R), the Parental Relationship Inventory (PRI), and the Extended Objective Measure of Ego Identity Status (EOM-EIS) scale. Exploratory Factor Analysis of the SFIS-R and PRI scales indicated that two factors, Proximity-Differentiation and Generational Hierarchy-Differentiation, accounted for 90% of the variance. Canonical correlation analysis with the two factor scores and age included in the predictor variables, and the four measures of ego identity included in the dependent variables, yielded two significant roots. The results supported Minuchin's model.Received her Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from the State University of New York at Buffalo. Major interests are family factors influencing adolescent development and family assessment.Received her Ph.D. from the State University of New York at Buffalo. Major interests are family factors and the separation/individuation process.Received Ph.D. from The Ohio State University. Major interests are statistical issues related to chi-square analyses.     

The Great Disconnect: Global Governance and Localised Conflict in the Cases of India and the EU

Academic scholarship displays a curious disconnect between two trends, connecting peace and governance issues. At the same time when conflicts tended to shift inwards (from inter-state to civil wars), global governance approaches seemed to decentre the management of peace and conflict outwards (from the nation state to international forums). This paper investigates this disjuncture by examining the European Union and India's governance strategies in different conflict contexts. It studies whether their strategies operate close to the global governance model and/or whether they are able to connect with and effectively support local peace initiatives in conflict-ridden areas.     

Housing Affordability and Child Well-Being

We test three hypotheses about the role of housing affordability in child cognitive achievement, behavior, and health. Using longitudinal data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, we apply both propensity-score matching and instrumental-variable modeling as identification strategies and test the sensitivity of results to omitted variable bias. The analysis reveals an inverted-U-shaped relation between the fraction of income devoted to housing and cognitive achievement. The inflection point at approximately 30% supports the long-standing rule-of-thumb definition of affordable housing. There is no evidence of affordability effects on behavior or health.