Determining an optimum percentage of defendants to release before trial: Applying inventory modeling concepts to legal policy problems

Some aspects of determining what proportion of defendants to release before trial are discussed using cost and other data obtained from judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys, and bail project directors in twenty-three cities. Various holding costs, releasing costs, and percentages of defendants held are used. Smooth curves are fitted to the data points to determine at what percentage of defendants held the total cost curve bottoms out. The effects of varying the costs and the cities, the causal implications of why the optimum percentage differs substantially from the actual percentage, and the policy implications of using the analysis in pretrial release policy and in reducing the total costs are shown. Ways in which the model can be expanded to obtain insights into the optimum level of various kinds of due process and law enforcement are also indicated.     

CREATING NEW TECHNOLOGY-BASED ORGANIZATIONS: A SYSTEM DYNAMICS MODEL

While the study of mature organizations and bureaucracies is well established, there has been comparatively little examination of the creation and development of new organizations. What work has been done is highly fragmented, primarily by discipline, and concentrates on different facets of a complex phenomenon. Following a literature review and classification this article attempts a conceptual integration; it proposes a system dynamics model for the creation and development of one particular organizational type: new, technology based organizations. Drawing upon concepts from ecology, the central concept of the model is that new venture creation takes place within, and is thus dependent upon, a larger context of "ecosystem" consisting of environmental resources (technical expertise, capital, services) and existing inhabitants (individuals, firms, and institutions). Intraorganizational factors are also discussed including a set of proposed measures for new venture success. The article closes with some suggestions for the direction of future research and describes a research project the authors have recently begun.     

Interventions with women offenders: a systematic review and meta-analysis of mental health gain

Currently, a conjunction of policy, legislative change in health and social care and the criminal justice system, combined with funding for innovative services make it opportune to assess the evidence base for interventions with women offenders. Women offenders have a distinctive criminological, health and social profile and a gender specific approach to their difficulties is advocated. This systematic review and meta-analysis focus on mental health gain in adult women offenders in forensic health settings, criminal justice institutions and in the community, following therapeutic interventions. Interventions were assessed in terms of specific outcome measures of depression, trauma symptomatology and global mental health status. Comprehensive search strategies yielded 3018 articles, from which we obtained 199 full text articles. Seventeen articles were included in the final review, of which six were excluded from the meta-analysis as there was no comparator group. There is a modest, but increasing, body of evidence for the utility of some interventions, notably those addressing the consequences of earlier trauma, including interventions which also address comorbid substance misuse. This does not amount, to date, to a robust evidence base. Limitations of these studies are discussed and include small sample sizes, their restriction mainly to prison populations and that they were substantially undertaken in the US. Variations in outcome measures follow-up and the difficulties inherent in measuring change in this complex population are also detailed. However, the review delineates definite avenues for further work. To achieve this, those responsible for policy, practice and purchase of services should both be mindful of existing evidence and promote additional, high quality research into interventions which are designed around a coherent, theoretical approach.     

Bystander Intervention,Bullying, and Victimization: A Multilevel Analysis of New Zealand High Schools

This study examines the association between schools and student bullying behaviors and victimization among a nationally representative sample (N = 9,107) of New Zealand high school students. In particular, the study sought to explore the role of characteristics of schools and school culture with respect to bystander behavior, while controlling for individual student factors related to victimization and bullying behaviors. Results indicated that a total of 6% of students report being bullied weekly or more often and 5% of students reported bullying other students at least weekly. Results of multilevel analyses suggested that schools characterized by students taking action to stop bullying were associated with less victimization and less reported bullying among students. In contrast, in schools where students reported teachers take action to stop bullying, there was no decline in victimization or bullying. Overall, these findings support whole-school approaches that aid students to take action to stop bullying.