Measurement of delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in whole blood samples from impaired motorists

The major psychoactive cannabinoid in marihuana, delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) was measured in 1792 randomly selected blood specimens from erratic motorists arrested for impairment who submitted to blood alcohol sampling. Of these specimens, 14.4% were positive for THC (greater than or equal to 5.5 ng/mL). In those erratic driver specimens negative for alcohol THC positives rose to 23%. Drivers who used marihuana covered a broad age range. Aliquots of hemolyzed blood (10 microL) were analyzed by a sensitive radioimmunoassay (RIA) not requiring extraction. RIA accuracy and specificity were validated by gas liquid chromatography/mass spectroscopy (GLC/MS) split pair analysis (correlation coefficient = 0.93). This initial experience should facilitate and amplify a program designed to set forth the epidemiology of marihuana use in motorists and possible behavioral correlates.     

The Juvenile Justice Assessment Instrument

Abstract This article presents the development of a new assessment instrument for use with juvenile delinquents: The Juvenile Justice Assessment Instrument (JJAI). The term “juvenile delinquency” covers a multitude of antisocial behaviors engaged in by adolescents. Research indicates that certain intrinsic vulnerabilities may combine with environmental stressors to engender maladaptive behaviors. Unfortunately, these potentially treatable vulnerabilities often remain unrecognized in the delinquent population. Because of the sheer numbers of children entering the juvenile justice system each year, it is impossible to ensure that each child will receive a full evaluation from a trained clinician. The JJAI offers those who work with juvenile delinquents an economical, yet sophisticated, assessment tool for evaluating youngsters and recommending appropriate treatment and disposition. This paper also presents the results of two field trials with the JJAI. In a juvenile justice setting, data elicited by the JJAI was compared to data gathered by the court. In a residential treatment setting, data elicited by the JJAI was compared with information gathered by staff at the treatment facility. A discussion of the obstacles faced by those who interview delinquents, and strategies within the JJAI to overcome them, are discussed.     

How Financial Managers Deal with Ethical Stress

This article explores the way public-sector financial managers cope with ethical challenges created by undue political pressure and demands for special treatment. A nationwide survey of financial managers revealed that fiscal stress exacerbates ethical pressure for most financial managers, including chief financial officers (CFOs) and those who report to CFOs. Financial managers do not work in an ethical vacuum; they respond to supervisors who encourage ethical action and to coworkers who demonstrate high standards of personal integrity. Supervisors of CFOs who emphasize political responsiveness in employee evaluations can threaten the ethical behavior of CFOs, while timely feedback can mitigate ethical pressure. In turn, CFOs as supervisors can temper the harsh work environment in fiscally stressed times by encouraging ethical action and by giving adequate feedback to those who report to them.     

Science, values and politics: an insider’s reflections on corporate crime research

Diverse social and political forces have long shaped research on corporate crime and its social control in the U.S., and they have responded to this work in plural and contradictory ways. These forces range from the abstract and institutional to the local and personal. In this essay, I reflect on my three decades of research experience in this arena in an examination of these forces and their implications for research and public policy. More overtly than other forms of criminological research, the study of corporate lawbreaking has conjoined issues of values and politics with issues of science. This feature of the work has made consistently problematic such foundational questions as how to define the subject of inquiry, how to study it, and how to communicate about it. While this volatility has contributed to the ongoing marginalization of this research stream in both academic criminology and regulatory policy, it has also created a certain intellectual dynamism that should attract future generations of investigators to these questions, and to greater cross-disciplinary efforts to address them. Such developments may even pave the way to greater consideration of such research by policy-makers, should socioeconomic conditions in the U.S. and around the world raise the public salience of corporate wrongdoing. ‘Why do you want to study corporate managers? We know how they think.’ ‘…a book entitled Corporate Crime automatically puts us on guard to defend the corporations…such a book should never have been written in the first place.’      

State administrators and ombudsmen

This article examines the extent of ombudsmen offices in state government, administrators’ use and perceptions of ombudsmen and the sources of information on which administrators base their conclusions about ombudsmen.     

Placement activities of MPA programs and their parent institutions (#)

Results from a survey of NASPAA member programs indicate that NASPAA programs and their parent institutions provide a wide range of placement services. Less than 60 percent of the 68 respondents had a formal placement program at the department level. One fifth of these programs do not provide training in job search techniques, a quarter do not subscribe to placement newsletters, a third do not provide assistance in resume preparation, a third do not assist their students in preparing for interviews, and two- thirds do not provide mock interviews. More than three-quarters do not publish lists of their new graduates and four-fifths do not send these lists to prospective employers. Fortunately, institutional and departmental programs supplement one another in many universities. Nevertheless, central placement agencies do not offer all of these services. Five institutions did not have a formal central placement agency. Public administration programs will improve their placement services for a variety of pragmatic reasons.     

Business priorities and the relative importance of state and local economic-development incentives

State and local governments commonly use a variety of incentives to encourage economic development and business retention. Policies which include economic development incentives are commonly criticized as being ineffective and wasteful uses of public funds. This paper addresses the issue of wastefulness through a business community's assessment of the relative value of eighteen incentives commonly used for business retention and development. Results are based on survey responses from nearly 700 businesses located in Wichita, Kansas. This study illuminates differences in value assigned to incentives by different types of business. Findings indicate that state and local governments that offer incentives without consideration of business type are in many cases delivering “windfalls” to the private sector. Even such highly touted incentives as property tax abatements are not valued equally by all types of businesses. This paper provides state and local governments with an improved understanding of business investment motivation and the relative value of different incentives to effective economic development policy.