The place of law in the leadership and management of schools

Change is a feature of life in all communities and results in heightened demands being made of individuals and organizations alike. In the school setting administrators and classroom teachers have to respond to a great variety of demands that change has brought. Accountability, in various guises, is one area where changes in societal attitudes have resulted in greater demands being exacted of all professions including that of teaching. In this regard legal accountability is of considerable concern to schools as legal matters increasingly impact on school policies, practices and procedures. In this article research into the relationship between the law and school leadership and management is explored. A brief overview of research into school management and principals as leaders is followed by a discussion of the need for knowledge of areas of law impacting on schools. The article concludes that in order to ensure a school's legal safety, a preventive legal risk management culture is needed.     

Measuring the deterrent effect of enforcement operations on drug smuggling, 1991–1999

This study examines a crucial question: What kind of effect do interdiction and other drug enforcement activities have on drug smuggling? Do they actually deter smuggling, or is their effect more one of disruption and displacement?...     

Threatening and otherwise inappropriate letters to members of the United States Congress

The authors examine the characteristics of threatening and otherwise inappropriate communications sent to members of the U.S. Congress by a sample of 86 subjects, 20 of whom threatened assassination. We quote excerpts from these letters and provide quantitative data on such variables as the volume, duration, form, and appearance of such communications; the enclosures; the subjects' perceived relationships to the recipients; the thematic content of the communications; and the messages and threats communicated. Comparisons between 43 subjects who pursued encounters with members of Congress and 43 who did not revealed 17 factors associated with such pursuit. In this population, threateners were significantly less likely to pursue an encounter than inappropriate letter writers who did not threaten, regardless of the type of threat or the harm threatened. Inappropriate letters to members of Congress are compared with those directed to Hollywood celebrities. Mentally disordered persons writing to public figures often mention and sometimes threaten public figures other than those to whom the letters are addressed, which raises important issues regarding notification of endangered third parties and the sharing of information among protective agencies.