BRITISH LOCAL GOVERNMENT INTO THE 21ST CENTURY

BRITISH LOCAL GOVERNMENT INTO THE 21ST CENTURY
Gerry Stoker and David Wilson (eds)
Palgrave Macmillan, 2004, 304 pp., £50.60 (hb), £18.99 (pb) ISBN: 1403918724     

Psychological correlates of teenage motherhood

The social and economic consequences of adolescent motherhood are known, yet the psychological associates are largely unstudied. Clinical studies point to distressing reactions to adolescent pregnancy, and do not reflect changes in social attitudes about teenage parenting. In this study, adolescent mothers (n=62), pregnant teenagers (n=63), and non-pregnant and nonparenting (n=60) adolescents enrolled in public high schools completed measures of socioeconomic status, depression, anxiety, loneliness, self-esteem, and social supports. Findings suggest that adolescent mothers and pregnant teenagers are less distressed by their situation than was once thought. Social supports and socioeconomic status predicted psychological well-being better than parenting status. Expanded school programs for teenage mothers and renewed efforts to enhance young mothers' social and socioeconomic resources are called recommended.Funding was provided by the William T. Grant Foundation of New York.Received his D.S.W. from the University of California, Berkeley. Major interests are adolescent parenthood, child welfare services, social and cognitive skills training, and social supports.Received his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Current research interests are primary prevention, adolescent pregnancy and parenthood, and teenaged alcohol and drug abuse.Current interests are adolescent pregnancy and social supports.     

STR Data for the AmpFlSTR Identifiler loci in three ethnic groups (Malay, Chinese, Indian) of the Malaysian population

Allele frequencies for the 15 STR loci in the AmpFlSTR Identifiler kit were determined and compared for the three main ethnic groups of the Malaysian population comprising 210 Malays, 219 Chinese and 209 Indians. Blood was placed on FTA paper and DNA was purified in-situ.     

Violent criminals locked up: Examining the effect of incarceration on behavioral continuity

Purpose

The purpose of the current study was to determine whether, and the degree to which, inmates committing specific types of violent crimes in the community were prone to commit acts of violence while incarcerated.

Materials and methods

Data were collected from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice on the prison stock population and a restricted admissions cohort serving time during FY 2008.

Results

After controlling for pre-prison and post-conviction characteristics, crime of conviction retained a modest degree of influence on inmates’ propensity to commit dangerous rule violations in prison. Inmates convicted of assault, robbery and other miscellaneous violent crimes were more likely to commit dangerous rule infractions than inmates convicted of property crimes, supporting the behavioral continuity thesis. Inmates convicted of homicide were no more likely, and those convicted of sexual assault less likely, to commit dangerous rule violations in comparison to those convicted of property crimes.

Conclusions

The findings suggest that researchers and prison officials should not view all inmates convicted of one of a broad category of “violent crimes” in the community as being equivalent in their propensity for violence while incarcerated.     

The Audit Commission: guiding, steering and regulating local government

How does the non‐executant state ensure that its agents are fulfilling their obligations to deliver nationally determined policies? In the case of elected local government in England and Wales, this function is carried out by the Audit Commission (AC) for Local Authorities and the Health Service for England and Wales. Since being established in 1983, it is the means by which local authorities are held to account by central government, both for its own purposes and on behalf of other interested stakeholders. Although the primary function of the AC is to ensure that local authorities are fulfilling their obligations, it does so by using different methods. By acting as a regulator, an independent expert, an opinion former and a mediator, the AC steers local authorities to ensure that they are compliant with the regulatory regime and are implementing legislation properly.