Third party roles in intimate partner violence incidents and their effects on police response in a statewide rural jurisdiction

Using police narratives and affidavits, as well as incident report forms, this paper examines the neglected research topic of third party involvement in intimate partner violence and reports findings that differ from previous research done on the subject as a secondary topic. After identifying two analytically distinct roles of third parties, those of complainant and eyewitness, the study finds that the presence of complainants and eyewitnesses alone has no effect on police arrest dispositions. However, arrest is increased significantly when eyewitnesses become complainants or provide sworn statements. Other mafor findings of the study were: (1) the importance of the heretofore disregarded role of family members as third party witnesses; (2) the relative insignificance of marital status among cohabiting victim-offender couples on reporting and disposition; (3) the relatively small percentage of witnesses who are victimized; and (4) the greater willingness of witnesses to provide sworn statements against offenders with past versus current relationships to the victim. This paper was presented at panel session on “Domestic Violence and Law Enforcement Interventions” at the 2004 Annual Meeting of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences in Las Vegas on March 11. The study was facilitated by a Norwich University Board of Fellows Award and a Norwich University Research Grant. I would like to express my appreciation to the Vermont Department of Public Safety and the Vermont Crime Information Center for providing access to the Vermont Incident-Based Reporting System and for their cooperation throughout the project.     

Much Contest,Little Censure: Motions in the Romanian Parliament (1989–2012)

No-confidence motions introduced in the Romanian parliament in 1989–2012 represented important tools of legislative control over the executive. Simple and censure motions employed by the opposition against the government tackled the most important issues affecting the country, the government's perceived failure to enact its programme, and areas considered a priority by the opposition. During the first 23 years of post-communism as many as 140 no-confidence motions were introduced, but only 13 were adopted, of which only two unseated the cabinet. Nevertheless, motions gave the opposition public attention and an occasion to present its point of view.     

New Technologies Stuck in Old Hierarchies: The Diffusion of Geo-Information Technologies in Dutch Public Organizations

Some 25 years after the introduction of the first geo-information technologies in public organizations, strategies to manage their diffusion are still inadequate. This is problematic in light of the new generation of geo-information technologies that has become available and aims to invest in these new information technologies in order to advance e-government. This study questions how strategies for diffusion of geo-information technologies in public planning organizations can be improved. It shows that classic top-down management often enhances informal diffusion activities that deviate from the formal diffusion strategy. A knowledge management approach, in which geo-information specialists and planners participate in the formation of diffusion policies, can enhance the quality of the formal strategy, thereby preventing deviation and informal diffusion activities. The authors recommend that public planning organizations use this knowledge to improve their diffusion strategies for geo-information technologies.     

Reviews

AIDS in Africa: The Social and Policy Impact edited by Norman Miller and Richard C. Rockwell Edwin Mellen Press, Lewiston (New York) and Queenston (Ontario), 1988. xxxi plus 336 pp. including map, tables, figures, notes, appendices and selected bibliographies. $110,00.

The Politics of Africa's Economic Stagnation by Richard Sandbrook Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1985. xiii plus 180 pp. including map, tables, notes and index. R.25,50 paperback.

Imperialism and Dependency: Obstacles to African Development by Daniel A. Offiong Howard University Press, Washington, DC, 1982. 304 pp. including tables, bibliography and index. $6,95 paperback.

Early Field Recordings: A Catalogue of Cylinder Collections at the Indiana University Archives of Traditional Music edited by Anthony Seeger and Louise S. Spear Indiana University Press, Bloomington, 1987. xviii plus 198 pp. $22,50.

Western Sahara: The Roots of a Desert War by Tony Hodges Lawrence Hill and Co., Westport (Connecticut), 1983. xii plus 388 pp. including maps, illustrations, tables, notes, appendix, bibliography and index. £6,95 paperback.

Somalia: Nation in Search of a State by David D. Laitin and Said S. Samatar Westview Press, Boulder (Colorado), and Gower, London, 1987. xvii plus 198 pp. including maps, illustrations, figures, tables, notes and index. $28,00.

Superpower Diplomacy in the Horn of Africa by Samuel M. Makinda Croom Helm, London and Sydney, 1987. 242 pp. including notes, appendices, select bibliography and index. £22,50.

Industrialization in West Africa by J.O.C. Onyemelukwe Croom Helm, London, 1984. v plus 226 pp. including tables, figures, bibliography and index. £17,95.

Modern Kongo Prophets: Religion in a Plural Society by Wyatt MacGaffey Indiana University Press, Bloomington, 1983. xiii plus 285 pp. including tables, figures, illustrations, notes, references and index. $12,00 paperback.

Naissance du Mozambique: Résistance et Révoltes Anticoloniales, 1854–1918 (Two Volumes) by René Pélissier Editions Pélissier, Orgeval (France), 1984. 833 pp. including maps, tables, notes, bibliography and index. $45,00 paperback.

The Political Economy of Namibia: An Annotated, Critical Bibliography by Tore LinnÉ Eriksen with Richard Moorsom Scandinavian Institute of African Studies, Uppsala, 1985. 423 pp. including map and authors’ index. SEK 110.

The Bureaucratic Struggle for Control of US Foreign Aid: Diplomacy versus Development in Southern Africa by Caleb Rossiter Bowker Publishing Co., Epping (England), and Westview Press, Boulder (Colorado), 1985. xiii plus 250 pp. including figures, tables, notes, bibliography and index. $25,50 paperback.

The Politics of Economic Power in Southern Africa by Ronald T. Libby Princeton University Press, Princeton (New Jersey), 1987. xxiii plus 361 pp. including maps, tables, bibliography and index. $45,00. $14,50 paperback.

South Africa in Crisis edited by Jesmond Blumenfeld Croom Helm, London, 1987. x plus 207 pp. including tables, notes and index. £19,95.

Pass Controls and the Urban African Proletariat in South Africa By Doug Hindson Ravan Press, Johannesburg, 1987. xii plus 121 pp. including notes, bibliography and index. R 14,00 paperback.

Hidden Struggles in Rural South Africa: Politics and Popular Movements in the Transkei and Eastern Cape, 1890–1930 by William Beinart and Colin Bundy Ravan Press, Johannesburg, 1987. xxvi plus 326 pp. including illustrations, maps, notes and index. R24,00 paperback.     

Romanian political science since 1989

Abstract. In a relatively short period of time, Romanian political science has made considerable progress, moving from virtual obscurity to unchallenged local prominence. This article examines the efforts to date to institutionalize political science as a separate teaching and research discipline by presenting recently established political science university–level programs, the major groups of authors carrying out research on political phenomena and the recurrent themes emerging from relevant literature. Though the present article is concerned mainly with current developments, occasional references to the political science's position during the communist period are also made.     

Country Profile: A Review of the New Juvenile Offenders Status in Cambodia

This publication seeks to explore whether the position of juvenile offenders vis‐à‐vis the Cambodian criminal law has changed with the passage of the new criminal legislation and whether this change has been positive or otherwise. The quality of this change will demonstrate to the reader whether the overall process of the reform of the juvenile justice component of the Cambodian system of criminal justice, which spans the last fifteen years and has been funded by the international community, has been a success. The author limited the scope of this inquiry to a comparison between the various domestic laws applicable to juvenile offenders and did not include comparisons with international law, model laws or juvenile laws of other states. Being the first publication of its kind, this analysis limits its claim to the analysis of the relevant statutory provisions rather than ‘practice notes’ which have yet to develop.     

BUNDLES OF JOY: THE UBIQUITY AND EFFICIENCY OF BUNDLES IN NEW TECHNOLOGY MARKETS

This paper examines the economic logic underlying bundles andtie-in sales and uses the lessons learned from that examinationto analyze seven specific instances of bundling that have beenthe subject of antitrust scrutiny or other policy initiatives.Of particular interest are products that are nonrivalrous inconsumption, making all-you-can-eat pricing a viable candidatefor efficiency. The main economic points are the following:À-la-carte pricing may populate economic models, butmost products are bundles. They are bundles because bundlesare generally more efficient. Tie-in sales are much less commonand often not properly understood in textbook discussions. Marketforeclosure, the principal efficiency concern with tying andbundling, is likely to be exceedingly rare. The seven instancesof bundling (ties) examined in the paper are: cable television;patent pools; blanket licenses; iPods and iTunes; telephones;music albums and songs; operating systems and component programs.     

Measuring Street Cleanliness: A Comparison of New York City's Scorecard and Results from a Citizen Survey

Public administrators at the local level often rely on citizen surveys to measure the outcomes or accomplishments of their service delivery efforts. However, many remain skeptical about the value of survey-based measures of local government performance, in large part because of the low empirical correlation between objective and subjective performance measures reported in the literature. Using data from New York City's street cleanliness scorecard, a well-established outcome measure, combined with responses from more than 4,000 respondents to a citizen survey, the authors find a clear and consistent correlation between the scorecard and citizen ratings of street cleanliness in their neighborhoods. Moreover, the street cleanliness scorecard is a much stronger predictor of citizen ratings than demographic factors, trust in government, or contextual effects. These results demonstrate that citizen judgments about government performance can correspond closely with more objectively measured outcomes—and that citizen surveys can provide valid and useful performance measures, at least for some local government services.