Social Class and Delinquent Behavior in a National Youth Panel: 1976–1980

This article addresses the question of whether or not a more adequate measure of self-reported delinquency applied to a representative national sample would reveal class differences in r l e l i m that have not been found in earlier self-report studies. The methodological criticisms of earlier self-report measures are reviewed, a new self-report measure is described, annual sex-by-class-specific prevalence and incidence rates based on this measure are presented for a national youth panel for the years 1976 through 1980, and the implications of the class findings are discussed. Class differences in both prevalence and incidence are found for serious offenses. For males, class differences are also found in the incidence of nonserious offenses and global delinquency Class differences are more pervasive and stronger when using an incidence as opposed to a prevalence measure. Criticisms of earlier self report measures appear Justified, calling into Question conclusions about the distribution of delinquency in the adolescent population which are based on prim self-report data.     

Political Influences on Monetary Policy 1914–84

This study examines political, institutional and economic influences on monetary policy in the long run. A monetary policy reaction function is estimated, which focuses principally on the influence of the administration, Congress and the Federal Reserve on outcomes; these influences are estimated together with a variety of economic and political controls. The findings show that partisan control of the White House is particularly important in explaining variations in the growth of the quantity of money over time. Republican control of the White House is associated with tighter money, and Democratic control with looser money, but there are exceptions. Finally, the indirect influence of partisanship on the economic variables in the reaction function suggest that the total effects are stronger than the direct effects alone.     

TACKLING HEALTH INEQUALITIES IN POST‐DEVOLUTION BRITAIN: DO TARGETS MATTER?

Since devolution in 1998, many aspects of public policy in Great Britain have diverged between England, Scotland and Wales, including how targets and performance assessment are used in the National Health Service and local government. Health inequality is an example where all three countries have recognized a need to act but approaches to performance assessment differ. Based on interviews with senior managers, the complexity of health inequality as an object of local intervention is explored and compared. Despite contrasting approaches to targets, local discourses in all three countries had significant similarities. Health inequality had to compete against a preoccupation with improving access to acute services generally and balancing budgets over the short term. There was a bias in the interventions described towards targeting health behaviours, but with limited use of evidence about efficacy, and indications that measuring progress with reducing health inequalities was starting to lead to an emphasis on ‘quick wins' from pharmacological interventions.     

THE ROLE OF ARREST IN DOMESTIC ASSAULT: THE OMAHA POLICE EXPERIMENT *

This paper reports on a replication of the Minneapolis Domestic Violence Experiment in Omaha, Nebraska. Suspects who were eligible for the experiment were randomly assigned to one of three police dispositions: mediation, separation, or arrest. No differences by disposition were found in prevalence or frequency of repeat offending, using jive measures of recidivism to assess outcome six months after police intervention. A survival analysis, using three of the measures for which dates of failure were available, also produced no differences by disposition