A Framework for Comparison of Intensive and Special Probation Projects

This paper presents a conceptual framework to consider the activities and outcomes of probation projects. It is based on twenty site visits at which probation staffs described how project activities interrelated to produce desired effects. Based upon comparative analysis of these projects, alternative probation strategies are contrasted in six areas: (1) caseload reduction as a means to increase contact time; (2) in-house versus out-house treatment services; (3) helping relationships and tightened surveillance for probationers; (4) ways to enhance community acceptance; (5) usefulness of attempting to change probationer attitudes versus behaviors; and (6) goals of reduced criminal activity during, versus after, probation. The analysis points up underlying assumptions of probation programs and leads to three recommendations. First, contact character is a more superior measure of probation intensity than is caseload reduction. Second, probation projects should prepare conceptual frameworks to better understand the relationship between project activities and desired outcomes, but they should not be subject to elaborate evaluation requirements. Third, multiple measures of criminal activity allow a more balanced appraisal than is possible with single measures such as revocation rate or recidivism.     

Reassessing Power

<正>Fukushima accident increases global concern over nuclear safety The accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Japan has had an immediate impact on resurgent interest in nuclear power worldwide.Numerous governments have announced plans to re-examine nuclear energy policy and review the safety of their reactors and the adequacy of their regulatory frameworks.     

Comparison of Status and Delinquent Offenders

National studies suggest that our college students do not have sufficient awareness or knowledge of international affairs, and this appears to be true of criminal justice students as well. A survey of programs in criminology-criminal justice indicates that we have not been giving sufficient attention to the international field in our curricula. This paper discusses the need for international courses in criminal justice, citing the vast increase in international crime and criminal activity, the increasing internationalization of crime, and the recent, rapid development of international agencies of crime control and prevention. The paper also suggests an outline and sketch of what should be covered in international courses of the field, and indicates suitable reference sources.     

THE U.S. CIRCUIT JUDGE NOMINATING COMMISSION

This article examines the institution of the U.S. Circuit Judge Nominating Commission as a new actor in the recruitment process to the federal judiciary. The mandate and operation of the commission are examined and, through the utilization of mailed questionnaires, the research attempts to tap the decisional criteria employed by commission members. Criticisms of the commission and its operation are developed utilizing questionnaire responses as well as documents comprising the commission mandate. The implications of "merit" recruitment for both the district and appeals courts are examined.     

Nuclear Assessment

In President Barack Obama's State of the Union address in January 2009,he called for the building of "a new generation of safe,clean nuclear power plants" This was followed by his highprofile speech in Prague in April 2009,in which he noted the need "to harness the power of nuclear energy on behalf of our efforts to combat climate change."In December 2009 in Copenhagen,he pledged the United States will reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions 17 percent from 2005 levels by 2020.