Police and Government in the 1990s

This article considers the proposals made for reform of local government and the creation of unitary authorities. It considers the relationship between police forces and local government and the introduction of new management structures for police forces. It argues for coterminous police and district authority boundaries, for district police committees and for closer coordination of police and other local services in the development of crime prevention programmes.     

"Bridging the Gap": New Relationships between Primary Care Groups and Local Authorities

Current policy places great emphasis on the development of "partnerships", particularly between NHS and local authority services, with the aims of increasing service coordination and delivery and improving health. To this end, primary care groups (PCGs), at the forefront of NHS organizational developments, are required to include a social services representative on their governing boards; similarly, primary care trusts (PCTs) have a social services representative on their executive committees. Drawing on a representative longitudinal national survey of English PCGs, the paper evaluates the contribution of these new governance arrangements to the development of inter-agency partnerships. Despite poor histories of collaboration and some major organizational barriers, there are some signs of progress, with social services representatives playing an active part in PCG affairs and having clear lines of communication about PCG matters with their employing authorities. Equally significantly, PCGs have also quickly established a wide range of contacts directly with other local authority services and departments. However, these early gains risk being limited by traditional professional inequalities between social work and medicine and, in particular, by the prospect of further organizational upheaval as PCGs merge with each other and/or acquire trust status.     

Charging and Quasi-Markets in Community Care: Implications for Elderly People with Dementia

Social services authorities in the UK are increasingly involved in charging and fee collection activities with clients in receipt of community care services. This article explores the implications of these developments for elderly people with dementia. The starting point of the article is a critique of existing legal and administrative options for handling other people's money, including the difficulties and dilemmas raised for both paid and unpaid carers by the existing arrangements. This is then related to the failure of charging and fee collection systems which have developed as a result of the community care reforms to address the particular needs of elderly people with dementia. A case study of policies in one local authority is outlined and this is followed by the presentation of the view of 37 fieldlevel professionals who were interviewed in focus groups. The concerns of these respondents included the complexity of the assessment task, conflicts between care managers and finance/revenue staff, the difficulty of defining and responding to financial abuse, and dilemmas over the extent to which relatives and carers should be trusted. The final section of the article considers the implications of a move to quasi-markets in social care for elderly people with dementia, particularly in terms of their vulnerability to financial exploitation.     

Mixed accountability within new public governance: The case of a personalized welfare scheme in early implementation

We explore personalized funding schemes and associated changes for accountability within new welfare governance reforms. Using the case of the Australian National Disability Insurance Scheme as hybrid institution, requiring mixed accountability arrangements, we examine the implications for broader discussions of accountability in personalized welfare arrangements. Methods used were semistructured interviews with government actors and disability service providers in Australia. In describing how accountability structures emerge, we argue that the way that layers fit together during implementation are often imperfect because of the conditions under which they arise. As a result, critical gaps can emerge in layered systems, which can put end users at risk. We demonstrate that theories on accountability in new public governance welfare reforms must also be informed by context and history informed qualitative analysis of case studies.     

A National Survey of the Investigation of Child Sexual Abuse

Correspondence to Department of Sociology, University of Surrey, Guildford, Surrey GU2 5XH, UK Summary The article reports a national survey of social services andpolice arrangements for investigating child sexual abuse (CSA).It is now officially accepted as good practice for police andsocial workers to jointly investigate such allegations. To evaluateinvestigative practice, the survey aimed to (i) document existingarrangements for police/social services investigation and managementof CSA cases; (ii) identify the main organizational models informingsuch work, and (iii) explore the perceptions of police and socialservices managers of the key policy and practice issues posedby such work. The criteria for judging the benefits of jointwork were: reduction in the number of occasions children wereinterviewed, clarification of the role of professionals involved,increased coordination of service delivery, and establishmentof group support for difficult decisions. While there were signsthat some benefit was being achieved, there were also indicationsof the endurance of problems long associated with multiagencywork.     

异化与矫正：村民自治制度的政治社会学思考

村民自治制度的实施已经取得了诸多成效,但同时也面临一些严峻问题。本文以政治社会学的视角分析了我国村民自治制度运行中出现的异化现象。本文认为,当前主要在乡村关系、“两委”关系、权利主体和权力方面出现了明显的偏差,违背了国家推行村民自治制度的初衷,导致其发展陷入困境。同时,文章对其异化的原因进行了深入探讨,并在此基础上提出了矫正的对策。     

Alcohol and drug abuse: removing structural barriers to treatment for historically disadvantaged communities in Cape Town

The article reports on an exploratory study that examined access to alcohol and other drug treatment for historically disadvantaged communities in the Cape Town metropole. In-depth interviews were conducted with 20 key informants from various sectors of the alcohol and drug treatment system, including treatment service providers, members of local drug action committees and social workers from district social service offices. Findings highlighted three structural barriers to service delivery: (i) difficulties in developing and implementing a strategic plan relating to alcohol and drug problems due to poor capacity and other infrastructural issues, such as a lack of information, poor intersectoral collaboration and limited consultation with service providers; (ii) limited allocation of resources to alcohol and drug treatment which has restricted the availability of affordable services as well as the capacity of established services to meet increased demand for services in this area; and (iii) fragmented service delivery. The study highlighted the need for further transformation of the South African social welfare system responsible for alcohol and drug treatment service delivery through public–private partnership development and the introduction of a management information system.     

"Anything Can Happen With Police Around": Urban Youth Evaluate Strategies of Surveillance in Public Places

In order to document urban youth experiences of adults in positions of public authority, including police, educators, social workers and guards, a broad based street survey of 911 New York City-based urban youth was conducted in which youth, stratified by race, ethnicity, gender and borough, were asked about their experiences with, attitudes toward, and trust of adult surveillance in communities and in schools. In-depth telephone interviews were conducted with 36 youth who have experienced serious, adverse interactions with police, guards, or educators. Findings suggest that urban youth, overall, express a strong sense of betrayal by adults and report feeling mistrusted by adults, with young men of color most likely to report these perceptions.     

Public–Private Partnerships in European Old‐Age Pension Provision: An Accountability Perspective

Over the last few decades, the boundary between public and private responsibility in old‐age pension provisions has been redrawn throughout Europe. A new, public–private mix has emerged, not only in pension policy, but also in pension administration. The purpose of this article is to map and conduct a comparative analysis of the administrative design of public–private partnerships (PPPs) in European pension regimes, with a specific focus on how accountabilities are institutionally enforced within the PPP design. Previous literature has recognized accountability as an important factor in promoting trust in mandated pension schemes. However, as the literature on PPPs suggests, institutional arrangements of accountability are more complex in the case of PPPs than has been suggested by previous studies on pension administration. Thus, there is a need for further elaboration of existing comparative models. This study's analysis examines 19 old‐age pension schemes that existed in 18 European countries at the beginning of 2013. The findings suggest that significant variations in accountability structures exist, even among schemes that are similar in terms of their pension policy targets. It is concluded that various schemes suffer from ineffective accountability structures that may compromise the legitimacy and sustainability of PPP‐type pension schemes.     

Events,Politics and Patterns of Policy‐Making: Impact of Major Incidents on Health Sector Regulatory Reforms in the UK and Japan

This article examines the major malpractice incidents in the late 1990s through early 2000s in the UK and Japan, comparing how these incidents opened up pathways for a new type of hospital regulation in each case. Applying John Kingdon's three‐stream model of agenda‐setting and policy change, the article argues that governance arrangements as well as the policy instruments that a government has at its disposal determine how an event could be translated into a political agenda by throwing light on the problems within the public domain. The long‐term effect of such adverse events is therefore determined by how open the relevant institutional arrangements are, and is enhanced if actors constantly scrutinize the system by proactively setting the agenda. A higher level of political accountability in the UK led to British politicians taking a greater role in promoting patient‐led reforms than Japanese counterparts. However, a political system with clear accountability is more conscious of its own involvement and any potential blame it might receive for policy failures. Therefore, the political class could become more engaged in continuous reforms and the delegation of tasks rather than a constant search for remedial actions. The article sheds light on the interactive aspects of the particular triggering events discussed through the decade of regulatory developments in the two health‐care systems.     

“Roll back the years”: A study of grandparent special guardians' experiences and implications for social work policy and practice in England

Growing numbers of grandparent special guardians (GSGs) are assuming responsibility for increasing numbers of children in the care system in England. Special guardianship arrangements are increasingly used as a permanency option as they allow children to remain in their kinship networks rather than in local authority care or be adopted; yet there is a scarcity of research on GSG carers' experiences. This paper reports a small qualitative research study where 10 sets of grandparents were interviewed to explore their journey to becoming GSGs and to theorize their subsequent experiences. Two themes emerge. First, experiences of the assessment process are elaborated, decisions often being made at a time of family crisis, impacting on GSGs: financial, employment, and relational. Second, GSGs' experiences of managing often challenging relationships and contact arrangements between the grandchildren and the parents reveal three main relationship management approaches emerging: containing‐flexible, containing‐controlled, and uncontained/defeated approaches. Anthropological concepts of affinity help theorize the GSGs' ambivalent responses to becoming carers in later life, enabling reconfigured kinship relationships in new family forms. Family policy and social work practice is critiqued as GSGs appear often left alone to “roll back the years,” to heal previous harms done to the grandchildren who end up in their care.     

A new framework for understanding subnational policy-making and local choice

This article presents a new and innovative framework to help analyse policy-making and depoliticisation within subnational governance arrangements. By focusing on the capacity (not the autonomy) of subnational governments to achieve their political objectives, and incorporating external actors along both the vertical and horizontal dimensions, it provides a dynamic tool to understand the extent to which municipal governments influence local policy-making processes. Furthermore, it stresses that greater ‘localism’ (or independence) between vertical tiers of government is likely to weaken subnational bodies and result in them becoming more interdependent with (or even dependent on) horizontal non-state actors within the locality. This would weaken their position in local governance arrangements and exacerbate the depoliticised nature of decision-making.     

基层信访治理中的“包保责任制” 实践逻辑与现实困境 以鄂中桥镇为例

本文以桥镇为个案,运用国家、基层政权和农民博弈关系的三层分析框架,阐释了乡村基层信访治理中“包保责任制”的实践逻辑和现实困境。研究发现,尽管“包保责任制”能够强化包保责任人的责任意识,并在一定程度上缓解信访治理工作难题,但监控环境与空间隔离、监控技术与社会基础、监控强度与道义压力这三大矛盾使得这一制度的运行陷入困境,滋生了越来越多与制度设计初衷相悖的“目标替代”行为。在此基础上,本文阐释了中国科层制运作的三大矛盾,即理性科层制与非理性运作的矛盾、专业化与综合性的矛盾、常规运作与非常规任务的矛盾,并给出了相应的理论解释。本研究强调,在中国基层权力运作中,长期而广泛存在的名实分离的矛盾现象,不仅仅是科层体制内部各行动主体博弈的结果,也不纯粹是一个组织激励问题,而是由科层体制与乡村社会的合力所催生。由此,在推进基层政权现代化建设进程中,就不能局限于制度建设层面,还要考虑是否具备支撑现代基层政权的社会基础和制度环境。     

村庄善治：一种新型民主合作体制的建立

目前,我国村庄治理中面临着“两委矛盾”、村委与村民矛盾以及乡村矛盾的多重困境,从而使村庄难以实现有效治理,其主要原因是村庄治理中的体制不合理、利益主体多元化以及传统政治文化惯性与村民的公民意识欠缺。因此,发展草根组织,使村庄向理性公民社会靠拢,从而建立一种以草根组织为纽带的草根组织、村“两委”以及乡镇政权组织的民主合作体制,在一定程度上有助于村治困境的解决,以期实现村庄善治。     

Factors in Differential Utilization of Services by Urban Elderly

This paper examines the extent to which people aged 60 years and over living in the inner city of New York utilize community services. It was found that agencies providing income maintenance were utilized by the highest percentage of fhe respondents, followed, in order, by the police, religious organizations, and the housing authority. Among the lowest in reported utilization were voluntary social agencies such as settlement houses and family service agencies. There was also a low level of utilization of visiting nurse and homemaker services. Differences in utilization were found among ethnic groups represented in the population. Reasons for the low level of service utilization are discussed.     

Are good governance principles institutionalised with policy transfer? An examination of public–private partnerships policy promotion in China

This article explores the following question: To what extent are good governance principles being institutionalised in China as a result of public–private partnerships (PPP) policy transfer? Since 2013, China has been pursuing PPP and applying aspects of related good governance drawing from Western experience despite its radically different fragmented authoritarian regime. This makes China a unique case to observe the extent to which good governance principles can be institutionalised in very different contexts. This article assesses the degree of institutionalisation of three good governance principles that guide PPP policy elsewhere: transparency and accountability, willingness to collaborate and equity between partners. It argues that while the PPP policies have been applied extensively in recent years, these good governance principles have been institutionalised to varying degrees as they have had to be adapted and compromised to fit with existing power relations in authoritarian China. The findings aim to add value to the literature regarding PPP policy transfer and good governance, by revealing the challenges of institutionalising good governance principles through PPP policy transfer in an alien context.     

The Eric Garner Case: Statewide Survey of New York Voters’ Response to Proposed Police Accountability Legislation

The Eric Garner case was unique because this police-induced death was caught on video from before the moment of physical confrontation. A mixed-methods representative household survey and Garner's arrest video were used to determine NYS voters’ opinions (n = 119) about police indictment and Governor Cuomo's request for expanded authority. Respondents were asked whether the officers should face indictment, shown the arrest video, and then asked again about indictment. Prior to the video, a majority of respondents (n = 86; 57.4%) believed involved officers should have been indicted. After viewing, the proportion increased by 13.7%. A majority supported Cuomo's call for expanded authority to appoint a special prosecutor in cases where police are involved in civilian deaths. Study limitations include prior exposure to the footage and a low response rate. NYS voters generally supported Cuomo's proposal for appointing a special prosecutor; however, a quarter of respondents disagreed with the method of reform and expressed a: 1) preference for every case to go to trial; 2) preference for a case-by-case basis; or 3) distrust in state-appointed special prosecutors. This research could inform discussions regarding proposed system reforms. Future research with a less well-circulated video is needed to determine the extent to which videos of police-induced deaths affect public opinion.     

Colonial workers,imperial migrants and surveillance: policing in Le Havre, 1914–40

This article explores how the police and municipal authorities of Le Havre responded to the colonial others who passed through, or resided in, the Seine-Inférieure port between the outbreak of the First World War and the defeat of France in 1940. Interrogating how the police and urban authorities monitored migrants to the port, it reveals how Le Havre’s imperial and transnational space was distinctive in terms of the peoples who established themselves in the port, the ways in which they forged links with other peripheral locations throughout the French empire, and how the local authorities attempted to control migrants and incomers from the French overseas empire. It highlights particularities of Le Havre’s urban space – notably its lack of a university and prestigious lycées, its pre-1914 history of militant strike action, its role as France’s main transatlantic port, and the presence of a small colonial population with a narrow social-economic profile – and shows how these particularities resulted in the enactment and sometimes neglect of national policies and agendas according to specific local priorities.     

Partnerships, Power and the "New" Politics of Community Participation in British Health Care

Multi–sectoral approaches to health improvement in its broadest sense have entailed an emphasis by the British government upon partnership working in and around community involvement in planning processes. New service planning and delivery organizations in the health service—primary care groups and primary care trusts—thus have to ensure that public and patient involvement strategies reflect a coordinated, if not integrated, multi–sectoral approach to such involvement. But how are these enforced partnership arrangements shaping the approach taken by primary care groups and trusts to the issue of public and patient involvement? More particularly, is the traditional dominance of health service managers and the medical profession in decision–making processes under challenge? This article draws on a study of primary care groups and trusts in three districts in order to gauge perceptions and calculations with regard to partnerships for involvement. Results appear to suggest that health service managers and practitioners continue to exercise considerable influence in comparison to that of patients and citizens. But, if the findings are viewed in the broader contexts of government managerialist strategies of surveillance and accountability and the growth of service–user and advocacy organizations, partnerships may offer significant scope for “lay” challenges to managerial and medical power.     

Strategic Planning for Support Services for Children with a Parent or Close Relative in Prison

It has long been recognized that children with a parent or close relative in prison are more likely to experience educational difficulties, emotional distress, family breakdown and a substantial reduction in family income (Boswell 2002; Smith et al. 2007; Morgan et al. 2013b; Morgan and Gill 2013). Consequently, children with a parent in prison are more likely to require support from statutory services, especially education and social care. However, statutory support for this group of children is sparse, and children of prisoners tend not to be identified as a priority group. The demand on local authorities to spend their limited budgets wisely means tough decisions have to be made. These decisions are not taken in a vacuum: they are taken in a context of local need, consumer representation, central and local politics; underpinned by the values and attitudes of individual members as well as by the ethos or culture of the local authority itself. In this article we apply Axford's typology (2009) of the different cultures which underpin local authority service provision to data from a research study carried out in 2011 in one local authority which explored support provision in schools for children of prisoners. We examine the contradictions and gaps within the local authority's attempts to synergize the different modules of service delivery into a coherent pattern of provision, and we explore how changes in strategic culture might lead to improvements being made in terms of service delivery to this group of ‘vulnerable’ children.