Computer simulation of adult sentencing proposals

Several legislative proposals have been introduced in the State of Washington which would alter sentencing procedures for adults convicted of felonies. A major policy concern is the degree to which such new legislation would impact population levels in an already overcrowded prison system. The Sentencing Alternatives Impact Simulation Project developed a series of computer simulation programs to model the sentencing proposals. Results of the simulations were made available to the Legislature and to planners for Adult Corrections. This article describes the major model developed, the data required to run it, and the results obtained from it under a variety of hypothetical conditions. It includes a discussion of the level of utilization made of the results, and some comments on the requirements for maximizing utilization in future simulation projects.     

EXTENDED REVIEW

The Origins of English Individualism: the family, property and social transition by Alan Macfarlane.     

Effects of nonverbal examiner praise on selected WAIS subtest performance of Lebanese undergraduates

Forty Lebanese undergraduates were randomly assigned to one of two treatment conditions. Students in the experimental group were tested by an examiner who leaned forward in an attentive posture throughout the course of the examination. The examiner also established and maintained eye contact as each question was presented while simultaneously smiling and nodding after every response. The subjects in the second treatment received neutral nonverbal examiner feedback. In this instance the examiner consistently leaned back in his seat and looked down at the protocol as he presented each item while assuming and maintaining a blank expression. Significant differences were noted between the Digit Span and Similarities scores of the treatment groups. The efficacy of the treatment as a means of reinforcing performance or reducing situational anxiety was noted and recommendations for Middle Eastern and Occidental psychologists were presented.     

Measures of the perceived overall quality of life

Respondents participating in a national quality of life study were asked to assess their levels of satisfaction or dissatisfaction with each of a set of fifteen domains of their lives. They were also asked to describe their lives as a whole, using both satis-faction and semantic-differential types of scales. Canonical correlation analysis was used to find the combinations of domain-specific and global items with the highest correlation. The two indices derived from this analysis, the Index of Well-being and the Index of Domain Satisfactions, have been examined in relation to a variety of demographic and situational variables, including age, indicators of socioeconomic status, employment status, and size of community. The relationships discovered provide some preliminary evidence for the validity of these indices. The reliability of the measures (as measured cross-sectionally) and their stability over a period of some eight months are both acceptably high. We conclude that both of these measures form acceptable indicators of the perceived overall quality of life.     

EXAMINING FRAME FORMATION IN PEER GROUP CONVERSATIONS

Frame analysis has been used to examine the ways in which movement groups articulate their goals, recruit participants, and respond to the counterframes of their opponents. But, with the notable exception of William Gamson's Talking Politics , theorists have not paid serious attention to the conversations of peer groups. This essay revisits some of Gamson's observations in an attempt to extend the scope of existing theory on frame analysis and peer group conversations. I begin with the premise that collective action frames are not only the product of shared, cultural narratives and personal experiences; they are also shaped by behavioral expectations, that are specific to the group, that regulate how the group "talks politics", and that delimit the boundaries of group-belonging. In exploring these group-specific dynamics, I draw attention to the relationship between "interaction frames", that are used to structure the dialogue of the group and "speaking positions", that are used to align new action-demands and political ideas with the preexisting frames of the group. My intent, in introducing these concepts, is not to provide a finished methodology but to present a beginning framework for future research and discussion. As I suggest here, the most promising answer to the questions posed by this essay lies in expanding the dialogue between the Goffmanian undercurrents of frame analysis and aspects of systems theory.