Probation Partnerships, Voluntary Action and Community Justice

Having been offered — and prepared to accept — a “centre-stage”role in the operation of the criminal justice system as recently as 1991, the Probation Service in England and Wales seems increasingly to be marginalized by politicians who, in a more punitive climate, have changed their minds about what is expected of it. As a probation spokesperson has recently said: “the big vision has gone”. One strand of policy which the Probation Service was expected to develop in 1991 was increased partnership with voluntary organizations, but, although progress has been made, it is a policy about which the Service has been very ambivalent, fearing that it may lead in the longer term to privatization of their work. This paper will outline the origins and implications of the policy, note how some local Services have so far responded to it, and suggest that, if pursued in certain fields of activity, partnership could contain an alternative vision to the one that has been lost.     

Management control for effective corporate planning

The authors' object is to provide a practical technique to help senior management put long range plans into operation. A model framework is used to identify the objective requirements and principal elements of control within the firm. A procedure is then outlined to identify the weaknesses which may erode the effectiveness of the system, thus providing the basis for system design and adaptation. The use of the method is illustrated in four case studies from actual companies.     

The Liberalization of Cannabis Possession Laws and Birth Outcomes: A State-Level Fixed Effects Analysis, 2003–2019

Population Research and Policy Review - As states liberalize their cannabis laws, cannabis use has become more widespread among adults across the United States, including pregnant women. As a...     

Bayesian CV@R/super-quantile regression

In this paper we provide a Bayesian interpretation of the conditional value at risk, CV@R, or super-quantile regression recently developed by Rockafellar et al. [Super-quantile regression with applications to buffered reliability, uncertainty quantification, and conditional value-at-risk, Eur. J. Oper. Res. 234 (2014), pp. 140–154]. Computations are based on particle filtering using a special posterior distribution consistent with the super-quantile concept. An empirical application to data used by RRM as well to another data set on energy prices confirms their results and shows the applicability of the new techniques.     

Use of a mixture model for the analysis of contraceptive-use duration among long-term users

This paper introduces a mixture model that combines proportional hazards regression with logistic regression for the analysis of survival data, and describes its parameter estimation via an expectation maximization algorithm. The mixture model is then applied to analyze the determinants of the timing of intrauterine device (IUD) discontinuation and long-term IUD use, utilizing 14 639 instances of IUD use by Chinese women. The results show that socio-economic and demographic characteristics of women have different influences on the acceleration or deceleration of the timing of stopping IUD use and on the likelihood of long-term IUD use.     

Microcredit Self-Help Groups for Widowed and Abandoned Women in South India: Do They Help?

ABSTRACT

Results are presented from a study on a microcredit program with self-help groups implemented for widowed and abandoned women in Tamil Nadu shortly after the Indian Ocean Tsunami. Data were collected from 109 participants measuring the women's investment patterns, loan amounts, demographics, and overall well-being (psychological, economic, communal, and familial). Results indicate that loan amounts and investment patterns were not significantly related to the women's well-being. Length of group participation and having children were negatively related to the women's well-being. These findings are discussed in relation to social and cultural contexts. Suggestions for programs for this population of vulnerable women and other marginalized groups are proposed.     

The social inclusion policy agenda in Australia: a case of old wine,new bottles?

The election of an Australian Labor Government in Australia in 2007 saw ‘social inclusion’ emerge as the official and overarching social policy agenda. Being ‘included’ was subsequently defined by the ALP Government as being able to ‘have the resources, opportunities and capabilities needed to learn, work, engage and have a voice‘. Various researchers in Australia demonstrated an interest in social inclusion, as it enabled them to construct a multi‐dimensional framework for measuring disadvantage. This research program resulted in various forms of statistical modelling based on some agreement about what it means to be included in society. The multi‐dimensional approach taken by academic researchers, however, did not necessarily translate to a new model of social policy development or implementation. We argue that, similar to the experience of the UK, Australia's social inclusion policy agenda was for the most part narrowly and individually defined by politicians and policy makers, particularly in terms of equating being employed with being included. We conclude with discussion about the need to strengthen the social inclusion framework by adopting an understanding of social inequality and social justice that is more relational and less categorical.