The nature of racial conflict in South Africa∗

This paper examines the bases of racial conflict in its various dimensions. Historical material from American experience is employed in an effort to reach a conceptual framework that accommodates more variables than economic ones. The distinction between class and ethnicity is discussed and an attempt is made to resolve some of the difficulties in relating the one to the other, without losing the explanatory power of either. Certain implications for conflict resolution in South Africa are drawn.     

The Africa Commission Report: What About the Politics?

Book reviewed: Our Common Interest: The Report of the Africa Commission. By the Commission for Africa. London: Commission for Africa, 2005. 462pp. £10.00 pb. (forthcoming in June 2005 from Penguin Books Ltd, Our Common Interest: An Argument. 192pp. £5.00 pb.).     

Motivators for Resolving or Seeking Help for Gambling Problems: A Review of the Empirical Literature

This literature review summarizes recent empirical research on the reasons disordered gamblers try, through treatment or otherwise, to resolve or reduce their gambling problems. Relevant databases and bibliographies were searched for English-language studies, published since 1998, that asked gamblers themselves about motivators for action. Found were ten studies addressing reasons for trying to resolve or reduce gambling problems, five addressing reasons for seeking help and four addressing reasons for requesting self-exclusion from casinos. Help-seeking occurred largely in response to gambling-related harms (especially financial problems, relationship issues and negative emotions) that had already happened or that were imminent. Resolution was often motivated by the same kinds of harms but evaluation/decision-making and changes in lifestyle or environment played a more prominent role. Self-exclusion was motivated by harms, evaluation/decision-making and a wish to regain control. Awareness and educational materials could incorporate messages that might encourage heavy gamblers to make changes before harms became too great. Intervention development could also benefit from more research on the motivators leading to successful (vs. failed) resolution, as well as on the ways in which disordered gamblers are able to overcome specific barriers to seeking help or reaching resolution.     

PUBLIC SCHOOL SEGREGATION AND JUVENILE VIOLENT CRIME ARRESTS IN METROPOLITAN AREAS

Previous research has established an association between residential segregation and violent crime in urban America. Our study examines whether school‐based segregation is predictive of arrests of juveniles for violent crimes in U.S. metro areas. Using Census, Uniform Crime Report, and Common Core data for 204 metro areas, a measure of school‐based racial segregation, Theil's entropy index, is decomposed into two components: between‐ and within‐district segregation. Findings reveal evidence of a significant interaction term: Within‐district segregation is inversely associated with arrests for juvenile violence, but only in metropolitan areas with higher than average levels of between‐district segregation.     

The market for (Ir)reproducible econometrics

Context: As the volume and complexity of research have increased, the amount of time spent on Institutional Review Board (IRB) review has decreased. The complexity of research has expanded, requiring increasingly specialized knowledge to review it. Dilemma: Under the current system, increasing numbers of research studies requiring expertise in ethics, new technologies or diverse study designs place a substantial burden upon local IRBs and often result in substantial variability among their reviews. This lack of uniformity in the review process creates uneven human subjects’ protection thus undermining the intent of the Common Rule. Objectives: To outline a scenario for expert centralized IRB review via implementation of a national virtual IRB review system overseen by the Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP). Conclusions: The complicated ethical issues and science involved in much of current research warrant an expert review panel. Centralized review would enable expert review specific to the research at hand, ensure consistency in human subjects protection, reduce the burden on local IRBs, and may reduce time spent obtaining approval. A centralized virtual system would allow IRB members to remain at their institutions while providing unprecedented expert review through currently available technology, and make information regarding monitoring and adverse event reporting available online in real-time.     

Pseudo maximum likelihood estimation for the dirichlet-multinomial distribution

Pseudo maximum likelihood estimation (PML) for the Dirich-let-multinomial distribution is proposed and examined in this pa-per. The procedure is compared to that based on moments (MM) for its asymptotic relative efficiency (ARE) relative to the maximum likelihood estimate (ML). It is found that PML, requiring much less computational effort than ML and possessing considerably higher ARE than MM, constitutes a good compromise between ML and MM. PML is also found to have very high ARE when an estimate for the scale parameter in the Dirichlet-multinomial distribution is all that is needed.     

Enforcement is the Name of the Game: An Essay on the Immigration Inspector at Work

Abstract

This article concerns the work of immigration inspectors who inspect parties entering the country to determine if they merit entry according to law. Focusing on aspects of their working environment, this paper discusses ways inspectors have sought to organize daily activities. Faced with an uncertain decision-making process, lacking adequate preparation to deal with an unpredictable public, and working within a decentralized administrative structure, inspectors are nonetheless confronted by strong bureaucratic pressures for uniformity and consistency in their actions. Attempting to reconcile these conflicting demands, personnel have utilized various strategies for reducing overall risks associated with their work. This analysis casts doubt on the applicability of such theoretical constructs as “formal” or “informal” organizational processes when examined through an action perspective.     

Social Origins and Transformations: The Changing Role of English Housing Associations

Following the suggestion of Ragin (1998, Voluntas, 9(3), 261–270), this article uses social origins theory (Salamon and Anheier, 1998, Voluntas, 9(3), 213–248) as an heuristic device to explore change in a specific field of nonprofit activity; the English housing association sector. Conventional histories of the sector in the twentieth century suggest a succession of eras with different policy drivers. These eras can be seen as consistent with shifts in welfare regime from liberal to social democratic (after 1919) and to neo-liberal/neo-corporatist (after 1980). Examples drawn from a panel study support the analysis of Esping-Anderson (1990, The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism, Princeton University Press, Princeton) that underlying the apparent stability of welfare regimes there are constant processes of negotiation and conflict which may lead to transformations at organization, sector, or regime level. Rather than simply responding to policy drivers, some housing associations have been able to influence the environment in which policy is made and thereby to shape their own and the sector's transformations.