Adapting the jury trial for program evaluation: A report of an experience

A portion of the graduate program in clinical community psychology at SUNY Buffalo was subjected to a jury trial as a form of program evaluation. The theory of the trial as evaluation, the problems of implementation, and a posttrial evaluation are discussed. The trial, while time-consuming, especially in its pretrial phases, has the potential for presenting a dramatic picture of a program through the medium of human testimony. The jury was able to arrive at clear decisions on questions put to it, with a high degree of confidence. Decision makers accepted some of the jury's conclusions, and subjective evidence suggests that many of the controversial issues which generated the trial were resolved for the group by the procedure. The posttrial evaluation revealed limitations, such as evidence which was not presented at the trial. The experience proved useful for purposes of interdisciplinary education, providing another lens through which the evaluation problem could be viewed.     

RADICAL SOCIAL MOVEMENT ORGANIZATIONS: A THEORETICAL MODEL

In this article we contend that social movement theory has predominantly analyzed social movement organizations (SMOs) from a reform perspective, emphasizing movement participants' demands to be recognized by, and incorporated into, the dominant culture. While for many SMOs this has certainly been the case, we argue that it is an inadequate model for the study of radical social movement organizations (RSMOs). When we look at RSMO participants' self-defined goals and objectives, we find that they tend to focus on a radical restructuring of the system rather than incorporation into that system. We therefore propose an alternative theoretical model for understanding RSMOs, utilizing ideal type characteristics for the internal structure, ideology, tactics, methods of communication, and measures of success that differentiate such organizations from their more moderate, reformist counterparts. Through the use of primary sources, we provide evidence that RSMOs, such as the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and various radical second-wave feminist organizations, would be better understood through such an alternative theoretical model. Other RSMOs could be similarly redefined through this model, thereby acknowledging their intentional differences from moderate SMOs and allowing them to be evaluated on their own terms.     

Brief Communications: Gender Differences in Gambling Progression

The authors compared 39 women and 38 men entering an outpatient treatment program for pathological gambling. They were diagnosed according to DSM-IV and selected by SOGS, followed by a semi-structured interview for demography and progression of the gambling behavior prior to treatment. Women were more often single (59% vs. 26%; p = .005) and started gambling significantly later than men (34.2 vs. 20.4 years; p < .001). The progression of the disorder was more than 2 times faster in women than in men. There was no difference in the age of seeking treatment (44.7 vs. 42.3 years). Findings from this study resemble gender differences in other addictions—in particular the faster progression among women—challenge pharmacodynamic hypotheses for this phenomenon, and suggest gender into account when devising treatment strategies for pathological gambling.     

Oregon water: Assessing differences between the Old and New Wests

The history of the American West is intimately tied to the movement and management of water. As the West developed, so too did the image of rural Westerners. As stressors like climate change and population growth strain existing water supplies, resource management benefits from understanding whether fundamental differences exist between the residents in the Old (rural) West and the New (urban) West. Using a survey conducted in the spring of 2010 of Oregon residents, this study explores whether residents in Oregon show distinct differences in environmental concern based on rural or urban residency. The results show that there are differences between groups on environmental beliefs, but likely attributed to factors other than rural and urban residency, and there are no significant differences between groups on water.     

Frauen in der Migrationsbewegung: ihre „Spiegelfunktion” in den Sozio-ökonomischen und Kulturellen Wandlungsprozessen

Migrations have the function to act as a ?mirror“ of structural as well as subjective changes. The article focuses on this function within the processes of social transformation of our times, with a particular attention to the female component. It allows in a symbolical way to observe the passage from the fordist model of production and labour to the post-fordism, where the need of labour in the tertiary sector is growing and more flexible. Furthermore, the work of migrant women makes the ongoing transformation within the welfare states visible, crossed by strong reorganisations. Finally, female migrations are useful in reading problems and challenges connected with the multicultural question, as migrant women are often placed on the threshold of different cultural references.