Data integration in the evaluation of juvenile justice education

This article discusses the Juvenile Justice Educational Enhancement Program's evaluation of juvenile justice education through the integration of multiple data sources. Validation of best practices and the corresponding effect of these practices on community reintegration require the development of a comprehensive database of program-level and individual-level indicators from several sources. These sources include the Florida Department of Education, the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Florida Department of Corrections, and the Juvenile Justice Educational Enhancement Program's own educational quality assurance and pre-/posttest data. This article examines the methodological, political, and bureaucratic obstacles encountered in this effort. Evaluation research analyses are also explored with an emphasis on the meaning of outcome measures relative to causal issues of time order, the modeling of events, and analytic strategy. The article provides a framework for future juvenile justice educational evaluation and a critical examination of problems encountered in integrating data sources for the purpose of outcome evaluation.     

Small sample properties of isotonic estimators — bias and mean squared error of linear combinations under normality

Bias and mean squared error for linear combinations of the isotonic regression estimators are computed. The case of sampling three distinct populations and the case of sampling seven or fewer populations having common mean are studied in detail. Numerical results are given, and comparisons between isotonic and unbiased estimation procedures are made.     

Nanshin: Budget-Maximizing Behavior,the Imperial Japanese Navy and the Origins of the Pacific War

Inter-service rivalry over budget allocations between the Japanese Imperial Navy and the Imperial Army played a crucial role in the genesis of World War Two in the Pacific. The adoption of a nanshin (southward advance) strategy by the Navy may be explained as an attempt to maximize its budget leading directly to the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. To date, this argument has been presented in the form of historical narrative without any explanatory theoretical framework. The present paper seeks to place inter-service budgetary rivalry within the context of public choice theory to enhance understanding of this historical perspective.     

The pipeline: Botswana’s reception of refugees, 1956–68

This paper covers Botswana’s emergence as a place of refuge from its troubled white‐ruled neighbours. Botswana’s reception of refugees is seen as a symptom of, and as a catalyst for, its growing identification as a distinct nation in the region. From 1956, Bechuanaland colonial authorities distanced themselves from apartheid South Africa, and from 1957–58 the country received significant influxes of political refugees. The paper pays particular attention to the ‘pipeline’ that took refugees north across the Zambezi. This was initially protected from local police interference probably by Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service (MI6). Nelson Mandela, alias ‘David Motsamayi’, used the pipeline ‘down’ as well as ‘up’ to re‐enter South Africa. Such arrangements continued through independence in 1966 but were almost terminated when guerrilla fighters tried to use Botswana as a refuge in 1966–67. Revaluation of policy towards refugees within Botswana government circles resulted after 1969 in more overt moral support for liberation movements and, boosted by new economic strength, more self‐confident assertion of national sovereignty against neighbouring countries. This set the scene for Botswana to receive a huge influx of refugees as a result of the Soweto rising of 1976.     

Race, ethnicity, gender, and generational factors associated with the coming-out process among lesbian, and bisexual individuals

Age at coming out among gay/lesbian/bisexual (GLB) persons and sexual debut with same-gendered partners has typically been investigated in samples that do not reflect the racial and ethnic diversity of these communities. Addressing this limitation, data were collected from a diverse sample of men and women attending large-scale GLB community events in New York and Los Angeles in 2003 (N = 2,733). Compared to older cohorts, younger cohorts (18-24 year olds) of both men and women reported significantly earlier ages for sexual debut with same-gendered partners, and earlier ages for coming out to themselves and to others. Also, women began the process at later ages than men, as they reported coming out to themselves and sexual debut with a same-gender partner approximately two years later than men. There were no racial or ethnic differences in age out to self or others; however, persons of color were less likely to be out to their parents. Service providers, sexuality educators, and researchers should attend to the diversity in experience of coming out among GLB populations as they relate to the individuals gender, age, and racial and ethnic backgrounds.