The twentieth century has witnessed remarkable economic and political changes, the impacts of which have been felt across the United States. U.S. economic restructuring has resulted in shifts in the composition of labor markets, as well as significant changes in the very nature of employment. How have these shifts affected urban crime? This research uses longitudinal, comparative and historical methods to examine the effects of economic restructuring and political shifts on rates of crime. I analyze economic, political, and crime data for four U.S. cities: Atlanta, Boston, Detroit and New Orleans. Although similar in terms of above average crime rates over most of the post-World War II era, these cities differ in terms of the political-economic changes each has experienced during this same time period. In terms of economic conditions, the most consistent finding across cities is that rates of crime tend to increase as manufacturing employment decreases. Increases in service employment do not appear to necessarily lead to increased crime. These findings hold controlling for changes in industrial wage structures. In terms of political conditions, those cities that emphasize criminal justice at the expense of social welfare tend to exhibit higher rates of crime than cities that do not. Inequality does not influence crime rates except in those cities and at those periods in time where inequality is particularly high. In sum this research suggests that political and economic conditions have influenced crime rates, in unanticipated ways, across the post-World War II urban landscape / acase@tulane.edu

Male victims of sexual and physical abuse can experience adjustment, mental health, and/or addiction problems, but they sometimes display abusive behaviors themselves. The impact of abuse on families, organizations, institutions, and society has warranted immediate attention and intervention (Cohen, Miller, & Rossman, 1994). Research has been limited in examining differences among sexual offenders with respect to those with and without abuse histories. The need to define various psychological sequlae of physical and sexual abuse is necessary as diagnostic and treatment problems prevail for sex offenders. In addition, clinicians have typically had a tendency to view sex offenders as a homogenous group. These theories need to be evaluated from a pluralistic view which asserts that social science can both explain human action and interpret its meaning (Reamer, 1993; Pieper, 1989) The purpose of this study is to examine differences in mental health functioning among (1) male sexual offenders and male victims of abuse, and (2) male sexual offenders who were themselves victims of physical and/or sexual abuse. Study participants where from an inpatient hospital setting which focused on the treatment of sexual offending behavior and victimization at a large private urban facility. Participants completed a battery of tests and interviews measuring childhood maltreatment and trauma-related symptomatology within the first forty-eight hours of admission to the facility. A research assistant conducted a standardized interview and collected self-report instruments within seven days of admission It is first hypothesized that male sex offenders who experienced sexual or physical abuse will report significantly more characteristics and experiences consistent with diagnoses of PTSD, dissociation, and borderline personality while endorsing more trauma belief schema and global psychopathology than male sex offenders who did not report physical or sexual abuse. Therefore, abuse will be the mediating variable. The second hypothesis states that male sex offenders, who experienced physical or sexual abuse, will report experiencing fewer characteristics consistent with the diagnosis of PTSD, dissociation, borderline personality while endorsing fewer trauma belief schema and global psychopathology than male victims of sexual or physical abuse with no history of offending behavior The findings provide important contextual information about the differences in mental health functioning between the groups and further understanding on the impact of abuse on psychological functioning. The abuse offered more discrimination when comparing sex offenders and the offending status discriminated less when victimization was experienced. This warrants attention as the need to identify and recognize victimization in offenders may assist in guiding effective interventions that ultimately reduce recidivism. These findings contribute to a more in-depth understanding of the complex phenomena surrounding physical and sexual abuse and those commit more sexual abuse on others / acase@tulane.edu

Recently, Finkelstein, Burke, and Raju (1995) performed a meta-analysis on the age discrimination in employment literature and found that the situational moderators of rater age, age salience, and job-relevant information each had some effect on differences in ratings of older and younger workers such that older workers tended to be rated less favorably on a number of work-related dimensions. However, the interacting effects of these variables on various work outcomes has not been addressed in the literature. Moreover, a conceptual framework specifying how these variables affect work-related outcomes has not been developed. The present study, based on refinements of the conceptual framework presented in Finkelstein et al., examined the effects of situational variables on ratings of interpersonal skills, economic benefit, and likelihood to interview a hypothetical applicant using experienced raters. In addition to hypotheses about the interacting effects of the variables examined in Finkelstein et al., it was hypothesized that age identity (i.e., a match between one's chronological age and cognitive age) would interact with age salience to produce a psychological state of in-group bias that would lead raters to favor workers from their age group. Support was found for a main effect of target age on economic benefit ratings; the older target was rated less economically beneficial than the younger target. In some instances (i.e., when age was highly salient; when raters psychologically identified with their age), older raters disfavored older workers in ratings of economic benefit. Older raters were more likely than younger raters to wish to interview an older target only when age was not highly salient and when they expressed a high level of value in their age group. Suggestions were made for the development of improved measures of economic benefit and age identity for further investigations of their role in a nomological network explaining age discrimination in employment. Further, suggestions for future research on age discrimination were put forth in the areas of downsizing, newcomer socialization, work teams, and the development of an investigation into the effects of a possible generation gap in the workplace / acase@tulane.edu

To evaluate the interrelationship of parenting stress, marital violence, and child behavior, a sample (84% African-American) of 27 battered women and 28 nonbattered women having children aged 4 through 12 years underwent extensive and structured interviewing. Results indicated that as parenting stress increased, perceived child behavior problems increased, regardless of the battered status of the women. Battered women, however, reported experiencing significantly more parenting stress and perceived their children as having significantly more internalizing and externalizing behavior problems than did nonbattered women. Battered women perceived their sons as showing slightly more overall behavior problems and internalizing problems than their daughters, whereas daughters showed more externalizing problems. Parenting stress relating to child temperament and nonphysical abuse of battered women were the two significant predictors of child behavior problems. To improve parenting effectiveness among battered women, one must consider the sources of stress, intensity of physical and nonphysical violence, and accumulation of stressors / acase@tulane.edu

A critical issue associated with assessing training needs concerns who within an organization is in a position to assess those needs most objectively. Of particular concern is the relative utility of assessments by job incumbents and their supervisors (McEnery & McEnery, 1987). A possible alternative to self- or supervisory assessment of training needs is an 'Us' assessment, an assessment by job incumbents of the training needs of their entire work group. A second primary purpose of this study was to test a proposed model of training needs assessment Subjects were 121 entry level police patrol officers and their supervising sergeants. Patrol officers completed self and Us assessment questionnaires designed to measure attitudes concerning job area difficulty, performance, cause of performance, effectiveness of training, supervisor/subordinate communication, and training needs for eight job areas. Sergeants completed a similar supervisory assessment questionnaire, and a second normative questionnaire rating difficulty, performance necessary at entry, importance, time spent, opportunity to observe, and degree to which job area performance distinguishes overall levels of job performance. Data relating to demographic variables, such as sex, race, and age of respondents was also collected Results indicated moderate agreement between self and 'Us' ratings, but very little agreement between supervisory ratings and the two other types. Self-ratings tended to be the most lenient, followed by Us ratings. Neither supervisor/subordinate communication, nor degree of supervisor opportunity to observe appeared to moderate interrater agreement to any significant degree. Less halo was found for Us ratings than for either supervisory or self-ratings. Although all three rater groups tended to attribute performance level to causes internal to job incumbents, Us ratings tended to be more external than either supervisory or self-ratings. Performance and difficulty to learn ratings were most predictive of need for training, but each of the five hypothesized predictors explained a significant portion of need for training variance in at least two of the eight job areas. Partial support was found for hypothesized moderating effects of perceptions of training efficacy and level of job performance necessary at job entry / acase@tulane.edu

Men who are arrested for battering are usually mandated to intervention programs. Black men are overrepresented in arrest for domestic violence in the majority of urban areas and are, therefore, also overrepresented in batterers' intervention programs in those areas. Most states have identified standards for these programs that utilize a profeminist curriculum (such as The Duluth Model), but do not specifically require that the programs include a cultural component. The current approach to batterers' intervention is often described as color-blind and one-size-fits-all. However, the research literature does not provide empirical support to reject the profeminist curriculum in favor of creating racially-homogeneous programs or culturally-focused curricula This qualitative study utilizes a feminist perspective and a phenomenological approach with a womanist emphasis to determine if the current profeminist curriculum represents the experience of violence in relationships between Black women and Black men. The premise of this study is that determining the answer to this question begins with a phenomenological analysis of the essence of violence in Black dyads from the perspective of battered Black women. This study presents the experiences of battering related by ten Black women The focus of the data reduction was to identify the behavioral antecedents and the tactics of violence discussed by the participants. Coding the behavioral antecedents resulted in the development of three themes: threat to the relationship (actual or perceived), threat to his physical or emotional well-being (actual or perceived), and threat to his perception of gender roles: Ten themes emerged from the acts of physical, psychological, or sexual violence that were identified in this data. These themes mirrored the tactics that comprise the Power and Control Wheel that is utilized in the Duluth curriculum. Therefore, the findings of this research suggest that the profeminist curriculum does reflect the experience of battering from the perspective of battered Black women and is, therefore, consistent with the womanist perspective of domestic violence. Subsequently, batterers' intervention programs that utilize this curriculum will most likely be appropriate for Black participants / acase@tulane.edu

The present study examined which factors affect the national crime trends in postwar Japan from an integrated theoretical perspective, including a critical economic theory and theories of deterrence and social control. The primary focus of analysis was on structural variables involving socio-economic conditions, certainty of punishment, social bonding, and age structure. Dependent variables of interest were the rate of each type of the following five major Penal Code offenses: larceny, bodily injury, rape, robbery, and homicide. A time-series regression analysis was performed on the basis of the aggregate official data over a 35 year time period from 1954 to 1988. The major findings are that economic affluence combined with economic equality and high efficiency of police and court activities appear to be important determinants of crime trends in postwar Japan; age structure and social bonding variables appeared the least likely to be significant. Despite certain data and methodological limitations, this study suggests the postwar Japanese crime patterns can be explained by critical economic theory and deterrence theory better than social control theory and the age structure perspective. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 53-03, Section: A, page: 0953. / Major Professor: Gordon P. Waldo. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1992.

Besides criminal justice research, empirically relevant evidence and theoretical constructs from other academic fields were also utilized to develop a theoretical model of police stress. This attempt was expected to provide a conceptual framework for a successful examination and understanding of causes and consequences of the phenomenon and, consequently, a solid foundation on which police administrators at the policy-making level in Thailand can build progressive organizational reform aimed at improving working conditions of police officers. / The theoretical model was tested with two data sets collected from assistant police inspectors of the Bangkok-Thonburi metropolitan police force in Thailand. The 234 and 169 usable questionnaires returned resulted in final response rates for their corresponding groups of 75% and 70%. The data were analyzed by a four-step procedure: (a) reliability assessment; (b) exploratory factor analysis; (c) LISREL measurement model; and (d) LISREL structural model / The research findings, in general, provided considerable support to the revisionist paradigm including both undesirable factors and social supports in work environment of policemen. Specifically, perceived role overload and/or social support from subordinates were the most important factors influencing police stress. The role overload was substantially determined by perceived role conflict, job position and/or resource inadequacy. Perceptions of unity of command, resource inadequacy, and peer support were the major determinates of perceived role conflict. For policeman working under the original structure, several factors had significant effects on perceived role ambiguity; however, the effects were rather small. Regarding perception of role ambiguity among officers under the new organization structure, administrative support was the major determinant. Several thoretical and policy implications were offered for concerned scholars as well as the police administrators. Finally, deriving from the research findings within the limitations of this investigation of police stress were theoretical and methodological recommendations for future research. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 49-06, Section: A, page: 1584. / Major Professor: Gordon P. Waldo. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1988.

A growing number of police and correctional agencies are utilizing psychologists and objective personality assessment in the evaluation of officer candidates (Behrens, 1985). Although most professionals in the field regard the addition of psychological assessment favorably, validation efforts have yielded mixed results. Excellent reviews may be found in other sources (Spielberger, 1979; Burbeck & Furnham, 1985); these reviews generally conclude that most inventories (i.e., MMPI, CPI, 16PF, and others) fail to indicate a significant relationship between objective personality assessment and job performance. / The Inwald Personality Inventory (IPI, 1980) is a relatively new instrument, designed specifically to aid in the selection of police and correctional officers, and has shown promise in early validation efforts (e.g., Inwald & Shusman, 1984a, 1984b). However, little independent validation research has focused on long-term comparisons of the MMPI (the most widely used instrument) and IFS using objective job performance measures. / In the current study, 590 road patrol and correctional candidates completed both the MMPI and IPI prior to their beginning employment. Subsequent performance measures of employment status and disciplinary infractions were gathered from official end-of-the-year evaluations. The length of employment varied for each officer; ranging from one (1) to 52 months. Based on the performance evaluations, each officer was assigned to one of four performance groups for analyses. / Results of the analyses indicated that the MMPI was not significantly related to subsequent job performance of either the road patrol or the correctional officer samples. The IPI was not found to be significantly related to performance for the road patrol sample, although it was found to be significant in predicting performance for the correctional officers. / Ten IPI scales were significantly different between the correctional officer groups. Stepwise Discriminant Analysis revealed that seven of the IPI scales were able to correctly classify 53 percent of the correctional officers. Implications for further research are discussed. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 52-05, Section: A, page: 1690. / Major Professor: Harman Burck. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1991.

The Florida legislature granted local school boards the option to abolish corporal punishment in schools in 1989. Fourteen Florida school districts did so from 1989 to 1992. This study proposed to answer the following questions related to assessing the impact of Florida's public policy authorizing districts to prohibit the use of corporal punishment: (1) What is the legal context for addressing corporal punishment policies in the United States? (2) What Florida school districts have banned corporal punishment since legislative authorization in 1989? (3) Within those districts which prohibit the use of corporal punishment, what trends are discernable with regard to such discipline alternatives as suspension, in-school suspension, referrals to courts or juvenile authorities, referrals to dropout prevention programs, and expulsion since enactment of the law? (4) Is there a difference in disciplinary actions taken for misbehavior in districts that have banned corporal punishment versus those that have not banned corporal punishment? (5) Have discipline alternatives been developed in districts which banned corporal punishment? / The study utilized an historical-legal case analysis of selected cases relating to issues of civil liability, criminal prosecution, cruel and unusual punishment, due process of law, equal protection of the law, and teacher dismissal affecting the use of corporal punishment in schools. The courts support the view that the use of corporal punishment is permissible when properly authorized and administered reasonably and in conformance with clear policy guidelines. / The study involved two survey approaches. First, Florida school districts were surveyed to identify districts that had banned corporal punishment. Second, selected school administrators were surveyed regarding the administration of student discipline. Survey data was compared with district reports relating to instances of discipline. / Trends that were noted include: (1) For districts banning corporal punishment, the incidence of suspension (both types) has increased. (2) Districts that have not formally banned corporal punishment reported modest declines in its use. (3) No new discipline alternatives were reported to have been developed in districts banning corporal punishment. (4) The use of suspension and parent conferencing increased markedly in districts banning corporal punishment. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 56-08, Section: A, page: 2950. / Thesis (Ed.D.)--The Florida State University, 1995.