Community Responsibility for Runaway and Thrownaway Youth--Commentary

The following is a commentary on an article discussing homeless youth and the need for communities to address this issue. It is clear that research is needed to understand more about the extent, causes and consequences of youth homelessness whether the youth has run or been thrown away from home. Drawing on interviews conducted with homeless and runaway youth, this commentary calls for community responsibility directed at locating these youth, acknowledging their presence in communities across the U.S., and developing coordinated multijurisdictional responses that support youth development and build on the strengths that have helped them survive

Welcoming the Outsider: Local Construction of the Law towards Immigrants

This dissertation examines the local construction of law on the street regarding immigrants. Local agencies play a key role in immigration enforcement and in providing services to immigrants. They are increasingly the face of the state to immigrants, a face that varies across localities and regions and ranges from friendly to hostile. In the context of climate change, immigration to the United States is likely to increase and place greater pressure on public services in many areas. While much attention has been focused on punitive responses to immigration, this dissertation's basic thesis is that many local government agencies have adopted surprisingly welcoming policies toward immigrants. The dissertation develops this thesis in three phases. First, it develops the concept of welcomeness of public agencies toward immigrants. Welcoming policies are policies and practices that are designed to improve interactions between local administrative agencies and immigrants, encourage immigrants to settle in the community and protect undocumented immigrants from being victimized or harassed. Second, the dissertation develops a framework for measuring the degree of welcomeness of particular agencies. Third, it examines how widely local agencies are welcoming (or unwelcoming) to immigrants and what are the conditions that shape the degree of welcomeness. Drawing on nationwide surveys of local police departments and public libraries and interviews with department leaders and frontline employees, the dissertation shows that many agencies have consciously and deliberately developed policies and practices that are intended to develop positive relationships between the agency and immigrants, encourage immigrants' use of the agency and help immigrants integrate into the community. While libraries, as a service agency, might be expected to emphasize equality of service, police departments' mission is regulatory and they might be expected to adopt a more punitive (and thus less welcoming) orientation. The evidence that welcoming policies are widespread in both settings suggests that welcomeness is not confined to the service context. The dissertation shows that in both settings professionals are pulled between political pressures that are often hostile to immigrants and professional norms favoring equal service to all in the community. How much a local agency is welcoming or unwelcoming depends on the balance between these opposing forces. Professional norms help organizations resist political pressures. The dissertation suggests that welcoming policies and practices are likely to gain increased significance as climate change contributes to increasing immigration

Teaching About Victimization

Given the prevalence of victimization, especially among college-age populations, we all have students who have experienced their own victimization or the victimization of someone close to them. Violent victimization rates are highest among those age 18 to 24, an estimated one in four to five women experience an attempted or completed sexual assault during their college career, and most victims of rape, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner were first victimized before the age of 25. Some victims may be visible, in that they choose to share their experiences with you or the class, or their experience is otherwise public, but many will remain invisible. Course material related to victimization holds the potential to trigger emotional reactions, which are not limited to victims and survivors. Students who have experienced other types of trauma, such as military veterans, as well as any student with the emotional capacity for empathy, could have a strong reaction to materials on victimization. For example, realizing that engaging in preventive efforts cannot guarantee safety can be very unsettling. Given this reality, how can we teach about the often complicated nature of victimization in a manner that does not inflict additional harm

Teaching About Victimization in an Online Environment: Translating in Person Empathy and Support to The Internet

With the significant increase in online education, particularly in the field of criminal justice, guidance on migrating instruction from a face-to-face format to online is needed. This is especially the case for courses focused on topics with the potential to elicit a strong emotional reaction from students, such as victimology. This article presents a framework for teaching a victimology course that allows for the full discussion of ideas in a manner that is supportive of victims of crime and does not inflict additional harm. It shares tips on what to include on a syllabus, guiding discussion, and responding to student disclosures of victimization. In doing so, this contributes to the emerging pedagogy on teaching about trauma and victimization

Despite scarce resources, to improve relations many policedepartments have deliberately developed welcoming practicestowards immigrants.

While many police departments across the country have adopted a more punitive approach to the enforcement of immigration law, some are much more welcoming towards immigrants. In new research which surveys more than 280 police departments, Linda M. Williams categorizes law enforcement agencies as “welcoming”, “neutral” and “unwelcoming”. Exploring these categories in detail, she finds that welcoming police departments are more likely to have bilingual officers, engage in outreach efforts, collaborate with non-law enforcement partners, and engage in community policing

Cybersecurity Management in the States: The Emerging Role of Chief Information Security Officers

Publisher final versionThe importance of safeguarding information created and shared on computers and the Internet has increased significantly in recent years, as society has become increasingly dependent on information technology in government, business, and in their personal lives. Both corporations and government have responded by creating a new role in their organizations to lead the safeguarding efforts—chief information security officers (CISOs). The role of these officers is still under development. Do they safeguard best by using law enforcement techniques and technological tools? Or are they more effective if they serve as educators and try to influence the behaviors of technology users?IBM Center for the Business of Governmen

2014-2015 Illinois Waterfowl Hunter Report: Harvest, Youth Hunts, and Season Preferences

A total of 2,212(48%response rate) Illinois waterfowl hunters responded to the 2014-15Illinois Waterfowl Hunter Survey. An estimated 50,698waterfowl hunters spent982,193days afield, adecreaseof6.7% from the 1,052,728days devoted during the 2013-2014license year. Waterfowl harvest decreased9.0%, from 605,720 during 2013-14to 550,946 during 2014-15.Duck harvest estimates for the regular duck season were as follows: 197,997mallards (Anas platyrhynchos), 48,216wood ducks (Aix sponsa), and 138,615other ducks. A total of 29,058teal (Anasspp.) were harvested during the September teal season. Goose hunters harvested 87,672Canada geese (Branta canadensis) during the regular Canada goose season, a 16.4% decreasefrom the 104,887Canadageese harvested during the 2013-14regular goose season. Hunters harvested 19,089Canada geese during the September Canada goose season, a 22.0% increasefrom the previous year. During the Youth Waterfowl Hunting Season, 6,405adults took 8,572youths waterfowl hunting, a 24.1% decrease in adult participation and a less than 1.0% decrease in youth participation from the 2013-14Youth Waterfowl Hunting Season.Duck huntercommitment to waterfowl hunting, preferences for season and zones,and satisfaction with the waterfowl seasons are also discussed.Federal Aid Project Number W-112-R-24IDNR Division of WildlifeU.S. Fish & Wildlife Serviceunpublishednot peer reviewe

Physician and Other Healthcare Personnel Responses to Hospital Stroke Quality of Care Performance Feedback: A Qualitative Study

Background Understanding how physicians and other healthcare personnel respond to hospital performance feedback initiatives may have important implications for quality improvement efforts. Our objective was to explore responses to the inaugural feedback of hospital performance on stroke quality of care measures among relevant physicians and personnel at the US Department of Veterans Health Administration (VHA) hospitals. Methods Qualitative interviews with hospital administrators, physicians, nurses and quality managers at 12 VHA hospitals in the USA after the inaugural national release of the report on quality of acute stroke care processes. Interview transcripts were analysed using an immersion/crystallisation approach to identify recurrent themes. Results Interviews were completed with 41 individuals at 12 VHA hospitals from diverse regions of the USA; the majority were clinicians, either physicians or nurses, and nearly all had 20 years of experience or more. Interviewees described general perceptions of internal performance feedback that were both positive and negative, such as the notion that performance feedback could provide value to clinicians and hospitals, but at the same time voiced concerns about being inundated with such data. Interviewees also expressed scepticism about public reporting of performance data, citing numerous concerns and limitations. However, when interviewees described specific experiences with performance feedback, nearly all reactions were positive, including excitement, interest and feeling validated about a job well done. Discussion Physicians and other healthcare personnel described hospital performance feedback on stroke quality of care measures to be broadly valuable but identified areas of concern related to the measurement process and public reporting