Using Wiseman Documentaries for Social Problems Courses

This report describes the use of seven films produced by Frederick Wiseman in a lower course in Modern Social Problems. The goals of the project were: to increase the student awareness and understanding of the day-to-day operations of several basic institutions in American society; to offer a creative and interesting undergraduate course; and to enliven cIass discussion. Since this was a course in social problems, faculty and students focused on the problematic features of the institutions portrayed in the films and on the social problems these institutions are designed to handle

Newman, Oscar: Defensible Space Theory

The concept of “defensible space” was first explicated by Oscar Newman in a 1972 book by the same title. The concept, which contains elements of a theory of crime as well as a set of urban design principles, became popular in the 1970s as urban crime problems continued to rise. Defensible space was discussed, utilized, and critiqued widely by criminologists and other social scientists, as well as urban planners, law enforcement officials, and architects. The design concepts have also been implemented in numerous communities in the United States and around the world. Later works by Newman, including Community of Interest and Creating Defensible Space provide further elaboration of his ideas

Geographic Patterns

Criminologists, law enforcement officials, and city planners have long been interested in the relationship between geography and crime. Some of the earliest empirical studies of crime were conducted in the 1830s and 1840s by Andre Michel Guerry and Adolphe Quetelet, who plotted recorded crimes on maps and showed considerable variation in the numbers of crimes across geographic areas. As part of the Chicago ecological school of the 1920s and 1930s, Clifford Shaw and Henry McKay examined rates of delinquency in reference to the concentric zones in urban areas. The development of social area analysis and factor analytic techniques in the 1950s and 1960s renewed interest in the relationship between space and crime. These methods demonstrated a strong relationship between the population characteristics and crime rates in areas. The related fields of environmental criminology and the geography of crime emerged in the 1970s and 1980s, demonstrating the multidisciplinary nature of the subject. These fields seek to explain the spatial distribution of offenses and the spatial distribution of offenders. While many of these developments have focused on an understanding and explanation of spatial variations in interpersonal crime per se, they also have contributed to crime prevention and control efforts

Urban Decline

Urban decline refers to a process that includes population loss and the concentration in cities of major social, economic, and environmental problems, such as high levels of unemployment and poverty and the deterioration of housing and public infrastructure. Sometimes used interchangeably with the terms urban decay and urban distress, urban decline is frequently measured by changes in population (particularly in relation to middle- and upper‐income residents), unemployment, and poverty rates; changes in median household income; and changes in property values, housing tenure, and vacancy rates

Urban Sprawl

In the early 21st century, urban sprawl continues to be a source of considerable controversy and political debate, yet many Americans quietly accept sprawl. They express their acceptance by moving farther away from central cities into housing and business developments on land that was formerly rural and undeveloped. While a significant number of suburban communities have existed in the United States since the late 19th century, the greatest growth in suburbs occurred after World War II. At the dawn of the 20th century, the suburban population represented less than 12 percent of the total U.S. population. By 1950, that figure doubled, and it doubled again by 2000, so that 52 percent lived in suburban communities. While the U.S. Census does not officially define suburban area, the term generally refers to the territory within metropolitan areas that is outside of the central city. The term sprawl refers to a pattern of metropolitan growth characterized by low-density, primarily single‐family residential development, low‐density commercial and employment establishments, and the resulting heavy dependence on the automobile for travel. These developments occur on the periphery of the metropolitan area. In the early 20th century, many affluent and middle‐class families moved out to the suburbs deliberately to escape the large and dense city populations

Review: \u27High Risk and High Stakes: Health Professionals, Politics and Policy\u27

Many studies of the law and policy creation process examine the efforts of particular interest groups and coalitions to influence the views and votes of legislators. Wysong focuses on the role of professional associations, specifically associations of health care professionals, in the legislative debate over the High Risk Occupational Disease Notification and Prevention Act, an example of what is most commonly known as right-to-know legislation. The ethical codes and service-oriented goals of professions suggest that associations of professionals might act differently than interest groups. Wysong shows that the core groups in debates over health and safety legislation recognize that their arguments may be suspect in the eyes of some legislators because of their vested interests. Both unions and business groups seek political allies from other, peripheral groups (i.e., professional associations), which are perceived as more neutral, unbiased, and politically independent

The Origins of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970

This paper analyzes the emergence of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 and finds previous explanations of its origin inadequate. I trace the roots of this law to the protests of rank-and-file workers across the United States at a time when the support of these workers was particularly important to the two main political parties. The protest was directed not only at those employers who operated unsafe and unhealthy workplaces, but also at union officials who paid little or no attention to safety and health issues in negotiating new contracts

Neighborhood Criminals and Outsiders in Two Communities: Indications that Criminal Localism Varies

Most research on the mobility of criminal offenders examines distance travelled. This paper examines instead whether neighborhood boundaries are crossed. Comparisons of two neighborhoods in Dayton, Ohio, indicate community variations in criminal mobility. Juveniles from poorer, more transient neighborhoods are surprisingly less likely to stay in the neighborhood to commit their offenses than were adults

Predictors of Success in a Co-Correctional Halfway House: A Discriminant Analysis

Considerable research and debate have focused on the effectiveness of community correctional programs. Much of the research does not address the issue of the effectiveness of programs for persons with different types of problems or criminal histories. This article utilizes discriminant analysis to determine the characteristics of persons most likely to succeed in one halfway house. The results indicate that strong socializing and integrating ties in the community and few previous contacts with the criminal justice system are major predictors of success in a halfway house program. The seven discriminators for females are used to accurately predict 87 percent of the female misdemeanants while the nine discriminators for male felons correctly predict 63 percent of the cases

Client Success or Failure in a Halfway House

Halfway houses today are diverse entities. Seiter, et al. (1977) found that almost 60 percent of the houses in the United States are private nonprofit organizations. One-third were state operations with the remainder being federal, local or private profit organizations. The programs in the houses varied from those providing supervision and custody to those providing a full range of intensive in-house treatments for particular client needs. Some halfway houses handle only particular types of offenders (e.g., drug addicts) while others handle a wide range of offenders. Latessa and Allen (1982) suggest that the sociodemographic and criminal history backgrounds of clients differ depending upon the referral sources to the halfway house. Allen and Seiter (1981) developed three alternative models of halfway houses based on where they fit in the criminal justice system. In the first model, the inmate resides in the halfway house during the initial parole period. The second model covers those situations in which the inmate is transferred to a halfway house before parole is granted. In the third model, the inmates are granted parole and placed in the community on their own. The parolee is placed in the halfway house if problems begin to develop. Latessa and Allen (1982) call for further research on the types of clients in halfway houses and on client risk, their need levels and special problems. This research addresses these issues. This article describes one halfway house, Cope House, in Dayton, Ohio. It is a diversified halfway house which does not fit any of the alternative models suggested by Allen and Seiter (1981). Cope House accepts adult male and female referrals from the Federal Bureau of Prisons, the Department of Corrections of the State of Ohio, the Montgomery County Probation Department, and female referrals only from the City of Dayton Municipal Court. Cope House became co-correctional in January of 1981