Effective Control Policies Research Articles

Crime Severity and Criminal Career Progression

The National Academy of Sciences Panel on Research on Criminal Careers, considering career variation among offenders, reported that at one extreme are offenders whose careers consist of only one offense. At the other extreme are 'career criminals'-also variously characterized as dangerous, habitual, or chronic offenders-who commit serious offenses with high frequency over extended periods of time.' The panel recommended that greater research attention to the lives and patterns of activities of career criminals would facilitate the development of better etiological explanations and of more effective crime control policies.2 In accord with that suggestion, this Article addresses the crime severity component of delinquency careers in an effort to assess the effect of severity on subsequent offending during adulthood.

Smoking policy in the Netherlands since the fifties: One factor in the social dynamics of changes in smoking behaviour

Many social factors influence changes in smoking behaviour. In a model on the social dynamics of smoking, the mechanisms of influences on smoking behaviour are shown. Governmental anti-smoking policy is one factor. In the Dutch anti-smoking policy, worthwhile initiatives, such as anti-smoking campaigns and a ban of tobacco advertisements on television and radio, were supported. In general, however, the anti-smoking policy in the Netherlands was passive and contributed little to the distribution of anti-smoking information. Recommendations for an effective smoking control policy were only partly implemented. A Tobacco Law is in preparation during the eighties. It restricts tobacco advertisements and smoking in public places.

Comparative measures of effectiveness in farm‐level soil conservation

Abstract. Agricultural soil erosion is serious in developed and developing countries alike. Soil runoff can diminish long‐term land productivity and accompanying sedimentation of waterways contributes to flooding and substantially reduces both water quality and the useful life of reservoirs and irrigation works. To design effective erosion control policies, planners need to be able to evaluate conservation efforts by fanners. The research reported here develops comparative measures of conservation effectiveness using the management factors of the Universal Soil Loss Equation. These factors measure the effectiveness of farmers' existing conservation practices and can help policymakers identify the regions and types of farms which are not using effective erosion control measures, enabling them to direct scarce personnel and funds to areas where they are most needed.

U.S. computer export control policies

The formulation of a balanced and effective export control policy for computer products and know-how has been an important and difficult task for both the U.S. Government and the computing community. External pressures force national security concerns to conflict with the values and interests of private enterprise and academic freedom. This paper has two primary objectives: the first is to present the computing community with a reasonably equitable and detailed perspective on this important public policy problem; the second is to present and analyze a range of policy choices.

THE USE OF BIOLOGICAL CRITERIA IN ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY1

ABSTRACT: The hypothesis of this paper is that regulatory systems for the control of effluent released to the environment can be, if improperly designed, inadequate for both the establishment of effective pollution control policy and the assessment of the biological significance of violations. This inadequacy may stem from several factors: first, the use of single point standards which delineate the boundary between legally acceptable and unacceptable pollutant discharges; and second, the existence of significant weaknesses in the frequency and design of monitoring programs. In order to be effective, pollution standards must reflect the impact of pollutants on the ecosystem. To achieve this goal, three critical pieces of information are required: measurement of ambient levels of released pollutants, frequency distributions derived from these data, and estimates of biological damage functions. Illustrating the above three requirements with data drawn from research in British Columbia, the authors recommended a restructuring of environmental policy to provide regulatory agencies with an effective mechanism for the analysis and control of environmental degradation.

UNEQUAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND MIGRATIONS: ANALYTICAL SPECULATIONS ABOUT THE NEXT HUNDRED YEARS

In the period following World War II, the less-developed countries have experienced significant progress toward modernization, development, and explosive rates of population growth. In the medium to long run these trends are bound to have a major impact over the worldwide distribution of political and military power (Fucks [12], Organski [25, p. 484 ff.], Rostow [32, p. 409 ft.]). In particular, as the large, densely populated, less-developed countries modernize they will acquire a political and military power incomparably larger than they possess at present. The technology for the production and delivery of atomic weapons is a segment of the stock of scientific and technological knowledge that societies learn to assimilate and use in the process of development. The proliferation of the ability to produce atomic weapons is just one of the many processes of diffusion of technology. As such, it can perhaps be slowed down but not arrested, and it would not be reasonable to expect that the large contemporary less-developed countries will not acquire full atomic capability as their political and military power increases. The twin impact of economic development and population growth will produce tremendous population pressures on the resources of the large, densely populated, less-developed countries. At the same time huge regions, both in the developed and in the less-developed parts of the world, are and will remain by comparison almost empty. Which brings us to the focal point of this paper. Can we really expect that in the not-too-distant future overcrowded countries with superpower status and atomic arsenals would find it acceptable to be denied access to the resources and territories of thinly populated areas? Consider the contrast between the population densities in Africa, the Americas, the Soviet Union, and Australia, and those of India and China. When India and China will have political and military power as well as population densities far larger than at present and full atomic capabilities, will they be content to accept the real and perceived hardships associated with inordinately high population pressure on resources while looking across their boundaries at huge territories, almost empty by comparison? This paper will explore the possible role of three developments with a potential for alleviating the tensions and conflicts that can arise from economic development and population growth in large densely populated countries of the contemporary world. These developments are (a) accelerated modernization, (b) effective population control policies, and (c) migrations.

Reproductive Motivation Versus Contraceptive Technology: Is Recent American Experience an Exception?

Statistical evidence contradicts the premise that the age-specific fertility decline in the United States since the early 1960s is due primarily to modern contraceptive technology which prevented unwanted births and allowed realization of the ideal two-child family. Data coll ected from national surveys dating from the Depression through 1975 indicate that among white respondents aged 21 to 24 ideal family size rose to an average of 3 children and that until recently the two child family has been preferred by less than 50% of all respondents. Reductio n of unwanted births within marriage must be considered in relation to trends toward rising age at marriage and an increase in marital dissolution. The percentage of currently married women aged 20 to 24 dropped from 67% in 1960 to 58% in 1970. One study estimates that changing marital status accounted for 16% of the national birth decline between 1961 and 1968 and 14% between 1961 and 1973. United States vital statistics report an age-specific decline in actual married fertility of 28.9% during 1961-1970; change in parity distribution accou nts for 71% of this decline while increased contraceptive effectiveness accounts for only 22%. Although ever-increasing use of the pill implies some net reduction in contraceptive psycho-social costs data revealing decreasing public confidence in the pills safety demonstrates a strong motivation to control fetility despite the risks involved. Tabulation o f six national surveys indicates a 50% increased among men and a 30% increase among women believing the pill to be unsafe between 1966 and 1974. The American experience demonstrates the importance of motivational factors in intentional fertility decline. High fertility in developing countries may reflect weak motivation rather than limited access to modern contraception. Effective birth control policy should include emphasis on reproductive incentives.