Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: The data collection effort for the longitudinal offender interview component of the SVORI impact evaluation has been a massive undertaking. A total of 11,400 cases were fielded to 30 field interviewers , who had conducted a total of 7,120 interviews as of March 2007 in 14 states [16 sites but 14 states] —locating, tracking, and interviewing respondents in over 300 correctional facilities (and numerous communities within the 15 states) as well as in a multitude of communities. The experience gained from this undertaking can be used to better design subsequent studies involving incarcerated (and formerly incarcerated) populations and inform our understanding about the actual circumstances facing these individuals and the systems by which they are affected. This presentation will summarize key “lessons learned” from the SVORI field interviewers and supervisors, based on focus groups held with these individuals after nearly 3 years of field work. The presentation will focus on two interrelated topics: 1) successful strategies for conducting interviews with prisoners and former prisoners (including locating and tracing techniques, successfully interviewing in jails and prisons, data collection barriers and solutions, and preparation for going into the field) and 2) “firsthand” knowledge about the challenges facing returning prisoners and the systems designed to deal with them (including field interviewer perceptions about system shortcomings, success stories witnessed, and the “real world” conditions facing returning prisoners).

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: This paper examines the causes and effects of the birth of the Italian “Second Republic” during the 1990s. The primary focus is on the impact that both electoral and institutional reforms within the Parliament (Camera dei Deputati) have had on the legislative process. The limitations of the legislative process in post-war Italy are legend and many believed that reform of the electoral system (and the transformation of the party system that it was assumed would follow) would revolutionize governance and policy-making in Italy. In fact, these highly publicized and frequently studied reforms appear to have had very little impact on the legislative process, despite the concurrent transformation of the Italian party system. Instead, this research suggests that if significant changes have occurred, their origin is more credibly traced to the efforts of the Parliament, which pursued wide spread internal reforms in 1996-1997. Though far less familiar to most, these reforms targeted the relative balance of legislative power and influence between the Parliament and the executive and explicitly set out to increase the powers of the executive branch in the attempt to create a more functional (and typical) parliamentary system.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: The media’s central role in the democratic process has long been a subject of theory and research in the field of political communication. In Tarde’s influential model of democratic political participation, for example, the press is viewed as the trigger of this process. One underlying assumption of this paradigm is that the press disseminates information and the public consumes it. Accordingly, in much of this literature, the public is perceived primarily as a passive recipient of media content. But the “former audience” is increasingly an active participant in shaping both media content and public discourse. The influence of traditional mass media institutions is being challenged by an unprecedented level of citizen participation in online media production (through blogs, chat rooms, forums, and citizen journalism) which blurs the line between consumer and producer, audience and public. This new information environment calls for re-examining previous assumptions and measurement of “media use.” This study examines whether media use – specifically, use of local daily newspapers’ Web sites – involves elements of conversation (i.e., active or interactive behavior on the part of the audience), and tests whether this behavior has an effect on traditional political participation and whether that effect differs from the effect of more passive media behavior. Data for the study was gathered by telephone survey of 3,000 respondents from a representative sample of 100 markets in the U.S., focusing on the use of local daily newspapers’ Web sites. The study examines five qualitatively distinct types of online news behavior: consuming content presented online, expressing opinion or preference, monitoring online conversation, mostly via blogs, managing the relationship with the newspaper as a service provider, and trading goods or otherwise engaging in commercial behavior. The results show that about one third of the sample has accessed their local newspaper’s Web site, and that interactive use on these sites is not widespread. However, the study finds that interactive use of newspaper’s Web sites has a significant effect on traditional (i.e., offline) political participation, and is a better predictor than passive media use or newspaper use; interactive online behavior is likely to translate into active offline citizenship. The paper discusses theoretical implications for the prevailing model of the democratic political participation process as well as practical implications for newspapers’ Web sites.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: In this paper we examine factors that influence the household self-sufficiency over time, of one particularly vulnerable group – a cohort of approximately two hundred women who assumed the adult role and responsibilities of parenting while they themselves were still in their teens. Binary Growth Models are applied to Life History Calendar data that provide an effective strategy for analyzing detailed month to month household data that span nearly twelve years following the birth of the study child. Our analysis suggests the overwhelming effects of the presence of a husband or partner in the household in these early years, with the greater advantage associated with married relationships. In contrast, the educational attainments or employment status of the women themselves provide only a relatively small increase in the likelihood of self-sufficiency. The insights provided by our study mothers in a series of unstructured interviews suggest caution in the interpreting these results. They describe a selection process that favors economically secure (and hence “marriageable”) males. A growing awareness of the unintended consequences to women and their children of encouraging dependence on potentially abusive partner suggests further caution in interpreting these results.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Objective: To test the influence of neurocognitive functioning on community functioning among formerly homeless persons with serious mental illness and to determine whether that influence varies with social context, independent of individual characteristics. Method: In metropolitan Boston, 112 persons in Department of Mental Health shelters were administered a neuropsychological test battery and other measures and then randomly assigned to empowerment-oriented group homes or independent apartments, as part of a longitudinal study of the effects of housing on multiple outcomes. Subjects’ case managers completed Rosen’s 5-dimensional Life Skills Inventory at 3, 6, 12 and 18 months and subjects reported on their social contacts at baseline, 6, 12 and 18 months. Subject characteristics are controlled in the analysis. Results: Three dimensions of neurocognitive functioning—executive function, verbal declarative memory, and vigilance—each predicted community functioning. Better executive function predicted improved self-care and less turbulent behavior among persons living alone, better memory predicted more positive social contacts for those living in a group home, and higher levels of vigilance predicted improved communication in both housing types. Conclusions: Neurocognition predicts community functioning among homeless persons with severe mental illness, but in a way that varies with the social context in which community functioning occurs.