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Studying government performance opens doors to examining its successes, failures and causal elements. In this paper potential sources of shortcomings are explored through the application of governance and market failures. As part of this review a series of tools and techniques are offered to further the process of identifying and rectifying root problems that can lead to imbalances in the implementation of public policies and administrative programs. Conclusions focus on the usefulness of these approaches for teaching, decision-making, quick policy analysis and policy research.

Various policies and programs have been implemented to improve police accountability. This article is written to focus on one specific activity designed for this purpose, police auditing, as used in the United States. Police auditing is an integral part of police accountability programs but has rarely been studied. This paper provides an overview of police auditing and is aimed at achieving a broad understanding of the trends and contents of this activity by using a police audit dataset.

Keywords: Police Auditing, Accountability, Performance, Compliance.

The actions of the police have been scrutinized for many years and recently there have been calls to reform the police with suggestions to defund police budgets while also enhancing their training. This study surveys citizens in a southern state in the United States to explore the relationship among citizens’ perception to divert police budgetary dollars to social service agencies, their knowledge of police training in relation to resolving hostile encounters with members of the public, and whether living in a metropolitan area compared to a nonmetropolitan area mediates the relationship. Using structural equation modeling (SEM), the results suggested that those favoring diverting police budgetary dollars to social service agencies are less knowledgeable about the type of training the police have in efforts to defuse hostile interactions with members of the public, while place of residence had a minimal effect on the relationship.

Regional significance with its diverse ethnic compositions and the general consensus of the locals helps in formation of a specific culture. Bauman in his Liquid Modernity and Merton in his Modes of Adaptation rightly mentioned how modern and post-modern life leads individuals towards complexities. This paper seeks to investigate the relationship of culture with drug consumption and related activities in contemporary times along with the dynamic major causes associated with the behavior in the light of sociological theories. An attempt has been made to show how regional growth (Darjeeling) can lead people to drug related activities and the way youth are indulging in it within the context of an emerging culture. Youth nowadays look for an alternative for their hard realities which they find difficult to face, hence they expose themselves in counter culture only to carry illegal activities involving drugs.

Keywords: Darjeeling, Culture, Drug, Addiction, Cosmopolitan, Consumer Culture, Liquid Modernity, Counter Culture.

Often after acts of violence, arguments are made as to why the violent act occurred. Two arguments dominate the discussion as to why the violence occurred. The first argument is that the ability to acquire firearms leads to increased violence. The second argument is that the poor mental health system in the United States is predictive of increased acts of violence. The current analysis examined the prevalence of firearms and the mental health system of 49 states in the United States. Regression analysis reveals that as the rate of firearms increased, the homicide rate increased. The mental health system did not affect the homicide rate.

This paper examines several types of gambling behaviors in adolescence with a focus on its association with antisocial behaviors. The idea is that both gambling and antisocial acts are behaviors which involves risk. The highest association involved playing dice. In controlling for males and females, all correlations were higher for males. All associations were significant at the .001 level with low to medium associations.

Keywords: adolescent gambling, antisocial behavior, delinquency,

Debates in case law over the relevance of character change among juvenile homicide offenders (JHOs) is a key concern affecting policy decisions about the incapacitation and future release of JHOs. Yet, research exploring the character maturation of JHOs is an understudied area in criminal justice-related sentencing and correctional polices. Using a case study approach, the present study explores associations between sentence status (i.e., indeterminate life vs. natural life) and indicators of continued criminality to compare serious prison infraction trajectories on a representative sample of Arizona’s JHOs. The results of this study raise several concerns about determining potential character trajectories during the initial sentencing phase of the criminal justice process, implications for policy and future research are discussed.

Keywords: Irreparable Corruption, Life Sentences, Character Maturation, JLWOP sentences, Juvenile Homicide Offenders