Nursing home regulatory agencies are subjected to a variety of pressures. Nursing home residents' families and friends want the agencies to "get tough" while the nursing home industry wants agencies to act as consultants rather than cops. The task of regulating nursing homes in the United States is primarily carried out by units of state…

A study was made to follow up on questions about the conception of preconventional moral reasoning in Kohlberg's cognitive development theory. Based on earlier findings, the following hypotheses were formulated: (1) children will express genuine fairness and interpersonal concerns at the level of preconventional moral reasoning; (2) while…

Returning to corporal punishment will not solve school discipline problems. Rather, teachers need more training and support, and disruptive students need more direct service, as do their parents. (MJB)

Results from 2 experiments indicated that 8-to 10-year-old children can be taught to take over the punishing role of an external agent and that a training technique involving perceived freedom of self-punishment will generate greater compliance with subsequent requests from the external agent. (Author/JMB)

A list of 22 institutions under NCAA sanctions is provided with their violations and penalties described. (MLW)

Analyzes journalists' views on execution stories. Divides newsgathering perspectives into three categories: (1) "whole-truthers," who present all relevant information; (2) "nothing-but-the-truthers," who report only news that can be factually verified; and (3) "reality repairers," who disregard troublesome perceptions…

This paper argues that punishment and moral education are compatible; that punishment can assist moral education by providing the necessary pre-conditions for its success, and can on occasion actually teach the child morally relevant information. (Author/JDH)

The paper considers issues regarding behavior modification practices that are addressed by a human rights committee which advocates databased methodology for all behavior modification interventions. Such an approach delineates a hierarchy of punishment procedures which places ethical safeguards on the procedures. (CL)

Thirteen parents of autistic children, 33 parents of other disabled children, and 73 parents of nondisabled children consistently rated differential reinforcement, time-out, and overcorrection as acceptable and shock as unacceptable, but the groups differed in ratings of acceptability of other treatments. (Author/CL)

Three punishment procedures--contingent applications of water mist, lemon juice, and vinegar--were evaluated as aversive treatment methods for a self-stimulatory behavior exhibited by a severely retarded 11-year-old male. The water mist procedure was as effective as lemon juice or vinegar, presented less physical threat to the client, and was…

James Doug McCray has spent the past decade on death row in Florida, since being convicted in 1974 of the rape-murder of a 68-year-old retired nurse. His life and his case are discussed. (RM)

Examines whether physical punishment and consistency of discipline interact in their effect on delinquency. Distinguishes between "intermittent discipline" and "inconsistent demands." Finds that if parental demands are consistent, physical punishment may reduce delinquency but cautions that these findings do not constitute a…

In the early 19th century, the famous Frenchman Alexis de Tocqueville spent a considerable amount of time touring America and writing about what he saw. He is, of course, most famous for his book Democracy in America (1961), but he also wrote, along with a fellow Frenchman Gustav de Beaumont, a book called On the Penitentiary System in the United…