Implementing Reforms in Community Corrections: Lessons Learned During the COVID-19 Pandemic

This mixed-method study examined changes implemented in Pennsylvania community corrections agencies during the early phases of the COVID-19 pandemic. We surveyed ( N = 54; 83% response rate) and interviewed ( N = 10) county Chiefs of probation and parole regarding changes to agency policies, processes of this change, and expected sustainability. Findings revealed meaningful changes to community corrections policy initiated by the pandemic through new modes of supervision contact —such as “ curbside probation”— and new policies regarding violations of supervision that align with evidence-based principles. The moment’s urgency provided a rare but effective impetus for reform, but perceptions of sustainability varied across Chiefs’ role orientations. Our findings demonstrate how this moment expanded the footprint of evidence-based practice through local criminal justice reform and reveal new insights into capacities for and processes of change.

Audience expectations of journalism: What’s politics got to do with it?

Audience expectations of journalism are a crucial dimension not only to understand journalism’s public legitimacy and institutional character but also its economic foundations in terms of consumers’ prospects. Although we see a critically growing disconnect between the audience and journalism, we know little about what the audience actually expects from journalism and what explains audience expectations. Using data from an online survey among the audience ( n = 2775) as well as professional journalists ( n = 818), this study compares audience expectations of journalism with journalists’ role orientations in Austria. Furthermore, multivariate analyses particularly aim to explore the role of political parameters for the understanding of audience expectations of journalism. Results show both congruencies and discrepancies between citizens’ and journalists’ perception of specific functions of journalism and that – besides media use – political attitudes may very well play an important role.

Why are male students less likely to opt for social science courses? A theory-driven analysis

In this article, we discuss the question of why only a few men decide to study social science courses such as social work. While the conceptual base of our analysis includes the theory of planned behaviour and theories centring on gender role orientations, the empirical base is a random cluster sample of high-school graduates in Switzerland. The results show different gender effects, as well as direct and indirect effects, for all the theory of planned behaviour factors. Gender role orientations and the question of how a social science profession fits one’s own gender identity appear to be of particular importance only among male students.