Search results

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the effectiveness and advantages of using perceptual tolerance neighbourhoods in tolerance space‐based image similarity measures and its application in content‐based image classification and retrieval.

The proposed method in this paper is based on a set‐theoretic approach, where an image is viewed as a set of local visual elements. The method also includes a tolerance relation that detects the similarity between pairs of elements, if the difference between corresponding feature vectors is less than a threshold 2 (0,1).

It is shown that tolerance space‐based methods can be successfully used in a complete content‐based image retrieval (CBIR) system. Also, it is shown that perceptual tolerance neighbourhoods can replace tolerance classes in CBIR, resulting in more accuracy and less computations.

The main contribution of this paper is the introduction of perceptual tolerance neighbourhoods instead of tolerance classes in a new form of the Henry‐Peters tolerance‐based nearness measure (tNM) and a new neighbourhood‐based tolerance‐covering nearness measure (tcNM). Moreover, this paper presents a side – by – side comparison of the tolerance space based methods with other published methods on a test dataset of images.

The purpose of this paper is to examine differential perceptions of neighborhood problems by the police and residents.

This study uses interview and survey data collected from 50 neighborhoods a mid‐western city to assess whether police officers and citizens differ in their perceptions of neighborhood disorder, drug‐gang, and property crime problems. Multivariate regressions were conducted to examine the effects of neighborhood structural characteristics, social organization, perceptions of the legitimacy of local authorities, and actual crime rates on police's and citizens' perceptions of neighborhood problems.

Police officers rate neighborhood problems more seriously than do local residents. Neighborhood structural characteristics and perceptions of the legitimacy of local authorities significantly affect variation in perceptions of neighborhood problems by citizens and police. Actual property crime rates influence police perceptions of disorder and property crime problems.

Future research should continue to explore the factors that contribute to perceptual differences between citizens and police officers. Research should also pay more attention to variables such as informal control, social capital, and collective efficacy. More research efforts should be devoted to explore how variation in officers' perceptions of neighborhood problems affects their behavior toward local residents.

The study incorporates neighborhood contexts in its analysis and tests both officers' and citizens' perceptions of neighborhood problems simultaneously, which have rarely been done in previous research.

There has been limited analysis on the intersections of race, gender, inequality (e.g. education, income), and procedural/distributive justice and the perceived prevalence of racially biased policing. Using data from a sample of New York City residents who were asked to judge the New York City Police Department on measures related to racially biased policing and to procedural/distributive justice, this paper builds a perception of discrimination composite tied to perceived personal experience with officer bias and to beliefs regarding the perceived prevalence and justification for such behavior.

First, the bivariate relation between race and the perception of discrimination composite is examined. Then, logistic regression is employed to explain the composite with the complement of demographic and attitudinal variables. Finally, split sample analyses are conducted to examine demographic and attitudinal variables separately for blacks and non‐blacks.

Blacks were three times more likely than non‐blacks to perceive that racially biased policing was widespread, unjustified, and personally experienced, and this finding held after controlling for demographic and attitudinal variables. It suggests that the “black effect” operates independently of income and education, raising questions about the claim that race has made way for class in key aspects of social life.

By focusing on issues of power and control, the police define their interactions with members of the public in very specific ways, and such power orientations may lead to increased conflict. The present study suggests that a disproportionate subset of NYC residents perceive general and specific discriminatory action related to racially biased policing and procedural injustice.

Drawing upon the police accountability model, the purpose of this paper is to advance the research on public attitudes toward the police (PATP) by examining the effects of reported disorder incidents at the micro level on the two dimensions of PATP.

This study uses two waves of random sample telephone survey of 2,393 residents in Houston, Texas. The disorder data were provided by the Houston Police Department. Disorder incidents surrounding each respondent’s residence were extracted by using geographic information systems technology. Structural equation modeling was used for the analysis.

The main findings suggest that while the observational measure of disorder exerts no direct impact on residents’ general attitudes toward the police; it has a significant impact on specific attitudes toward the police measured by using the neighborhoods as the principle geographical context. In addition, documented disorder incidents are found to be a robust predictor of perceptions of disorder in both models.

The measurement of PATP was ambiguous in the research literature and scholarly attention to the observational factors such as reported disorder incidents has been lacking. This study fills the gap of the relevant literature by measuring PATP as a two-dimensional concept and incorporating reported disorder incidents into the analysis.

The purpose of this paper is to provide an outline for conceptualizing an unprecedented factor responsible for awesome success or awful failure of every managerial course of action (COA). This typical factor is coined as “the unforeseen or unknown chance cause” (z) in this paper which aims at focusing on the constant interaction between known causes and z that resultantly shape failure or success of a COA.

The approach to this critical topic is primarily based on the method of simple demonstration of z along with its main contender, knowledge factor, following the method of elementary geometric configurations for lucid representation. Finally, this study advocates a regulatory method which may help chief executive officers (CEOs) in their dealings with z in a proactive manner.

The outcomes of this course of research are: first, there are some unique features of z, namely, omnipresence, variability and regularity. Second, it is the tolerance limit factor (TLF) which, if properly empowered by knowledge quality, can regulate z. Third, management by chance (MBC), philosophically, is an eternal journey to the unforeseeable land of z.

This study enlightens the following new and original thoughts which are equally important for academics and for practitioners. First, z is no longer an exogenous factor as commonly believed, rather it dwells in the core of a firm's survival. Next, the pivotal point is identifying z promptly without any excuse. Finally, only z can provide freedom of thoughts otherwise impossible in this computerized internet bound world.

The purpose of this paper is to empirically test for submarket existence based on an understanding of the residential rental housing market in Ghana.

Based on extant literature and market observations, the authors provide key concepts and an overview of the residential rental market dynamics in Ghana. Reseachers appreciate that submarkets may exist in the Ghanaian rental market but have ignored the empirical testing for submarket existence due to data asymmetries. Based on real estate experts and stakeholder consultations, a priori delineation of submarkets are constructed based on spatial, structural and a nested approach. Submarket existence is tested using the Kruskal–Wallis H test and Hedonic modelling techniques.

By using fieldwork data from Accra rental market, the analysis provides credence to the conceptualisation of submarkets and how to empirically test for same. It is argued that researchers should use alternative methods to compare results to make far-reaching conclusions.

Examining the hypothesis that differential rental values exists for submarkets has implications for policy decisions to target submarket constructs differently to improve market maturity.

The research provides stakeholder investors in the rental space an understanding of market dynamics for profit maximisation, and end-users to maximise utility in deciding where to live – and as such households could benefit from making informed investment decisions on housing.

This research is one of the first attempts to empirically identify and test for submarkets existence in Ghana’s residential rental housing market.

This exploratory study tests one of the key assumptions of community policing: that there is a relatively high level of consensus both within and between community groups, or stakeholders, about community problems and potential solutions. Results show that in the target community there is some consensus about social problems and their solutions. However, the study also reveals that the consensus may not be community‐wide, but may exist only among a relatively small group of “active” stakeholders who differ significantly about the seriousness of most of the problems and the utility of some solutions. Implications for community policing are discussed.

The purpose of this paper is to examine Chinese police officers’ general support for police intervention into domestic violence, emphasizing adequate protection of the victims, and specific support for utilizing arrests to deal with the offenders.

This study relies on survey data collected from 1,064 police officers who worked in multiple areas in two provinces of China between June and July of 2019. OLS models were used to test whether organizational variables are significant predictors of officer attitudes toward domestic violence intervention.

Both agency endorsement and supervisory support are positively related to officers’ favorable attitudes toward police intervention into domestic violence and using arrests to handle offenders. The amount of training received from the agency on the recently promulgated Anti-Domestic Violence Law, however, has a negative influence on officer support for general intervention into domestic violence and no influence on officer attitudes toward arrests.

This study represents one of the first attempts to investigate the connections between organizational and managerial factors and Chinese officers’ support for both general and specific interventions into domestic violence. It contributes to the current literature that only included police cadets in the analysis of Chinese police attitudes toward domestic violence despite the fundamental differences between cadets and active-duty officers.

Considering the widespread focus on the academic achievement and social behavior of Black boys, there has been a limited focus on Black girls. Recent data from the US Department of Education Office for Civil Rights show disproportionate suspension and expulsion rates for girls with Black girls suspended at higher rates (12%) than girls from other racial groups, and boys, of any other race/ethnicity. However, there has been limited discourse and attention about this disproportionality in suspension and expulsion, and other exclusionary practices experienced by Black girls. We frame this chapter through the lens of the bio-ecological systems and Integrative Model for the Study of Developmental Competences in Minority Children, and more importantly Critical Race Theory and FemCrit framework. We seek to make visible how the multiple systems that directly and indirectly influence and impact young Black girls' development, learning, and school and life success must be examined through the intersectionality of race and gender. Using national data we present some descriptive information on Black girls' home and early education environments, as well as their academic, socio-emotional, and health development in the early years. We also explore extant literature to connect how young Black girls' educational experiences must be intentionally attended to as it is damaging for their educational and life success. We provide practice, policy, and research implications and the importance of examining and addressing the unique experiences of Black girls and the pernicious impact of disparities and inequities in education.

This research updates and expands upon Decker’s article “Citizen attitudes toward the police: a review of past findings and suggestions for future policy” by summarizing the findings from more than 100 articles on perceptions of and attitudes toward the police. Initially, the value of research on attitudes toward the police is discussed. Then the research pertaining to the impact of individual level variables (e.g. race) and contextual level variables (e.g. neighborhood) on perceptions of the police is reviewed. Studies of juveniles’ attitudes toward the police, perceptions of police policies and practices, methodological issues and conceptual issues are also discussed. This review of the literature indicates that only four variables (age, contact with police, neighborhood, and race) have consistently been proven to affect attitudes toward the police. However, there are interactive effects between these and other variables which are not yet understood; a finding which indicates that theoretical generalizations about attitudes toward police should be made with caution.