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The purpose of this paper is to provide a clarification of the relationship between acculturation and assimilation through the development of a conceptual framework. By means of a careful review of theoretically relevant literature prevalent characteristics related to each concept are delineated and discussed in order to identify and synthesize common, as well as contrasting, elements. A comparison of these elements or characteristics is then undertaken pursuant to proffering a clarification. In short, then, this paper seeks to compare and contrast salient characteristics of the concepts of acculturation and assimilation in order to clarify and delineate the relationship between them.

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Does the death penalty save lives? In recent years, a new round of research has been using annual time‐series panel data from the 50 U.S. states for 25 or so years from the 1970s to the late 1990s that claims to find many lives saved through reductions in subsequent homicide rates after executions. This research, in turn, has produced a round of critiques, which concludes that these findings are not robust enough to model even small changes in specifications that yield dramatically different results. A principal reason for this sensitivity of the findings is that few state‐years exist (about 1 percent of all state‐years) in which six or more executions have occurred. To provide a different perspective, we focus on Texas, a state that has used the death penalty with sufficient frequency to make possible relatively stable estimates of the homicide response to executions. In addition, we narrow the observation intervals for recording executions and homicides from the annual calendar year to monthly intervals. Based on time‐series analyses and independent‐validation tests, our best‐fitting model shows that, from January 1994 through December 2005, evidence exists of modest, short‐term reductions in homicides in Texas in the first and fourth months that follow an execution—about 2.5 fewer homicides total. Another model suggests, however, that in addition to homicide reductions, some displacement of homicides may be possible from one month to another in the months after an execution, which reduces the total reduction in homicides after an execution to about .5 during a 12‐month period. Implications for additional research and the need for future analysis and replication are discussed.

A study was designed to examine the attitudes of a sample of correctional officers toward selected treatment programs in the Texas Department of Corrections. Questionnaires were sent to a random probability sample of 347 correctional officers, and 235 (67.7%) were returned in useable form. A master scale consisting of 59 dichotomous items was constructed to measure attitudes toward treatment programs. The scale was subdivided into six subscales, each representing a specific treatment area. The findings revealed the following as being correlated with positive attitudes toward treatment: lower rank; higher level of education; having a source of supplemental income; retired from military service; regular chuch attendance; larger community of childhood residence; assignment to inside picket duty; oriented toward a career in the Texas Department of Corrections; and age (older officers were more positive). Factors found to be negatively correlated were: number of years of service; a belief that the primary function of corrections is punishment; and viewing work as more important in rehabilitation than treatment.ith the increased performance expectations being placed on W correctional officers within the penal institutions in the United States should come adequate research, designed to help determine those qualities best suited to the expectations made