From Data to Public Policy

In this fresh new look at current public policy issues, the contributors of this volume describe how data used to shape public policy has been ignored, misinterpreted, denied, or made up to suit particular political purposes. These sharply focused essays examine affirmative action, sexual harassment, domestic violence, and welfare, and show how the relevant data has been subject to misuse by policy makers with radical agendas. In an era of contentious public debate on gender issues, the social facts and data presented here are not only welcome but essential. Contents: Introduction, Rita J. Simon; Creating a Crisis in a Free Society, Sally Pipes; Affirmative Action: An Economic Analysis, Deborah Walker; A View From the Barricade, Tama Starr; Sexual Harassment: Is There a Better Way?, Cathy Young; The Dangerous Drift of "Harassment", Eugene Volokh; Domestic Violence as a Professional Commitment, David Gremillion; Controversy Within Family Violence Research, Reena Sommer; Family Violence: The Role of Abusive Mothers, Anne Cools; Welfare Reform: How Do Children Fare?, Carol Statuto Bevan; Separate is Not Equal: Challenging State Sponsored Barriers to Interracial Adoptions, Donna Matias; The Need for Reform in Federal Welfare Programs: A New Proposal, Ronald Henry; Sexual Equality in Custody and Child Support: Now Mothers Can Be Deadbeats Too, Anne P. Mitchell; Social Science and Public Policy, Rita J. Simon; Understanding Differences in the Estimates of Rape from Self Report Surveys, James P. Lynch; The Surprising Ease of Changing the Belief That Schools Short-Change Girls, Judith Kleinfeld; Heterophobia: Women's Revenge, Daphne Patai; Jungle Red: Clare Boothe Luce and the Spirit of the Women's Freedom Network, A Round-Up, Laurie Morrow. Co-published with the Women's Freedom Network.