NCJ Number
208305
Journal
Journal of Crime & Justice Volume: 27 Issue: 2 Dated: 2004 Pages: 59-78
Date Published
2004
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This study used State data to examine the roles of social altruism, government altruism, and the threat of punishment in effectively deterring nursing home regulatory violations.
Abstract
Chamlin and Cochran (1997) describe "social altruism" as "the willingness of a community to commit scarce resources to the aid and comfort of their members." This study also borrows Chamlin's and Cochran's definition of "governmental altruism," which is the willingness of the government to help groups in need of services. The current study examined the effectiveness these types of altruism, along with enforced sanctions in determining deterrence effectiveness in preventing nursing home regulatory violations. All licensed nursing homes in the United State are inspected annually by officials employed by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Inspection findings, in summary form, are available through Medicare. The current study examined the results of inspections conducted in 2000, with a focus on variation in regulatory violations at the State level. Attention was given to the variables of altruism, mandatory reporting laws, and penalty enhancement laws. Social altruism was measured as the ratio of United Way contributions to the aggregate income in the State. Government altruism was measured by the average Medicaid payments per recipient in the State as well as the average social security payments per retired worker and his/her dependents. Social altruism and government altruism were negatively related to regulatory violations, and mandatory reporting laws limited the severity of the offenses. There was little evidence that social or governmental altruism interacted with deterrence measures to minimize nursing home violations. The implications of these findings are discussed for strategies to improve nursing home care and conduct further research. 2 tables and 50 references