This books offers a unique comparative perspective on the development of service programs for victims of four major violent crimes: child abuse, spouse abuse, rape, and crimes against the elderly. The study analyzes the evolution of federal policy in each area and examines the ways in which federal initiatives and federal funding affected the focus and financial stability of victim service programs. This book argues that the four issues were profoundly affected by the public policy process, the varied definition of the issues shaped by ways in which public funding was distributed. The book takes a broad view of the policymaking process--to include all branches of the federal government, as well as state and local government, the courts, and voluntary grass-roots organizations. This books offers a unique comparative perspective on the development of service programs for victims of four major violent crimes: child abuse, spouse abuse, rape, and crimes against the elderly. The study analyzes the evolution of federal policy in each area and examines the ways in which federal initiatives and federal funding affected the focus and financial stability of victim service programs. This book argues that the four issues were profoundly affected by the public policy process, the varied definition of the issues shaped by ways in which public funding was distributed. The book takes a broad view of the policymaking process--to include all branches of the federal government, as well as state and local government, the courts, and voluntary grass-roots organizations. While offering concrete information about four specific victims' policies, the book also presents very important theoretical generalizations about the policymaking process and about the effect, over time, of that process on the definition and articulation of social problems in general.

This new publication is dedicated to the Baranger Motion Displays of the R. F. Collection housed at the Vitra Design Museum. Motion Displays were conceived as eye-catching and novel moving objects, which - primarily in the US - were used in jewellers' shop-window displays to attract customers. The Baranger Motion Displays were produced by Baranger Studios in Pasadena, CA between 1937 and 1957 and were lent to thousands of jewellers' shops over the years. Primarily during the 1990s, Rolf Fehlbaum, Vitra Chairman Emeritus and founder of the Vitra Design Museum, worked to assemble a carefully selected a comprehensive collection of these objects in Weil am Rhein. With large-scale illustrations of the different Motion Displays and an atmospheric photo essay featuring black-and-white details of the objects, the book provides an unprecedented and in-depth view into this collection. In an accompanying essay, Bill Shaffer traces the success story of the displays and sheds light on the significance of the red cases in which they were delivered to the jewellers. Along with Robots 1:1 and Space Fantasies 1:1, Baranger Motion Displays is the third publication to focus on the R. F. Collection. Visitors can view the collection of Motion Displays at the Vitra Campus in Weil am Rhein as part of the "Wunderkammer" (cabinet of curiosities), which also presents other parts of Rolf Fehlbaum's wide-ranging collection. In order for readers to be able to experience the wonders of these moving objects for themselves, each Motion Display has been given a QR Code in the book which links to an entertaining video clip of the display in action.

"In prose as strong and quietly beautiful as the American chestnut itself, Susan Freinkel profiles the silent catastrophe of a near-extinction and the impassioned struggle to bring a species back from the brink. Freinkel is a rare hybrid: equally fluid and in command as a science writer and a chronicler of historical events, and graced with the poise and skill to seamlessly graft these talents together. A perfect book."--Mary Roach, author of "Stiff" and "Spook"
"A spellbinding, heart wrenching, and uplifting account of the American chestnut that asks the vastly important question: Have we learned enough, and do we care enough, to begin healing some of the wounds we've inflicted on the natural world?"--Scott Weidensaul, author of "Return to Wild America" and "Mountains of the Heart"
"This is a beautifully written account of the passing of one of the botanical wonders of the North American landscape, the American chestnut tree, which was nearly extirpated by a plague that entered the ecosystem and swept these great trees away. Freinkel, a gifted writer whose research is impeccable and whose reporting is topnotch, tells of the impassioned work of scientists over the past century and up to today, trying to bring the American chestnut back from the brink of extinction. Only a person in love with trees could have written this lovely book."--Richard Preston, author of "The Hot Zone" and "The Wild Trees"
"Graceful, provocative, and inspiring. Thoreau would be proud."--Alan Burdick, author of "Out of Eden," a 2005 National Book Award finalist
"In this beautifully written volume, Susan Freinkel ably describes the marriage of science and passion that is being brought to bear tosave this majestic American tree from extinction. The people whose ancestors lived among chestnut trees and their places come alive for the reader, as does the appearance and spread of the blight and the heroes who are struggling with it today. The book concludes with a tantalizing vision of chestnuts in the forests again--a thought of making the world right where it has gone wrong."--Peter H. Raven, Director of the Missouri Botanical Garden