Corrections: The state of the art

The failure of the correctional system to rehabilitate the criminal is discussed in terms of the controversy over external and internal issues that has inhibited the establishment of goals. External problems include: (1) the possibility that crime and the criminal serve a purpose in society, (2) the latent functions of correctional functions, and (3) the crime themes that pervade our society. Internal problems include: (1) the absence of a theoretical framework, (2) the lack of negative feedback, and (3) the inappropriate use of the medical model. If the correctional system fails to develop goals for rehabilitation and prevention of recidivism, then political pressures for a punitive justice will prevail.     

The new chain gang: Corrections in the next century

This article examines the operations and excesses of the correctional chain gang as a group of prisoners working outside a penal facility under armed correctional supervision and wearing chains or other restraining devices to prevent escape. We detail the operations and excesses of earlier chain gangs, identifying variables that contributed to the contemporary phase that emerged in 1995. Predicated on vengeance, retributive justice, and punitiveness, the chain gang represents yet another devolving standard of human decency in correctional policies. Future scenarios are explored.     

“柔性”矫正:未成年人社区矫正的理论溯源与实践路径

当前世界各国对未成年人犯罪的处遇越来越向非刑事化、轻刑化和非监禁化的方向发展,对未成年人采取特殊保护的理念在国际上已经达成共识。特殊保护理念在我国未成年人社区矫正中,可以理解为与成年犯矫正有着本质区别的"柔性"矫正理念和措施的应用。"教育刑""国家亲权"和"儿童利益最大化"等理论可以合理的诠释"柔性"矫正的逻辑起点和理论依据。在我国新颁布的《社区矫正法》里,"柔性"矫正的相关原则亦有具体的立法体现。我国未成年人社区矫正应当重视社会控制理论的应用,运用该理论"社会联系"中"依恋""参与""抱负"和"信念"四个要素,重新认识未成年人犯罪的原因,并分别从家庭治疗、社区融入、认知行为干预和重塑角色认同等方面矫正干预,充分发挥"柔性"矫正在未成年人社区矫正工作中的效能。     

The Future of FOIA: Course Corrections for the Digital Age

After the fiftieth anniversary of the Freedom of Information Act in 2016, criticism of the law is considerable. FOIA has failed to live up to its initial promise of peeling back the layers that too often shroud the federal government in secrecy, frustrating the news media’s efforts to contribute to an informed electorate. Issues with response rates, unorganized systems and subjective interpretations of the act’s exemptions are not uncommon. This article utilizes data gathered from 2008 to 2015 that indicate that across multiple metrics, FOIA has increasingly failed to provide records to requesting parties. The trends suggest that significant overhaul is necessary. Rather than prescribing more amendments that are little more than Band-Aids on a withering dinosaur, this article concludes with a detailed set of recommendations – highlighted by a crowd-sourced request database – that move far from FOIA’s original paper-based model that still rests at its analog core.     

英国社区矫正制度

英国是近代世界监狱改良运动和刑罚执行社会化的发源地。19世纪末20世纪初期,社区矫正制度在英国刑事立法和司法中已经确立,各种非监禁刑进入了司法实践领域。这一制度根据社会生活的改变和犯罪情况的变化,逐渐发展、成熟,成为目前一项有法律明确规定、适用刑种多样、有专门机构和人员进行管理监督、有关社会组织参与、矫正措施规范、行刑效果理想的较为完备的法律制度。英国在社区矫正制度中确立的保护公众的安全和利益、矫正和适当惩罚相结合、注重犯罪对受害者的伤害和影响、使罪犯重新回归社会及预防和减少重新违法犯罪等矫正原则,在英…     

The Romanticization of Charismatic Leadership in the Arts

ABSTRACT

This inter-disciplinary article focuses on the role, significance, and impact of charisma in cultural leadership. It brings together fresh empirical data with a critical review of the literature to investigate the role of charisma in the operation, reputation, and strategic success of arts organizations. For the first time, this article synthesizes a diverse range of literature from sociology, psychology, political science, management, and leadership studies and applies it critically to the context of the arts. This comprehensive review is compared against interviews with key stakeholders in the arts, which challenge the neo-charismatic literature on leadership and support a return to aspects of the original formulation of charisma, as envisaged by Max Weber. The article finds that charismatic leaders are seen as extraordinary individuals and are excessively romanticized by arts managers, policymakers, and audiences. It questions this normative bias and concludes that charismatic leaders should be treated with a degree of skepticism, even caution, to temper any negative impacts on "followers" and organizations.     

The Application of the Transcendental Meditation Program to Corrections

In 1976, Lockheed Corporation was charged with making secret payments of at least $25 million to Japanese officials during the early 1970s. It was alleged that these payments were made in order to secure aircraft sales contracts with several Japanese airlines. At that time, Lockheed executives claimed that Japanese officials insisted that consideration of Lockheed as a contractor would require advance payments to several government officials. In spite of this claim, Congress passed the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in 1977 which treats these payments as bribery, rather than extortion, and prohibits them with the threat of criminal penalties. During the last 10 years, Japan has tried and convicted 15 former government officials of bribery and other crimes in the Lockheed affair. This paper assesses the effects of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in regulating business conduct, and the validity of the claims by Lockheed and the Japanese officials 10 years later, now that the trials are over.     

The MFA in Arts Management

Arts administration/management (AA/M) has evolved to the point of emerging as a mature academic field, increasingly institutionalized within higher education and demanding a larger and more highly credentialed faculty. Examining Master of Fine Arts (MFA) AA/M programs in North America, this brief study asks whether the MFA can serve as the viable credential for academically trained arts managers. The analysis suggests that no consensus about which advanced degree best reflects academic expertise relevant to all components of the field has been reached and that standards remain too unclear for the MFA to serve as a viable credential across artistic disciplines.     

The Rhetoric and Practice of Community Corrections in China

Over the last decade, community corrections in China has operated as an intermediate sanction in response to a growing prison population. Official policy describes this punishment as an alternative to prison, focusing on risk assessment, correctional treatment, and cognitive-behavioral therapies that have been adopted in a number of Western countries. Based on interviews with community corrections officials in Shanghai, this article examines the rhetorical and practical characteristics of this new punishment and, more specifically, considers the consistencies and discrepancies between official policy and its practical implementation. It argues that, despite official policy, community corrections in China is underpinned by intensive correctional supervision that is premised on control, surveillance, and education.     

人权入宪的价值

什么是人权?对此人们看法各异,但国内外最广泛的共识是:人权就是人之作为人应当享有的权利.就主体而言,这里强调的标准是人,只看他或她是不是人,而不看他或她的其他方面特征,如所处社会制度、所属阶级、敌我分野等.1982年宪法经过第四次局部修改后,增加了"国家尊重和保障人权"的规定,这个规定构成现行宪法第33条第3款.     

Reforming Criminals in China: Implications for Corrections in the West

Visits to three prisons in China revealed that the Chinese penal system, although conceived within a Marxist context, is humanistic, naturalistic, and practical in emphasis. Considering the cultural differences between Orient and Occident, specifically the Chinese respect for power and authority and their belief that the State and its officials serve as guardians of socialist ideology, the author discusses some implications for the West. It concludes that we may have to perceive rehabilitation in more realistic terms. Instead of abandoning rehabilitation, we can learn from the Chinese and translate the concept into providing assistance to offenders that is compatible with the external environment.     

The Development of a Preeminent Corrections Scholar

Abstract

Doris Layton MacKenzie came into the field of criminal justice and criminology in her thirties, balancing the dual tasks of motherhood and scholarship successfully. After completing her Doctoral work in Psychology at Pennsylvania State University, MacKenzie accepted her first academic position at Louisiana State University. There she began what has become the most comprehensive body of work to date on the study of boot camps. Now a full professor in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Maryland, MacKenzie continues her work in discovering what works and what doesn't work in corrections, and is a strong advocate for field research that generates real, practical applications for public safety and crime control. Building on her PhD research in psychology, Doris Layton MacKenzie has focused her career on offender behavior and what can be done to change that behavior. This article profiles the life of Doris Layton MacKenzie: her childhood years; her education; and her professional work to today, when she continues to serve as an inspiration to her students and colleagues as a scientist and human being.