Linking informal social control and restorative justice: moving social disorganization theory beyond community policing

Much of what is at the heart of social disorganization theory’s approach to neighborhood crime prevention has been ignored in favor of policies that are more closely associated with deterrence and rational choice theories. Specifically, ideas of informal social control and collective efficacy have often been translated into policies of community surveillance and the reporting of suspicious behaviors to the police. While these policies may make neighborhoods less attractive to offenders because they create higher certainty levels of recognition, and subsequently arrest, social disorganization theory, at its heart, suggests crime prevention policies of a very different nature: policies that are more closely associated with restorative justice, re‐integrative shaming and peacemaking criminology. These associations are highlighted and provide a conceptual model for a community crime prevention program that is more consistent with the underlying nature of social disorganization theory.     

司法修辞方法在社会正义实现中的作用

人们关于社会正义的认识是多元的,这要求居间作出的司法判决应当经得起理性论证的检验,以防范法官选择正义立场时的任意。经得起理性检验的判决又必须借助修辞方法的使用,才能使其为判决不利方接受。在社会正义的司法实现过程中,修辞具有重要的方法论作用,但它必须在法律论证框架下使用,才符合其秉承善意而加以应用的本质。     

社会科学在司法裁判中的运用原理与方法

法学界对于社会科学在司法裁判中运用的研究源于对以逻辑演绎方法为核心的科学主义在法学中支配地位的反思和以经验主义为核心的社会科学在法学中的兴起。为了确保进入裁判性事实认定领域的社会科学具有权威性和说服力,社会科学必须借助相应的证据规则。社会科学知识作为证据的准入标准经历了一个从普遍认同标准到科学有效性标准的转变。社会学解释方法和社会框架是社会科学在法律适用过程中加以运用的两种方式。社会学解释方法在法律适用过程中的运用应当以法律存在多种相互冲突的解释或存在"隐藏的漏洞"为前提,找寻法律概念所包含的肯定选项或者中性选项,并遵循比例原则和受到法律规范性质的约束。社会框架的运用必须以尊重本国文化传统和日常基本逻辑为前提,并结合其他因素,以充分发挥社会框架的效力。     

风险时代的秩序重建与法治信念——以“能动司法”为对象的讨论

转型时期中国社会呈现高风险状态。在民众中确立新的共同价值观和实现社会治理模式的规则之治是风险控制与秩序重建的两个基点。能动司法的出现回应了转型时期风险控制、秩序重建的需要,因而获得高度的政治合法性。能动应有之意包括:通过裁判确立风险社会的法治信念,重建社会共享价值体系;通过始终如一的适用法律,实现社会治理模式向规则之治转型;完善民众参与司法机制,让司法成为第一块公共领域。能动司法应当建立在对司法的本质属性与时代使命的准确把握基础上,在政治功能与审判职能之间保持必要的张力和平衡。     

经济法公平观在当代中国的现实阐释——以基本公共服务均等化为对象的解读

经济法视域中的权利公平、机会公平、规则公平、效率公平、分配公平、社会保障公平相互联系,互为一体,构成一个完整的社会公平体系。基本公共服务均等化的内涵包括全体公民享有基本公共服务的机会均等、结果大体相等,同时尊重社会成员的自由选择权,其外延包括基本民生性服务、公共事业性服务、公益基础性服务、公共安全性服务逐步实现均等化。     

法治认同培育的理性逻辑

法治认同作为社会认同的一种,需要社会公众在社会交往和社会实践中形成对于法治的理性认知和情感,并把这种理性认知和情感转化为自身的行为选择和具体行动。在这一过程中,理性的社会群际关系是培育法治认同的社会心理基础,人们对法治整体化范畴的认知和社会性自我归类意识的培育是当代中国社会法治认同培育的关键所在,培育人们的法治认知、法治情感、法治思维与法治观念和理性的法治行动,是当代中国社会法治认同培育的实践展开方式。     

合同解释中的司法能动与克制

法官对合同的解释无法脱离其能动性,而主观性的解释须以客观性为目的。当法官在合同解释出现障碍时应恪守两个标准：理性第三人标准和社会公共利益标准。同时,必须对法官的能动性予以下列限制：法官在适用理性第三人标准时,应尽量避免以所谓的＂理性第三人＂之名而作出偏离缔约人真意的解释;法官在合同解释中的自由裁量权要受合同解释规则、合同文本内容、法官职业共同体之规则、公平、正义、诚信等基本原则的限制。     

Beyond Rational Choice: the Hot/Cool Perspective of Criminal Decision Making

This paper proposes a general framework of criminal decision making that assumes both ‘cool’ cognition and ‘hot’ affect, i.e. feelings, to influence criminal choice. Drawing from judgment and decision making research and social psychology, the hot/cool perspective extends rational choice and deterrence theories by explaining how affect is likely to influence criminal decisions alongside cognitive considerations, such as the perceived costs and benefits of crime. It is shown how the hot/cool perspective offers a more realistic account of criminal decision making processes than existing decision models and approaches and also allows for the explanation of criminal behaviors that are difficult to explain in terms of rational choice.     

A LONGITUDINAL TEST OF SOCIAL DISORGANIZATION THEORY: FEEDBACK EFFECTS AMONG COHESION,SOCIAL CONTROL,AND DISORDER*

Social disorganization theory holds that neighborhoods with greater residential stability, higher socioeconomic status, and more ethnic homogeneity experience less disorder because these neighborhoods have higher social cohesion and exercise more social control. Recent extensions of the theory argue that disorder in turn affects these structural characteristics and mechanisms. Using a data set on 74 neighborhoods in the city of Utrecht in the Netherlands spanning 10 years, we tested the extended theory, which to date only a few studies have been able to do because of the unavailability of neighborhood‐level longitudinal data. We also improve on previous studies by distinguishing between the potential for social control (feelings of responsibility) and the actual social control behavior. Cross‐sectional analyses replicate earlier findings, but the results of longitudinal cross‐lagged models suggest that disorder has large consequences for subsequent levels of social control and residential instability, thus leading to more disorder. This is in contrast to most previous studies, which assume disorder to be more a consequence than a cause. This study underlines the importance of longitudinal data, allowing for simultaneously testing the causes and consequences of disorder, as well as the importance of breaking down social control into the two dimensions of the potential for social control and the actual social control behavior.     

Recent Australian Market Mechanisms as a Component of an Environmental Policy That Can Make Choices Between Sustainability and Social Justice

Markets in terms of tradeable water or pollution rights, are increasingly being offered as rational solutions for environmental problems. The rational pursuit of personal gain through trading is assumed to promote increased efficiency in resource use and promote a reduction in the negative aspects of the resource use. The social and distributive effects of the introduction of markets and their rules and operations have received little concerted study and examination. In this paper the role of justice considerations in the development of economically rational environmental decision making will be addressed through some case studies of rural water markets and urban water markets in Australia.     

CAN SELF‐CONTROL CHANGE SUBSTANTIALLY OVER TIME? RETHINKING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SELF‐ AND SOCIAL CONTROL*

The primary goals of this study were to test the long‐term stability thesis of Gottfredson and Hirschi's (1990) general theory of crime and to examine the relationship between self‐control and social control over time. The data come from a field experiment where the “treatment” consisted of an intentional effort to improve the childrearing behaviors of a sample of caregivers whose children were at high risk of criminal behavior. Caregivers in the control condition were given no such training. The intervention occurred when all subjects were in the first grade (mean age: 6.2 years old), and we have measurements on self‐control and the social control/bond for each subject from grades 6 to 11 (mean ages: 12 to 17 years old). Both a hierarchical linear model and a second‐order latent growth model identified meaningful differences in the growth pattern of self‐control among individuals in the pooled sample and a difference in the growth parameters for self‐control and the social control/bond over time between the treatment and control groups. Both findings are inconsistent with Gottfredson and Hirschi's stability of self‐control hypothesis. The same patterns persisted when different analytic techniques and model specifications were applied, which suggests that the results are not an artifact of measurement error, model specification, or statistical methods. Structural equation modeling using the panel design of the data was better able to disentangle the long‐term relationship between self‐ and social control—a relationship that was found to be more dynamic than previously hypothesized.     

权利的社会本原——在社会冲突与社会合作的视野下

在权利产生、存在与发展的动态过程中,权利的实现能吸纳或者消解相当一部分社会冲突, 促成一系列社会合作,使社会秩序得以形成、维系并协调发展。社会冲突在伸张主体利益的同时,有利于提升权利意识;其在重划利益格局的同时,有利于创设新的权利规范。社会合作所具有的消除社会冲突、促进社会有序的功能为权利的实现提供了可能性,安全、和平、有序的社会状态有利于权利的实现。而且, 社会合作为权利的实现增加了有效性。在社会合作中,行为规则的确立和行为理性的运用使行为结果具有可预测性,从而降低了行为成本,增加了权利实现的顺畅性和有效性。     

中国法律技能教育的制度分析

从法律技能的需求的视角,本文在制度层面分析技能教育为何在中国法学教育中发展不足和缓慢;认为这是法学院学生和教育者面时现有学科体制和由诸多社会因素构成的社会需求时的理性选择的结果;法律技能教育发展的关键不在于重视或加大投入,而在于中国社会的进一步发展和转型。本文追求对法学教育的经验研究和理论研究的有机整合。     

DIRECTLY INTERVENE OR CALL THE AUTHORITIES? A STUDY OF FORMS OF NEIGHBORHOOD SOCIAL CONTROL WITHIN A SOCIAL DISORGANIZATION FRAMEWORK*

Informal social control is a central concept in the contemporary social disorganization literature, and much attention has been directed at examining community characteristics related to variation in the quantity of informal social control across communities. However, considerably less attention has been paid to variation in forms of informal social control. This study examines the extent to which neighborhood characteristics are related to residents’likelihood of using two different forms of informal social control: direct informal social control (i.e., through direct intervention) and indirect informal social control (i.e., through mobilizing formal authorities). Data for this study are based on surveys of residents in 66 neighborhoods. The analysis uses hierarchical modeling to examine whether neighborhood characteristics central to contemporary social disorganization theory have similar effects on these two forms of neighborhood social control. Findings indicate that social ties increase the likelihood of direct informal social control but not indirect informal social control, whereas social cohesion and trust decreases indirect informal social control but does not have a significant effect on direct informal social control. Faith in the police is not found to affect either form of informal social control. These findings are discussed in terms of current issues in contemporary social disorganization theory.     

论法治建设中的运动型思维———对我国法治路径的合理性反思简

运动型思维支配下的法治活动有针对性强、集中整治和收效快的特点,在维护社会秩序、打击违法行为方面有一定的规模效用和即时效果.但从根本上看,运动型思维与法治理性、法治规律存在一定冲突,甚至可能会误导、姑息某些违法行为,破坏法律适用的平等性.所以,在转型社会之中国应逐步摒弃运动型思维和法律实用主义思维,回归稳健、规范和持续的法治理性之路.     

社会矛盾的文化化解之路——以主导文化与多元文化的关系为线索的尝试性探索

文化是社会矛盾重要的生产机制和化解机制.建立社会矛盾的文化视角具有十分迫切的理论意义.文化与社会矛盾的关切根源于文化与社会生活的关切,根源于社会结构系统和社会生活展开的张力.文化是社会系统的整合机制,也是社会生活的构成力量.在现代社会,文化嵌入在国家、市场和社会均衡互动的结构中,主导文化构成人们创造生活的共享价值观、基础性的公共秩序和理性化的技术支持体系,供给社会生活的共享空间,多元文化供给创造生活的工具包,它们在共生共荣中既推进生活也推进文化自身的发展.文化视角下的社会矛盾化解依赖于文化机制编制的理性织体.它可以使社会矛盾的演进在理性规制的轨道上有序展开.     

Following Legal Rules: Visibility and Feasibility

This paper reflects on the idea of ‘visualization’ of legal rules as part of an account of rule following in action. Presenting an alternative to Van Schooten’s (Jurisprudence and communication. Deborah Charles, Liverpool, 2012) account of interpretation, I first distinguish between two modes of interpretation: rehearsing and discursive. I argue that the former is the more basic one, relating to our respecting sources, rather than noticing signs, in action. In other (Wittgensteinian) words, we have to understand how we take guidance from rules. This account can profit from an analysis of what ‘seeing’ amounts to. Taking my cue from Merleau-Ponty, I point to the intertwinement between agent and world in seeing, in rule-following, and eventually in legal rule-following. The proof of the pudding is an alternative account of the time-honoured paradigm of legal interpretation: Hart’s ‘no vehicles in the park’. I show how this example is predicated on detecting ‘depth-clues’ in a rule, which allow an agent to correlate his vantage point to a vanishing point of a rule. The example illustrates a key-feature of rule following: reflexivity. I cannot follow a rule unless I project myself into its picture.     

The Moderating Effects of Informal Social Control in the Sanctions-Compliance Nexus

Deterrence researchers have abandoned a one-size-fits-all approach and identified a wide range of individual characteristics (e.g., low self-control, emotional arousal) associated with the decision to offend. Comparatively less attention has been given to the moderating effects of purely situational factors on intentions to break the law. Drawing on social control and rational choice literatures, we utilized a vignette-based survey and asked a sample of young adults to report on their likelihood of driving drunk under conditions of high and low informal social control. We then explored the effects of certainty and severity of punishment on offending likelihood across both conditions. Among deterrable offenders, we found that the relationship between severity and compliance manifested only in the presence of high informal social control. Certainty was significantly and inversely associated with offending likelihood in both high and low informal social control conditions—among both deterrables and the full sample. Implications for deterrence theory are discussed.     

Sentiments of justice

In empirical research on social inequality one question remains largely open: Why are certain types of social inequalities legitimate or not? Three theoretical approaches to this question are discussed: the universalist, the cultural, and the interactionist approach. The interactionist approach is defended: Sentiments of justice can be predicted or deduced from the system in which the actors are located. It is important to know whether actors have reasons to be interested in the system of interaction in question, including reasons for approving the rules and the mode of its functioning. At the same time, the existence of an unrestricted residue must also be recognized: With good reasons one group of individuals can find that a certain state of affairs is just, another group that it is unjust. Because divergences of opinion are inescapable, certain questions pertaining to the issue of social justice can only be resolved by the method of regulated political debate. Questions of social justice can in no way be resolved a priori.