PUBLIC SUPPORT FOR "LAW AND ORDER": Interrelationships with System Affirmation and Attitudes Toward Minorities

This study deals with interrelationships among system affirmation, intoler-ance of minorities or minority viewpoints. and support for a tough role for the police and courts in the criminal justice system. Using data from a survey of “Middletown” (Muncie, Indiana), all three of these concepts are-as expected-moderately highly interrelated. Those high in system affir-mation are also high in intolerance, and they are high in support for a tough role for the police and courts. Further, combining system affirmation and intolerance measures into typologies accentuates the independent effects of these concepts on a hard-line approach to “law and order” issues.     

社会危害性与刑事违法性辨析--重在从"罪刑法定"视角观之

一个时期以来,社会危害性与刑事违法性的争论越来越引起人们的极大关注。社会危害性与刑事违法性是属于两个不同学科、不同领域的问题。在“罪刑法定”原则下,社会危害性更应当回归于犯罪学之中,而在刑法学中用法益侵害和严重的法益侵害取而代之,并且它们只有被明确规定在刑法中才能叫刑法法益侵害。这样规定,不仅剔除了“社会危害性”这一宏观、模糊的、甚至易受主观价值取向改变的犯罪定义标准,而且有利于刑事司法操作。     

The criminal career: Estimates of the duration and frequency of crime commission

This paper deals with measuring two dimensions of the criminal career: residual duration and frequency. It reports results from estimating the parameters of a model in which offenders have a probability of desisting from further participation in crime following a conviction and, if they persist, a rate of crime commission. The probability of desisting and the rate of commission are seen as varying with offenders' personal characteristics and criminal records. Moreover, this paper discusses the difficulty of estimating models in which failure to commit a new crime might be attributable either to termination of the criminal career or to a censored follow-up period. The paper reports both successful and unsuccessful estimation attempts and discusses complications when distinguishing empirically between duration and frequency.     

On the criminal policy of China in regulating economy in transition

While detailing the emergence of such issues as problem-plutocrats, original sin, forced rule-or law-breakings during the transitional period (from a command economy to a market economy), the author of this article analyzes the advantages and disadvantages of rigid regulations as well as lax regulations which involve criminal policy in China. On that basis, the writer probes into the laws and overall criminal policy orientation that regulates the economy during our current transitional period (from command economy to the market economy). He argues that certain leniencies may be appropriate to lesser crimes, since in fact developing the economy depends upon the success of entrepreneurial businesses throughout the nation.     

Beyond Crime Statistics: The Construction and Application of a Criminogenity Monitor in Amsterdam

Criminologists have devoted a great deal of attention to risk factors – also called criminogenic factors – leading to criminal offending. This paper presents a criminogenity monitor which includes 19 risk factors that underlie crime. These factors do not themselves cause criminal behaviour; rather, they must be seen as signals that crimes may be committed. After discussing how the criminogenity monitor was constructed, we apply the risk factors we examined to the situation in Amsterdam, capital city of the Netherlands. The monitor is intended to function particularly as an instrument to rationalise policy-makers’ work in targeting and preventing symptoms of crime at three geographical levels: the entire city, its boroughs and its neighbourhoods.     

The Israeli criminal justice system in action—Is justice administered differentially?

This study focuses on two major junctures in the Israeli criminal justice system, the preadjudication stage and the trial stage. The data are gathered from records accumulated during the period 1980 through 1992. For each year between 1980 and 1992, a random sample of 3637 persons, who had their first police contact that year, was drawn from the computerized central file at Israeli Police Headquarters. A total of 40,007 individuals, with a total of 97,000 records, constituted the study population. The results identify which criminal records were most likely to be terminated prior to adjudication and which records, once adjudicated, were most likely to conclude in conviction. Major emphasis was placed on the issue of nationality—being an Arab or a Jew—while the effect of other variables, such as the type of offense and the time period, were controlled. The criminal justice system was found to be less discriminating at the early stages of the criminal process, but as the offender moved along the process, the chances that nationality would play an important part increased. Authors are listed alphabetically and contributed equally to the writing of this paper.     

The Effects of Community Policing on Complaints Against Officers

Between 1982 and 1989, the Houston Police Department was committed toforming partnerships with the community as part of its strategy to improvepolice service to the city. Using complaint data from the Internal AffairsDivisions of the Houston Police Department, this research examines whetherofficers assigned to areas of the city that implemented community policinghave fewer complaints than other officers. The results showed that officersworking in areas where community policing had been implemented receivedsignificantly fewer complaints than officers working in other areas. Anexception was complaints for criminal behavior, which increased. The resultssuggest that models of community policing that focus on creating communitypartnerships have the potential to reduce tension between the police and thepublic.     

刑事羁押期限:立法的缺陷及其救济

科学设计刑事羁押期限应坚持谦抑原则。坚持刑事羁押的谦抑原则、缩减羁押期限是法制宽容精神的体现 ,是无罪推定原则的必然要求 ,是保证刑罚及时性和刑罚效果的需要 ,体现了对犯罪嫌疑人和被告程序主体地位的尊重。从立法上看 ,我国刑事羁押期限制度有诸多缺陷 :规定的依附性和不完整性 ;羁押期限较长 ;羁押期限与涉嫌犯罪的非比例性 ;决定羁押期限延长程序的不公开 ;重新计算羁押期限的立法过于原则等等。建议将羁押期限的立法规定独立开来 ,同时适当缩减拘留、审查起诉和审判的期限 ,废除补充侦查制度 ,明确规定重新计算羁押期限的法定情形 ,严格控制对羁押期限的延长。     

CRIMINALS' AND NONCRIMINALS' PERCEPTIONS OF URBAN CRIME

This paper offers an exploration of criminals’ and non-criminals’ perceptions of crime in an urban milieu. Specifically. we examine perceptions of the incidence of crime within the city, of variations in police pratection. and of variations in the likely difficulty of committing crimes in different parts of the city. The analysis examines the distinctiveness of; and interrelationships among, these variables controlling for the racial status and criminal-non-criminal status of the respandents. Additionally. perceptions of the difficulty of committing crimes m different parts of the city are related to generalized perceptions of the city for our racial subgroups of criminals. The results provide evidence on the distinctiveness of criminals in such terms, on some factors influencing strategic criminal decision-making, and on ways m which criminal behavior shares common elements with other social behavior.     

CRIME IN EMERGING ADULTHOOD*

The extent to which local life circumstances influence criminal activity has been the focus of much theoretical debate. Although empirical research has been initiated, it remains limited. Herein, we use data on 524 serious offenders from the California Youth Authority for a seven‐year post‐parole period to examine the relationship between changes in local life circumstances and criminal activity. We extend previous research by employing a statistical model that accounts for the joint distribution of violent and nonviolent crime during the late teens and twenties in order to present information on patterns of criminal activity during a newly recognized developmental period of the life course, “emerging adulthood.”     

DIFFERENTIATING SERIOUS ADOLESCENT OFFENDERS WHO EXIT THE JUSTICE SYSTEM FROM THOSE WHO DO NOT

Numerous factors have been posited to promote desistance from criminal offending in late adolescence and early adulthood. Research in this area has generally examined these factors for their impact on offending for a period shortly after the occurrence or shifts in possible predictors. The current study takes a slightly different approach. It examines the broad relation of life changes and developmental patterns to wholesale shifts in offending behavior. The current study uses data from the Pathways to Desistance study to compare the developmental patterns of two groups of serious adolescent male offenders: those who are “system successes” with no subsequent criminal justice system involvement and a matched sample for a 7‐year period after court involvement for a felony offense. Findings from growth curve analyses indicate that patterns of change in criminal attitudes, psychosocial development, and legal employment over this extended follow‐up period are related to an absence of offending. These results support further investigation of the synergistic effects of psychological changes and entry into the job market as possible mechanisms promoting desistance during this developmental period. The policy and practice implications of these findings are discussed.     

Criminal justice and the nineteenth-century paradigm

This article examines the influence of psychological individualism on nineteenth-century law and criminal justice policy. The nineteenth century—a formative period both for American law and for human sciences—was dominated by a single overarching conception of human behavior. This article explores the implications and consequences of that domination by first examining the general conditions under which individualism flourished in the United States, and then focusing on specific criminal justice policies that were pemised on this individualistic paradigm. It suggests that individualistic assumptions about human behavior were incorporated into what became intractable legal and institutional forms. The article also develops the relationship between law and human science during this period, and the way in which criminal justice policies were advanced as scientific doctrines. Finally, it concludes with a brief discussion of the role played by psychology in criminal justice policy since the nineteenth—century, and the recent resurgence of psychological individualism.     

Passive Observers or Active Participants? Jurors in Civil and Criminal Trials

What was the role played by jurors in civil and criminal trials from the late eighteenth to the late nineteenth century? This article establishes that during this period, juries in Ireland played a relatively active role. It examines individual reports of civil and criminal trials and considers the nature of juror participation during this period, establishing that jurors frequently questioned witnesses, berated counsel, interrupted judges, demanded better treatment and added their own observations to the proceedings. This article compares the nature and level of interaction from different categories of jury – civil and criminal, common and special. It asks why Irish jurors continued to be active participants until late in the nineteenth century, and how the bench and bar received their input. It also suggests that English jurors may have played a more active role during this period than previously thought. Finally, the article considers some possible reasons for the silencing of Irish jurors by the late nineteenth century.     

Managing money acquired from human trafficking: case study of sex trafficking from Bulgaria to Western Europe

Often the criminal activities, especially organized criminal groups are aimed at generating large amounts of money in a short period of time. However, the criminal organizations differ in their approach to revenue management. This article focuses on the management of proceeds acquired from human trafficking and presents the results of an empirical study on the topic. This study is based on 152 semi-structured interviews conducted with sex workers, traffickers, law-enforcement representatives, and prosecutors. The article explores the movement of money within the criminal organizations, the methods of bookkeeping and accounting, and the basic techniques for laundering the proceeds acquired from sex trafficking from Bulgaria to Western Europe. By describing how the criminals engaged in human trafficking for sexual exploitation manage the money generated from this type of criminal activity, a better understanding of the criminal phenomenon itself can be attained.     

Preventing crime in cooperation with the mental health care profession

Although major mental disorders do not have a central position in many criminological theories, there seems to be an evident relationship between these disorders and criminal behavior. In daily practice police officers and mental health care workers work jointly to prevent nuisance and crime and to keep the city livable. Examining the situations where the criminal justice system and mental health institutes are jointly involved to prevent crime, some pitfalls emerge that seem to threaten successful cooperation. There appear to be unrealistic expectations of the possibility to reduce the risk of reoffending by means of treatment and of the possibility to predict which offender poses a risk to society. Another complexity is the fact that both parties work from different backgrounds and pursue different goals. The way society and the criminal justice system deal with persons who are assumed to be a risk to the community because of a mental disorder demands a further investigation from a criminological perspective.     

质疑对犯罪嫌疑人精神病鉴定期间的规定

我国刑事诉讼法和相关解释将对犯罪嫌疑人精神病鉴定的期间不计入羁押期限,是值得商榷的。应该认识到犯罪嫌疑人精神病鉴定在性质上类似于羁押,在德国和我国台湾等国家和地区,其是鉴定留置的一种类型,法律对其规定严格的实施要件,以防止对相对人权利不当的干涉。我国应从人权保障出发,在刑事诉讼法修改时,重新定位对犯罪嫌疑人精神病鉴定,并完善相关制度设置。     

Policy, Politics, and the Criminal Courts

This case study of criminal process in a middle-sized western city in the United States employs quantitative data, interviews, and library research to explore the politics of criminal process and its impact on the operative policies of the criminal courts from I964 through 1980. The research reveals significant policy change but a very elusive relationship between politics and policy. Judges and prosecutors preserve a significant measure of autonomy for dealing with the bulk of their caseload by giving up much of their independence in those cases that are inescapably politicized. Both judges and prosecutors use this partial political insulation to advance their own versions of criminological wisdom. On the other hand, they are constrained by the prevailing ethos and by institutional limitations to operate well within conventional definitions of crime and criminality—even when those conventional views run counter to their own practical experience.     

德国近五十年刑事立法述评

自1969年德国刑法大改革至今的五十年间,德国的刑事立法活动非常频繁。在此期间,德国立法机关不但对《刑法典》总则犯罪论部分的规定进行了彻底的修订,而且针对犯罪的法律后果以及刑法分则乃至附属刑法中的诸多罪名进行了持续的改革,在恐怖主义犯罪、妨害公务犯罪、毒品犯罪以及保安监禁等领域尤其如此。整体而言,德国立法者在过往半个世纪中日趋侧重功能主义的积极刑事立法观,导致德国刑法逐步从传统法治国背景下的法益保护法和市民防御法转向以社会控制为主导的国家干预法和社会防卫法,造成了诸多难以与现有法律体系和学说理论相协调的象征性立法。我国应当从德国近五十年的刑事立法中吸收其先进经验,对其中的弊端也要引以为戒。     

刑法解释立场的历史考察——主观解释论之提倡

刑法解释经历了从主观解释论到客观解释论的演进过程,现阶段,从世界范围来看,客观解释论正成为一种有力的学说。在不同的历史时期,主观解释论与客观解释论所处的地位并不相同,在经历了罪刑擅断、人治统治的历史之后,人们对立法者充满了无限的期待,体现在刑法解释上就是要求坚持主观解释论。而当法治的进程进一步推进,人们已经不满足于法律的安定性,还要求法律实质上的公平、公正。联系社会发展以揭示法律内涵,遵守成文法不囿于文字本身的刑法解释客观论,遂成为刑法解释论上的特色。从历史的角度看,法治理念、法官素质、刑法实施的时间与刑法解释立场的选择具有密切的关系。我国是经历了几千年的人治统治的国家,法治建设才刚刚起步,法官素质还有待于进一步提高,刑法实施仅十余年,这要求我国在刑法解释上应采主观解释论。     

Crime and punishment in the soviet union and the united states: 1986–19901

A relatively recent development in the comparative criminology literature concerns cross‐national comparisons of criminal sentencing practices (e.g., Lynch, 1993). While there are now several studies comparing sentencing practices and lengths, there is a particular shortage of studies that examine the disposition of serious criminal cases through several stages of the criminal justice process. Specifically, there is a shortage of information concerning this issue in Russia and the former Soviet Union. To address this limitation, we present data on the police and court disposition of violent criminal cases in the former Soviet Union during the period of 1986 to 1990. For comparative purposes, comparable data from recent studies of criminal case dispositions in the United States are presented. Implications of the findings are discussed.