Breaking the mold: a new type of multilateral sustainable development negotiation

Participants in the Open Working Group (OWG) on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were reminded time and again that there is no model for the process to develop the SDGs. They resolved to not repeat the closed process used to develop the Millennium Development Goals, but the OWG began work when failures to reach consensus and fatigue with multilateral environmental negotiations dominated delegates’ minds, rather than examples of successfully negotiated outcomes. The OWG Co-Chairs were faced with the daunting task of guiding delegates’ efforts to develop a proposed set of crisp SDGs and targets that all could agree to, and thus, had to accomplish the following goals: (1) reduce delegation rigidity, both of individual Member States and within coalitions; (2) maximize the sense of participation, transparency, and ownership to get the most buy-in at the end; and (3) develop a sense of trust that would change the relationship between Member States. To do this, the OWG Co-Chairs broke the mold of UN multilateral negotiations that Member States and observers had become familiar with and created a different approach. This article examines how the OWG accomplished these goals and overcame the shortcomings of other multilateral negotiating processes on sustainable development to produce a widely supported consensus outcome at a time when governments have struggled to achieve agreement in many multilateral negotiation tracks.     

Research in a correctional setting: Constraints and biases

Researchers studying correctional institutions rarely have attempted to assess and conceptualize the special impact of the correctional setting on their research experience. Using a ‘research chronicle’ of a study of work programs in an Indian prison and some analytic categories based on Cohen and Taylor (1977), the present study found that research in correctional institutions faces specific problems of access and data acquisition. It is suggested that such research can be conceptualized in social exchange terms and that it can benefit from using techniques of reciprocity. More specifically, correctional research appears to call for team research, triangulation, and considerable investment in establishing rapport. Some examples of the applications of strategies are provided.     

The importance of staff practice in delivering effective correctional treatment: a meta-analytic review of core correctional practice

Several meta-analyses have rendered strong support for the clinically relevant and psychologically informed principles of human service, risk, need, and general responsivity. However, each of these reviews has focused on specific program components and not on the characteristics of the staff or the specific techniques used to deliver the program. This meta-analytic review examines the role of core correctional practices in reducing recidivism and provides strong preliminary evidence regarding their effectiveness. Staff characteristics and training in core skills must be addressed to ensure the maximum therapeutic impact of correctional treatment programs.     

Representing the healthcare organization in a post-Sarbanes-Oxley world: new rules, new paradigms, new perils

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act (Act) significantly changed the expected corporate behavior of public companies. The Act governs the relationship between corporate organizations and their in-house or outside counsel. Under Section 307 of the Act, the Securities and Exchange Commission initially proposed expansive rules regarding counsel's duties. After comments and criticism from much of the bar, a final, narrower, version of rules under Section 307 (Final Rule) was adopted. The Final Rule contains alternative reporting procedures, attorney responsibilities, and sanctions for violations. In addition to the Act, the American Bar Association's (ABA) Task Force on Corporate Responsibility(Task Force), which was itself a reaction to Enron, reported on the importance of counsel's role in a corporate setting (Cheek Report). The ABA adopted amendments to its Model Rules of Professional Conduct (Model Rules) 1.6 and 1.13 as proposed in the Cheek Report. The Final Rule and amended Model Rules together suggest that attorneys may owe duties beyond those owed to their clients.     

Errata: 'Niklas Luhmann: Law as a Social System'

Erratum . Journal of Law and Society Volume 32 Issue 2
There were two editorial errors in this review by Jiří Přib´ň in Volume 32, Number 2, June 2005: p.325, footnote 1: 'N. Luhman' should read 'N. Luhmann', p.325, footnote 2: 'N.Luhman (ed.)' should read 'G. Teubner (ed.)'.     

Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement: a case study of a new terrorist organization in China

The Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM) was designated a terrorist organization by Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, China, the United States, and the United Nations in 2002. However, no systematic studies have been published on the new terrorist organization in Xinjiang, China. Using a case-study approach and interviews, this article attempts to provide information in terms of its historical evaluation, related religious and ethnic issues, organizational agenda, activities, and role in the current international terrorist network. This article argues that better international cooperation and the improvement of social and religious policies will help curtail activities of the ETIM.     

Risk principle of case classification in correctional treatment: a meta-analytic investigation

Recent meta-analyses have documented considerable evidence demonstrating that correctional treatment programs are indeed effective for reducing recidivism in offender populations. The effect of client risk, an issue that has received extensive coverage in the extant literature from an assessment perspective, has been relatively ignored in these efforts. The present study marks the first exhaustive meta-analytic investigation of the risk principle and its effects on correctional treatment program effectiveness. The results reveal moderate support for its utility, although the magnitude of the findings are affected by the reporting practices used in the primary studies. Finally, the evidence supporting the risk principle is much stronger for female offenders and young offenders and within programs that are deemed appropriate according to the principles of need and responsivity. It should be noted that justice interventions that did not include elements of human service (e.g., increased sanctions) yielded negative results regardless of level of client risk.     

Challenges of conducting field experiments in correctional settings: boot camp prison study as an example

Objectives

The challenges of conducting a field experiment in a correctional setting.

Methods

This paper discusses the issues related to planning, design, and completion of a randomized control study of a correctional boot camp including the difficulties confronted and how these were or were not overcome.

Results

At the beginning, correctional administrators were interested in and supportive of the study and this greatly facilitated our initial work. However, as described in this paper, during the course of the research obstacles and difficulties arose. Using the boot camp experiment as an example, we review the trials and tribulations of trying to do a field experiment in corrections. The importance of collecting quantitative and qualitative in order to understand the experiences of both the control and experimental groups is emphasized, as is the need to examine the theoretical mechanisms hypothesized to lead to changes in outcomes.

Conclusion

Some of the challenges confronted in this randomized control trial are those facing anyone attempting to conduct a field experiment, others relate to the particular issues faced by those who are conducting experiments in correctional settings. The paper concludes with a discussion of the issues confronting researchers who are doing field experiments in corrections.     

Social justice as a Holy Grail: The endless quest

This paper gives the author's impressions on the following aspects of justice: desert, equity, equality, need, and intergenerational equity. The author concludes that these different aspects cannot be reconciled but instead must be compromised. An example of such a compromise is provided by a discussion of welfare reform. The author claims that rights are correlative with duties, and that asserting the former has little meaning without specifying the latter. He then discusses justice toward groups rather than individuals. He proposes that maintaining cultural variety in the presence of a homogeneous superculture is a major problem of the contemporary world. The paper concludes with a discussion of various forms of power, particularly the integrative power that people acquire over each other by virtue of ties of loyalty and identity.     

Lack of clarity as a ground in opposition proceedings

This case concerns whether the opponent can raise clarity objectionsunder Article 84 of the European Patent Convention to thoseparts of the claims that were not amended in the new request.In addition, the case considers the admissibility of a new request(that is, new claims) filed for the first time in oral proceedingsbefore the Board.     

Legal Authority as a Social Fact

From a sociological point of view, theconceptual and logical relations between the norms oflegal order represent empirical and causal relationsbetween social actors. The claim that legal authorityis based on the validity of empowering norms means,sociologically, that the capability to enact andenforce legal norms is based on an empirical transferof power from one social actor to another. With thisprocess, sociology has to explain how a proclamationof legal rights by the creation of empowering normscan lead to the establishment of the factual power ofcoercion. This explanation reveals that legalauthority as a social fact is irrevocably dependent onnon-legal power, which is not created by legalempowering norms but is the empirical foundation forall legal authority and state power.     

First do no harm: a look at correctional policies and programs today

Objectives

This paper reviews the historical changes in correctional policies and the impact these changes have had on the operations of corrections and correctional programs. Social changes and theoretical perspectives moved corrections away from a focus on rehabilitation to programs characterized by deterrence, incapacitation, and control. Similarly, theoretical criminology encouraged corrections to move away from rehabilitation towards programs designed to provide social opportunities such as employment and housing for offenders. This paper examines whether these changes in policies and programs have been effective in reducing recidivism. The question is: What works in corrections?

Methods

This paper reviews the research examining the impact of correctional policies and programs on the later criminal activities of offenders and delinquents. Research using systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and the Maryland method scores is used to draw conclusions about the effectiveness of various types of programs, management strategies, and policies.

Results

Research demonstrates programs based on deterrence, incapacitation and increased control do not reduce the future criminal activities of offenders and delinquents. Nor have programs targeting social opportunities such as employment and housing been effective in reducing recidivism. The most effective programs target individual-level change in thinking and information processing.

Conclusions

In the search for ways to sanction offenders, U.S. correctional policies and programs using control, deterrence, and incapacitation have harmed individuals and communities. Such programs have not been effective in reducing recidivism. While programs that provide social opportunities for offenders do not necessarily harm offenders neither do they decrease later criminal activities. Effective programs bring about a cognitive transformation in offenders and delinquents. Theorists have begun to develop hypotheses about how and why these transformations are effective. The current emphasis on evidence-based programs, the research evidence on what is effective and the need to reduce the cost of corrections suggest we are on the brink of another paradigm change. Where this will take us is still unclear, but the paradigm will have to address the current problems facing the U.S. correctional systems.     

Social bases of power and control mechanisms among prisoners in a prison organization

This research examines the social bases of power and control mechanisms among prisoners in a maximum security correctional facility for males. A qualitative research design was employed to assess the forms of power among inmates. The data suggests that the prisoner social world revolves around the interaction of many types of power. The kinds of power exhibited among prisoners were: coercive, referent, providing of resources, legitimate, and expert. Additionally, we offer some discussion on how an understanding of these social bases of power have implications for the prison environment and future research.