Crime and punishment in Rwanda

In 1994 Rwanda was devastated by genocide that killed hundreds of thousands of people and destroyed the country’s infrastructure. The credibility of the criminal justice system was questioned following the genocide because it had failed to stop the slaughter and may have contributed to it. In order to address these concerns, Rwanda rebuilt its criminal justice system in light of its history and troubled past. The success of the reestablishment may be debated but there can be no question that Rwanda had a tabula rasa with which to form an effective criminal justice system. Examining the law details the ideals of the criminal justice system as established post-genocide. These ideals exemplify the democratic process. Examining current events allows for a practical assessment of the success of the new system. In both theory and practice the country’s criminal justice system has changed drastically since 1994.     

Crime and punishment: an expressive voting view

Incarceration rates in many countries (the US and Australia among them) have risen spectacularly over the last twenty years and are only partially explicable by increases in crime rates. Moreover, in some countries where crime rates have shown a comparable time-path, incarceration rates have not shown the same spectacular increase. The aim of this paper is to explore the politics of punishment. The claim is that the US and Australian experiences are best understood in terms of political considerations; and that this fact lends some support to the “expressive” as distinct from the “interest” approach to electoral behaviour.

Crime and capital punishment: Some recent studies

Some of the recent articles (specifically, those by Ehrlich, Bowers and Pierce, and Zeisel) on the deterrent effect of the death penalty are discussed, and the need for further work is suggested.     

An attributional examination of retributive versus utilitarian philosophies of punishment

Two basic goals of punishment—retribution and utility—and the means to those goals, including isolation, rehabilitation, and the creation of fear, were first examined. The objectives of punishment were then related to attributions regarding the cause of a transgression. It was documented that punishment goals are mediated by the expectancies and affects that are elicited by causal beliefs. It also was argued that the purposes of punishment are more state-like than trait-like, for they change as a function of the reason for a transgression. Data from three laboratory experiments, as well as a field study regarding reactions to O. J. Simpson for his alleged crimes, were presented in support of the above beliefs. In addition, the morality of retribution versus utilitarianism was discussed in the context of the caning of Michael Fay in Singapore. It is suggested that rehabilitation may be the most moral of the punishment means.     

Crime,time, youth and punishment

This paper examines current developments in the social control of youth crime and delinquency in England and Wales. It argues that the usual critical explanations of these developments, in the form of the dispersal of discipline or the social authoritarianism thesis are inadequate. Instead, it is suggested that the punishment has taken on a more effective and efficient format in the management of this problem group than either of the above would have made possible.     

Crime and punishment in times of pandemics

European Journal of Law and Economics - How should we think about crime deterrence in times of pandemics? The economic analysis of crime tells us that potential offenders will compare the costs and...     

Crime,time, and punishment: An exploration of selection bias in sentencing research

The sentencing decision reflects the culmination of a long series of processing and, thus, selection decisions, with cases leaving the system at each decision point. Accordingly, the substantive implications of bias due to sample selection are of particular concern for sentencing research. In an effort to assess the existence and manifestations of selection bias, the sentencing decision is modeled for three samples, each of which was selected from different stages of the justice process. Event-history data on felony arrests in the State of California over a 3-year period are used, along with a relatively simple analytic technique which reduces such bias. Results indicate that biasis introduced when censored observations are excluded from the analyses. Also, the effects of certain exogenous variables on sentence length differ, depending upon the selection criteria. Of these, the influence of pleading guilty rather than going to trial is especially interesting. Overall, our findings are consistent with the possibility that selectivity bias has concealed effects of sentence bargaining in some earlier studies.The data utilized in this study were collected and made available by the State of California Department of Justice, Bureau of Criminal Statistics. The Department of Justice bears no responsibility for the analyses or interpretations presented here.     

Chinese Organised Crime

Secret societies have always been endemic to Chinese overseas communities, surviving on fear and corruption and prospering through their involvement in a wide range of legal and illegal businesses. For many years, Hong Kong was seen as the 'capital' of this worldwide Chinese criminal fraternity and, in the 1980s, many outside observers and analysts thought the gangs that were based in the then British colony would leave once it reverted to Chinese rule in 1997. In the end, the reverse turned out to be the case. Not only did the Hong Kong Triads make arrangements with the territory's new overlords, but in Chinatowns all over the world, close links were also forged with mainland Chinese interests. In China itself, where cutthroat capitalism has replaced the old, austere socialist system, new secret societies, both Triad-linked criminal groups and various syncretic sects, are also expanding at a breathtaking pace. An entirely new breed of entrepreneurs is emerging on the fringes of China. The businesslike and well-connected, pinstriped suit-wearing managers of the Sun Yee On Triad have shown where the future lies, while gangsters are breaking new ground in such new frontiers as the Russian Far East, which could have far-reaching consequences for the stability of the entire region.     

2009年度中国企业家犯罪报告

为了持续追踪和研究中国企业家犯罪问题,笔者收集了2009年度广受媒体关注的95例涉嫌刑事犯罪或者与刑事犯罪有关的企业家（包括部分企业主要经营管理人员或者利用企业从事违法犯罪活动的企业负责人在内,以下统称“企业家”）的相关资料,并对2009年度中国企业家涉嫌犯罪状况予以总结和研究,形成2009年度中国企业家犯罪报告。     

Discrepancies Between Crime Reports and Crime Surveys:

The absence of strong zero-order associations between victimization and official crime rates for cities has been a puzzle for social scientists since the data for making such comparisons became available. Using the 26 large central cities for which data on both types of rates are available, we analyze the extent to which discrepancies between the rates can be accounted for by aspects of urban social structure that differ from city to city. After introducing such structural controls, we find a much closer correspondence between the two types of rates for motor vehicle theft, robbery, burglary, and forcible rape, but not for aggravated assault and larceny-theft. These results are explained by citing evidence that we have identified some critical "suppressor" variables for the former crimes (i.e., variables that are positively associated with one type of rate and negatively associated with the other). By contrast, the heterogeneous nature of the phenomena subsumed by the latter two crime categories may preclude identification of a similarly parsimonious list of suppressors. One implication of these conclusions is that cross-sectional analyses of intercity variation in official rates may produce results that are in reasonably close correspondence with what would be obtained with victimization rates for certain index crimes, provided that sufficient structural control variables are utilized.     

Burma's Insein Prison: punishment and oppression

Dissent in Burma has been brutally suppressed, and imprisonment in Insein Prison, located near the capital, Rangoon, has been the fate for many activists. There, a system of mistreatment and corruption brutalizes criminal and political detainees alike.     

作为犯罪构成要件的罪量要素--立足于中国刑法的探讨

一犯罪构成是犯罪成立之条件 ,这已是刑法理论上的共识。然而 ,各国刑法对犯罪成立条件的设置是有所不同的 ,犯罪构成理论对此必须予以足够的关注。在大陆法系国家 ,通行的是“立法定性 ,司法定量”的方法 ,因此根据行为性质区分罪与非罪的界限。任何犯罪都是一种行为 ,这种行为具有特定的性质 ,是否属于刑法规定的某种行为 ,就成为定罪的根据。在这种情况下 ,犯罪构成是行为的质的构成 ,而不涉及行为的量。因此 ,犯罪构成要件是罪质要素。当然 ,日本刑法理论上也有“可罚的违法性说”之倡导 ,主张轻微的法益侵害行为不予处罚。但在犯罪构成…     

对我国远洋渔船行政处罚问题研究

根据不同的情形分析了对中国远洋渔船行政处罚权的分配问题,并在此基础上指出,“一事不再罚”原则并不适用这种情况,但行政处罚权的享有并不意味着要对远洋渔船进行再次完全处罚,而应考虑多种因素确定对违反中国远洋渔业行政管理秩序的远洋渔船的罚款数额。     

Economic cycles and punishment: Unemployment and imprisonment

Research on the relations between the labor market and forms of punishment, inaugurated by Rusche, has developed along two lines, broadly speaking: first, the historical evolution of the links between the structure of the labor market and the structure of punishment and secondly, the conjunctural variations in admissions to prison and in prison populations with fluctuations in the employment situation. The present study is of the latter type. It stems from observations on two aspects of the French situation:

The concomitant long-term evolution (1875–1985) of curves for unemployment and for prison populations, given the downward trend in imprisonment rates until recent years.

The constant over-representation, among prisoners, of groups whose position on the labor market is insecure.

The link between unemployment and imprisonment was tested by multiple regression using data on economic, demographic, penal and correctional aspects (French figures, 1920–1985). The results show the participation of demographic factors in the variations in prison populations. They point to a significant correlation between variations in unemployment (in volume and rate) and the evolution of prison populations, all else being equal in terms of recorded crime. Analysis of the functioning of the criminal justice system, showing the existence of an internal subsystem characterized by its procedures — pretrial detention —, the offenses — street crime —, the sentences — imprisonment — and the social characteristics of those convicted, suggests an approach to the interpretation of these findings.