Crime and justice in Tudor-Stuart England and the modern United States

This paper surveys the criminal justice system in 16th and 17th, century England, for the purpose of pointing out important similarities between its workings and the operation of the criminal justice system in the modern United States. Topics covered include (1) the nature and incidence of crime; (2) citizen participation in and cooperation with the criminal justice system; and (3) the disposition of persons and cases. The authors conclude that, contrary to popular opinion, early modern England was not a halcyon period of law and order. That the English criminal justice system was beset by problems similar to those faced today seems to indicate that the interaction between law and society is inherently problematic.     

Public investment in private problems: legal aid and the family justice system

This paper examines findings from the Legal Aid Board Research Unit's Case Profiling Study in the light of the current reform programmes for both legal aid and family law. The findings relate to over 650 legally aided family cases including divorce, separation, ancillary relief and Children Act 1989 applications. The main aim of the study was to gain a better understanding of what is currently funded by the legal aid fund. Costs have been related to stages of cases and to the strategies employed by solicitors. Finally, I comment on the future role of legal aid in family law, suggesting that, to a large extent, public investment will be maintained. Remuneration of service providers will evolve as systems of contracting are introduced in January 2000. There will be continued emphasis on family mediation as an alternative method of dispute resolution. However, cases involving issues relating to children and their welfare will remain within the scope of public support. Domestic violence and other emergency issues will also merit high priority. Although there will be extensive changes in other areas of legal aid, family law appears to remain relatively unscathed.     

Long-term impact of family group conferences on re-offending: the Indianapolis restorative justice experiment

Objectives

The purpose of the current study is to test the long-term effect of Family Group Conferences (FGCs) on recidivism prevalence and time to first re-offense for first-time youthful offenders.

Methods

The current study builds on an experiment with a reasonably large sample (n?=?782) conducted in Marion County (Indianapolis), Indiana, USA. The current study extends this work by following the cases for an additional 10?years. To examine the empirical relationships among the variables, this study employs a two-step approach. The initial analysis, employing logistic regression, measures prevalence of re-offending based on whether the youth ever was re-arrested during the follow-up period. The second step employs Cox Proportional-Hazards Regression to examine time until first re-offense.

Results

The findings revealed that when extended to a 12-year follow-up period, there were no significant differences between the FGC and control groups in re-offending prevalence or time to re-offense.

Conclusions

An earlier study suggests that treatment group youths experienced reduced risk in the short-term and there is no evidence in the present study to suggest that youths participating in FGCs were placed at greater risk for re-offending. Given these findings and the body of research suggesting improved outcomes for victims, continued experimentation with FGCs and related restorative processes seems warranted. Future studies would benefit from blocking procedures in the experimental design in order to examine whether treatment effects are moderated by gender, race, and initial type of offense. The lack of such blocking procedures represents a limitation of the current study.     

One of the family: Domestic service in early modern Japan

This study investigates the effect of domestic service upon social practice and asks if domestic service led to self-affirmation and individualistic behavior in early modern Japan. It begins by describing various employees classified as domestic servants. Next the role of the servant as a member of the employer's family shows fluid kinship relations that resulted in changes in the family system and family practice. Contemporary theater is used to address some of the conflicting issues that these changes offered as challenges to patriarchal authority and how society reacted to these changes.     

Social justice in the modern regulatory state: duress,necessity and the consensual model in law

This paper examines the role of the consensual model in law and argues that if substantive justice is to be the goal of law, the use of individual choice as a legal criterion for distributive and retributive purposes must be curtailed and made subject to substantive considerations. Substantive justice arguably requires that human rights to life, well-being, and the commodities essential to life and well-being, be given priority whenever a societal decision is made. If substantive justice is a collective societal responsibility, the individual cannot be justly rewarded or punished for his or her choices with respect to life, well-being and essential commodities insofar as these choices are justified or excused by standards of substantive justice. Societal conditions and institutional arrangements should be recognized as grounds for justification and excuse because they may impose limits and constraints on the choices available to an individual that are as unavoidable and compelling as those imposed by chance or by another human being.     

Bargaining for justice: A means to resolve competing justice claims

In many types of social situations, individuals defend their claims to a portion of the rewards by arguing that they are just. Although a great deal of research demonstrates that individuals differ in their distribution preferences and thus their beliefs about what is fair, the literature curiously omits consideration of the consequences of these differences, especially the conflict they may engender. This paper first reviews the few attempts to address such justice conflict. The limitations of these approaches suggest concerns to be addressed in an alternative framework. The paper presents a theoretical discussion of this alternative that integrates assumptions about distribution preferences, justice beliefs, conditions fostering the emergence of justice conflict, and elements of negotiation processes as a basic framework for predictions about the bargaining strategies individuals may employ to resolve competing justice claims.     

Criminal justice faculty and criminal justice students: A case for the missing data

This article reviews the most current criminal justice education research. It examines the interrelationship between the work of the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, the Joint Commission on Criminology and Criminal Justice Education and Standards, and the National Advisory Commission on Higher Education for Police, and describes and compares some of their more important findings. Discussed are types of criminal justice programs; characteristics of criminal justice faculty, particularly in terms of earned academic degrees; agency work experience; commitment to research and teaching; types of criminal justice curricula, as typified by certain educational philosophies; and criminal justice students. Although this article notes several areas with which future research might become fruitfully involved, the area in need of most immediate attention, and the area that current research has all but ignored, is the criminal justice student.     

Community justice/restorative justice: Prospects for a new social ecology for community corrections

Community corrections policies and programs have lacked a framework which articulates strategies for engaging community groups and defines roles for citizens in the corrections process. In this paper we critique both traditional approaches to community corrections based on an individual treatment model and the new “get tough” approaches which emphasize punitive sanctions and surveillance. We outline a restorative justice model as an alternative to both of these one‐dimensional, case‐driven approaches. The restorative model targets victims, communities, and offenders for intervention and attempts to engage each of these correctional clients in an effort to repair harm, strengthen communities, and reintegrate offenders following appropriate sanctioning. Obstacles to implementation and threats to cooptation and dilution of a restorative agenda are discussed.     

Critical justice consciousness: Social injustice and the criminal justice system

In this essay I examine the importance of social justice to my identity and the changing interpretation of my “justice consciousness” resulting from changes in my work life. Drawing on my academic experience as well as my experience as an attorney, I describe the meaning that social justice has for me. I also examine the connections that I see between social injustice and the operation of the critical justice system.     

Breaking the chainlinks of poverty: strategies for social justice

Thanks to support from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies produced an evidence review on the links between poverty and institutional care, summarised in a collection of reviews published by the Foundation (Grimshaw et al., 2014; Joseph Rowntree Foundation, 2014).     

“亲亲相隐”对现代刑事法治基础的启迪

尽管古今中外亲亲相隐因其历史发展阶段、法律文化传统的差异而表现形式有所不同,然而,通过对其纵横的比较研究可以发现,亲亲相隐的共通之处在于其所赖以成长的沃土是现代刑事法治建设的最基本价值基础和社会伦理基础,也是现代刑事法治运行的基础、核心与灵魂.因此,就现代刑事法治建设与运行而言,对该片沃土的研究、开发与利用将具有重大的现实意义.     

Presidential address: Juvenile justice at the crossroads: Presidential address to the academy of criminal justice sciences

Three interacting factors appear to significantly affect our treatment of youths and thus our juvenile justice policy: ideology, the media, and politics. As a result of these factors, although juvenile violent crime is decreasing, legislatures still advocate a harsh, punitive stance toward youthful offenders. Legislative initiatives have resulted in determinate sentencing for juveniles, more youths handled by the adult criminal court, and more youths sentenced to adult institutions. Recent evidence suggests that the public supports more prevention and early intervention strategies for youths and favors rehabilitation rather than punishment. These conflicting trends suggest that we are at a crossroads: the juvenile justice system can continue its harsh, reactive stance, or it can choose a more proactive approach. The members of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences have an opportunity to play an active role in the development of criminal justice policy.     

The longmont community justice partnership: Restorative justice practice as collaboration

This paper documents the application of restorative justice principles using a model which was developed by the Longmont Community Justice Partnership (LCJP) and is being used in other communities in Colorado. It explains the structure and operation of this model as well as addresses some of the challenging issues program participants faced during the startup, development, and maintenance phases of the program. Among other issues we consider community support, team development, evaluation, restorative language, funding, and the limitations of the model. Finally we discuss the way in which this program has potential for other communities which seek to implement restorative justice practices.     

Mandatory,fast, and fair: Case outcomes and procedural justice in a family drug court

Journal of Experimental Criminology - Problem-solving courts are traditionally voluntary in nature to promote procedural justice and to advance therapeutic jurisprudence. The Family Treatment Drug...