Crime and Justice in Japan: Implications for the United States

Examining official statistics from the United States since the mid-1960's, we see rapidly increasing rates of crime. Japan, on the other hand, has experienced rates that have dramatically declined during this same period. In fact, Japan is the only industrialized non-communist nation where crime has been decreasing. This paper summarizes the structural/cultural and justice related reasons for this phenomenon. Implications for the United States are specified.     

Psychosocial Perspectives of Girls and Violence: Implications for Policy and Praxis

Psychosocial and feminist criminologies produce a complex etiology of adolescent female violence, and advance understanding of much female behavior that juvenile authorities formally address: mental health disturbances. When girls’ violent behaviors are considered within a psychodynamic theoretical framework, policy problems are dramatically redefined, resulting in a reformulation of the social problem, newly contextualized, and the collective responses to the troubled girls it has defined. This paper places known etiologies of violent behaviors, including case study material, in a context of extant social policies that impact and determine the social location and control of violent girls. We argue that efficacious policy responses would be psychosocially informed, and focus upon a more holistic mental health praxis, rather than criminal justice practices alone.     

Spousal Homicide in Russia Versus the United States: Preliminary Findings and Implications

Increased research on spousal homicide warrants a cross-cultural comparison that Russia and the United States could provide. As a first step, official statistics and scholarly reports are summarized in terms of spousal homicide rates, sex-ratios of spousal homicide, and circumstances of these homicides and inclusion of attempted homicides in Russia. The statistics are adjusted to compensate for several methodological limitations in establishing homicide data, such as misclassifications of homicides. Adjusted homicide data suggest that Russia has a higher spousal homicide rate, more female victims, and fewer shootings than the United States. Women in Russia may be two and one-half times more likely to be killed by their spouses or lovers than their counterparts in the United States. The break-up of the Soviet Union and contradictory status of women in Russia may contribute to these findings. Future research might include homicide case reviews and perpetrator assessments to substantiate and refine these preliminary findings.     

Risk Factors for Family Abduction: Demographic and Family Interaction Characteristics

Previous research in the study of family abduction has been plagued by three problems in efforts to establish risk factors for the experience of these events: (1) failure to use appropriate comparison groups; (2) focus on only the most severe cases of abduction, without consideration of the full spectrum of these events; and (3) use of data drawn only from some “reported” source (i.e., police, court, or missing children agency reports). This paper addresses these three methodological difficulties, using data drawn from a national sample of families, and including both abducted and nonabducted children. We find that race, age of children, family size, and incidence of violence in the family all appear to bear on the risk of experiencing a family abduction event. Further, recency of divorce or separation appears to be associated with the risk for more serious or alarming cases of family abduction.     

Physicians' conflicts of interest in Japan and the United States: lessons for the United States

Japanese health policy shows that even with physician ownership and the absence of for-profit, investor-owned health care, physicians' conflicts of interest thrive. Physician dispensing of drugs and ownership of hospitals and clinics were justified in Japan as ways to avoid commercialization of medicine. Instead, they create physicians' conflicts and fuel patient overuse of services. Japan's Ministry of Health and Welfare (MHW) has responded by introducing per-diem payment, thereby creating incentives to decrease services in ways similar to those of American managed care organizations, but with none of their benefits, such as coordination of care, oversight of physicians practices, and quality assurance. Although the United States and Japanese health care systems are organized and financed differently there is convergence in the source of their physicians' conflicts and the way they are addressed. The United States is starting to integrate institutional and physician payment and align their incentives, in a traditional Japanese way. In so doing, the United States creates new physicians' conflicts and reduces the role of countervailing incentives and power, an advantage of previous policy. Japan, in turn, has combined incentives to increase and decrease services, thus moving closer to the U.S. policy.     

Public Policy and Political Dynamics of Heritage Conservation in the United States

Policy making and advocacy efforts throughout the legislative history of heritage conservation display the gaps in heritage conservation in the United States. To represent the political dynamics at the federal level in both intangible and tangible cultural heritage policy discussions, this article will examine cases of legislative processes: the policy discussions to amend the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) in 1997 and 2005 and the reauthorization of the American Folklife Center (AFC). The study will focus on the subgovernment framework in heritage policy to demonstrate institutionalization of policy discussion and review the intergovernmentalism and decentralization in heritage conservation.     

The offender in the community: Implications of the experience in the United States for the new Czech Republic

This paper reviews America's community corrections history in order to draw relevant penal policy implications for the Czech Republic in their transition to democracy. The review reveals the implementation of numerous community-based correctional programs that have resulted in mixed results, at best. The paper concludes that if the Czech Republic is to advance a new and professional, effective penal system, they must address five critical areas: dealing with the Romany underclass, establishing intermediate sanctions, promoting a professional correctional work force, confronting the media coverage of crime, and managing the politics of crime policy. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Demographic Policy in the Contemporary World

Before speaking to the substance of policy problems in the field of population, it is necessary to explain precisely what we understand by these words. The great French scientist Descartes once said: "Define the meaning of words and you will save the world from half its errors."     

Child Brides, Inegalitarianism, and the Fundamentalist Polygamous Family in the United States

Despite the ongoing shift in contemporary notions of what orwho constitutes a family, the idea of the polygamous familyremains on the margins of what is deemed a legitimate maritaland familial structure in liberal democratic societies suchas the US. Nevertheless, despite the illegality of polygamyand the social stigma attacted to it, thousands of Mormon Fundamentalistpolygamists live and practice in the US. This article assessesthe arguments in favor of and against the legalization and,consequently, the legitimatization of polygamous marriage. Itexplores three grounds polygamists have employed or could employto advocate legalization of the practice of plural marriage:freedom of religion, sexual privacy (as defined by the recentcase of Lawrence v. Texas), and contractualism. However, theauthor concludes that the impact of the Fundamentalist polygamouslifestyle on the autonomy, integrity, and equality of adultwomen and children is sufficiently troubling that lifting thesanction on plural marriage may run counter to basic considerationsof justice.     

美、日区域经济政策及其启示

区域经济发展不平衡是全世界普遍存在的问题,也是各国政府宏观调控的一个重要目标。美国、日本是世界上最发达的资本主义国家,但仍然存在区域经济发展不平衡问题,为此,美国和日本政府采取了多项措施,制定区域经济政策,以缩小区域发展差距。借鉴美国、日本的成功经验,对促进我国区域经济协调发展具有重要的意义。     

家庭主义、去家庭化和再家庭化:福利国家家庭政策的发展脉络与政策意涵

在工业化浪潮下,家庭普遍经受了冲击与挑战。对此,西方福利国家在不同程度上介入了家庭,推动了家庭政策的普及与发展。从纵向看,福利国家家庭政策在褪去了19世纪晚期原初发展的稚嫩后,于二战后经历了从家庭主义向去家庭化的黄金时期,并在20世纪90年代以来的成熟与转型中表现出一致趋向,即在强调家庭责任的同时亦凸显了对家庭的支持。其政策意涵在于,不同国家应以更加包容、积极的视野促成不同政策主体的合力,以此调和家庭主义、去家庭化和再家庭化的关系,推动家庭整体与成员个体目标的协调发展,并促进资源在家庭成员内部的均衡配置。     

The Role of the United States Supreme Court in Shaping Federal Drug Policy

Through judicial review, the United States Supreme Court has played a pivotal role in deciding and/or interpreting the constitutionality of legislation. Since the passage of the Pure, Food and Drug Act in 1906, the Supreme Court’s role has been integral in formulating drug policy. In some instances, the Court’s decisions have limited the authority of the federal government, while in others have greatly expanded this authority. As a direct result of the decision-making of the Supreme Court, limitations have periodically been placed on Congress to regulate controlled substances. Many people, who were perceived as medical patients, became criminal drug users. The Court has restricted and later approved of the use of drugs during the free exercise of religion. Lastly, the Court has continually reinforced the supremacy of the federal government over the states, in turn limiting the ability of the states to consider marijuana legislative reform.