Adolescent attitudes towards the police: A new generation

The attitudes toward the police (ATP) of a group of young inner city adolescents were investigated within the context of a program designed to teach dispute resolution skills and promote a dialogue with local police. ATP were measured using a 23 item questionnaire. The results indicated that while ATP were generally positive, girls held more positive ATP than boys and adolescents who reported negative experiences with the police had less favorable ATP. A confirmatory factor analysis of the questionnaire yielded three factors; attitudes toward police behavior, attitudes toward interaction with the police, and attitudes toward interaction with other adults. The results are in general agreement with earlier studies with other populations and have implications for programs designed to improve adolescent relationships with the police. Authors' Note: David E. Brandt and Keith A. Markus, Department of Psychology. We would like to thank Professor Maria Volpe, director of the Dispute Resolution Program at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, and Ms. Marjorie Cohen, Executive Director of the Westside Crime Prevention Program, for their invaluable assistance in the collection of the data used in this study.     

The generation and exploitation of technological change: market value and total factor productivity

In this paper we articulate and test the hypothesis that TFP is a reliable and relevant measure of firm’s innovation capabilities, and, as such, accounts for Tobin’s q indicator. With this aim, we investigate empirically the relationship between firm level total factor productivity and the Tobin’s q. Measuring Tobin’s q allows inferring the actual value of knowledge capital from stock market valuation. We use a panel of companies listed on UK and the main continental Europe financial markets (Germany, France and Italy) for the period 1995–2005. Our results confirm that TFP is a reliable indicator of firm’s innovative capabilities. When we control for firm’s R&D investments and intangible assets, the effects of TFP on market value remain highly significant. This suggests that TFP is a broader measure of innovation capability than R&D is. The validation of the Tobin’s q and TFP relationship has important implications concerning firm’s technological innovation measurement.     

Meet the new boss: Institutional change and loose coupling in parole and probation

The authors use the institutional theory of organizations to argue that historical changes in parole and probation are ceremonial in the sense that they are aimed at an institutional audience and have had little effect on the day-to-day work of line-level officers. A review of the history of community corrections in the US suggests that parole and probation can be described in four eras, each era marked by a particular pattern of institutional authority and by corresponding changes in the structure, goals, and policies of parole and probation. By loosely coupling the work of street-level parole and probation agents to organizational goals and policies and minimizing caseload problems via surveillance and information-gathering techniques, the day-to-day activity of parole and probation officers has been largely unaffected.     

招商银行擅改质押率风波

通过变更质押率，擅自修改、变更履行在先的合同——权益严重受损的消费者因此把招商银行告上法庭。然而，这场势力悬殊的诉讼所能揭开的，仅仅是银行业诸多“霸王条款”的冰山一角     

A comparative evaluation of a new generation jail

This study reports findings from an evaluation of a new generation jail in a large southwestern state. The jail is one component of a complex containing a traditional jail, an indirect supervision facility (barracks), and the new generation jail. Using survey and operational data, we compare the new generation jail to the other two facilities. The findings provide generally positive support for the effectiveness of the new generation jail. Inmates and staff were much more satisfied with the physical facilities. Staff perceived it as more secure, though they reported only limited advantages in safety and security. Violence and disciplinary problems were substantially lower. However, no savings in staffing levels were noted, nor were there differences in job satisfaction for staff in the new generation jail. We discuss the implications of the findings and suggest additional directions for jail evaluations.     

Detention and desistance from crime: Evaluating the influence of a new generation jail on recidivism

New generation jails represent a fundamental reform to the structure and management style of traditional jails. Evaluations have investigated the effects of this innovation on the internal operations of detention facilities, although no study has yet examined the potential impact of new generation designs on the postrelease criminal behavior of inmates. Using a sample of 600 inmates housed under indirect or direct supervision, the present study began to address this issue. The results suggest that the new generation model does not increase recidivism and may reduce postrelease offending in some situations.     

Towards a new generation of CCTV networks: Erosion of data protection safeguards?

CCTV networks are progressively being replaced by more flexible and adaptable video surveillance systems based on internet protocol (IP) technologies. The use of wireless IP systems allows for the emergence of flexible networks and for their customization, while at the same time video analytics is easing the retrieval of the most relevant information. These technological advances, however, bring with them threats of a new kind for fundamental freedoms that cannot always be properly assessed by current legal safeguards. This paper analyses the ability of current data protection laws in providing an adequate answer to these new risks.     

浅探二十一世纪我国政府运行模式的转变

西方各国在上个世纪末的二十年展开了一场轰轰烈烈的政府改革运动,相对于以往的政府治理来说无论是理论上还是实践上都取得了长足的进展,这对于我国政府改革是一个重要的启示。本文就我国政府运行的观念、运行的过程及运行的结果三个方面谈谈新公共管理对我国转变政府运行理念的启迪。     

房产新政下的情势变更原则及其适用(上)

情势变更原则应当适用于异常商业风险,在房产新政已经导致合同实际履行困难或者不能履行的情况下,该房产新政具备异常因素而应当归属于情势变更事由。但即便如此,由于商事合同维系着社会经济交易稳定,而情势变更原则是保护合同的最后一道堡垒,房产新政下能否依当事人的请求而适用情势变更原则解除合同,仲裁员必须慎重对待,在双方未预见新政的情况下,应当先通过积极磋商的途径解决纠纷;在双方已预见新政且已作出相关风险防范的情况下,遵循有约定从约定原则,最大限度保护买卖双方合法权益。     

政府职能转变面临的新挑战——知识经济对政府职能的冲击

当前,我国正处在从计划经济体制向市场经济体制转轨的过程中,如何转变政府职能以适应社会主义市场经济的要求,一直是政治学界和行政学界争论的热点话题之一。特别是在世纪之交,知识经济作为新一轮的科技浪潮席卷着整个世界,这既为我国市场经济体制的建立以及与之相应的政府机构改革和政府职能转变提供了新的技术依托,同时也对我们提出了新的课题和新的挑战。本文就知识经济的到来对我国的政府职能转变事业所可能带来的影响作前瞻性的探讨,以期对中国现代化的跨世纪发展有所启示。 一、新的价值取向对政府职能的影响 “农业经济的价值…     

A demented world: Politics without politics,state without state

Johann Huizinga, the great Dutch historian, wrote: ‘We are living in a demented world. And we know it’, pointing to the Schmittian nationalist irrationalism. Nevertheless, this expression might be accommodated to stress a contemporary form of dementia: the dementia of marketing. We are obsessed, made demented, by consumption, and we know it because we go and hunt for it. Classical economics in its neoliberal shift becomes, now, bio‐economics. The institutional venue where this kind of bio‐political commitment has been strongest is that provided by the European Union. The European Union has failed to halt the process of depoliticisation underway in the government of public affairs, contributing, on the contrary, to its encouragement and acceleration. The picture that emerges seems to have thrown us back 100 years, overrunning the defences of the Welfare State against the excesses of the free market and financial capitalism.     

Fingermark detection based on the in situ growth of luminescent nanoparticles--towards a new generation of multimetal deposition

The in situ deposition of zinc oxide on gold nanoparticles in aqueous solution has been here successfully applied in the field of fingermark detection on various non-porous surfaces. In this article, we present the improvement of the multimetal deposition, an existing technique limited up to now to non-luminescent results, by obtaining luminescent fingermarks with very good contrast and details. This is seen as a major improvement in the field in terms of selectivity and sensitivity of detection, especially on black surfaces.