Recidivism and the Propensity to Forgo Parole Release

This study investigates whether inmates who are unconditionally released at the end of their sentence because they opt out of the parole process could potentially benefit from community supervision. This research was conducted in response to a recently passed law in the state of New Jersey that targets this group for a mandatory six-month term of parole. The study uses propensity scores to match this group to discretionarily released parolees in order to simulate random assignment. Results indicate that those who voluntarily forgo parole consideration are significantly less successful after release according to several measures of recidivism, including rearrests, reconvictions, and community tenure. However, between-group differences are small. Findings suggest that some form of supervision may be beneficial for this group, but likely not in the fashion that is explicated in the current law.     

The Abuse Disability Questionnaire: Internal Consistency and Validity Considerations in Two Samples

Comparative psychometric information on the Abuse Disability Questionnaire (ADQ), given to women who were receiving services from domestic violence shelters, was presented. The total score of the ADQ and its subscale scores for Relationship Disability, Life Restriction, Psychological Dysfunction, and Health Status Issues demonstrated adequate internal consistency across two shelter samples. Further construct validation was evidenced by the relationship found between self-esteem and impairment, and also between prior abuse and impairment. Additional research to establish the utility of the Abuse Disability Questionnaire as a research and/or clinical instrument was proposed.     

Race and Juvenile Incarceration: A Propensity Score Matching Examination

Disproportionate minority contact is an important issue in contemporary juvenile justice. Few studies have directly examined the link between race and judicial decision to incarceration. Using official data from Pennsylvania (n?=?41,561), this study added to this literature in two ways. This study used propensity score matching to obtain a purer estimate of the influence race has on the decision to petition a case to juvenile court. The results indicated that prosecutors use perceptual shorthand in making this decision that hinges on race. Specifically, blacks were more 1.28 times more likely than whites to have their case petitioned to juvenile court.     

Using Propensity Score Matching to Understand the Relationship between Gang Membership and Violent Victimization: A Research Note

Due to methodological limitations, such as unmatched gang samples and a lack of longitudinal investigations, it remains unresolved whether joining a gang leads to future violent victimization or both share a set of common causes. Guided by selection, facilitation, and enhancement perspectives, the current study applied Propensity Score Matching on data from the Gang Resistance Education and Training longitudinal study to investigate the nature of the gang‐violent victimization relationship. Results indicated antecedent differences between those who did and did not join gangs, particularly violent victimization and delinquency. When gang and non‐gang members with similar propensities for joining were matched, the relationship between gang membership and violent victimization dissipated. Findings suggest policy attention to early delinquency and victimization risk factors generally.     

Revisiting the Use of Propensity Score Matching to Understand the Relationship between Gang Membership and Violent Victimization: A Cautionary Note

Previous research has consistently reported that gang members are more likely to experience violent victimization compared to non‐gang members. Recently, however, a study challenged this conventional wisdom using the Gang Resistance Education and Training (GREAT) data. Employing propensity score matching (PSM), this study reported no significant differences in violent victimization between gang and non‐gang members. Upon closer examination of the GREAT data and the PSM process used in this study, we note several theoretical, methodological, and statistical concerns. We reanalyze the GREAT data using both negative binomial regression and PSM. We find that self‐reported gang members were significantly more likely to report subsequent violent victimization compared to non‐gang members. Although contrary to this previous study, our findings are consistent with the bulk of previous empirical research and widely held beliefs about the relationship between gang membership and violent victimization.     

Arresting Statistics: The Drift to Informal Justice in England and Wales

This paper re-examines some of the current theoretical models and paradigms of criminal justice in England and Wales based on an analysis of national arrest statistics between 1981 and 1997. The data show that there has been a large increase in the number of arrests in the period but the number of people prosecuted has declined. An increasing number of people are being arrested and released without any further action. The principal argument is that there has been a radical shift in power away from the formal open and public system of justice towards a more informal closed system. The paper concludes that while these trends lend support to a number of theoretical perspectives on the criminal justice process, particularly Choongh's social disciplinary model, the radical transformation which has taken place in the form of criminal justice can only be understood within the broader politics and economic structures of modern Britain.     

A Test of Two Methods of Recall for Violent Events

This project took advantage of an opportunity to test the comparability of two different methods for collecting self-reports of violent incidents. Using a life events calendar (LEC) approach, we collected data from individuals about violent incidents that occurred within a 1–3-year prior time period. These individuals had been research participants in a previous study that collected information about violent incidents using prospective, weekly interviews. Results using the LEC method were compared with the weekly self-reports of violence for an overlapping recall period. This allowed us to see how well the recall of violent incidents at a later date mapped onto reports obtained within seven days of any incidents. Overall results show a significant amount of under-reporting using the life-event calendar methodology compared to the weekly interview approach, but some higher concordance of reporting was found for serious rather than minor violence.     

An Examination of Defendant Sex Disparity in Capital Sentencing: A Propensity Score Matching Approach

Although much prior work has examined the influence of extralegal factors on jury capital sentencing decision-making, the influence of defendant sex has been largely omitted from previous investigations. Using propensity score matching methods, the current study analyzes data from the North Carolina Capital Sentencing Project to examine whether “sex matters” in capital sentencing. Findings demonstrated that prior to matching there was a significant difference in the likelihood of receiving the death penalty for female and male defendant cases; however, after matching cases on an array of legal and extralegal case characteristics, these differences were no longer significant. Further results revealed that male defendants’ cases included different aggravating and mitigating factors than female defendants’ cases and that female defendants had limited “paths” to capital trials. Findings suggest that any apparent sex effects that are observed in capital sentencing stem from real differences in the case characteristics found in female and male defendants’ cases rather than any direct effects of defendant sex on jury decision-making. Study limitations and implications for death penalty research are also discussed.     

Cumulative Disadvantage as an Explanation for Observed Disproportionality within the Juvenile Justice System: An Empirical Test

A number of scholars have attempted to explain disproportionality within the juvenile justice system as a function of cumulative disadvantage. This empirical test of the cumulative disadvantage hypothesis suggests that minorities tend to be most disadvantaged at stages in the process where confinement decisions are made (detention, commitment). Thus, while disadvantage does not appear to aggregate consistently and unidirectionally as the child moves through the system, there is some evidence that disadvantage does aggregate between the detention and adjudication stages, once controls from legal differences are imposed.     

论“不强迫自证其罪”条款的解释与适用——《刑事诉讼法》解释的策略与技术

修正后的《刑事诉讼法》第50条明确规定不得强迫任何人证实自己有罪,但是,关于该条款究竟是否赋予了被追诉人沉默权,理论界和实务界产生了认识上的分歧,由此导致不强迫自证其罪条款在我国司法实务中的运作前景存在一定的模糊性,其立法效果有待观察。在司法实务中正确适用不强迫自证其罪条款,关键是坚持运用正确的法律解释方法。     

Industrial Relations and Justice Ideologies in the Firm: A Justice-Based Explanation of Works Council Effectiveness

This paper investigates why the effectiveness of works councils varies across firms. Drawing on a large body of literature on justice in organizations, and on the basis of the premise of methodological individualism, we present the groundwork for a justice-based theory of workplace codetermination. The theory focuses on workers' attitudes toward justice in organizations, the structural reasons behind these attitudes, and their consequences for the effectiveness of codetermination. Results from a qualitative employee survey in four German firms provide first empirical support for the theory presented.     

物权行为无因性理论之目的论解释

支持或反对物权行为无因性理论者,实质上都是基于某种法律上的意识形态,以一种目的论或功能论的态度加以解释的。在历史上,基于保护交易安全之功能论或目的论来解释物权行为之无因性原则,出现在后期潘德克吞法学中。功能实证分析只是对无因性原则的机能进行一种实证的、中立的描述,与价值判断无涉;目的论是从无因性原则中发现的交易安全之保护机能来进一步论证该原则的正当性,以增强其价值层面的说服力。本文认为,承认物权行为及其无因性原则,符合当代社会侧重保护动的安全之法政策目标,因而在目的论上具有先进性;并且,我们应该充分理解德国法为维系无因性原则和不当得利、善意取得制度在体系上的意义关联而坚持该原则的真正目的。     

民间融资的信息监测:基于制度框架的思考

民间融资是尚未纳入政府日常监管的金融行为,但随着民间融资的日益增多和随之出现的诸多问题,对民间融资的监管已经迫在眉睫.民间融资的信息监测活动是政府监管的前提,需要从分析民间融资信息监测的必要性和现状入手,继而探索其法理依据,以便构建民间融资信息监测制度.     

算法决策规制——以算法“解释权”为中心

算法决策正成为经济与社会体系的一部分,一方面,它创造了显著的社会与经济价值,但另一方面,不公不义的预测或推断会损及个人自主与尊严从而使算法备受质疑。由于算法无法解决自身导致的妨害问题,且算法控制者与数据主体间存在明显的信息或权力不对称,因此,有必要赋予个人一项具体的数据权利——算法“解释权”,以强化其对于己不利的算法决策提出异议的权利,进而促进算法正义、保护个人自主与尊严。不过,利用“解释权”对抗算法妨害虽然必要但并不充分,其在技术上面临可解释性难题,且与商业秘密存在紧张关系。因此,算法决策需要统合规制,需要进一步增强算法决策的社会控制,优化算法应用监管。     

依法行政原理之解释

依法行政原理是基于法治国家、基本人权的宪法基点而展开的一个开放性的法理体系。其基本内容是,行政必须具有法律依据,行政必须有行政相对人参与,行政必须接受司法的监督。基于现代行政法的内部逻辑结构和有限制的且有效率的行政权要求,依法行政原理所支配的基本原则是行政效力推定原则、行政职权法定原则、行政裁量合理原则、行政程序正当原则、司法审查有限原则和司法审查必要原则。     

Retention of Offender DNA Samples Necessary to Ensure and Monitor Quality of Forensic DNA Efforts: Appropriate Safeguards Exist to Protect the DNA Samples from Misuse

Retention of offender DNA samples serves an important quality assurance role for forensic DNA laboratories. Consistent with the principles of confidentiality underlying the establishment of the state and national DNA databases, safeguards are in place to protect the DNA samples from unauthorized use.     

私营企业主非正式政治参与的途径与意义分析

私营企业主阶层是随着国家对资源和社会活动空间的控制范围和力度的减弱、从而获得"自由流动资源"和"自由活动空间"而成长起来的"自由活动力量"之一.私营企业主政治参与作为国家与社会关系的一种互动形态,较为集中地体现了中国的经济和社会改革对传统社会主义模式下国家与社会关系的较大规模的调整.     

我国高校趋同化现象的理论解释——新制度主义的视角

在我国高等教育大众化进程中,出现了较严重的高校趋同化现象。虽然目前对这种趋同化现象所带来的后果还不能作出最终判决,但作为一种已经出现并在不断强化着的现象,则需要我们从理论上作出解释。组织社会学的新制度主义认为,在不确定的环境中,组织为了生存和发展,其外部形态、内部结构、运行模式等会在环境的逼迫和诱导下走向趋同,这是组织追求合法性的表现。我国高等教育大众化阶段出现的高校趋同化现象,正是高校在竞争激烈、环境不确定的情况下寻求合法性的本能反应。深刻认识和正确分析高校这种趋同性,对优化高等教育生态环境具有重要意义。     

心理学史视域中的斯金纳乌托邦思想——以《瓦尔登湖第二》为例

美国著名心理学家斯金纳受多种动因驱使,特别是为摆脱中年心理危机的困惑,在梭罗的《瓦尔登湖》、培根的《新亚特兰蒂斯》和莫尔的《乌托邦》中的传统乌托邦文学思想影响下,创作了世界畅销小说《瓦尔登湖第二》,旨在尝试着将其从动物实验中提出的行为主义的操作性条件作用原理运用于解决人类社会管理问题。全书以参观瓦尔登湖第二为主要线索,逐步深入展示了他的理想社会设计,表达了他对服饰、娱乐、用餐、工作、教育、家庭、医疗、美好生活、政治、宗教、自由等具体主题的看法。《瓦尔登湖第二》中的乌托邦思想,既激起了广泛实践尝试,也引发了深刻思想论争。     

Violent Crime in the Urban Community: A Comparison of Stockholm and Basel

In this article the authors present some preliminary findings from a comparative study of police recorded violent crimes in Stockholm and Basel. They present the first results from a comparative analysis of the situational context, the ecology of crime, and of offender residences in these cities. There is impressive evidence of basic similarities in the situational context of violent crime and the residential distribution of violent offenders. Yet there are also significant differences, some of which may have interesting implications for crime prevention. Firstly, violent crime seems to be more highly concentrated during weekend nights in Stockholm than in Basel. Secondly, they find evidence that the presence of weapons in a community increases the risk of more serious outcomes of violent events. Efforts to reduce the availability of weapons may thus have significant effects on the outcomes of violence, but not necessarily on its frequency. Thirdly, they show that offenders in both cities are highly concentrated in socially disorganised communities with few economic and social resources.