Toward an Interpretive Criminal Justice

This paper presents the academic field of criminal justice as an interpretive social science. The opening section discusses academic criminal justice from scientific and interpretive perspectives, arguing that the terminology of “justice” is essentially contested. The second section presents the key implication of a contested core terminology: that an interpretive approach is the best way to develop the academic field of criminal justice. Section three reviews central elements of the Gadamerian tradition, with an eye towards its application to the field of criminal justice. The fourth section considers two issues pertinent to an interpretive criminal justice—the problem of interpretation in a field where professional practice is destructive to other normative systems, and the contribution of an interpretive criminal justice to public policy.     

The Many Flavors of Environmental Insurance

The market for environmental impairment liability (EIL) and pollution legal liability (PLL) insurance is approaching its thirtieth anniversary. During those years, the market has developed from a one-size-fits-all approach that consisted of a couple insurers to one that can specifically tailor coverages to the needs of a specific transaction or risk. While increases in capacity and flexibility have created diverse choices for policyholders, failure to understand the nuances presented by the current policy forms presents both challenges and opportunities. This article discusses how the EIL/PLL market has developed and highlights some of the more substantive differences in policy forms that are currently available.     

Evaluating a natural experiment in alcohol policy

Research Summary
This study examines the effects of a dramatic change in alcohol licensing policy on the practice of liquor retailing across a metropolitan urban region. The policy was enacted to remove fixed closing times and to install staggered closing times across regions where it potentially would reduce violent crime and disorder. We found great variation in the extent to which the provisions of the policies were installed as intended.
Policy Implications
The findings suggest that prior consideration for how policy interventions will be applied to real-world settings is important to the validity of research evaluations. Understanding and monitoring variation in the implementation of an intervention is a vital prerequisite to the evaluation of outcomes. Without knowledge of the real-world application of an intervention, researchers risk attributing causal effects to a prevention initiative that might have been absent or only partially received.     

Interpreters of International Economic Law: Corporations and Bureaucrats in Contest over Chile's Nutrition Label

This article analyzes the everyday interpretive practices of corporations and bureaucrats that shape the meaning and force of international economic law. To understand how common practices such as public consultation submissions, corporate threat letters, and external legal assistance influence regulators' understanding of their “legally available” policy space, we study the contested introduction of a pioneering nutrition labeling regulation in Chile. The transnational food industry powerfully challenged the regulation's legality under World Trade Organization law. But Chilean health bureaucrats, in coordination with segments of the country's legally highly competent economic bureaucracy, effectively defended the legality of their proposed regulatory measure. Drawing on data from freedom-of-information requests and in-depth interviews, the article argues that the outcomes of such interpretive contests are substantially shaped by participants' knowledge of the entitlements created by international economic law and thus by the international legal expertise they have access to. This often but not always puts transnational corporations at an advantage over national regulators in the strategic interpretation of international economic law.     

Comparing Juvenile Justice Systems: Towards a Qualitative Research Project in East Asia

This paper contrasts the assumptions and methods used by quantitative criminologists with the approach to comparison pursued by the interpretive tradition in sociology. Whereas quantitative studies tend to conceal distinctive legislative or institutional responses in particular countries, interpretive studies make it possible to address internal debates about policy issues, as well as how practitioners exercise professional judgement. The paper considers a variety of ways in which the interpretive traditions of symbolic interactionism and ethnomethodology have approached comparison. It also considers the conceptual and practical issues that might arise in conducting a qualitative comparative study about juvenile justice within East Asia focusing on Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. Whereas quantitative studies tend to ask questions that interest Western researchers, interpretivism makes possible a dialogue between countries that have different institutions, philosophies and cultures.     

Deliberative multi-actor dialogues as opportunities for transformative social learning and conflict resolution in international environmental negotiations

The format for formal international negotiations on environment and development sometimes prevents negotiators from truly listening to each other and adapt pre-existing positions to realize constructive conflict resolution. In this paper we present and analyse “Multi-Actor Dialogue Seminars” (MADS) as an approach to contribute to transformative social learning and conflict resolution, and the contribution to tangible and intangible outcomes in formal negotiations. Unlike negotiations, the objective of MADS is not to agree on a text, but to identify areas of agreement and disagreement, build trust and understanding and identify policy options that are tailored to different cultural-political and value systems. As a case study we use the breakdown of the negotiations at the formal Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Conference in 2010 regarding “innovative financial mechanisms,” and subsequent two international Quito Dialogues using the MADS approach. Through a composite of methods this article reveals the effects of the Quito Dialogues on formal CBD negotiations. The Quito Dialogues contributed to bringing actors out of their deadlock and thereby paving the way for constructive results in the formal CBD negotiations, evident by references in CBD Decisions adopted by 196 CBD Parties. We discuss key design and implementation factors which were decisive for these effects including the importance of a bridging organization, trust building, exploration of both convergences and divergences, involvement of participants with diverse and conflicting views early in the planning, promotion of active listening and addressing diverse knowledge systems and power asymmetries.     

Programmatic actors and the transformation of European health care States

In France, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom, the decades from the late 1980s to the present have witnessed significant change in health policy. Although this has included the spread of internal competition and growing autonomy for certain nonstate and parastate actors, it does not follow that the mechanism at work is a "neoliberal convergence." Rather, the translation into diverse national settings of quasi-market mechanisms is accompanied by a reassertion of regulatory authority and strengthening of statist, as opposed to corporatist, management of national insurance systems. Thus the use of quasi-market tools brings state-strengthening reform. The proximate and necessary cause of this dual transformation is found in the work of small, closely integrated groups of policy professionals, whom we label "programmatic actors." While their identity differs across cases, these actors are strikingly similar in functional role and motivation. Motivated by a desire to wield authority through the promotion of programmatic ideas, rather than by material or careerist interests, these elite groups act both as importers and translators of ideas and as architects of policy. The resulting elite-driven model of policy change integrates ideational and institutionalist elements to explain programmatically coherent change despite institutional resistance and partisan instability.     

Knowledge Problems and Proportionality

The proportionality standard demands a meaningful link between the severity of crimes and the punishments received for them. This article investigates the compatibility between this philosophical demand and the practical means most commonly associated with criminal justice provision: governmental decision making. In so far as criminal justice systems require the coordination of real human and physical resources, certain forms of knowledge and incentives are required to calculate, produce, and distribute outputs proportionately. Whereas markets rely upon pricing mechanisms to generate and coordinate information and incentives across diverse stages of complex production processes, governmental decision making often lacks a calculation mechanism comparable to market prices through which knowledge about societal needs and demands can be conveyed and may thus inevitably result in some forms of punitive disparity.     

Bringing the penal voluntary sector to market

Despite widespread recognition of the importance of sport in diverting people from criminal behaviour in community settings (Nichols, 2007) the potential benefits of sport in prison settings have only recently become the focus of academic attention (see Lewis and Meek, 2012). In the UK, current policy stipulates a statutory requirement that all prisoners across the secure estate have the opportunity to participate in a minimum of one hour (or two hours on average for those under 21) of physical education per week. The Prison Service's Physical Education Instruction advocates sporting activities that also fulfil wider resettlement policy agendas, incorporating education, training and employment and attitudes, thinking and behaviour. In spite of such ambitious objectives and the routine delivery of physical education in prisons, there has been no exploration to date of whether participation is equitable across diverse offender populations, or the extent to which current practices are congruent with existing policy.     

Biotic Carbon Sequestration and the Kyoto Protocol: The Construction of Global Knowledge by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

This paper explores the dynamics of the production of global knowledge by an international knowledge organization, in this case the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Based on previous notions of international boundary organizations, the idea of international knowledge organizations emphasizes the knowledge generation function of such organizations rather than their convening function. Using the case of controversial Kyoto Protocol biotic carbon sequestration policies, I argue that boundary work and uncertainty management are the essential dynamics in the successful construction of global knowledge by international knowledge organizations. This uncertainty management occurs in a manner broadly, although not completely, in conformance with the institutional preferences of powerful policy actors. Global knowledge can legitimate and help refine global policies, but the process of its construction must be iterative and transparent if it is to be credible for global environmental governance over the long-term.     

Book review

In this paper we examine the claim that private industry can provide the flexibility and cost efficiency needed to meet current demands for prison space and improved prison conditions. We show reasons to suspect predictions of increased efficiency and flexibility, and warn of the difficulties in regulating a private industry. We conclude by evaluating the consequences of privatization for future criminal justice policy.     

Medicare and Medicaid programs; quarterly listing of program issuances and coverage decisions--HCFA. General notice

This notice lists HCFA manual instructions, substantive and interpretive regulations and other Federal Register notices, and statements of policy that were published during April, May, and June 1992 that relate to the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Section 1871(c) of the Social Security Act requires that we publish a list of Medicare issuances in the Federal Register at least every 3 months. Although we are not mandated to do so by statute, for the sake of completeness of the listing, we are including all Medicaid issuances and Medicare and Medicaid substantive and interpretive regulations (proposed and final) published during this timeframe. We also are providing the content of the revision to the Medicare Coverage Issues Manual published between April 1 and June 30, 1992. On August 21, 1989 (54 FR 34555), we published the content of the Manual and indicated that we will publish quarterly any updates. Adding the Medicare Coverage Issues Manual changes to this listing allows us to fulfill this requirement in a manner that facilitates identification of coverage and other changes in our manuals.     

Medicare and Medicaid programs; quarterly listing of program issuances and coverage decisions--HCFA. General notice

This notice lists HCFA manual instructions, substantive and interpretive regulations and other Federal Register notices, and statements of policy that were published during July, August, and September of 1992 that relate to the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Section 1871(c) of the Social Security Act requires that we publish a list of Medicare issuances in the Federal Register at least every 3 months. Although we are not mandated to do so by statute, for the sake of completeness of the listing, we are including all Medicaid issuances and Medicare and Medicaid substantive and interpretive regulations (proposed and final) published during this timeframe. We also are providing the content of revisions to the Medicare Coverage Issues Manual published between July 1 and September 30, 1992. On August 21, 1989 (54 FR 34555), we published the contents of the Manual and indicated that we will publish quarterly any updates. Adding the Medicare Coverage Issues Manual changes to this listing allows us to fulfill this requirement in a manner that facilitates identification of coverage and other changes in our manuals.     

For Better or Worse? Gender and Perceptions of Formal and Informal Justice Systems in Afghanistan

We draw on survey data from a national probability sample of 6,406 Afghan adults (aged 18 years and older) to explore gender differences in the perceptions of formal and informal justice systems. The study utilizes binary logistic regression to probe whether men and women differ in their attitudes and the extent to which other factors may mediate both within– and across–ethnic group differences. We find that women have more confidence in the formal system than their male counterparts, whereas the opposite is true for the informal system. The scholarly and policy implications of these results are discussed.     

Are arrest statistics a valid measure of illicit drug use? The relationship between criminal justice and public health indicators of cocaine,heroin, and marijuana use

Several alternative indicators are currently available to researchers, policy makers, and practitioners for gauging levels and patterns of illicit drug use within and across communities. Yet there exists little information that allows reliable comparisons across indicators to determine whether they tell essentially the same story about variation in the prevalence of drug use. In particular, it remains unclear how closely arrest statistics, the leading law enforcement indicator of illicit drug use, correspond to other law enforcement indicators, such as urine tests of jail inmates, or to public health measures, such as emergency departments' and medical examiners' reports. In this paper we assess the relationships between alternative law enforcement and public health indicators of cocaine, heroin, and marijuana use for a sample of large U.S. cities. We find pronounced convergence across measurement systems in cocaine and heroin use, but little convergence for marijuana use. In addition to other research and policy implications, these results increase confidence in the use of arrest data to assess variation across urban areas in cocaine and heroin use.     

Medicare and Medicaid programs; quarterly listing of program issuances and coverage decisions--fourth quarter 1993--HCFA. Notice

This notice lists HCFA manual instructions, substantive and interpretive regulations and other Federal Register notices, and statements of policy that were published during October, November, and December of 1993 that relate to the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Section 1871(c) of the Social Security Act requires that we publish a list of Medicare issuances in the Federal Register at least every 3 months. Although we are not mandated to do so by statute, for the sake of completeness of the listing, we are including all Medicaid issuances and Medicare and Medicaid substantive and interpretive regulations (proposed and final) published during this timeframe. We are also providing the content of revisions to the Medicare Coverage Issues Manual published between October 1 and December 31, 1993. On August 21, 1989 (54 FR 34555), we published the content of the Manual and indicated that we will publish quarterly any updates. Adding to this listing the complete text of the changes to the Medicare Coverage Issues Manual allows us to fulfill this requirement in a manner that facilitates identification of coverage and other changes in our manuals.     

Medicare and Medicaid Programs; quarterly listing of program issuances and coverage decisions--second quarter 1993--HCFA. Notice

This notice lists HCFA manual instructions, substantive and interpretive regulations and other Federal Register notices, and statements of policy that were published during April, May and June of 1993 that relate to the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Section 1871(c) of the Social Security Act requires that we publish a list of Medicare issuances in the Federal Register at least every 3 months. Although we are not mandated to do so by statute, for the sake of completeness of the listing, we are including all Medicaid issuances and Medicare and Medicaid substantive and interpretive regulations (proposed and final) published during this timeframe. There are no revisions to the Medicare Coverage Issues Manual this quarter.