Research Note: Randomized field experiments published in the British Journal of Criminology, 1960–2004

Randomized controlled trials have become an important component of evidence-based policy in criminal justice. Because searches of electronic bibliographic databases often miss relevant trials, handsearch – or the visual inspection of the contents of an article – is recommended as an additional search strategy. In this paper, we conducted an electronic handsearch of every available issue of the British Journal of Criminology (1960–2004) to determine how many randomized field experiments were published. We compare these results to earlier manual handsearch efforts to augment the Campbell Collaboration Social, Psychological, Educational and Criminological Trials Register (C2-SPECTR). We find only nine trials (although two used quasi-random allocation such as alternation), and just one published in the past 20 years. We discuss some possible reasons for this, and conclude with a modest agenda for improving the reporting of evidence in the age of evidence-based policy.     

Defining the Arts and Cultural Universe: Lessons from the Profiles Project

This article discusses state support of artists in the United Kingdom, focusing on the Arts Council England. To understand the present—or the future—support of visual artists, one needs to understand the past. Accordingly, the article begins with a brief history of the Arts Council of Great Britain from 1946, discussing Thatcher's reforms after the 1979 election. Tony Blair's New Labour continued many of the same strategies instituted by the Conservatives. At the same time as fiscal constraints and "enterprise culture" were imposed, the mission of the Arts Council was broadened to include both geographical representation and a more populist agenda. A review of the contemporary arrangements for state support of artists in the United Kingdom shows that many of the tensions that exist within today's Arts Council were institutionalized in its early days. The article concludes with a comment on what the current situation may portend for the future.     

Trust in the world of cybercrime

For cybercriminals, the anonymity of the Internet offers not only opportunities but also challenges. Where one does not truly know whom one is doing business with, it makes it difficult to assess trustworthiness or to retaliate should dealings go sour and agreements need to be enforced. This creates a large deficit of trust, beyond even that common among conventional criminals, and makes cybercriminal transactions very unstable. As a result, it might be expected that cybercriminals would often act alone. But, in reality, cybercriminals collaborate quite widely. This is the puzzle that this article addresses. In order to overcome the major challenges of online anonymity, and to capitalise on its benefits, cybercriminals have developed a range of mechanisms that buttress trust. These include mechanisms relating to (1) establishing cybercriminal identities; (2) assessing cybercriminal attributes; and (3) extra-legal governance.     

论英国禁止双重危险游戏规则在我国的运用范围

由于我国刑事诉讼制度既没有确立既判力理论,也没有吸纳禁止双重危险规则,因此,不论是立法、司法以及有关解释中都没有涉及一事不再理原则,其字里行间都没有对被告人的同一行为进行反复追诉、重复审判作出限制性规定,从而使法院所作的裁判都不具有不受质疑的权威性、确定性、稳定性和终局性,司法实践中出现反复追诉、重新审判、多次处罚的情形已经是见怪不怪.     

A Field Experiment on the Effects of Ethnicity and Socioeconomic Status on the Quality of Representation

The principle of equal representation is the cornerstone of modern democracy, yet there have been concerns that the benefits of representation can be skewed, advantaging some over others. We argue that elected officials will be more responsive to constituents whom they perceive as more like themselves and more likely to be politically active. We examine inequalities in representation in a parliamentary democracy where, intrinsic to the institutional framework, there is a long‐standing reputation for serving constituent needs: the United Kingdom. We also advance the literature by focusing on the expediency of responsiveness and the helpfulness of response. Drawing on a field experiment, we find both an overall high level of responsiveness and helpfulness but also biases affecting MP's responsiveness. Our findings raise important questions about equal access to representation, even in a political system where constituency service is the norm and expectation.     

Where the wild things are: animal victimization in federal environmental crime cases

Although there has been a marked increase in studies of animal abuse from a variety of socio-legal and green criminological perspectives in the past two decades, we have a limited empirical understanding of the extent of animal victimization in environmental crime prosecutions in the United States. In order to better understand the nature and distribution of animal victimization in environmental crime prosecutions, we employ a content analysis of federal environmental crime cases, 2001–2011. Out of 972 cases, results show identifiable animal victimization plays a role in six percent of cases. Although animal victimization in environmental crime may be extensive, its role in environmental prosecutions appears secondary. We conclude with possibilities of expanding animal protection via wildlife and environmental law connections.     

International Policy Formation: The Development Of Restorative Justice Policy Within The United Nations

Restorative justice and its related terms moved from the background of ancillary sessions to the floor of the United Nations Congress. This article documents and discusses the transfer of local policy to the international arena using the UN forum and restorative justice as a case study. First, a historical timeline traces the three influential forces, (1) the United Nations forum, (2) the non-governmental organization (NGO) activities, and (3) the individual Member States’ activities, behind the restorative justice movement onto the UN agenda. An integrated modification of Blumer’s process of collective problem definition is used as a framework to analyze the policy formation. Finally, the context of how future researchers may make use of the process is analyzed by comparing the traditional research development framework to Blumer’s policy framework. A need for wide spread implementation and outcome evaluations are needed as the policy is implemented is among the key findings.     

Integrating the view of the public into the formal legislative process: public reading stage in the UK House of Commons

Recent years have seen increasing calls to integrate the public's voice into the parliamentary process. This article examines the impact of public reading stage (PRS) on the UK Parliament's scrutiny of a bill. A new stage of the legislative process piloted by the House of Commons in February 2013, PRS invited the public to comment on a bill undergoing parliamentary scrutiny (the Children and Families Bill). The PRS was designed to encourage members of the public to participate in the scrutiny of legislation through a specially designed forum on parliament's website. Over 1000 comments were submitted. Drawing on a content analysis of the comments given by the public to the bill, complemented by interviews with members of parliament, key officials and PRS participants, it was found that although the public reading stage had an impressive response, it failed to make much of a tangible impact on the parliamentary scrutiny of the bill. This was largely due to the choice of bill being used for the pilot and its lack of appropriate integration into the formal legislative process.     

Commercializing biomedical science in a rapidly changing “triple-helix” nexus: The experience of the National University of Singapore

Since the late 1990s, the Singapore government had embarked on a significant push to develop the city-state into a major life-science R&D and industrial cluster in Asia. Although a major focus of this new thrust involves attracting leading life science companies overseas to establish operations in Singapore and developing new public life science research institutions to attract overseas life science research talents (Finegold, Wong, and Cheah (2004)), the local universities are expected to play an important role as well. In particular, the National University of Singapore (NUS), the leading university in Singapore, has also started to pursue major strategic change to become more “entrepreneurial”, and identified life science as a major focus for technology commercialization as well. Adapting the “Triple-Helix” framework of Etzkowitz, Webster, Gebhardt, & Terra (2000), this paper examines the significant changes in the university-government-industry “Triple-Helix” nexus for life science in Singapore, and their consequent impact on life science commercialization at NUS. Implications for universities in other late-comer countries seeking to catch up in the global biotech race are discussed.      

Mind the Gap: Using UK Parliamentary Sources to Enhance Teaching

Online primary parliamentary sources can be of great value in teaching Parliament-related courses and a valuable means of promoting the development of students' research and analytical skills; particularly taking into account the research habits of the modern student population. Through a series of focus groups with politics students and a national survey of politics lecturers, the perceptions and current use of the UK Parliament website in teaching are analysed. It was found that a considerable number of lecturers are making use of the website for teaching purposes, though this is usually at a very basic and often superficial level. Barriers to the use of parliamentary resources include a lack of awareness of the types and variety of parliamentary material, difficulties in finding appropriate material on the Parliament website and a lack of understanding on the part of lecturers as to how to use this material effectively in lectures and seminars.     

合理制定公共政策的路径：有效利用决策信息系统

决策信息系统是公共政策制定系统的基础和前提,政策制定者进行科学决策必须依赖可靠的信息系统,借助该系统提供的准确、及时、有效的信息。然而我国当前的政策信息系统却受诸多因素的制约,未能完全发挥作用。因此,要合理制定公共政策,就必须努力寻求消除这些制约因素的对策,有效利用决策信息系统。     

U.S. policy in the UN environmental arena: powerful laggard or constructive leader?

As the world’s one remaining superpower, the United States stands forth as a hegemon in international politics. Within the traditional realist perspective, this means that the U.S. is decisive for the ambition and scope of international cooperation. However, research has shown that there is limited empirical support for this assumption when it comes to environmental cooperation. After a brief look at the U.S. general attitude and perception of the UN, this paper will then review general trends in U.S. foreign environmental policy within the United Nations context, including several key domestic factors that have influenced the U.S. in this area. I will then look more specifically at three UN institutions that are responsible for different aspects of environmental governance: United Nations global conferences (Stockholm in 1972, Rio de Janeiro in 1992 and Johannesburg in 2002), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD). The main focus will be how U.S. policies and influence in these arenas, and their relationship to UN reform, have evolved over time. Finally, the paper will attempt to analyze the American policies and answer the question posed in the title: is the U.S. a powerful laggard or a constructive leader?     

The Political Economy of Water Effluent Charges in France: Why are Rates Kept Low?

The French water effluent charge was set up thirty years ago. However, its design differs significantly with the Pigovian tax envisaged in economic textbooks. In particular, various studies have shown that the tax rate is too low to significantly affect the polluters' behaviour. The paper is a case study of this charge and aims to understand why rates are low. It consists of a careful political economy analysis of the institutional setting through which the water effluent charge is implemented using both historical evidence and simple modelling. The fact that the charge is combined with regulation plays a crucial role in explaining its rate.     

Asian Male Domestic Violence Victims: Services Exclusive for Men

The main reasons abused men do not seek social services include their strong endorsement of social/cultural values and avoidance of gender role conflict. Through internet-based service connections, we did not find sources in Asia, Australia, or New Zealand that advertised programs exclusively for male victims of domestic violence (DV). Nine social services in Hong Kong and Singapore describe their work with men in DV situations, but the main focus is “men as perpetrators.” Targeting men as victims, 32 sources in Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom describe services designed especially for male DV victims. Findings demonstrate that services for male victims must address such factors as secretiveness, cultural values, masculine identity, tolerance, shame, and loss of face.     

It depends whose data are being shared: considerations for genomic data sharing policies

There is an urgent need for consistent data sharing policies that promote the advancement of science while respecting the values and interests of those providing their genetic data for research. Responding to the article of Jalayne J. Arias, Genevieve Pham-Kanter, and Eric G. Campbell, ‘The Growth and Gaps of Genetic Data Sharing Policies in the United States’, this commentary further explores the challenges of human subjects’ protection in existing data sharing policies. We will elaborate on the need for data sharing policies to accommodate variation in individual and group preferences around data sharing and privacy concerns by comparing our previously published data on patients’ and parents’ consent to data sharing and attitudes about privacy to data from focus groups with HIV-positive, underserved individuals who were asked about their willingness to participate in genetic research and share their data broadly. These studies support the observation of Arias, Pham-Kanter, and Campbell that researchers, and funding agencies will need to balance the privacy interests of groups as well as individuals in future genomic data sharing policies.