The C.T.A. case: A study in political corruption

Between 1984 and 1987, a wide-ranging corruption scandal in Pennsylvania resulted in the conviction and disgrace of a number of high-ranking elected officials, as well as the much publicized suicide of state Treasurer R. Budd Dwyer. This C.T.A. case initially appeared to be a straightforward and almost commonplace affair involving bribes and kickbacks to secure state contracts; but on further examination, this seemingly uncomplicated case can be shown to have involved elaborate conflicts at both state and federal level, and the direction and outcome of the prosecution were heavily influenced by political factors and bureaucratic self-interest.This paper will provide a narrative of the C.T.A. case and related incidents, and also describe the external factors which shaped the investigation. Particular emphasis will be placed on the complex relationship between state-level political interests and the activities of federal prosecutors. The C.T.A. affair offers an excellent illustration of the difficulty of gaining an accurate understanding of even an apparently simple case of political corruption, and the implication is that more elaborate incidents are even less amenable to any kind of academic or social scientific observation. The case can only be understood if full account is taken of the prosecutorial and investigative process which turned the original illegal transactions into a full-blown public scandal, factors which are often insufficiently emphasized in research on political corruption.     

Force and fraud: A radically coherent criticism of corrections as industry

As radical criminology continues to gain popularity among a new generation of scholars, there are several troubling developments that ought to be met with caution. First, many emergent writings seem to take a benevolent state for granted. Second, there is a tendency to present radical ideas in a vocabulary that is so abstruse that it is difficult to decipher precisely how social change might be realized. As a remedy to these problems, this article relies on blunt language to analyze the corrections industry; by doing so, it focuses on market principles shaping key mechanisms of social control, namely force and fraud. In terms of force, the US criminal justice apparatus is too often harsh and coercive, particularly for the poor and racial minorities. Compounding matters, citizens rarely challenge such force due in large part to fraudulent governmental insistence that tough on crime initiatives are necessary to maintain public safety. Among the items discussed within this framework are public misperceptions of crime and punishment, the production of prisoners in a capitalist system, and the encouragement of excessive incarceration producing financial and ideological dividends for the state as well as the private sector.     

Identification of the cranium of W.A. Mozart

In 1801 at the cemetery in Vienna, Austria, the skull of W.A. Mozart was exhumed (La Chronique Médicale, 13 (1906) 423), and now it has been examined for identification. The osteometrical and osteological findings correspond with the available data of W.A. Mozart. Superimposition gives evidence that craniofacial distinctiveness of the cranium is consistent with the portrait. Additional individual particularities caused by the premature synostosis of the metopic suture (PSMS) and a bone lesion are described.     

Anything less is not feminism: Racial difference and the W.M.W.M.

Feminism is the political theory and practice to free all women: women of colour, working class women, poor women, physically challenged women, lesbians, old women as well as white heterosexual, economically privileged women. Anything less is not feminism, but merely female self-aggrandisement. White Middle-class Women's Movement. My special thanks to Susie Gibson for her insight and support on this project. Thanks to Akua Rugg for being there.     

The murder-suicide. A study of the postagressional suicide

The authors studied a series of 18 cases of homicide followed by suicide or attempted suicide by the aggressor, analyzing: 1) the frequency of such acts; 2) the age and sex of the aggressors; 3) the means or arms used for the murder and suicide; 4) the period of time between the two events; and 5) the motives for the homicides and the relationship between the victims and their aggressors.     

从却伯对伊利的批判看“反多数难题”中的程序思维

反多数难题是美国宪法学中聚讼纷纭的经典议题,其中有两条重要的线索,即以伊利的代议增强论为代表的程序宪法论和以却伯的看不见的宪法为代表的高级法论,前者是程序思维的体现,后者是实质思维的体现;而在两者分歧中则展现了这两种法律思维彼此之间的张力。虽然反多数难题是美国宪政中的一个独有难题,但其中的程序思维和实质思维及其互相之间的关系命题,却是具有普遍意义和参考价值的。     

The internet and offending behaviour: A case study

Abstract

Summary: The COPINE Project at the Department of Applied Psychology, seeks to address children's vulnerability in relation to the Internet and child pornography. As part of the project, offenders convicted of downloading such images have been interviewed. This paper considers existing models of offender behaviour alongside literature relating to Internet use. A single case study is used to illustrate a process-focused model of offending, using interview material to demonstrate how the offender represented and accounted for his behaviour. The offender in question had no history of engaging in sexual behaviour with actual children, but his case illustrated many of the stages described by offenders in their involvement with pornography, including: setting events, engagement, collecting behaviour, and the emergence of relationships.     

普实克和夏志清的鲁迅研究及其方法论反思

普实克和夏志清的中国现代文学研究开启了迥异的学术思路和研究范式:普实克同情中国革命,以社会历史分析的方法肯定中国现代文学的现实品格,褒赞鲁迅的历史功绩;而夏志清受新批评派的影响,重视对作品自身价值的鉴别与评价,加上冷战背景和历史偏见,他的鲁迅研究实践了去历史化和矮化鲁迅的诉求。两人的这种学术分歧经过1961—1963年的普夏之争得到了更为鲜明的呈现。本文结合普夏结缘鲁迅的历史背景,追踪他们学术实践的理论资源,辨析普夏之争中各自的鲁迅观和鲁迅研究的特点或局限,最后反思普夏两人的文学史写作与政治偏见、作者意图、历史化之间的复杂关系。