Social Disadvantage and Family Violence: Neighborhood Effects on Attitudes about Intimate Partner Violence and Corporal Punishment

Social disorganization theory asserts that neighborhood composition affects levels of violence within the community. The purpose of this article is to analyze the bivariate effects of social disorganization, crime, and collective efficacy, in addition to the individual factors of gender, race, and a history of child maltreatment, on the acceptance of using violence within the family. Data from the Norfolk Police Department (2000–2004), 2000 Census, and 2006 Norfolk Residents’ Attitudes about Crime Survey were used to determine differences in approval of family violence. Results indicated that approval for family violence is an individual-level phenomenon as well as a community-level occurrence. Various aspects of family violence elicit different levels of tolerance by both micro- and macro-level characteristics. Implications are discussed.     

监狱刑罚执行工作发展动向前瞻——以《刑法修正案（八）》的相关规定为切入

《中华人民共和国刑法修正案（八）》（以下简称《刑法修正案（八）》）以贯彻中央政法委员会《关于深化司法体制和工作机制改革若干问题的意见》和进一步落实宽严相济的刑事政策为主线,把调整刑罚结构和规范非监禁刑的适用作为此次刑法修改的重点。《刑法修正案（八）》的出台意味着我国刑事法治之刑罚观的重大调整,     

Criminogenic need and women offenders: A critique of the literature

Purpose . This paper considers the criminogenic needs of women offenders, raising the question of whether there may be women‐specific criminogenic needs. Arguments . The risk‐needs model of offending has become increasingly influential in both research and practice. Simply, the risk–needs model holds that some aspects of an individual's functioning are risk factors for offending. The distinction can be drawn between static and dynamic risk factors: the former are historical, the latter reflect current functioning and are amenable to change. These dynamic attributes linked to offending – such as financial status, emotional problems, and substance use – are referred to as criminogenic needs. Needs assessment instruments, such as the Level of Service Inventory‐Revised (LSI‐R; Andrews & Bonta, 1995 ) have been developed to assess criminogenic need and predict risk of offending. Much of the research informing the risk–needs model has been carried out with male offenders, leading to questions about the criminogenic needs of women offenders and whether there may be women‐specific criminogenic needs. Conclusion . An overview of typical criminogenic needs, as assessed by the LSI‐R, suggests that there are probably common needs for male and female offenders. A common need does not imply that aetiology or level of importance of that need is the same for men and women, while some events, such as physical and sexual abuse, are arguably criminogenic needs for women. The implications for practice and research of understanding more about women‐specific criminogenic needs are considered.     

Morris on Paternalism and Punishment

Law and Philosophy -     

反贪工作与贯彻宽严相济刑事政策

作为一种基本的刑事法律指导方针,宽严相济刑事政策在我国的刑事立法、司法实践活动中早有体现;但是,在司法实务过程中,以数额为主导确定定罪量刑幅度法定刑的规定,存在诸多法律或技术上的障碍和困惑,以及对贪污贿赂犯罪处理上宽严失衡客观情况的存在,都给全面贯彻宽严相济刑事政策造成了困惑和尴尬,因此,完善关于贪污贿赂犯罪的刑罚规范,并修改程序法以提高侦查机关依法打击贪污贿赂犯罪能力,将反腐败斗争纳入法治化轨道,同时完善反贪工作中运用宽严相济刑事政策的相关工作机制,成为贯彻宽严相济刑事政策的主要途径。     

Punishment and Security

Policymakers and the public widely believe that punishment can reduce crime and therefore improve security. Empirical data, however, prove the preventive effect of punishment to be very limited at best. Especially, the assumption that imposing longer sentences will reduce crime rates seems erroneous. In our opinion, this misconception is due to a confusion of time perspectives: Criminal law necessarily looks back to the past, as it reacts to a deed. Security, on the other hand, means preventing dangers, and its focus must be the future. Hence, time orientation of criminal law and the logic of protection clash. Criminal law cannot provide the security wished for. The same mistake is repeated in the prevalent theories of punishment, notably the relative or unified theories of punishment. Security cannot be achieved or fostered through harsher punishment or punishment threats. On the other hand, one means of decreasing crime is increasing the number of policemen.     

Punishment and rehabilitation

Conclusion Despite partial amendments to criminal legislation the existing Czech criminal system is marked by its punitive character. Despite a slight change in attitudes towards punishment after 1990, the nature of penalties has not been adapted to the new goals. The punishment which fulfils the retributive, i.e. deterrent objective will not automatically become a means of re-education and rehabilitation merely because we change its objective in law. The new purpose of punishment requires changes in contents of punishment, i.e. searching for effective ways of handling offenders both outside and inside prisons. We have to renounce the idea that rehabilitation of offenders can be achieved by coercion. We have to respond to offending by imposing an adequate punishment which must be executed paying full respect to human rights and dignity. In this context, any offender must be able to exercise his or her right to request conditions and means for social reintegration (training, improvement of skills, medical treatment etcetera), if the offender is really interested in rehabilitation. We can only create conditions, we cannot reintegrate anybody by force. Rehabilitation in the Czech Republic continues to be more a good intention than a reality.     

Criminogenic Cyber-Capitalism: Paul Virilio, Simulation, and the Global Financial Crisis

This essay is a manifesto expounding the relevance of the critical theory of Paul Virilio to critical criminology. I interpret the global credit crisis as a criminogenic ‘event’, explicable in terms of Virilio’s theory of speed-politics. The trans-national space(s) of globalization are inherently criminogenic. ‘Power crime’ is the criminogenic ‘substance’ of global capitalism. Globalization—intensity, extensity, velocity, and impact—equates with cyber-capitalism, which ensures the operational primacy of simulation. Simulation, the fast moving manipulation of post-reality, causes the ‘disappearance of the real’, which underlines the epistemological crisis that attenuates global economic catastrophe. Simulation equates with the ‘logistics of perception’, which manifests itself through both pure war and speed-politics. Simulation and power crime merge on the level of the criminogenic manipulation of reality, resulting in the ‘accident’ of the global credit crisis. Power crime is the criminogenic medium through which the periodic crises of global capitalism will now occur.     

Punishment and Reform

The reform of offenders is often said to be one of the morally legitimate aims of punishment. After briefly surveying the history of reformist thinking I examine the ‘quasi-reform’ theories, as I call them, of H. Morris, J. Hampton and A. Duff. I explain how they conceive of reform, and what role they take it to have in the criminal justice system. I then focus critically on one feature of their conception of reform, namely, the claim that a reformed offender will obey the relevant laws for moral reasons. I argue on consequentialist grounds that this requirement is objectionable. Consequentialism has always accepted reform as one legitimate goal of punishment, but it will not accept the narrowly moral conception of it that we find in the quasi-reform theorists. I situate my criticism within criminal law theory, but I also consider the claim in moral theory that acting from moral motives has intrinsic value.     

The Criminogenic,Clinical, and Social Problems of Forensic and Civil Psychiatric Patients

Forensic psychiatric patients consume an increasing proportion of mental health resources in Canada and the United States. To inform mental health policy and practice, we compared the criminogenic, clinical, and social problems of forensic patients to those of civilly committed psychiatric patients in two Canadian studies. We predicted that forensic patients would score higher on criminogenic problems and lower on clinical and social problems than civil patients in two studies: one comparing 83 forensic and 189 civil inpatients on a clinician-completed form, the Resident Assessment Instrument--Mental Health, at an urban mental health center, and the second comparing 423 forensic and 178 civil patients assessed at different times using the Patient Problem Survey. The two studies were quite similar in their findings, despite differences in their samples, measures, and data collection methods. In both studies, forensic patients were similar to or lower than civil psychiatric patients in all criminogenic, clinical, and social problems. We conclude that forensic mental health services would benefit greatly by drawing from knowledge accumulated in the general psychiatric literature. This finding also supports the idea that many forensic patients can be appropriately diverted to nonforensic mental health services.     

对弱势群体中犯罪现象的观察与思考

当个体处于弱势境遇时 ,社会地位的变化使他们在政治地位、基本权利、生活质量、竞争机会等方面处于不平等的劣势 ,引发各种不平衡心态 ,并在道德观、行为模式、利益目标等方面与社会主流文化产生冲突 ,进而影响各种越轨和犯罪行为的发生。弱势群体中的犯罪问题突出 ,是社会转型阶段各种矛盾的集中反映 ,应引起我们的足够重视。     

网络游戏“外挂”的认定与处罚

擅自运营的“外挂”软件没有经过国家有关部门的审批，涉及程序违法；同时，“外挂”软件的运行会侵犯著作权人、出版机构以及游戏消费者的合法权益，严重扰乱市场秩序，涉及内容违法。所以，擅自使用“外挂”软件挂接运营他人网络游戏，属于非法互联网出版活动，依据《最高人民法院关于审理非法出版物刑事案件具体应用法律若干问题的解释》第11条的规定，情节严重的，可以非法经营罪定罪处罚。     

Some further Reflections on Guilt and Punishment

Law and Philosophy -     

该当与危险:新型刑罚目的对量刑的影响

立基于再犯危险性预测的剥夺犯罪能力是由犯罪学派首先提出的刑罚理论,并广泛应用于保安处分之中,但是新近作为刑罚目的在量刑中的适用却引起了极大的争论。无论是类型化剥夺犯罪能力还是选择性剥夺犯罪能力,在一种有序列的、并合主义的量刑理论中,都可以找到立足之地,并发挥更加重要的作用,将有限的司法资源集中到最需要控制的危险犯罪类型和犯罪人之上,不但为"宽严相济的刑事政策"填补具体内容提供路径与方法,同时能够最大限度地为刑法赢得道德信誉。     

Evaluating the Potential Association between Prenatal Exposure to Testosterone and Criminal Involvement and Criminogenic Traits

American Journal of Criminal Justice - Criminologists have long been interested in understanding the mechanisms that create male-female differences in criminal involvement. One possible explanation...