Theory and racial profiling: Shortcomings and future directions in research

The volatile political environment that surrounds the issue of “racial profiling” has led local and state police agencies across the nation to start collecting information about traffic and pedestrian stops. The controversy over this issue is overwhelmed by the unsupported assumption that all race-based decision making by police officers is motivated by individual police officers' racial prejudice. This article reviews recently published studies on racial profiling and critiques both their methods and conclusions. Using the conceptual framework for police research presented by Bernard and Engel, it reviews a number of theories that may explain racial disparities in the rates of police stops. The authors argue that to explain police behavior better, theoretical models must guide future data collection efforts.     

Towards identifying and ranking selected types of violence against women in North India

ABSTRACT

The paper is aimed at identifying and ranking different types of violence against women (VAW) in states of Delhi and Haryana in Northern India. Examples of gender-specific violence were selected through an extensive review of the literature. The types of VAW reviewed include the lower economic value of daughters at birth (females being considered a liability rather than an asset), rampant female feticides aided by proliferation of often illegal prenatal diagnoses, maternal morbidity, and mortality rates, physical and emotional abuse and neglect of female children, “honour” killing of women, exclusion and deprivation of women from medical treatment and nutrition, their subjection to assaults and rape (including marital rape), insufficient compliance to women’s legal rights of inheritance, arranging early marriages of girls, dowry deaths, female sexual harassment, and intimidation in community and workplace, female trafficking and prostitution, and so forth.

The conceptual frame of reference used for the study was provided by the culturally sanctioned legitimation of the patriarchal system of Indian family as well as by people’s perceptions and attitudes. Data were collected through the survey method in two phases. A preliminary survey was conducted during the first phase for developing the questionnaire items to be used for data collection in the phase two of the study. The findings of the study are presented and reveal participants’ rankings of selected types of VAW by degree of relative importance. Data, based on secondary sources as well as a non-random sample of respondents, were analysed to assess the various areas which demand immediate redress. We also interpret data based on selected criteria and suggest few optimistic future trends in regard to addressing and preventing VAW.     

Experiencing violence in a cross-media environment: an interdisciplinary focus group study

Due to drastic changes in the contemporary media environment, criminology needs to examine how the experience of violence is shaped by the emerging cross-media context. We conducted a qualitative focus group study (N = 24) to explore conversations about mediated violence experiences and crime media literacy in Finland, which manifests as an advanced state of cross-media transformation. We found that the cross-media context affects how information on violence and crime is received, as people combine and contrast bits of information from traditional media, social media, alternative media, and direct personal and local knowledge. This constellation of information sources is a fertile ground for distrust, as people challenge the self-regulatory limits of ‘old media’ in reporting on crime and construe such limits as ‘downplaying’ violence. Consistent with the general ‘media-critical’ frame of mind, the interviewees saw crime news media as fear-inducing. Through a focus group of older participants (in addition to three groups of younger participants), we observed generational differences that reflect the dimension of change from the old monolithic media environment to the cross-media context. The new context blurs the distinction between media content and social network-based reception and is thus a game changer for media criminology.     

秦汉律中的职务犯罪——以“公罪”为考察对象

严格维护国家权力的有效性与畅通性，惩治国家权力行使者的各种违法、违制行为，无疑是中国古代法律的重要功能之一。公罪的产生，渊源于春秋战国以来集权观念的强化与官僚政治体系的严密。公罪的主要功用，即在于对官吏的职务犯罪加以性质区分，以适用不同的处罚。在秦汉律中，虽未见公罪之名，但公罪之实已具形态，其构成要件、罪过形态的区分、责任连带等都与后世律有一定的关联。犯罪公私的区分，使公罪作为类概念而适用于官吏非出于私利的失职、违制等犯罪行为，因此包容性甚广。其入于《名例》，正在于为官吏职务犯罪的繁杂性提供一个定性标准。     

The relationship between antisocial stereotypes and public CCTV systems: exploring fear of crime in the modern surveillance society

Abstract

Situational crime deterrence measures like CCTV are not always associated with reductions in fear of crime. This study explores this unexpected finding by investigating the interaction between target type and the presence of a CCTV camera, in order to test the effect this has on impressions of the target and corresponding fear of the location the target was shown in. Participants (n=120) were shown either a picture of a male ‘skinhead’, a ‘studious’ female, or no one within an urban setting in which an obvious CCTV camera was either present or absent. Participants then rated the scene using scales estimating crime frequency, worry and target activity. Estimates of location safety fell for the male ‘skinhead’ target and activity impressions were more negative, but only when a CCTV camera was also present. Ironically, in some circumstances, public crime deterrence measures may prime pre-existing negative stereotypes about others and so foster suspicion, undermine trust in others, and increase fear of crime.     

Sexual violence perpetrated against women in India: the role of forensic evidence

ABSTRACT

In response to the upsurge in acts of sexual violence against women in India, Parliament passed the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act of 2013, amending existing statutes and rules of evidence relating to crimes of sexual violence and the practices of forensic professionals in the country. While a step in the right direction, this law paid little attention to forensic evidence in sexual violence cases, which can provide a more objective, scientific account of events, aid in the reconstruction of crimes, and help strengthen cases against perpetrators. The objectives of this article are twofold: to raise awareness for the need for a more prominent role of forensic evidence in sexual violence cases and to recommend ways to establish uniform and comprehensive policies and procedures on the collection and preservation of forensic evidence in order to ensure that cases of sexual violence against women are heard in Indian courts.     

Territorial features,disorder and fear of crime in residential neighbourhoods in Malaysia: testing for multigroup invariance

This research examined the relationships between territoriality, disorder, crime, perceived risk and fear of crime and determined whether these relationships are constant between neighbourhoods. Questionnaire surveys and on-site observations were conducted on a sample of 320 residents from two neighbourhoods in Malaysia. Tests for invariance were conducted to determine whether coefficients differed across neighbourhoods. Confirmatory factor analytic models of the constructs exhibited adequate fit following multiple criteria within each and across samples. Results from these analyses suggested that the relationships between disorder and perceived risk, victimisation, and fear of crime were significant in both samples. Although high territoriality was associated with low-crime experiences in the low-crime area, no significant relationship was observed in the high-crime area. The findings illustrated the importance of examining territoriality and perceptions of disorder within the neighbourhood contexts.     

Explaining fear of crime in Queensland

A model to explain fear of crime in Queensland is developed and fitted to data from the 1991 Queensland Crime Victims Survey. Fear of crime is measured from the answers to the question about respondents' feelings of safety when walking alone in their area after dark. The results suggest that factors such as gender, age, poverty, educational level, labor force status, level of incivility in the area, perceived amount of crime in the area, and neighborhood cohesion all make an impact on fear of crime in a way that is consistent with the theory. The results also show that fear of crimein Queensland is explained by very concrete factors that can be subject to intervention and policy formulation by relevant bodies.The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Government Statistician's Office or the Queensland Government.     

Public confidence in the police: tests of instrumental and expressive models in a developing country city

This paper examines the effect of instrumental and expressive concerns on public confidence in the police in three different residential areas in Sekondi-Takoradi, Ghana’s third largest city. The study was important because of the knowledge vacuum that existed in regard to the empirical validity of the instrumental and expressive theoretical framework within the Ghanaian context. Data for the study was drawn from a baseline survey conducted in three residential areas in the Sekondi-Takoradi metropolis. The findings revealed that instrumental factors played a more significant role in influencing confidence in the police in the Sekondi-Takoradi metropolis compared to expressive factors. More importantly, instrumental factors played a more significant role in influencing confidence in the police at Anaji compared to the other two residential areas used in the study. The paper recommends that there should be more investment in police infrastructure and services to enhance police effectiveness and efficiency. Additionally, the authors also suggest that interventions aimed at improving security at the community level should be guided by periodic safety audits since this will provide a better understanding of the criminogenic problems within these residential settlements.     

BOLD—fMRI在肇事肇祸精神分裂症研究中综述

综述了肇事肇祸精神病患者脑功能异常区以及异常区之间的相互关系。主要采用事件相关的图片线索诱导一中性线索反应模式的fMRI扫描，对司法鉴定为精神病患者进行的探索实验性研究。结果表明，双侧大脑额叶、颞叶区域存在多个脑功能激活区。因此，脑功能成像（fMRI）可以作为肇事肇祸精神病司法鉴定的一个有效手段。     

A psychological perspective on vulnerability in the fear of crime

Abstract

This paper examines vulnerability and risk perception in the fear of crime. Past studies have often treated gender and age as proxies for vulnerability, and on the few occasions that vulnerability has been operationalized, there has been little agreement on the mechanisms that underpin perceived susceptibility. To develop a more theoretically-driven approach, the current study examines whether markers of vulnerability are associated with higher levels of fear through mediating assessments of likelihood, control and consequence. Females are found to worry more frequently than males partly because (a) they feel less able to physically defend themselves, (b) they have lower perceived self-efficacy, (c) they have higher perceived negative impact, and (d) they see the likelihood of victimization as higher for themselves and for their social group. Younger people are also found to worry more frequently than older people, but differential vulnerability does not explain this association. Finally, structural equation modelling shows that the effects on worry of physical defence capabilities, self-efficacy and perceived consequence are mostly mediated through judgements of absolute and relative risk. Conclusions focus on the implications of this finding for debates about the rationality of the fear of crime.     

The Economic Cost of Crime in Chile

This study estimates that the economic cost of crime in Chile, using the accountancy method, is $1.35 billion as at 2002; that is, this cost is equivalent to 2.06% of Chile's GDP. Crimes included in the estimation are murder, robbery, larceny–theft, burglary, wounding, rape and sexual assaults, domestic violence and economic felonies such as fraud, forgery and so on. Consequential costs are the most important, representing 68% of the total cost of crime. Government spending represents 23% of the total and anticipatory cost account for the remaining 9%. Chile presents higher level of crime than most developed countries—though less than most developing nations—but government's spending on citizen's security is considerably lower than that of the US and several other European countries.     

Perceived threat of crime,authoritarianism, and the rise of a populist president in the Philippines

President Duterte of the Philippines implemented an open “war” on drugs based upon claims of an over-proliferation of illegal drugs in the country. Despite summary killings of suspected users and dealers, Duterte enjoys popular support among Filipinos. This paper assesses reasons behind the support using citizens’ perceptions of the severity of the drugs/crime problem, their punitiveness, and authoritarian attitudes as explanations. A sample of 114 Filipinos across Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao responded to an electronic survey about socio-legal issues. Results show that drugs/crime are perceived as serious problems nationally yet only minor problems locally. This perceived national seriousness is significantly related to support for Duterte. Trust in the law and enforcement agents, an authoritarian attitude, and region are also strongly related to support for Duterte. This paper concludes with reflections on information manipulation as means to advance political ends and the importance of context in furthering theories of authoritarian submission.     

Counting the cost of crime in Italy

We gauge the cost of crime in Italy by concentrating on a subset of offences covering about 64% of total recorded crimes in the year 2006. Following the breakdown of costs put forward by Brand and Price, we focus on the costs in anticipation, as a consequence, and in response to a specific offence. The estimated total social cost is more than €38 billion, which amounts to about 2.6% of Italy's GDP. To show the usefulness of these measures, we borrow the elasticity estimates from recent studies concerning the determinants of crime in Italy and calculate the cost associated with the surge in crime fuelled by unemployment and pardons. Indeed, in both cases such costs are substantial, implying that they should no longer be skipped when assessing the relative desirability of public policies towards crime.     

新公共管理模式下政府行政改革的趋势

本文通过描述新公共管理理论的内涵,着重论述了新公共管理模式下政府行政改革的趋势及其特征。认为新公共管理模式下政府行政改革的趋势必定是要符合经济发展规律,顺应社会的发展,符合人民的利益,更加民主、平等、公平。     

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.     

社会风险的容忍边界——闹市飙车肇事案的刑法反应

秩序共同体成员为了追求生活的便利忍受交通工具可能带来的风险,这是效率与安全两种价值之间的协调。个体不恰当地使用交通工具会对秩序共同体构成更大的安全威胁,当这种危险超过必要的限度,刑法就会做出反应。在成熟的法治国家,刑法会以梯度的方式做出反应。当倾向于追求安全时,刑法干预的前置应当是风险社会合适的选择。