Regulating Quality of Care in Nursing Homes in Hong Kong: A Social-Ecological Investigation

A social-ecological model aided by an adversarial methodology was employed to study the regulation of private nursing homes in Hong Kong over a five-year period. Specifically the study addresses the way quality of care and its definitions changed in response to shifting socio-political-economic conditions. The study began when only 2 percent of the industry was licensable. It was found that an initial period of harmful capture was replaced by a period of cooperation between government and the industry, following increased resource flow into the system that made it possible for desirable trade-offs to occur between the two parties. Six-and-a-half years after the introduction of the regulatory ordinance, all homes in the market achieved licensure status.     

美国“201条款”与新贸易保护主义政策分析

美国以国内贸易法“2 0 1条款”为依据 ,掀起了新一轮贸易保护主义浪潮。美国的“2 0 1条款”与WTO的“保障措施协定”存在抵触。钢铁贸易保护是一种单边主义行为 ,将对世界贸易组织的稳定带来巨大的冲击。中国必须作出应对的战略选择 ,维护国家经济主权     

美国养老院的“化学暴力”

滥用抗精神病药物在好莱坞大片中,人们常常能看到利用药物来控制不服从命令的人的镜头,这与把人绑到桌椅上的做法没有什么两样。现如今,这一切竟在美国的养老院中真实上演。美国许多居民把年迈的亲人送至养老院接受照顾后发现,他们原来尽管体弱多病但还能够进行交流,可是进了养老院后却判若两人,性情大变。究其原因,在于控制行为药物的滥用,其中包括药性强烈的抗精神病药物。     

Will International Investment Rules Obstruct Climate Protection Policies? An Examination of the Clean Development Mechanism

Rules governing the global environment and the international economy are currently decided in separate arenas. Yet, environmental agreements can have strong economic implications, particularly with the growing use of market mechanisms. Economic liberalization rules, meanwhile, may limit the effectiveness of environmental agreements. This paper assesses the potential interaction between one important market-based environmental mechanism – the Clean Development Mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol on climate change – and the framework of international investment law.     

中美治理邪教的法律与政策比较——兼论中国反邪教法律与政策的正当性

邪教是人类之公敌.依法治理邪教是全面依法治国的题中应有之义.中国已经建立起了包括宪法、刑法、行政法等在内的治理邪教的法律体系和综合治理机制.中国法律既规制宗教组织又规制宗教活动;美国法律主要规制宗教活动,不主张反邪教专门立法,确立了反邪教普通行为主义调整模式.美国注重综合运用其已有的相关立法条款,并以判例法的形式建立起了一整套管制宗教活动的规则体系.中国反邪教立法与政策既有深厚的现实基础,也有广泛的国际法基础,符合中国的国情,具有充分的合理性与正当性.     

Reentry and the Ties that Bind: An Examination of Social Ties,Employment, and Recidivism

Scholars consistently find that reentering offenders who obtain steady work and maintain social ties to family are less likely to recidivate. Some theorize that familial ties may operate through employment to influence recidivism and that such ties may also serve a moderating role. The current study employs an integrated conceptual framework in order to test hypotheses about the link between familial ties, post‐release employment, and recidivism. The findings suggest that family ties have implications for both recidivism and job attainment. In fact, the results suggest that good quality social ties may be particularly important for men with histories of frequent unemployment. The implications of these findings are discussed with regard to theory and future research on prisoner reentry and recidivism.     

The Global Adoption of National Policies Protecting Children from Violent Discipline in Schools and Homes, 1950–2011

With a focus on the relationship between women's and children's rights and theories of globalization, we conduct an event history analysis of more than 150 countries between 1950 and 2011 to assess the factors associated with policies banning corporal punishment in schools and homes. Our research reveals that formal condemnation of corporal punishment in schools is becoming a global norm; policies banning corporal punishment in the home, in contrast, are being adopted more slowly. We find that the percentage of women in parliament is associated with the adoption of anti‐corporal punishment policies in both schools and homes, suggesting a nexus between women's and children's issues. Countries with more ethnic diversity are slower to adopt home policies, however. We propose that minority groups in these countries may be resistant to laws because of the risk of selective or prejudicial enforcement. In terms of globalization, more aid is associated with both school and home policies, and countries that have ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child are more likely to adopt home policies. Surprisingly, international nongovernmental organizations are not significantly associated with either type of policy adoption.     

An Examination of the Relationship Between Media Exposure and Fear of Victimization: Implications of the Superpredator Narrative on Juvenile Justice Policies

The media allow crime to infiltrate the public’s consciousness in every conceivable way, thereby playing a major role in shaping the public’s opinion and attitude toward crime and crime issues (Barak, 1995; Fields & Jerin, 1996; Kappeler & Potter, 2005). Reporters constantly talk about crime, and crime related stories dominate the headlines of local and national newspaper outlets (Dowler, 2003; Pizarro et al, 2007). Some of the most highly rated television programs are based on crime plots and people across social, political, and racial demographics are constantly engaged in crime dialogue generated from local or national news stories. When the focus of these mediums is on youth they become even more profound and contentious. The images portrayed conjure up stereotypes that lead to fear and inflammatory remarks that become entrenched into the national lexicon. The current study uses data from the National Opinion Survey of Crime and Justice to test the relationship between crime-related media viewership and fear of victimization within a nationally representative adult sample. Approximately 42.67% of respondents reported regularly watching crime shows and about the same proportion (42.83%) believed their local media paid too much attention to violent crime. In addition to regular crime-show viewership, confidence in the police, gender, and recent contact with the police were associated with fear of victimization. This article adds to an existing body of research through a largely unexplored area in the administration of justice. It does so within the context of the U.S. juvenile justice system.     

浅议骨科医疗纠纷司法鉴定中的医疗注意义务

医疗注意义务是医疗过程中的一种法定义务.在判定医疗是否存在过失时,医疗机构及其医务人员是否履行了应尽的注意义务是一个重要的标准.本文从当前医疗注意义务的一般理论着手,结合骨科临床医疗中常见的失误,对在骨科医疗行为中应尽的医疗注意义务避行初步的分析和讨论,并对在实际鉴定工作中运用医疗注意义务原则时应注意的一些问题进行客观的讨论.     

Co-Corrections in the United States of America, 1970-1990

Abstract

A comprehensive review of the impact of co-corrections on women prisoners is reported on here. An exhaustive search of the literature found nine studies that report on the impact of co-corrections for women prisoners. The general finding across all nine is that co-corrections offers women prisoners few, if any, economic, educational, vocational, and social advantages. Co-corrections benefits male prisoners and system maintenance.     

An Examination of the Assumption that Adult Businesses Are Associated with Crime in Surrounding Areas: A Secondary Effects Study in Charlotte, North Carolina

Recent Supreme Court decisions have signaled the need for sound empirical studies of the secondary effects of adult businesses on the surrounding areas for use in conjunction with local zoning restrictions. This study seeks to determine whether a relationship exists between adult erotic dance clubs and negative secondary effects in the form of increased numbers of crimes reported in the areas surrounding the adult businesses, in Charlotte, North Carolina. For each of 20 businesses, a control site (matched on the basis of demographic characteristics related to crime risk) is compared for crime events over the period of three years (1998–2000) using data on crime incidents reported to the police. We find that the presence of an adult nightclub does not increase the number of crime incidents reported in localized areas surrounding the club (defined by circular areas of 500- and 1,000-foot radii) as compared to the number of crime incidents reported in comparable localized areas that do not contain such an adult business. Indeed, the analyses imply the opposite, namely, that the nearby areas surrounding the adult business sites have smaller numbers of reported crime incidents than do corresponding areas surrounding the three control sites studied. These findings are interpreted in terms of the business mandates of profitability and continuity of existence of the businesses.     

Mobilizing Law in Latin America: An Evaluation of Black's Theory in Brazil

This research addresses two separate but related questions. First, to what extent are sociological theories proposed to explain legal behavior in Western societies applicable to non‐Western contexts? And second, to what degree is Black's theory of law generalizable, as he contends, “across time and space?” Our research merges these questions by exploring the applicability of Black's theory in a Latin American context. Data collected from a nationally representative survey in Brazil suggest support for Black's propositions regarding the impact of vertical, horizontal, cultural, and normative status on the likelihood of mobilizing the law, as well as the feasibility of using his framework for understanding legal behavior in non‐Western settings. Our discussion considers implications and directions for future analyses in both the Brazilian and cross‐cultural contexts.     

Sentencing Native Americans in US Federal Courts: An Examination of Disparity

Existing sentencing literature largely focuses on the study of white, African-American, and to a lesser extent, Hispanic offenders. Unfortunately, very little is known about the sentencing of Native American offenders, especially in the federal courts. To address this shortcoming, the current study employs United States Sentencing Commission data for the fiscal years 2006-2008 to examine the comparative punishment of Native Americans. Consistent with the focal concerns perspective and its reliance on perceptions of race-based threat, findings demonstrate that Native Americans are often sentenced more harshly than white, African-American, and Hispanic offenders. Moreover, race-gender-age interactions indicate that during the incarceration decision, young Native American males receive the most punitive sentences, surpassing the punishment costs associated with being a young African-American or Hispanic male. These findings highlight the importance of directing increased attention toward the sentencing of this understudied offender population.     

Parties as Procedural Coalitions in Congress: An Examination of Differing Career Tracks

We examine the degree to which parties act as procedural coalitions in Congress by testing predictions from the party cartel theory (Cox and McCubbins 1993, 1994, 2002). We gain leverage on the question of party influence in Congress by focusing on three types of House members: reelection seekers, higher‐office seekers, and retiring members. We argue that retiring House members are no longer susceptible to party pressure, making them the perfect means (when compared to higher‐office seekers and reelection seekers) to determine the existence of party influence. Results from a pooled, cross‐sectional analysis of the 94th through 105th Congresses (1975–98) suggest that party influence is indeed present in Congress, especially where the party cartel theory predicts: on procedural, rather than final‐passage, votes. Moreover, we find that procedural party influence is almost exclusively the domain of the majority party. This latter finding is especially important because most prior studies have been limited to investigating interparty influence only.     

域外非法证据排除程序的考察及启示

非法证据排除规则作为证据法的重要组成部分,目前已被许多国家的立法、司法所采纳,成为尊重和保障人权的一种底限正义。然而,不同国家在法律传统、司法体制、诉讼理论等方面存在差异性,导致其在非法证据排除程序的设置上也形成各自的排除模式。在对域外国家非法证据排除程序考察的基础上,进行比较研究、法律移植,可对我国非法证据排除程序的完善提供有益借鉴和参考。