Explaining suspects' resistance and disrespect toward police

The importance of suspects' resistance toward police officers has almost always been described in terms of its influence on police behavior. Given the centrality of citizens' resistance in the literature on police behavior, it is surprising that so little attention has been focused on explaining suspects' resistance independent of its influence on police behavior. This research examined the factors influencing multiple measures of suspects' resistance using systematic observation data collected in 1977 from twenty-four departments in three metropolitan areas. The findings show that non-White suspects were more likely to be noncompliant toward White officers but were not more likely to show more aggressive forms of resistance (e.g., verbal aggression, physical aggression, or disrespect). In addition, female suspects were more likely to be disrespectful toward officers compared to male suspects. The relevance of these findings for future research is discussed.     

Measuring and Explaining Charge Bargaining

Charge bargaining is a potentially important form of discretion in criminal sentencing that is obscured in many studies of sentencing outcomes. Our procedure to measure the difference in sentencing outcomes caused by plea bargain emphasizes the amount, in months, that the sentence length is reduced. Using this measure, we compare prosecutorial discretion across counties in two different states. We conclude that charge bargaining plays an empirically important role in determining sentencing outcomes. Furthermore, we find that measuring the distance (in months of prison time) moved during a charge bargain may provide a very different estimate of the discretion than is given by the rate of bargaining, which is the usual measure used. Although the rate of charge bargaining was higher in the voluntary guidelines state, its impact on sentences was greater in the presumptive guidelines jurisdiction, as predicted by Reitz (1998). We further observe a dramatic difference in predictions from shifting the case characteristics underlying the summary measure. This result reveals that distributional differences (either due to the underlying criminal activity or due to the overall level of severity of punishment) can easily obscure the inferences necessary for understanding the operation of the systems. Our finding of differential charge bargaining in these two jurisdictions should provide a caution when comparing the results of studies of disparity in sentencing across jurisdiction types.

Explaining constitutional garrulity

Constitutions differ dramatically in length although they serve very similar functions everywhere. This paper tries to identify some determinants of constitutional length. It contains a new dataset spelling out the length of 135 constitutions in words. It turns out that a common law legal origin significantly increases the length of the constitution, whereas countries in the Middle East and North Africa have significantly shorter constitutions. Further, having been a British or Spanish colony is correlated with longer constitutions, a higher share of Protestants with shorter constitutions.     

Explaining Majority and Minority Trust in the Police

This article tests the contribution that social capital theory, performance theory, and the procedural justice-based model can make towards explaining the trust of majority and minority group members in the police. The central research questions are: (1) do the same factors determine their levels of trust? and (2) are the effects parallel? To answer these questions, we carried out regression analyses on data collected from majority and minority group members living in Belgium (960 face-to-face interviews). The results show that, although the three theories offer explanatory elements for members of both majority and minority groups, the explanation of their trust in the police is not identical. Implications for research and theorization are discussed.     

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.     

《大戴礼记》诂正

<大戴礼记>因不为两汉经师所传注,以致篇章残落,亡佚过半,今本多有残缺的内容.自北周卢辩作注以来,至清代校释者甚多,然疑义未能尽明,今选取部分条目加以辨正,以资探讨.     

Explaining restraint from filibustering in the US senate

While much has been written about the increase in filibustering over the past two decades, there has been very little discussion of the fact that, even today, opponents of legislation that could be filibustered often do not exercise this institutional right – even when doing so means the difference between defeat and passage of the measure. This study seeks to explain why legislation opposed by a cloture‐preventing minority is not always filibustered. Based on a broader look at the strategic environment facing senators, this study lays out six specific hypotheses. Analysis of data from 1947–98 provides substantial empirical support for most of these hypotheses, demonstrating that the strategic calculations behind the decision to filibuster are complex and multifaceted. In particular, this study finds that for legislation on which opponents have a clear incentive to filibuster, restraint is more likely to occur when the workload is light, when parties are not polarised, when the president favours the measure, when opponents’ cloture‐preventing margin is slim, and on minor legislation.     

失序与弹压:2011年英国骚乱之诱因与刑事法制的反应

2011年夏发生的英国骚乱具有深刻的社会政治经济、文化与种族背景,是各种反权威、反社会的合力的总体现。其直接导火索是少数族裔与执法部门之间因种族问题而导致的冲突,其后续发展反映了社会政治经济地位被"相对剥夺"了的下层民众与社会权威机构之间的矛盾。同时,骚乱活动又具有相当程度的盲目性、松散性与自发性。为了修补破碎的英国社会,单纯靠监狱、刑罚、警察与军队的暴力解决不了根本问题,因为刑罚的威慑力应该并且实际上是有限的。以这场骚乱为启示,缓解社会矛盾和维护社会稳定,一方面要解决社会贫富不均与不同利益群体之间的矛盾等深层问题,另一方面需要培养社会公众的、守法的、内在的道德抑制机制,提高法律和执政当局的权威和正当性。     

Race and the death penalty in Kentucky murder trials: 1976–1991

This study re-examines the effect of race of the victim on the probability that an accused murderer is charged with a capital crime and sentenced to death in Kentucky. It adds over five years of data to our original study. The results show that Blacks accused of killing Whites had a higher than average probability of being charged with a capital crime (by the prosecutor) and sentenced to die (by the jury) than other homicide offenders. This finding remains after taking into account the effects of differences in the heinousness of the murder, prior criminal record, the personal relationship between the victim and the offender, and the probability that the accused will not stand trial for a capital offense. Kentucky’s “guided discretion” system of capital sentencing has failed to eliminate race as a factor in this process. An earlier version of this article was presented at the “Variations in Capital Punishment” panel, Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, Chicago, IL. This paper is based upon a report that was developed in response to Kentucky Senate Bill 8 —Bias Related Crime Reporting passed by the 1992 Kentucky General Assembly. The authors wish to express their appreciation to the following persons who assisted in the development of this report: Fonda Butler of the Kentucky Justice Cabinet, Dale Helton of the Kentucky Department of Public Advocacy, Kathy Black-Dennis, Colleen E. Williams, and Bill Clark of the Kentucky Department of Corrections, and James Oakes, Greg Bucholtz, and Jeanne M. Fenn, our graduate research associates at the University of Louisville.     

Explaining Strained Community-Police Relations in a Racially and Ethnically Homogeneous Community

ABSTRACT

A dominant theme in criminological research is that strained community-police relations are influenced by economic, social, and ecological variables that are further highly correlated with interracial prejudice and discrimination. It is difficult to assess the individual contributions of those other variables without controlling for race and ethnicity. There is an obvious need to examine community-police relations in racially and ethnically homogeneous settings to analyze such effects. In this paper, I use ethnographic data gathered in the racially and ethnically homogeneous Caribbean village of Grand Bay, Dominica, during 7 months in 1996 to explain strained community-police relations. The data highlight key ecological, economic, historical, social, and political factors contributing to strained community-police relations. The evidence also shows that, even in this race/ethnic homogeneous setting, constructed notions of prejudice play major roles in strained communitypolice relations. Based on the data, a macro-micro reputational model is proposed, and implications beyond this Caribbean village are suggested.     

Explaining Korean women's fear of crime

This study is intended to explain the fear of crime among Korean women. Due to the complexity of concept and measurement of fear, this study was designed to measure specific or concrete fear and general or formless fear. Data were obtained from a self‐administered survey to 528 Korean women living in the city of Seoul, Korea. The results revealed that the fear of crime seems to be experienced differently. That is, specific fear appears to be most influenced by their knowledge of the occurrence of crime, followed by community environment and their perceptions about the incidence of crime, while the general fear of crime seems to be explained only by their perceptions about the incidence of crime at the significance level of p<.05.