Delivering security through networks: Surveying the relational landscape of security managers in an urban setting

The concept of network is fast becoming ubiquitous. Its broad appeal lies in its ability to account for the present multiplicity of institutional, organizational, and social morphologies. Networks promise to absorb, recombine, and merge the two dominant and competing forms of social organization (the bureaucratic hierarchy and the market) into a third one that would transcend the proclaimed obsolescence of bureaucracies (see for example Osborne and Gaebler, 1992) or the excesses of the market. Crime or dark networks (Raab and Milward, 2003) and their real level of (dis)organization have been studied for a number of years (Naylor, 2002; Morselli, 2005 and in this issue), but the 9/11 events and the failures of the verticalhierarchical bureaucratic forms of security delivery they highlighted provided an audience to those advocating flatter and more flexible law enforcement assemblages (Williams, 1994; Arquilla and Ronfeld, 2001).     

Exploring the consequences of soft law and hard law: implementing international nutrient commitments in Norwegian agriculture

The study of hard law and soft law in international environmental cooperation has mainly focused on why, and under what conditions, states choose one form of law in preference to another. This article develops an analytical framework for exploring the consequences of such choices. This framework is applied to implementation of international nutrient commitments in Norwegian agriculture from 1987 until 2007. Agriculture is the most important source of nitrogen inputs and eutrophication problems in the marine environment in Norway and Europe. It is concluded that, first, the consequences of hard and soft international law depend heavily on how they interact with changing national conditions. Some of these conditions can be deliberately changed to facilitate synergetic interaction between national conditions and international law. Secondly, under favorable conditions soft law can have a significant impact even when costly action is required, and resistance from target groups are strong. These observations are particularly interesting in light of the recent decision to end the soft law North Sea Conference process.     

Unintended consequences: experimental evidence for the criminogenic effect of prison security level placement on post-release recidivism

Most prison systems use quantitative instruments to classify and assign inmates to prison security levels commensurate to their level of risk. Bench and Allen (The Prison Journal 83(4):367-382, 2003) offer evidence that the assignment to higher security prisons produces elevated levels of misconduct independent of the individual’s propensity to commit misconduct. Chen and Shapiro (American Law and Economics Review, 2007) demonstrate that assignment to higher security level among inmates with the same classification scores increases post-release recidivism. Underlying both of these claims is the idea that the prison social environment is criminogenic. In this paper we examine the theoretical premises for this claim and present data from the only experiment that has been conducted that randomly assigns inmates to prison security levels and evaluates both prison misconduct and post-release recidivism. The experiment’s results show that inmates with a level III security classification who were randomly assigned to a security level III prison in the California prison system had a hazard rate of returning to prison that was 31% higher than that of their randomly selected counterparts who were assigned to a level I prison. Thus, the offenders’ classification assignments at admission determined their likelihood of returning to prison. There were no differences in the institutional serious misconduct rates of these same prisoners. These results are contradictory to a specific deterrence prediction and more consistent with peer influence and environmental strain theories. These results also raise important policy implications that challenge the way correctional administrators will have to think about the costs and benefits of separating inmates into homogeneous pools based on classification scores.

Interaction and basic rights in an international perspective: an introduction

The effective enjoyment of basic rights largely depends on communicative processes and other forms of social interaction. Traditional conceptions of basic rights do not explicitly address this relevance of social interaction, though. Legal conceptions of basic rights rather focus on the right to a particular discretionary, but isolated and individual behaviour. This article points out the different established dimensions of basic rights protection and points out the relevance of social interaction for the enjoyment of basic rights as well as the legal consequences in different jurisdictions.

     

The legal status of the fetus: an international review

The article examines the way that courts and legislatures in the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Canada and Australia have answered questions regarding the legal status of a fetus. These questions have arisen in a variety of legal situations: the article deals with succession, criminal, child protection and negligence law. The conclusion offered is that a fetus has a value and an existence that the law should recognise. This does not mean, however, that in all circumstances the law should protect the interests of the fetus. Law-makers will respond differently to claims made on behalf of a fetus, depending on the context. The fetus does not have a uniform value or character in the eyes of the law. The law makes choices as to the situations in which it will take account of actual or threatened antenatal harm.     

Ethical issues in international biomedical research: an overview

Human subjects research has been the focus of numerous controversies over the years. The dilemma lies between the potential harm to individuals who participate in research and the knowledge to be gained from the research study that might benefit society. When research is conducted in developing countries by researchers and sponsors from the United States and other industrialized countries, differences in history, culture, politics, wealth, and power between the countries give rise to unique challenges. In this Article, the author identifies several ethical issues to be considered when research is conducted in developing countries and provides the legal and ethical framework for their resolution.     

Competition policy: consequences of restrictive trade practices and price-fixing provisions for medical practitioners in Australia and New Zealand

Competition laws have only applied to many participants in the health care industry in Australia and New Zealand since the mid 1990s. Since then, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has considered a number of applications by medical practitioner associations and private hospitals to authorise potentially anti-competitive conduct, while the New Zealand Commerce Commission has successfully prosecuted a group of ophthalmologists. Amongst medical practitioners, however, there is still confusion and misunderstanding concerning the type of conduct caught by the Australian Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth) and the New Zealand Commerce Act 1986 (NZ). This is of serious concern given the substantial penalties associated with price-fixing and restrictive trade practices. This article examines the provisions of these Acts most relevant to medical practitioners as well as a number of determinations and judicial decisions. To provide practical assistance to medical practitioners, the key lessons are extracted.     

住房保障:一项急待法律护航的民生工程

在我国,随着住房制度改革实践的不断深入,国家已逐渐认识到住房保障是一项急待解决的重大民生工程,并且已初步建立了住房保障制度。但是,由于缺少法律制度的规范,该制度在运行中出现了种种困惑,影响了住房保障制度的有效落实。本文认为,应尽快制订《住房保障法》,加快配套制度的建设。同时,应结合各地的具体情况,加强地方立法,以使住房保障在法律的护航下得到很好落实。     

Mitigating Intergroup Conflict: Effectiveness of Qualifying Subjective Justice Views as an Intervention Technique in Comparison to Empathy Induction

Social Justice Research - Intergroup conflicts can be triggered and perpetuated by collective perceptions of injustice. In two experiments, we applied the qualifying of subjective justice views, a...     

Counterfeit tobacco in London: local crime requires an international solution

The supply of counterfeit tobacco, illegally manufactured tobacco passed off as legitimate products, is a global problem that costs many governments millions of dollars annually in lost revenue. This paper looks at one end of this supply network: Kurdish refugee street sellers of counterfeit tobacco in Islington, North London. Local initiatives to deal with the criminal activity of the street sellers have been ineffective and at best have resulted in only a temporary interruption to activities. With little agreement amongst local agencies as to what constitutes the ‘problem’, and with local shoppers giving a higher priority to other neighbourhood issues, it would appear that efforts need to be focussed on interrupting the supply of counterfeit cigarettes before they reach the sellers. The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, proposing marking of tobacco products, information sharing and mutual legal assistance, may offer a solution and is expected to produce a protocol for adoption in 2010.     

From global problems to international norms: what does the social construction of a global corruption problem tell us about the emergence of an international anti-corruption norm

This article examines the ontological contestation that is inherent to the emergence of an international anti-corruption norm. First, the article briefly analyses the compatibility of an agenda on the social construction of problems from sociology and the well-established study of norms in constructivist IR. It argues that an analytical shift from the study of norms to the social construction of problems can shed light on the power relations that underlie international norms, and corruption in particular. The article traces the emergence of a global corruption problem up to the early 2000s when scholars have traditionally placed the establishment of an international anti-corruption norm. It first shows the contestation of corruption as a global issue on the level of problem definition, and then, it shows the role of venue shopping and venue shifting in the diffusion of anti-corruption talks and the norm cascade of the 1990s. The article concludes with an analysis of how the social construction of problems challenges the conventional approach of the emergence of an international anti-corruption norm.     

Guardianship and crime: an international comparative study of guardianship in action

An observational tool was developed to measure guardianship potential and guardianship in action in residential areas in The Hague, the Netherlands by Reynald (Crime Prevention and Community Safety 11(1):1?C20, 2009; Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 47(3):358?C390, 2010). Guardianship potential was measured using the defensible space-based measures from the Block Environment Inventory (BEI), while Guardianship in Action (GIA) was observed by recording whether or not guardians (1) were visibly available, (2) were monitoring, and (3) intervened when necessary. This article reports on an international comparison of GIA in The Hague and in an American city. A comparative understanding will help advance knowledge on the measurement of active guardianship and related defensible space dimensions and identify socio-cultural differences in the application and meaning of the guardianship concept. Key results include that the observable dimensions of guardianship in action were reliable and valid, but some differences existed between the two sites including significant differences related to the social interaction measure. Similarities and differences across the two sites are examined, and implications for theory and research are explored.     

Financial consequences of joining a Medicare HMO: an application of the illness episode approach to estimating out-of-pocket costs

To reduce Medicare costs, Medicare beneficiaries are being encouraged to enroll in "risk contract" HMOs. This paper explores the financial consequences to the elderly of joining a Medicare risk HMO. Using a new method for estimating consumer financial vulnerability called the illness episode approach, we modeled the out-of-pocket costs associated with thirteen illnesses of varying severity for beneficiaries with traditional Medicare coverage only and for beneficiaries who join one of two Los Angeles HMOs which charge no additional premium. The typical total charges for a year's treatment of these thirteen illnesses in Los Angeles in 1986 ranged from a low of $856 for moderate hypertension to a high of $28,411 for care of a severe stroke. For beneficiaries with traditional Medicare whose providers did not accept assignment, out-of-pocket costs ranged from $539 to $14,676 and from a low of 7.7 percent to a high of 84.1 percent of total charges. Out-of-pocket costs are considerably reduced in the two Medicare HMOs in this high-cost market; beneficiaries had modeled out-of-pocket costs ranging from $11 to $7,478 and from less than 0.1 percent of total charges to 60 percent of charges. Reductions in financial vulnerability ranged from over 20 percent to 99.3 percent. The relation of these reductions to altered benefit structures and the policy implications of the results are discussed.     

Bilateral investment treaties: an empirical analysis of the practices of Brazil and China

Bilateral investment treaties (BITs) have proliferated, particularly in the last two decades. Among the large emerging markets, Brazil and China are the largest emerging countries in South America and Asia, respectively. Foreign investors have mostly perceived these two countries as the sought-after places with great potentialities and attractiveness. However, Brazil and China have adopted completely different strategies regarding BITs. The objective of this paper is to make an empirical and comparative study of the experiences of Brazil and China by answering the following questions: Why did the two large emerging economies adopt such different positions concerning BITs? Does the hostile approach or the proactive approach depend exclusively on economic and political factors? What are the advantages and disadvantages of the BITs? Do the practices of Brazil and China reflect the problems or the positive impacts of the existing BITs?     

Governing international freshwater resources: an analysis of treaty design

International rivers create complex relationships between their riparian states, which can contribute to economic, political, and social losses. Treaties provide a means for states to coordinate their actions in managing international river disputes to minimize these losses. However, there is little knowledge about treaty content and the factors influencing treaty design. We test whether a relationship exists between the challenges of negotiating, complying, and distributing the gains in bilateral, multilateral, and basin-wide negotiation contexts and the depth of cooperation along with the degree of institutionalization. While the great challenges confronting multilateral or basin-wide negotiations can produce treaties that focus on joint gains and shallow cooperation to secure the signature of riparians, we find that they can also provide opportunities for deeper, more behavior-altering, cooperation. To manage the difficulties of maintaining multilateral cooperation, we find a higher degree of institutionalization. We also find that bilateral negotiations provide states with opportunities for deeper cooperation, but a lower degree of institutionalization.