Sex offender notification and fear of victimization

Research on sex offender notification statutes was limited, and what did exist suggested notification resulted in increasing fear of victimization (Phillips, D. M. (1998). Zevitz, R. G. & Farkas, M. A. (2000c). Nonetheless, existing research failed to provide a direct measure of fear of victimization, or a comparison group to determine whether community members receiving notification were more fearful of victimization than community members, residing in the same neighborhood, who had not received notification. Additionally, existing research did not differentiate between fear of victimization for self (personal fear) and fear of victimization for others (altruistic fear). Warr (Warr, M. (2000) argued that the “strongest indictment” of the fear-crime literature was the failure to consider altruistic fear. By comparing emotional responses to specific types of victimization between groups of notified and not-notified community members, at the multivariate level, notification was significantly related to personal fear, but not altruistic fear. At the bivariate level, however, notification was related to one type of altruistic fear—sexual victimization.     

Regulation through titling laws: A case study of occupational regulation

This case study examines a form of occupational regulation infrequently examined in academic literature – titling laws. These laws regulate who may legally use a phrase, or title, to describe their work to the public. Focusing on the interior design industry, this article demonstrates how industry leaders use titling laws as the first step in a push for full occupational licensure. In so doing, they allege a need for regulation out of concern for public health and safety, but as data in this case study indicate, there appears to be no threat to public health and safety from unregulated interior designers. Instead, designers advocate for increased regulation of their own industry, through the evolution of titling laws to full licensure, due to the benefits it affords them.     

Regulatory Errors with Endogenous Agendas

How do a regulator's decisions depend on the characteristics and strategies of its external clients? We develop a theory of approval regulation in which an uninformed regulator may veto the submission of a better‐informed firm. The firm can perform publicly observable experiments to generate product information prior to submission. We find that when experimentation is short, Type I errors (approving bad products) are more likely for products submitted by firms with lower experimentation costs (larger firms), while Type II errors (rejecting good products) should be concentrated among smaller firms. These comparative statics are reversed when experimentation is long. We perform a statistical analysis on FDA approvals of new pharmaceutical products using two different measures of Type I error. We find consistent support for the counterintuitive hypothesis that, under particular conditions, errors are decreasing in the size of the firm submitting the product.     

The question of marital rape

The legal definition of rape most commonly used in the United States — ‘sexual intercourse by a male with a female not his wife without her consent’ — gives legal permission for men to rape their wives. This article integrates the legal and psychosocial aspects of marital rape and the marital rape exemption. That rape is an act of aggresion against women is established, and the effects of intimate rape are explored. A brief legal history of the marital rape exemption is included, followed by a look at the arguments both for maintaining and for abolishing this rape exemption. The societal influences that make rape and abuse seem ‘okay’ are discussed, and steps that have been taken towards change in the United States are outlined. Suggestions for further change in the rape laws and penalties are offered in the conclusion.     

Speedy trial and the legal process

The role of speedy trial in state proceedings is empirically investigated for defendants in criminal homicide (N=444). Employing multiple regression techniques, an assessment is made of the relationship between the length of time involved in defendants' legal processing, their sociolegal status, and the final dispositions awarded by the court. The findings show that blacks and jailed defendants are processed more swiftly than their white and bailed counterparts. The consitutional guarantee of speedy trial also appears to be a state resource, in that cases adjudicated promptly result in higher conviction rates than those which are delayed. This is especially so for defendants who are not released on bail, and may be attributed to the prosecutorial success that accompanies the availability of witnesses whose memories are unclouded by time and the existence of a social climate that calls for retribution. While not related to postponement in the present study, it is suggested that the efforts of counsel in obtaining delay may become increasingly important with the adoption of the new federal guidelines.     

The Illusion of Resistance: Commodification and Reification of Neoliberalism and the State

While protests and acts of resistance are central to democracy and the potential for social change, what is often ignored is the usurping of resistance through commodification and consumption. Here we argue that it is important to remember that even acts of resistance, such as we have witnessed since the election of Donald Trump to the Presidency of the United States, that speak out against inequality and social harm are commodified and consumed within the spectacular domination of the State and capital, making resistance part and parcel of the neoliberal system that commoditizes in totality.     

Incarcerated youths with high or low callous–unemotional traits: a comparison controlling for age of crime onset

The aim of this study was to analyze the relevance of callous–unemotional (CU) traits in incarcerated juvenile delinquents. A sample of 160 incarcerated male youths was used. Results showed that youths with high CU traits had an earlier age of crime onset and of trouble with the law, and also had higher levels of conduct disorder. When controlling for age of crime onset, youths with high CU traits showed higher levels of general psychopathic traits and of psychopathy taxon membership as well as lower levels of prosocial behavior, but no differences were found for self-reported delinquency, crime seriousness, impulsivity-conduct problems, and general conduct problems. Also, no significant associations of CU traits with self-reported delinquency and crime seriousness were found when controlling for age of crime onset. Future studies of CU traits should take into account the specific importance of age of onset.