Children's Conceptual Knowledge of Lying and Its Relation to Their Actual Behaviors: Implications for Court Competence Examinations

Child witnesses must undergo a competence examination in which they must show appropriate conceptual understanding of lying and truth-telling, and promise to tell the truth. Three experiments (Ns = 123, 103, 177) were conducted to address the assumptions underlying the court competence examination that (1) children who understand lying and its moral implications are less likely to lie and (2) discussing the conceptual issues concerning lying and having children promising to tell the truth promotes truth-telling. Both measures of lying and understanding of truth- and lie-telling were obtained from children between 3 and 7 years of age. Most children demonstrated appropriate conceptual knowledge of lying and truth-telling and the obligation to tell the truth, but many of the same children lied to conceal their own transgression. Promising to tell the truth significantly reduced lying. Implications for legal systems are discussed.     

Identification of document paper using hybrid feature extraction

Document forgery is a significant issue in Korea, with around ten thousand cases reported every year. Analyzing paper plays a crucial role in examining questionable documents such as marketable securities and contracts, which can aid in solving criminal cases of document forgery. Paper analysis can also provide essential insights in other types of criminal cases, serving as an important clue for solving cases such as the source of a blackmail letter. The papermaking process generates distinct forming fabric marks and formations, which are critical features for paper classification. These characteristics are observable under transmitted light and are created by the forming fabric pattern and the distribution of pulp fibers, respectively. In this study, we propose a novel approach for paper identification based on hybrid features. This method combines texture features extracted from images converted using the gray-level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM) approach and a convolutional neural network (CNN), with another set of features extracted by the CNN using the same images as input. We applied the proposed method to classification tasks for seven major paper brands available in the Korean market, achieving an accuracy of 97.66%. The results confirm the applicability of this method for visually inspecting paper products and demonstrate its potential for assisting in solving criminal cases involving document forgery.     

我国少年司法制度的现实困境与改革出路

少年犯罪问题在现代社会变得日益严峻,为预防、控制和减少少年犯罪,世界各国都很重视少年司法制度建设.我国由于多种原因,少年司法制度建设起步较晚,与发达国家少年司法制度存有较大差距.为加快少年司法制度建设,本文对我国少年司法制度的现状作了探讨,并借鉴发达国家成熟的做法,提出了完善构想.     

路桥刑侦警务创新改革的实践与思考

2007年3月份以来,台州市公安局路桥区分局针对刑侦警务机制运行中存在的弊端,进行了大胆的创新与实践。通过刑侦警务创新改革,有效整合了公安机关的打击资源,充分调动了各警种、各部门打击犯罪的工作积极性,建立健全了适应辖区刑事犯罪规律、协调高效的打击犯罪工作新机制。该局的创新实践告诉我们,刑侦警务创新改革必须顺应刑事犯罪的变化发展要求,始终保持刑侦部门的破案打击主力军地位,坚持构建打防控一体化工作格局,坚持走专业化发展道路。     

The regulation of cognitive enhancement devices: refining Maslen et?al.'s model

Our (2014) model for the regulation of cognitive enhancement devices (CEDs) received a great deal of interest from those involved in European device regulation and from academic commentators. Further, since the publication of our recommendations, the number of manufacturers of brain stimulation devices for non-medical purposes has increased, underscoring the need for a regulatory response. In this paper, we clarify aspects of our original proposal and address additional regulatory issues beyond our original focus on the sale of devices. We begin with theoretical points pertaining to the definition of a CED and the distinction between treatment and enhancement. We then respond to practical challenges raised by the prospect of implementing our regulatory framework. Next, we address some wider societal considerations relating to users and other stakeholders. Finally, we revisit the broader regulatory context within which the various discussions are situated.     

新型粉末状荧光502熏显手印荧光波段研究

目的运用新型粉末状荧光502可一步显现非渗透性光滑客体表面潜手印。为了选择最佳的激发光源和滤光镜来观察熏显后荧光效果,本文对该粉末的荧光性能进行研究。方法使用荧光光谱仪对新型粉末状荧光502进行激发光谱和发射光谱的测试,进而选择合适的激发光源及滤光镜来进行观察和拍照。结果新型粉末状荧光502的光谱范围较宽,在波长为235nm~580nm范围内均可进行激发,具有广谱性,其中对波长在530nm附近的激发光具有最大峰值,即荧光强度最大,对450nm和360nm附近的光也具有很高的吸收峰值,斯托克斯偏移量为45nm。宏观验证实验表明,在仪器分析所得的范围内,显现出的手印效果均较好。结论运用该粉末在熏显手印后可以在紫外、紫光、蓝光、黄光、绿光范围内进行激发,斯托克斯偏移大,荧光亮度高,在观察荧光效果时能够很好的消除背景荧光的干扰,也便于选择滤光镜。手印荧光效果除了受到熏显物质荧光性能的影响外,还与激发光源的品质、滤光片的透过性能以及检材固有的发光特点、客体表面性质有关。     

The Financial Crisis Hits Home: Foreclosures and Asset Exhaustion in Boston

This article reviews the depletion of financial assets that families in foreclosure experienced in Boston, Massachusetts. Drawing on 37 interviews with predominantly families of color in foreclosure around the City of Boston between 2007 and 2008, this article suggests that a critical process on the path to foreclosure is asset depletion that leads to asset exhaustion. Asset depletion is the process of using up savings and other liquid and nonliquid investment vehicles to cover day-to-day expenses when income is not enough to do so. In the case of foreclosure, asset depletion to the point of asset exhaustion is motivated by the significance of the home for the family. Even when a family does not lose its home to foreclosure, it loses critical stabilizing financial assets, leaving the family vulnerable to further economic shocks and less likely to achieve upward social mobility. This article explores the process of asset depletion that leads to asset exhaustion in foreclosure and the motivations that drive a family to deplete its assets to the point of exhaustion in foreclosure, providing key insights for policymakers considering the implications of foreclosure for affected families' economic security and social mobility.     

Why Low-Income Households Become Unstably Housed: Evidence From the Panel Study of Income Dynamics

ABSTRACT

Because of a severe shortage of affordable housing in the United States, an increasing number of low-income households suffer from housing instability. However, little evidence exists as to why they experienced housing instability, although they were stably housed at other times. By applying hybrid models to the Panel Study of Income Dynamics data, this study estimates the effects of potential household-level predictors on the likelihood of experiencing housing instability. The results show that changes in family employment structure, job insecurity, automobile ownership, and the number of adult family members within a household correlate with housing instability after controlling for changes in household income and housing costs. Moreover, I find that households with children are particularly vulnerable to housing instability. These results contribute to identifying valid household-level predictors of housing instability and developing preventive policy interventions that help unsubsidized low-income households achieve housing stability.     

The politics of bank bailout in Japan: a cognitive capture and leadership view

Abstract

This article explores why the Japanese government did not decisively intervene on behalf of bank bailouts at the early stage of the banking crisis of 1997–98 and investigates the institutional and political context behind the use of fiscal money for bank bailouts in 1997–98, 1998–99, and 2001–05. In contrast with prevailing views, which emphasize the conflicts of interest or differences in policy preferences between politicians and bureaucrats and their captured nature either by bankers’ special interests or political/bureaucratic interests, this article argues that Japanese policymakers shared a congruent policy preference — that is, minimizing the disruptions in the existing institutional arrangement in government-bank-firm relations and this congruence in policy preference (or ‘cognitive capture’) compelled the government to take a creditor-centered approach to the banking problem — i.e., letting banks resolve their own problems. It also argues that a strong political leadership that can break with the ‘cognitive capture’ and sustain government's resolute commitment to solving the nonperforming loan problem is an essential factor for successful bank restructuring.     

Do National Economic and Political Conditions Affect Ideological Media Slant?

Political scientists are interested in the influence of the news media on politics. However, relatively few studies investigate whether or not ideological slant in news coverage changes systematically over time. If it changes systematically, what factors explain the changes? This study argues that external conditions, such as national political and economic situations, influence ideological media slant at the aggregate level. To examine this argument, “macro media bias” is measured quarterly by gauging the relative size of liberal and conservative news stories regarding domestic issues from 1958 through 2004. Utilizing ARIMA models, this study reveals that the news media tend to negatively react to government spending. Also, economic conditions, such as unemployment and inflation, significantly explain changes in the relative number of liberal and conservative news stories.

[Supplementary material is available for this article. Go to the publisher's online edition of Political Communication for the following free supplemental resource(s): the coding keywords, detailed coding rules, and alternative regression results.]