Learning from Uncle Sam? Exploring U.S. Influences on British Crime Control Policy

This paper examines the idea of "policy transfer" in the arena of crime control. More specifically, it examines the influence of the United States on recent criminal justice and penal policy developments in Britain. Three policy areas are discussed: privatized corrections, "zero-tolerance" policing, and "three-strikes" sentencing. Changes in these areas are widely perceived as being strongly influenced by developments in the U.S., although there has yet to be a systematic empirical study of how and why these policy developments occurred. Drawing on a review of literature, this paper examines the plausibility of the idea of policy transfer and highlights distinct routes through which policy transfer may occur between jurisdictions. It uses Bennett's (1991) model of "policy convergence" as a framework for exploring how "emulation,""elite-networking,""harmonization," and "penetration" might have been relevant to policy changes in these areas. Finally, the paper considers how the concept of policy transfer in criminal justice and penal policy might be further examined empirically.     

Public choice and public policy: The vulnerability of economic advice to the interpretation of politicians

The confidence with which politicians defend their policies is in marked contrast to the qualifications which academic researchers attach to their results. The difference is indicative of a failure of the political market, whereby politicians have an incentive to select policies for electoral and ideological reasons and to minimise any uncertainty associated with policy effectiveness. In this scenario dissension between economists is of value if it alerts individuals to the sensitivity of policy answers to the framework in which they are derived. Moreover, with government failure, public choice analysts are faced with the problem of how best to amend policy advice in order to allow for potential distortion at the hands of politicians.The authors are Senior Lecturers in Economics and Members of the Centre for Fiscal Studies, University of Bath. They wish to acknowledge the very helpful comments of Professors Gordon Tullock, Harry Collins and an anonymous referee. Any errors that might remain are, of course, the sole responsibility of the authors.     

Dimock's naturalistic ethics

Between 1937 and 1958 Marshall Dimock developed a naturalistic account of the administrative function. This account emphasized an organic and instrumentalist account of ethics which was akin to American pragmatism in its ontological assumptions, vocabulary, and conceptualization. His theory was self-consciously aimed at identifying and responding to the problems of an administrative theory and practice plagued by dichotomies. Through an organizational leadership comprised of a moral elite, Dimock hoped to integrate the processes of administration and value creation.     

Development of a methodology for the standardisation and improvement of ‘Smartphone’ photography of patterned bruises and other cutaneous injuries

Human bite-mark analyses can play a prominent role in forensic case investigations, including those involving sexual assault. High-quality photographs routinely secure a link between a bite-mark and an individual's dentition. Access to around the clock forensic photography, however, is often limited, resulting in delay and/or missed opportunities to record valuable evidence. The emergence of Smartphone high-quality photographic technology now provides a previously unimagined opportunity to gather timely forensic photographic evidence. Problems can arise, however, due to the relatively poor quality of the photographs, as a result of many of those taking photographs having received little or no forensic photography training. This study compares unassisted photography with assisted photography, by a specifically developed camera application (App), to provide a standardised method for taking forensic photographs. An App, written in Java, was hosted on the Google Android Operating System, on a Samsung Galaxy SII Smartphone. Twenty-four volunteers participated in a study to photograph a pseudo bite-mark using three methods, (1) unassisted (as a control), (2) assisted by an ABFO No.2 right-angled photographic reference scale and (3) assisted by the App. The App, method (3), was shown to consistently outperform methods (1) and (2), demonstrating greater standardisation and precision (p < 0.001). Analysis of the data showed the extent to which acquiring an accurate photograph depends on the image being orthogonal to the camera. It appears likely that the relatively inaccurate photographs acquired by methods (1) and (2), were as a result of deviation from the plane, orthogonal to the bite-mark. Therefore, the App was successful in ensuring that the camera was both orthogonal and at an appropriate distance, relative to the bite-mark. Thus, the App enhanced the abilities of non-experts to acquire more accurate photographs and created the potential to significantly improve the quality of forensic photographs.     

The sins of the founding fathers

Stephen F. Knott, Secret and Sanctioned: Covert Operations and the American Presidency (New York: Oxford University Press, 1996). Pp.258, biblio., index. £19.50. ISBN 0–19–510098–0.

Notes

1. Richard B. Morris, Witnesses at the Creation: Hamilton, Madison, Jay, and the Constitution (NY: Plume 1986) p.160.

2. Ralph Ketcham (ed.) The Anti‐Federalist Papers and the Constitutional Debates (NY: Mentor 1986) p.27.

3. Charles Beard, An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution of the United States (NY: Macmillan 1961 [1913]) pp.vi, 160.

4. Max Beloff (ed.) The Federalist, 2nd ed. (Oxford: Basil Blackwell 1987 [1948]) p.482, n27.

5. Jack N. Rakove, Original Meanings: Politics and Ideas in the Making of the Constitution (NY: Knopf 1996) p.5. Rakove's ‘originalism’ might be regarded as a particular example of a general malpractice that historians sometimes call ‘presentism’, a tendency to look at the past with a contemporary political agenda in mind.     

Networked Legal Learning: An Evaluation of the Student Learning Experience

This paper reports the findings from a case study that was conducted as part of the JISC/CALT funded Networked Learning in Higher Education project. The paper casts light on the wider debate about how and whether tutors can 'align' their teaching style with students' approaches to learning. It evaluates a law course that has been taught on campus using Lotus Notes to support group work and to provide a general course environment. The paper builds upon earlier evaluations of the course reported by the course tutor and used to develop the course design. The findings combine a firm understanding of the tutor's intentions and design with an evaluation of the student experience. This allows a consideration of alignment in a networked learning environment and uses several sources of rich data to triangulate designers' intentions with outcomes. Our findings incline us to the view that networked learning environments may be more open to unplanned influences than traditional courses. As a consequence of the increased number of influences students' may encounter greater degrees of variation in their experience.