Restorative justice in prisons

Restorative justice (RJ) has found significant utility outside the prison setting. For many reasons, it has not received the same level of consideration inside the institution. While not every case can, or perhaps should be considered for restorative justice processing inside the prison, some could easily fall into the broad purview range of restorative and transformative justice. We provide examples of RJ practices that exist in some prisons focusing on: offending behavior and victim awareness programs, community service work, and victim‐offender mediation, as well as prison systems that exhibit a RJ philosophy. Also considered are the effectiveness of prison RJ practices, and the limitations of such efforts. Although RJ has the potential to have a positive impact on the work of prisons and the experience of imprisonment, it has not found wide acceptance and is currently limited to a relatively small number of prisons and then often only delivered in partial form. We believe that RJ has a realistic future in prison settings and that the contradictions that may be identified are not debilitating.     

Use of Protection Motivation Theory to Assess Fear of Crime in Rural Areas

Fear of crime has long been the purview of sociology, with attitudes more extensively researched in higher risk urban populations. A sample of 184 rural participants from 36 states in the USA responded to a questionnaire on experiences of crime victimization, and attitudes toward crime, using the multidimensional Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) model. For the entire sample, perceived noxiousness of crime and personal risk corresponded to a recent history of victimization. Yet, victimization did not appear to alter perceptions of efficacy of proposed response or self efficacy in response to crime. When sorted by gender, women did express differences in perceptions of efficacy based on experience. The findings argue for fear of crime as a multidimensional construct, with implications for both research and applied programs.     

Persuasion,power and the conversational model

Several lines of study in the humanities and social sciences have drawn on the systematic analysis of the craft of persuasion given by texts in the rhetorical tradition. This review considers the usefulness of this tradition to a critical approach to relations between discourse and power. The books under review use rhetoric in literary study, in social psychology, and in studies of argument in a variety of social sciences, with varying degrees of success. I argue that rhetoric cannot provide a general methodology or basis for a political critique, but is can be useful if studies take into account the institutions in which discourse takes place, the conflicts constituting these institutions, and the excluded participants. Judging from the books under review, applications of the rhetorical tradition work best when they remain close to the practical problems of persuasion in a specific situation.     

Computerized axial tomography as an aid in bite mark analysis: a case report

A case is presented to demonstrate the use of computerized axial tomography (CAT) to develop precise registration of incisal edges for comparison to bite marks. Emphasis is drawn to the availability of CAT Scanning equipment and the importance of understanding its use as an adjunct or alternative to already accepted methods of incisal registration.     

Jocks, gender, binge drinking, and adolescent violence

Previous research has suggested a link between athletic involvement and elevated levels of adolescent violence outside the sport context. The present study expanded on this literature by positing differences in the sport-violence relationship across dimensions of athletic involvement (athletic participation vs. jock identity), type of violence (family vs. nonfamily), and gender as well as by examining the impact of binge drinking on the sport-violence relationship. Regression analyses using a sample of 608 Western New York adolescents indicated that (a) jock identity (but not athletic participation) was associated with more frequent violence, (b) jock identity predicted nonfamily violence (but not family violence), and (c) the link between jock identity and nonfamily violence was stronger for boys than for girls. Binge drinking predicted family violence among nonjocks only.     

Recidivism among spousal abusers: predictions and program evaluation

The relative effectiveness of two interventions for dealing with 200 court-referred spousal abusers is examined. The overall failure rate is 17.5%, with most recidivism occurring during the first 6 months after treatment. Offenders who completed a 14-week group treatment program called SAFE manifest significantly lower rates of recidivism (10.6%) than do offenders who did not complete the mandated treatment (38.8%). Some high-risk clients are referred to a cognitive restructuring treatment program called R&R, and those completing both programs (despite their high-risk status) have a recidivism rate of only 23.5%. Prediction of recidivism is difficult, with the LSI-R scores correctly predicting only 66% of the outcomes, using a cut score of 11.5. The exploration of other predictors is encouraged.     

Denunciation and the Illusion of Social Control: The Case of the Nevada Black Book

In Nevada, individuals me excluded from entering licensed casinos when their names have been listed by state regulatory bodies in what is popularly known as the Black Book. As a state regulatory procedure, Nevada's Black Book is officially aimed at excluding organized crime figures from the gaming industry. Beyond its manifest function, however, we believe that the drama of entering persons' names into the Black Book symbolically affirms the legitimacy of gaming and the efficacy of its regulatory body against perceived threats to the industry. Application of the procedure solely to the southern part of the state—Las Vegas— and chiefly to Italians reflects the group interests, culture conflicts, and stereotypes that underlie regulation of gaming. Central issues explored are the relationships of perceived threats to the origin and implementation of the Black Book; the perceptions of threat to the industry as emanating from those most alien to established groups; the sharp distinctions between the ethnic origins of the regulators and of those selected for inclusion in the Book; and the dramatization of the disreputability of those whose names are entered.