Disconnected relationship values and marriage policies in England

The article examines relationship values which influence the government’s marriage-related policies. It constructs a framework of core values as the ‘conception of the desirable’ to highlight a central problem for the government: there are many conflicting values that can be identified as potentially relevant. Traditional morality and equality highlight marriage as the ultimate goal for heterosexual and same-sex couples by emphasising responsibility, commitment and stability to encourage and strengthen couple relationships. The articulation of these values associated with celebrating marriage is evident in policies such as transferable tax allowances for married couples and couple relationship education. However, marriage is a public and a private institution which encompasses disconnected values. The article analyses the different values that policy-makers confront by examining evidence from interviews with stakeholders which suggests that marriage-related policies do not necessarily resonate with various actors’ understanding of relationship values. They compete with values such as individual autonomy, the desire for financial security and diverse relationships.     

Offender’s Personal Circumstances and Punishment: Toward a More Refined Model for the Explanation of Sentencing Disparities

Prior research suggests that offender sex, age, and race are often influential determinants of sentencing outcomes. According to focal concerns theory, they affect sentencing because—due to limited time and information—judges rely on stereotypical behavioral expectations when assessing offender blameworthiness and dangerousness. As such, extralegal offender characteristics may serve as proxies for more specific risk indicators. Whether more complete information on additional risk factors helps account for the effects of extralegal characteristics, however, remains an untested assumption. Therefore, this study analyzes the Dutch data on standardized pre-sentencing reports to examine the influence of personal circumstances of the offender, such as employment, family, and drug use factors, on the likelihood and length of incarceration. The results suggest that personal circumstances exert inconsistent influence over sentencing outcomes and that they fail to significantly mitigate the direct effects of sex and age, but do mitigate the effects of national origin.     

A short history of studying incremental institutional change: Does Explaining Institutional Change provide any new explanations?

Kathleen Thelen is one of the leading scholars studying incremental institutional change. In her early works from the 1990s, she introduced the conceptualization of different modes of incremental change. These modes have central attention in her recent co-edited book with James Mahoney, Explaining Institutional Change (2010). Compared with Thelen's earlier work, this book provides clearer definitions, addresses the explanatory factors of institutional change, and discusses the patterns and sequences of gradual institutional change. The theory presented by Mahoney and Thelen, however, seems overambitious and subject to a need to be overly crisp and clear.     

Das Regieren jenseits des Nationalstaates und der Mythos einer 80-Prozent-Europäisierung in Deutschland

Governance beyond the nation state is intensively discussed with regard to the degree of Europeanization of the member states. For some scholars, the Europeanization degree of German legislation has already reached a share of 80 percent. This article applies a quantitative perspective and investigates, whether and to what extent German legislation has been stimulated by European impulses over the past 30 years. In contrast to previous studies, the analysis distinguishes between regular and important legislation and examines whether and to what extent European impulses are induced by EU legislation. The results reveal that previous estimates have dramatically overstated the influence of Europeanization on German legislation. According to our findings, a share of 80 percent has only once occurred in a single policy domain. Usually, this share is significantly lower, in particular for important legislation. Moreover, it is only possible to identify the reasons for half of the Europeanization impulses in the respective EU legislative database.     

A Comparative Analysis of the Drafting of European Private Law

The development of the 'Common Frame of Reference' is a highly prominent topic on the agenda of European integration. However, its underlying procedures have had only limited investigation. This article discusses the European private law project by inquiring into the drafting experiences of four other private law legislative processes, with a focus on sales law. These instruments concern Article 2 (on sales) of the American Uniform Commercial Code, the Vienna Sales Convention, the Dutch Civil Code and the Directive on Consumer Sales and Associated Guarantees. Ultimately, the article asks what can the European project learn from these experiences.     

Evaluation of the use of freezer mill to improve DNA retrieval from dried cotton swabs

This investigation evaluated the use of a freezer mill to improve retrieval of DNA from dried cotton swabs (using 100 μl saliva) compared to uncrushed swabs and whole saliva by measuring DNA yield and profile average peak height. Three treatments were tested; short, medium (as for a bone sample) and extended. The samples subjected to the freezer mill had the powder that remained on the freezer mill components collected (using a water and agitation method). All freezer mill samples returned a lower average DNA yield than either uncrushed swabs or whole saliva. The powder from the crushed swabs comprised an average of 35% of the total DNA yield, whereas the powder from the components comprised 65%. Allele drop-out was observed in samples exposed to extended treatments. Both short and medium treatments provided significantly higher peak heights than uncrushed cotton swabs with equal quantities of DNA (P < 0.05). Using a freezer mill on dried cotton swabs does not increase the DNA yield. This investigation suggests collecting powder from the freezer mill components will increase DNA yield, especially from trace samples.     

INDIVIDUAL STABILITY OF ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOR FROM CHILDHOOD TO ADULTHOOD: TESTING THE STABILITY POSTULATE OF MOFFITT'S DEVELOPMENTAL THEORY*

This paper presents a test of Moffitt's (1993) prediction on the stability of longitudinal antisocial behavior, using data from the South‐Holland Study. Aggressive (overt) and non‐aggressive antisocial (covert) behaviors were measured when subjects were 6–11 years old, and at follow‐ups when they were 12–17 years old and 20–25 years old. In accordance with the postulate, we did find a higher level of stability of overt behavior from childhood to adulthood, compared with childhood to adolescence, especially in combination with early manifestations of status violations and/or covert behavior in childhood. Results related to the stability of covert behavior were not in accordance with the prediction, but did support the recently proposed adjustment to the starting age of the adult phase.