Working for Criminalization of Economic Offending: Contradictions for Critical Criminology?

While economic crime and itscontrol deserve the scrutiny of criticalcriminology, there are problems in being acritical economic crime criminologist. The conclusion that criminal law in this areabe strictly and consistently enforced seemsinconsistent with critical criminology'swarnings regarding the dangers ofcriminalization as a response to socialproblems. This article reports upon thisdilemma in the specific context of research ona recent Finnish initiative to combat economiccrime that resulted in the authors engaging inpolicy-debates to argue for even greatercriminalization of such crime. The articledescribes and reflects upon thispro-criminalization strategy. It provides anoverview of the research project and some ofthe dangers associated with the advocacy ofgreater criminalization that emerged from it,and which is raised more generally by criticalcriminologists. It concludes by justifyingwhy, in the particular context within whichthis project was conducted, the approachadopted towards conducting the research,disseminating findings, and advocatingcriminalization.     

An economic analysis of the voting on Michigan's tax and expenditure limitation amendment

This paper investigates electorate behavior on Proposal C, a proposed amendment to the Michigan constitution, whose passage would have limited taxes and expenditures in the State of Michigan. Voting behavior was analyzed within the framework of the basic hypotheses: that the electorate tended to vote on Proposal C in its economic interests, narrowly conceived. The results were contradictory, with some groups voting against their economic interests and others voting as the hypothesis would predict. Further, a relatively low percentage of the total voting variance was explained, indicating that perhaps other variables than economic ones influenced voting behavior.     

Invited Commentary: Positive Youth Development and Human Complexity

The process of positive development for adolescents includes struggling to address a wide variety of complex, often unstated bio-psycho-social-cultural challenges. These include formulating workable values, learning self-regulation, preparation for adult work roles—and innumerable other un-tidy puzzles. Variable-based research can only scratch the surface of how youth go about these processes; nonetheless, systematic longitudinal research like this can provide valuable information about developmental pathways and directions of change. Highlights from these papers include the finding that older youth report more goals aimed at meaningful connection with others and contributing to society; yet also that moral character did not differ by age. The papers suggest that relationships adults, hope, school engagement, participation in out-of-school programs, and intentional self-regulation can serve as mediators of positive development. Yet, a striking finding was that comparatively few youth in the study manifest a pattern of change marked by the coupling of increases in positive youth development and decreases in risk/problem behavior. We believe there is much beneath the surface to be uncovered.