Toward a Model of International Environmental Action: A Case Study of Japan's Environmental Conversion and Participation in the Climate Change Environmental Regime

This article explains the empirical puzzle of Japan's green conversion from an environmental pariah to a leading player in the climate change environmental regime. My argument is that Japan pursued environmental action to reconstruct its international image and demonstrate itself to be a responsible global actor. Claiming that existing explanations fall short, I delineate an international environmental action model that incorporates a more comprehensive cost–benefit framework examining both real and ideational factors. To test the model, I examine four key episodes of Japan's participation in the climate change environmental regime. The empirical analysis reveals the relevancy of the environmental action model, as all four episodes are either fully or partially explained by the model's mechanisms. Finally, I provide some conclusions, suggest that this model fills in the gap in the literature on environmental foreign policy, and provide topics for future research.     

A test of recent subcultural explanations of White violence in the United States

Recent subcultural theories suggest that real and perceived status loss among some White males as a result of social change during the last four decades-such as increasing gender and racial equity and agricultural job loss-added to the traditional patriarchal and masculine characteristics of this group to create cultural adaptations that led to higher levels of violence. One would thus expect higher homicide rates in areas where these traits are more fully developed and/or where status threats are more strongly felt. To test the efficacy of these claims, this study used OLS regression, and (1) employed census 2000 data and both homicide victimization and arrest data to update and replicate a common model of social structure and homicide, and then (2) added several variables to this baseline model that represented the subcultural traits, conditions, and behaviors outlined by these theories. The analyses yielded little support for these ideas. Thus while they might be appropriate for explaining the variation of the strength of specific subcultures and types of violence (e.g., Far Right wing paramilitary groups and political violence), an extension of these theories to more general interpersonal violence did not appear warranted.     

Determinants of Sexual Violence at Sexual Debut against in-School Adolescents in Ghana

Journal of Family Violence - Very few studies examine sexual violence perpetrated on adolescents in Ghana or in sub-Saharan Africa more generally. Using data collected in 2015 as part of a...     

Surveying American State Police Agencies About Lone Wolves,Far-Right Criminality,and Far-Right and Islamic Jihadist Criminal Collaboration

This study presents state police agencies’ perceptions about three significant terrorism issues on which there is little empirical research. All three issues have significant implications for understanding the role of state police agencies in responding to terrorism threats. First, the authors investigated whether the respondents believed that supporters of specified extremist movements tended to commit crimes as lone wolves, with others, or both alone and with others. Second, they were asked to provide data to gauge how often far-right extremists committed 13 crime types that varied in magnitude and motivation. Third, they were asked if they had knowledge about whether far-right extremists and Islamic jihadists had cooperated to commit crimes. These data were collected by surveying the 50 state police agencies in the United States. The results indicate that state police officials are concerned with both group and lone-wolf activities. Importantly, there was variation in the potential for lone-wolf crimes when comparing different types of extremist movements. The results indicate that far-right extremists are involved in a range of terrorist, preparatory, and routine criminal activities, but this involvement varies by region. Two state police agencies also indicated that they knew of Islamic and far-right collaboration. The study identified two other instances of direct collaboration and a number of other interesting cases through open source searches. The article concludes with a discussion of the policy implications of the findings and outlines directions for future research.     

法律之根与法律之辩

<正>或许柏拉图《法律篇》的任何读者的最现成的假设是——只要由于看到它的标题——它的首要目的就是提供富有哲学批判意义的法典。虽然仅仅是大量篇幅的文字不足以表明一部伟大的书面作品具有引领作用,但它是毫无价值的,正如对《法律篇》的希腊文本最具权威的评论学者E.B.英格兰所发现的,《法律篇》至少三分之二的篇幅都是在"谈论法律",而不是"实际的立法"。如果法理学是"实际的     

A New Look into Broken Windows: What Shapes Individuals’ Perceptions of Social Disorder?

Purpose

This study compares perceptual and observational measures of social disorder to examine the influence of observable levels of disorder in shaping residents’ perceptions of social problems on their street.

Methods

This study uses regression models utilizing data from a survey of residents, systematic social observations and police calls for service to explore the formation of perceptions of social disorder.

Results

We find little correspondence between residents’ perceptual and researchers’ observational measures of social disorder, suggesting that residents form perceptions of social disorder differently than do outsiders to their community. However, researchers’ observations of physical disorder were found to strongly influence residents’ perceptions of social disorder. Findings also suggest that people with different demographic backgrounds and life experiences may perceive the same social environment in very different ways.

Conclusions

The results add to a growing literature suggesting that social disorder is a social construct, rather than a concrete phenomenon. Moreover, we suggest that the linkage between physical disorder and residents’ perceptions of social disorder might provide an avenue for police to address residents’ fear of crime while avoiding some of the criticisms that have been leveled against programs targeting social disorder.