The Discourse of Criminality: From Beccaria to Postmodernism

The use of discourse in criminological thought and writing is touted as though it is a recent event; building off the work of postmodernism In reality, however, the use of discourse in addressing criminological concepts goes back to the earliest works in criminology (although it was not referred to as discourse at that time). This article discusses the history of discourse in criminality, focusing specifically on Beccaria and Lombroso. Application for current use of discourse is suggested as a way of making postmodernist writing perhaps more useful to a wider audience. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Post-conflict justice in divided democracies: the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in India

Abstract

Official figures claim that almost 3000 people were killed, and many more injured or displaced, in four days of rioting aimed at the Sikh population of Delhi in late October and early November 1984 following the assassination of Indira Gandhi. This article analyses the efforts made to address the human rights violations that occurred. It argues that as a divided democracy, India has struggled to do justice to the victims, despite multiple commissions of inquiry, compensation schemes and a prime ministerial apology. It argues that this has occurred not simply because of challenges commonly faced by democracies dealing with similar incidents, but also because of the particular problems faced in a context in which we see continuity of rule by a political elite allegedly implicated in the abuse and in which there is acute concern for the survival of a fragile divided polity.     

'Mad Cows' and Eurocrats—Community Responses to the BSE Crisis

Abstract: The initial Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy crisis, that is until the imposition of the EU-wide ban on UK beef exports on 27 March 1996, and the failure of the institutions of the EU and Member States to react effectively and efficiently to this developing crisis, brought to light some of the faults in the food safety and animal health part of the EU's system of governance. Responding to criticisms and recommendations made in the aftermath of the initial crisis, particularly by the European Parliament, the EU has embarked on a process of reforming the administrative landscape in this area. This has included the setting-up of a new regulatory agency, the European Food Safety Agency, and a commitment to the more effective use of scientific information. It is submitted that this could lead to the development of new information-based scientific networks that inform and direct EU governance, networks which should contain the European Food Safety Agency at their centre.     

Jails in the United States: the phenomenon of mental illness in local correctional facilities

During the last decade, the number of mentally ill inmates in local jails has increased while courts have imposed standards of inmate care upon jail administrators which require appropriate treatment of that inmate group. While jail administrators are seeking assistance from mental health agencies as well as additional resources to deal with these problems, little specific information is presently available about the numbers and correlates of jail inmates nationally that are mentally ill; their prior contacts with mental health agencies, criminal histories, employment backgrounds, etc; and the services jails presently offer to that population. In addition, little is known by geographic region or by jail capacity. Such information is essential in developing future strategies to manage that population. This paper is a preliminary contribution to the development of that information. In addition, the data analysis can serve as a base line against which to evaluate in the structure of the mentally ill jail inmate population as well as changes in services provided by jails by comparing this analysis to future jail surveys conducted by the Bureau of Jail Statistics (BJS) or the National Institute of Justice. The research will be a secondary analysis of the Survey of Inmates of Local Jails, 1983, conducted by BJS, (made available through the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research: University of Michigan, First Edition, Fall, 1985, #8274). In general an exploratory approach was used; however, a loglinear model has been asked to further refine and explore the phenomena of the mentally ill in jails.     

Offshore assembly and NIC-manufactured exports to the United States: Changing correlates of success

Comparative studies of the NICs usually show that their success at exporting manufactures to the North is unrelated to the role of intrafirm trade and subcontracting in their exports, since in some very successful NICs intrafirm trade has played a small and diminishing role. This study explores hyptheses suggesting why intrafirm trade and subcontracting may become more important factors in NIC exports because of the changing composition of their exports, changing technology, and developed country protectionism. Data on the share of eight developing countries' manufactured exports to the United States under offshore assembly provision (OAP) item 807.00 are tested for their changing importance to export growth over the period 1970 to 1984. For all NICs, the share of their exports to the United States under OAP became more positively related to export performance in the 1980s than it had been in the 1970s. For Asian NICs, non-OAP exports continued to outperform OAP exports.     

Constituency characteristics and legislative preferences

An important concern for testing any theory of legislative politics is how to measure legislative preferences. No existing measures are immune to criticism, so sound advice should be based on a balanced assessment of various types of measures. This study focuses on the ability of constituency characteristics to predict Senate roll call votes. Even in the best possible case, constituency-characteristic measures are shown to be deficient both absolutely and relative to supposedly crude, vote-based measures which as ADA ratings. The implication is that constituency-characteristic measures are inappropriate as direct measures of legislative preferences. However, the possibility remains that for some applications they are useful indirect measures, e.g., as right hand side variables that covary with legislative behavior of interest.