Eyewitness identification by elderly and young adults

Elderly men and women and young males and females observed a simulated assault and theft of a wallet by a male assailant on a male victim. Two other people also were present in the criminal scenario, a female friend of the victim, and a female witness bystander. Young subject-witnesses were significantly superior to the elderly in verbal recall of details of the criminal episode. However, no reliable differences were found between the two age categories in recognition of the assailant, the victim, or friend. Women were superior to men and young people were superior to the elderly in identifying the bystander. Identification of the assailant was influenced by complex interactions of guilty or innocent facial appearances of the assailant and the victim, as well as the sex and age of the witnesses.     

Workplace codes as tools for workers

Workers face tremendous challenges in their fight to organise, both in terms of personal risk and the sheer number of obstacles. Overcoming such challenges requires multiple strategies and broad‐ranging collaboration. In this article we begin by reviewing the repression that workers face. We then look at how voluntary workplace codes might help workers organise. Using the SA8000 standard as an example, we look at some of the elements that could be most useful in organising workers. Finally, we look at a collaborative project between the International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers' Federation and Social Accountability International to develop a training programme that not only helps workers understand how to use codes to their benefit but also builds on their current organising and education strategies.     

Does choice lead to racially distinctive schools? Charter schools and household preferences

A persistent fear regarding school choice is that it will lead to more racially distinctive schools. A growing number of studies compares choosing households to non‐choosing households, but few have examined the possibility that choosers sort themselves out based upon school preferences that are correlated with race and ethnicity. This report addresses this issue by analyzing the responses of 1,006 charter school households in Texas. It first examines the expressed preferences of choosing households, then compares expressed preferences with behavior. A comparison of the characteristics of the traditional public schools that choosers leave with the characteristics of the charter schools they choose indicates that race is a good predictor of the choices that choosing households make. Whites, African Americans, and Latinos transfer into charter schools where their groups comprise between 11 and 14 percentage points more of the student body than the traditional public schools they are leaving. © 2002 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.     

Asia's deepening financial crisis: Japan as a critical uncertainty

Japan's response to the economic crisis in East Asia is critical, not only for Japan itself but also for the Asia‐Pacific region and for the world. Kent Calder, Special Advisor to the US Ambassador to Japan, argues that the massive Japanese economy can potentially serve as a locomotive for the region, and as a sturdy fire wall to prevent the crisis from spreading. To do this, Japan must stimulate its economy, open markets further to Asian imports, and strengthen its financial system. If it fails, Japan could become part of the problem, instead of part of the solution.     

Due Process and the Death Penalty: The Role of Prosecutorial Misconduct in Closing Argument in Capital Trials

Prosecutorial misconduct in closing argument during the penalty phase of capital trials can be defined as any disparaging or prejudicial statements calculated to influence the jury to consider improper factors in determining life in prison or the death penalty (Gaskill, 1991, p. 13). Improper statements made by the prosecutor during closing argument may jeopardize a defendant's right to a fair trial. While acknowledging such statements as misconduct, courts sometimes permit them on the theory that the presence of improper statements in closing argument would not change the juries' verdicts and therefore are not fundamentally unfair (Chapman v. California, 1967). The present study examined whether improper statements made by the prosecutor in closing argument during the penalty phase of a capital trial would result in more death penalty recommendations. Three hundred and twenty jury-eligible individuals viewed a videotape based on the penalty phase of an actual capital trial (Brooks v. State, 1977). Individuals exposed to improper statements made by the prosecutor in closing argument recommended the death penalty significantly more often than those not exposed to the statements.     

Toward the development of an objective assessment of ego-identity status

Four investigations were completed to develop a self-report measure of ego-identity status. Following James Marcia's definition of diffusion, moratorium, foreclosure, and identity achievement status, a series of Likert-type items were constructed and validated for use in the study of ego-identity formation. Convergent-divergent, concurrent, and predictive validity and test-retest reliability are documented in the reported data. Cross-sectional data suggest the measure will be sensitive to intraindividual change in identity formation. The new Objective Measure of Ego-Identity Status allows researchers to use either a typology or a distribution of stage responses in future longitudinal investigations.This research was supported by a Division of Research Grant at Utah State University.Received his Ph.D. in human development from the Pennsylvania State University. Current research interests include adolescent personality and social development, interpersonal attraction, and family relations.Received her M.S. from Utah State University and is currently a doctoral student at Pennsylvania State University.Received his B.S. from Utah State University and is currently a graduate student at that institution.     

The Australian Cross-border Justice Scheme: an evaluation of a unique policing experiment

Abstract

Spanning the three jurisdictions of Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory, the central Australian cross-border region is sparsely populated, with an estimated 7000 people living in some 26 communities. In 2009 a new initiative was introduced to the region – the Cross-border Justice Scheme. Its creation was driven primarily by a need to deliver a more people-centred system. The new arrangements were designed to promote high quality trans-jurisdictional practice by all key criminal justice institutions, namely police, prosecutions, courts and corrections, but especially police. This paper looks at the impetus of the Scheme from its political roots. It describes its implementation, and the evaluative process completed in 2013. Finally, it takes readers through the pivotal role played by police services, both in changing the environment in which the Scheme operated and in contributing to some positive but limited changes in cross-jurisdictional co-operation