Hiroshima and the Historians: History as Relative Truth

As is clear from the historiography of the US decision to use the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, the judgments of historians are relative to the time, place, and perspective from which they are writing. There are four major schools of historical interpretation of the decision. First is the orthodox view that was offered by the participants in the decision. Second is the revisionist view of historians writing during the era of the Vietnam war who adopted a much more critical interpretation. Third is an interpretive school that gives weight to the Japanese role and responsibility. Finally, the author's view is found in a more long-range perspective that finds the momentum created by President Roosevelt's unconditional surrender policy as the decisive factor. This policy provoked unconditional resistance in the Japanese military. By 1945 the legacy of Roosevelt's policy was firmly embedded in American public opinion. Historians have reached no consensus among these different interpretive schools.     

The Impact of Victim Demographics on Case Outcomes in Delinquency Proceedings: An Empirical Test

While the impact of the defendant's sex and race on processing decisions is well researched, less is known about the impact of the victim's sex and race on juvenile court decision making. Using data from the juvenile court in St. Louis, Missouri, this study explores direct and interactive effects of the victim's sex and race on outcome decisions for juvenile offenders. Findings suggest that legal differences account for most of the observed differences in detention, commitment and adjudication among the sample studied.     

Regulator-Required Corporate Compliance Program Audits

This paper critically examines the ability of compliance program audits to provide adequate assurance of compliance system performance. The empirical evidence comes from the use of compliance program audits in monitoring compliance with enforceable undertakings agreed upon between companies (that have allegedly breached the law) and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. The evidence suggests that the primary value of compliance program audits in this context is as a management review that induces better compliance. Nevertheless, it may be the formal regulatory expectation of verification (and the belief that it is possible) that gives the compliance review its power to encourage management to listen and respond to auditors' recommendations for improvement.
The danger is that the review aspect of the audit will be captured by management concerns. This is evident in a tendency for the audit methodology to focus on management systems at the expense of forensic investigation of harm done (or likely to be done) to consumers and investors, and in a failure to seek out public opinion and input. This style of audit undermines the basic regulatory objective of democratic accountability for corporate responsibility. I conclude by using the literature on critical social audits to show that there is, nonetheless, significant potential for compliance program audits to open corporate management to democracy, and to make some suggestions as to how this might be possible.     

Sex, lies, and videotape: The presentation of sex crime in local television news

The portrayal of sex crime in popular media is distorted and sensational. The media propagate several myths about sex crime and provide numerous inaccuracies about the nature and level of sex crime. Employing content analysis, this research sought to systematically and critically explore the presentation of sex crime in local television newscasts. The results revealed that approximately 10 percent of crime stories were sex related. In addition, the results suggested that sex crime stories were more likely to present fear, while being less likely to appear sensational or report motives. Finally, unlike the majority of crime stories, sex crime stories were more likely to be reported in the later stages of criminal justice, which included the court, sentencing, and disposition phase. These findings are discussed within the context of common depictions of sex crime. Essentially, victim credibility and fear are universal themes within the context of sex crime presentation.     

The emerging public service culture: values,ethics, and reforms

Abstract: Many public organizations have acknowledged the importance of shared valries to orpnizational success by developing a statement of their core values. These statements are a rich source of data on the values that these organizations deem to be most central to successful governance. Some experts argue that a focus on values is a preferable alternative both to restructuring an organization and to relying on rules for internal management. Rased in part on an analysis of the value statements of public organizations, this paper draws four conclusions. First, the new values associated with the new model of public organization have rapidly permeated the value system of the public service. Second, some of the new values reinforce some of the traditional ones. Third, the emerging public service culture will contain a blend of old and new values. Finally, three traditional values - integrity, accountability and fairness, equity — will occupy an especially prominent place in that emerging culture. Sommaire: Ayant reconnu que le succès d'une organisation exige le partage de valeurs communes, de nombreux organismes publics ont élaboré un énoncé de leurs valeurs fondamentales. Ces énoncés constituent une source précieuse de données sur les valeurs que ces organisations considèrent essentielles à une bonne gouverne. Selon certains experts, il est préférable de mettre l'accent sur les valeurs plutôt que de restructurer l'organisation ou de faire appel aux règles pour la gestion interne. Fondé en partie sur une analyse des énoncés de valeurs d'organismes publics, cet article propose quatre conclusions. Premièrement, les nouvelles valeurs associées au nouveau modèle d'organisation publique se sont rapidement frayé un chemin dans la fonction publique. Deuxièmement, certaines des nouvelles valeurs renforcent des valeurs traditionnelles. Troisièmement, la nouvelle culture de la fonction publique contiendra un mélange de valeurs anciennes et nouvelles. Quatrièmement, trois valeurs traditionnelles, à savoir, l'intégrité, la responsabilité et l'équité, occuperont une place de choix au sein de cette culture naissante.