A status passage analysis of the defendant's progress through the Magistrates' Court

One possible solution to the problem of subjectivity in the interpretation of social phenomena is the application of models derived from formal grounded theory, since such models make explicit the writer's perspective and the assumptions he or she brings to the social situation. This article uses the Status Passage Theory of Glaser and Strauss (1971) to analyze systematically the way in which English Magistrates' Courts deal with defendants. It identifies various features in the courtroom and precourtroom processes and in the attitudes of the courtroom professionals that appear consistent with the view that the social degradation of offenders is an implicit, yet important, objective of these courts. Finally, comparisons are made between the lower criminal courts in England and the United States and tentative explanations offered as to why differences exist between social degradation aspects of the two systems.This article is an abridged and revised section of the author's LL.M. thesis. Many of the revisions are the result of helpful comments made by Tony Bottoms, Peter Moodie, and Barbara Harrel-Bond on the original thesis.     

Last rights. In sickness and in health, more people are taking life's biggest decision away from doctors and into their own hands

When dying is all that awaits them, more and more people are choosing certain death now rather than uncertain life on medical support systems. But the decision seldom comes easy, as a Newsweek reporter discovers during three weeks with the doctors, nurses, patients and families in an intensive-care ward. A best-selling guide to suicide fires debate over when it is right to let life go--and who should make that choice when the patient no longer can.     

食品安全企业标准备案的定位与走向

《食品安全法》(2015)鼓励企业制定严于食品安全国家标准或地方标准的企业标准,且应当报省级卫生行政部门备案。该法对备案的性质和内容未作明确规定,已经在学界和实务界引起分歧。结合食品安全企业标准的制度史,以及修法前食品安全企业标准备案的两难境地,新法中的食品安全企业标准备案应该定位为对"更严型标准"的备案,且应进行必要的比对审查,审查要点在于文本规范性、内容完整性和标准更严性。当下的食品安全企业标准备案制是传统上"政府包干"到"适当放松加审查把关"的制度演变的残余,该制度在未来应考虑废除。     

试析女婢在华人与其他民族交往中的媒介作用——以吧城华人公馆《公案簿》资料为基础

吧城华人社会中的异族女婢极少受到学界关注,然而由于其特殊的社会关系和群体地位,她们在华人与其他民族之间充当着相当重要的交往媒介。主要表现在:其一,直接介入华人婚姻,形成华人与其他民族之间的血缘关系;其二,诱使华人女子私奔、私通于异族家庭,促动非合法形式的民族通婚;其三,介入华人经济生活,在华人商贸往来中沟通双方;其四,沟通着华人与其他民族之间的文化联系,在双方文化交流中具有不可忽视的作用。