Solving Problems

IN the late 1970s, Chinese uni-versities reopened after a 10-yearhiatus during the "cultural revolu-tion." Back then, students werethrilled to have the opportunityof college education that had been de-nied to so many of their elder brothersand sisters, and elation was the prevalentmood on campus. A quarter of a centurylater, the picture is very different. Facingleaner prospects in a highly competitivejob market, the heavy responsibilities ofan only child, and a range of other socialand econom…     

New Playgrounds for ＂Little Emperors＂

Wealth and Western influence are among the factors behind an emerging group of pleasure-seeking Chinese youths. STEREOTYPICALLY, a Chinese youngster studies long hours, obeys his parents and is righteousness personified. Kids that shoot pool, chainsmoke cigarettes and listen to expletive-loaded rap music are meanwhile     

POLICE VIOLENCE AS A FUNCTION OF COMMUNITY CHARACTERISTICS

The authors find that existing models concerning police violence are not i designed to explain variation among the states in the rates of police use ‘of deadly force. This variation correlates significantly with numerous cultural attributes of the public. The strongest correlates are with the public rates of violence. Therefore, the authors propose to moody existing modeb, and explain the police use of violence as a response to community characteristics. Where public violence is neither normative nor commonly occurrent. the police will be self-restrained. Where the incidence of violence reveals a common means of conflict resolution, the police will adopt its use. Thus, the police use of violence is a culturally determined characteristic and not a police pathology.     

AWAITING THE CROWN'S PLEASURE The Case of Daniel M'Naughton

This article seeks to place the Daniel M'Naughton case in its political context: to argue that the court's verdict of insanity cannot be satisfactorily understood unless it is recognized that Daniel M'Naughton was apolitical criminal. The insanity verdict served to discredit M'Naughton and the political ideas he represented by interpreting his act as the product of a diseased mind. The widespread political problems that the Tory government was experiencing throughout Britain were reduced to a personal problem plaguing Daniel M'Naughton. By regarding Daniel M'Naughton as a criminal lunatic incapable of distinguishing right from wrong, the court indicated that the explanation for his behavior would have to be sought in medical or psychiatric terms instead of in political terms.     

ORGANIZATIONAL NORMS AND POLICE DISCRETION.

This essay explores the issues involved in designing public policies. It suggests that those programs not well designed will generate inappropriate expectations for success. This lack of design sophistication may not lead to well-conceived methods for achieving stated objectives. Taking the Low Enforcement Assistance Administration's Community Anti-Crime Program as an example, the paper analyzes the implicit sociological theory which guided the development of this new and important program. The essay concludes by highlighting some of the important contributions the Community Anti-Crime Program can make in the criminal justice policy arena despite its conceptual shortcomings. While design problems may hinder the implementation of programs, they do not necessarily have to cripple them.