Moving from Evidence‐Light to Evidence‐Based Practice: Randomized Control Trials in Family Law

In a resource‐constrained environment, such as the access to justice field, it is critical to develop better knowledge about effective and efficient service delivery. This article discusses the need for more rigorous evaluation and research in the field, both in order to better reach individuals with legal needs and to maximize court resources. Various evaluation methodologies will be explained, along with examples of current randomized control trial studies being conducted at the Harvard Access to Justice Lab.     

Displaced discretion under Ohio sentencing guidelines

The argument that curbing judicial sentencing discretion generates more prosecutorial discretion at earlier decision points in case processing received little empirical attention beyond Miethe's (1987) before/after study of the Minnesota guidelines. This article presents an examination of whether Ohio's sentencing reform resulted in significant changes in prosecutorial decisions related to indictment severity, dropped charges, charge reductions, and overall plea bargains. The implementation of determinate sentencing guidelines corresponded with a significant yet modest increase in the likelihood of charge reductions only. Some changes also occurred in the specific effects of various defendant characteristics on some of the outcomes examined, but these changes did not uniformly result in harsher dispositions for defendants facing greater social and economic disadvantage. Similar to Miethe's observation regarding Minnesota's sentencing scheme, any increase in levels of prosecutorial discretion that might have occurred under Ohio's latest scheme had not resulted in substantive extra-legal disparities in case dispositions.     

Examining Media Coverage of Drugs in Malaysian Media

Asian Journal of Criminology - It has been well-established that, in the USA, the news media contributes to the construction of moral panics regarding the use and users of various types of drugs....     

The Relationship Between Anxiety Disorders and Substance Use Among Adolescents in the Community: Specificity and Gender Differences

Using a sample of 781 adolescents (ages 13–17, 52.8% male) from a community survey, this study examined gender differences in the co-occurrence of specific anxiety disorders with substance use in adolescents. The associations between anxiety disorders and substance use differed according to the particular anxiety disorders and forms of substance use being examined, as well as by gender. Social phobia was associated with cigarette smoking among boys only. For girls, social phobia appeared to be negatively associated with drug use. For the other anxiety disorders, the associations with substance use tended to be stronger among girls. These findings highlight the need to improve clinical recognition of the anxiety disorders and to improve treatment access for afflicted adolescents. Future studies based on longitudinal data could further elucidate the relationships among anxiety disorders, gender, and substance use.     

Major Combat Operations and Counterinsurgency Warfare: Plan Challe in Algeria, 1959–1960

In 1959–60, the French Army in Algeria achieved a major tactical and operational military success under the command of General Maurice Challe, in which the French destroyed half of the combat capability of the Algerian insurgency. Rather than adopting a population-centric, or “hearts and minds,” approach to coin, the French Army created an innovative method for military success based on the use of major combat operations against the military power of the insurgency. The success of major combat operations in Plan Challe is omitted or dismissed in most of the Algerian War historiography, which focuses instead on French pacification. An analysis of Plan Challe, however, provides lessons and examples for the conduct of a successful sustained counterguerrilla campaign, a coercive method seldom discussed in current debates over coin warfare.