The Place of Form in the Fundamentals of Law

The author explains that there is scope for a general theory about the nature and place of form in the fundamentals of law. Form organizes the institutions, rules and other varieties of law, and the system as a whole. All such constructs have non‐formal elements, too, but form unifies each construct and provides its criteria of identity. Appropriate form makes a system of law possible. It also tends to beget good content in the law. It is indispensable to the basic needs of a legal system, and when such an end is organizational, as with democracy, liberty, and the rule of law, form is end as well as means.     

Substance Use and Intimate Violence Among Incarcerated Males

The purpose of this study was to examine substance use patterns among a sample of incarcerated males who report engaging in levels of intimate violence, as well as identifying similarities and differences in demographic, economic status, mental health, criminal justice involvement, relationships, and treatment factors for three groups of incarcerated males - those who report perpetrating low intimate violence, those who report perpetrating moderate intimate violence, and those who report perpetrating extreme intimate violence the year preceding their current incarceration. Findings indicated that low intimate violence group's perpetration consisted almost exclusively of emotional abuse. Moderately intimate violent males and extremely intimate violent males, however, report not only high rates of emotional abuse but physical abuse as well. The distinction between moderate and extremely violent groups was substantial. Findings also indicated that perpetrators at different levels of violence in this study did not vary significantly in age, employment history, marital status, or race. However, the three groups showed significant differences in three main areas: (1) cocaine and alcohol use patterns, (2) stranger violence perpetration and victimization experiences, and (3) emotional discomfort. Implications for substance abuse and mental health treatment interventions and for future research are discussed.     

In other journals

Historical Foundations of the Common Law, Second Edition. S.F.C. Milson . London 1981. Butterworths. pp xii &; 475 (incl. Index). £18 cased, £11.95 limp.?

Marriage Settlements 1601–1740. Lloyd Bonfield. Cambridge 1983. Cambridge University Press, xviii &; 136 pp. (incl. index). £19.50.

The English and Colonial Bars in the 19th Century, Daniel Duman, London, 1983. Croom Helm, xv + 228 pp. (incl. index). £13.95.     

Book review/dangerous offenders and endangered justice

Mark H. Moore, Susan R. Estrich, Daniel McGillis, and William Spelman, Dangerous Offenders: The Elusive Target of Justice Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1984, vi + 252 pp.