The Electronic Pillory: Social Time and Hostility Toward Capital Murderers

In early modern Europe, popular hostility toward criminals could be expressed through the use of the pillory (a device in which offenders were restrained and publicly displayed). Modern electronic communications have facilitated the emergence of contemporary versions of the pillory. One such example is prodeathpenalty.com , a Web site created by supporters of capital punishment that permits members to post comments about particular executions. Most such comments are markedly hostile toward the convicted offender. But is the hostility random or patterned? A new theory by Donald Black predicts that hostility will increase with changes in social space, or the movement of social time. Testing Black's theory, we find that the number of online comments hostile to the killer and supportive of the execution increases with the degree to which the murder was a movement of relational, vertical, and cultural time. Moving beyond the electronic pillory, we argue that Black's theory has much to offer to law and society scholars.     

作为规制与治理工具的行政许可

源于私人生活中财产权人授权他人分享自己财产权实践的行政许可,正成为一种引人注目的政府规制与治理工具。作为治理工具,行政许可承载了一系列不同的社会目标,规制有时只是其中一个主要目标。当行政许可被限定为规制工具时,可以假定其核心是实现对特定行为的控制,具体机制包括信息收集、准入控制、行为监管以及许可的执行。尽管许可制度具有筛选市场主体并对他们进行识别和规制等积极作用,但同时也存在巨大的负面作用,如限制和阻碍竞争、可能导致权力滥用,而且许可制度是有成本的。政府在采取许可制度过程中,应考虑其他能够达成相同制度目标的替代性工具。     

Book reviews

Status of pinnipeds relevant to the European Union. By P.J. H. Reijnders, G. Verriopoulos and S. M.J. M. Brasseur (eds.). DLO Institute for Forestry and Nature Research (IBN‐DLO), Wageningen. 195 pp. 1997.

Metapopulatlons and Wildlife Conservation. By D. R. McCullough (ed.). Island Press, Washington, DC. $29.95. 429 pp. 1996.

Biodiversity in the Seas: Implementing the Convention on Biological Diversity In Marine and Coastal Habitats. By A. C de Fontaubert, D. R. Downes, and T. S. Agardy. IUCN, Cambridge. $17.50. 92 pp. 1996.

The Marine Mammal Commission Compendium of Selected Treaties, International Agreements, and Other Relevant Documents on Marine Resources, Wildlife, and the Environment: First Update. Compiled by R L. Wallace. U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 1017 pp. 1997.

The Biology of Sea Turtles By Peter Lutz and John Musick (eds.). CRC Press. 432 pp. 1996.     

气候变化与美国国家安全部门:气候变化问题的安全化

通过分析安全研究领域中人们普遍采用的几种建构主义安全化研究理论,来解读美国气候变化问题安全化的过程,可以发现:在诠释气候变化问题的安全化过程这个问题上,以实践为核心的社会科学理论或分析性框架比注重话语分析的社会科学理论或分析性框架更加有效。强调将实践上的变化作为成功构建安全的标准,这就将目标指向了如何将科学认识加以社会构建这一理论工作。把安全化当做一种更为普遍的认识构建过程的一个具体案例,这将可能将我们导向一种理论的改良,这种改良的理论所要描述的是一个更为广大的由行为主体和网络构成的整体构架,一个随时间推移产生的新兴现象的知识演变过程,一个文件与言论发挥多重作用的复杂话语体系。此外,要想更好地理解气候变化问题在国家层面上的安全化进程,一个很有价值的做法就是进行比较案例研究,特别是同以中国为代表的国家进行对比,因为中国在气候政策决策上推行的是一种经济发展框架。中美在气候政策方面的关系缓和推动了2015年巴黎气候大会的召开,这一事例将为比较案例研究提供一个有趣的框架。     

Boko Haram,bandits and slave-raiders: identities and violence in a Central African borderland

ABSTRACT

Boko Haram is a religiously motivated insurgency with a complex history in Nigeria and origins in urban Maiduguri. Through most of its existence Boko Haram has shown an affinity for border regions: the frontier zones between Nigeria and Niger, the Mandara Mountains on the border with Cameroon, and the shorelines and islands of Lake Chad. This paper argues that this is an historically mediated process. Boko Haram as a borderland phenomenon echoes the hijra of Usman dan Fodio, but also structured forms of violence and wealth creation that have historically united elites and their followers in the region. Moreover, there are continuities between the actions and actors associated with earlier phases of border violence and processes involving Boko Haram today. This suggests that Boko Haram will not be “defeated,” but rather that the region will see a reversion to forms of border violence that were prevalent as recently as the early 2000s.     

Mental Health Services for ‘Difficult’ women: Reflections on Some Recent Developments

The provision of mental health services to women has come sharply into focus for providers of secure psychiatric services in the UK. Women's services are being developed in response to the known risks of mixed-sex provision, and a growing appreciation of the ways that women in secure services can be further disadvantaged by their minority status. Our intention here is to present evidence and reflections to help inform this development. The evidence is drawn from our recent work in this field, which includes carrying out a review of local mental health services for ‘difficult’ women, and developing and piloting a national training programme for staff working with women in secure services. The reflections we offer are informed by the conviction that taking social inequalities into account is central to making sense of women's mental health difficulties, and improving service responses to women's needs. While there are signs that many mental health workers in secure services are beginning to share these convictions, the challenge now is to provide the necessary authorization, training and support that will enable them to translate these understandings into empowerment practice with women.