SUICIDE AS MURDER AT COMMON LAW: Another Chapter in the Falsification of Consensus Theory

The debate among advocates of consensus, pluralist. and Marxist views of the origins of criminal law continues to occupy a central position in contemporary theoretical criminology. This article assesses these positions through a historical inquiry into the law-making and-enforcing processes surrounding self-murder or suicide. Historical data on the criminalization and depenalization of suicide indicate that economic and fiscal interests shaped suicide laws, but these laws were unenforceable because of popular resistance. The significance of these findings for criminological theory is that laws generally thought to be based on consensus were instead grounded in conflict and struggle.     

THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL SUPPORTS ON POLICE STRESS*

Utilizing a theoretical perspective (the “social supports model”) increasingly applied by stress researchers in other fields, the present endeavor explores whether social supports operate to shield officers from the stresses emanating from police work To investigate this issue, 91 suburban officers were administered a questionnaire that contained scales measuring four job-related stressors, four types of social supports, and two forms of psychological stress—work and life. With regard to the stressors, the data analysis revealed that feelings of dangerousness were significantly and positively related to both stress scales, while shift change and court problems increased only general lye stress. It was also found that supervisory support mitigates work stress while family support helps to reduce more general psychological discomfort. These latter results rein force the assertion that future research could profit by systematically exploring the circumstances, such as social supports, which enable police to cope effectively with the more stressful features of their work.     

SELF-INTEREST,EQUITY, AND CRIME CONTROL: A GAME-THEORETIC ANALYSIS OF CRIMINAL DECISION MAKING

Employing the analytic technique of game theory, we attempt to answer questions about how individuals with different proclivities to use crime to accomplish ends, and different beliefs about society's fairness, are likely to respond to different incentives and disincentives that are derived from strain and neoclassical deterrence theories. Our analysis indicates that the crime control policies typically recommended by adherents of both theories are often logically invalid, given the premises upon which they are supposedly based. For example, our analysis suggests why punishment strategies like “three strikes and you're out” and “entitlement strategies” such as welfare and other short-term redistributive payment programs fail to deter crime. Finally, after including notions of equity with traditional rational choice assumptions, our analysis identifies a mix of theoretically derived strategies that may more effectively deter crime.     

RELIGION AND CRIME REEXAMINED: THE IMPACT OF RELIGION,SECULAR CONTROLS,AND SOCIAL ECOLOGY ON ADULT CRIMINALITY*

Since Hirschi and Stark's (1969) surprising failure to find religious (“hellfire”) effects on delinquency, subsequent research has generally revealed an inverse relationship between religiosity and various forms of deviance, delinquency, and crime. The complexity of the relationship and conditions under which it holds, however, continue to be debated. Although a few researchers have found that religion's influence is noncontingent, most have found support—especially among youths—for effects that vary by denomination, type of offense, and social and/or religious context. More recently the relationship has been reported as spurious when relevant secular controls are included. Our research attempts to resolve these issues by testing the religion-crime relationship in models with a comprehensive crime measure and three separate dimensions of religiosity. We also control for secular constraints, religious networks, and social ecology. We found that, among our religiosity measures, participation in religious activities was a persistent and noncontingent inhibiter of adult crime.     

The Liberian Centenary

As the republic of Liberia celebrated its centenary on the 26thJuly, the Liberian Minister was asked in May to address a jointmeeting, under the Chairmanship of Sir Drummond Shiels. Liberiaalways raises a number of important and delicate questions,so that we give a rather larger space than usual to discussion,and further comments by Mr. Lewis Smart, an engineer with extensiveknowledge of the subject.     

East African Development

This article represents the bulk of the speech by the Kenyapolitician now member of the E. African Central Assembly, toa joint meeting with the Royal Empire Society, under the Chairmanshipof Roger Norton, C.M.G., O.B.E., the East African Commissionerin London.     

What Next： beijing After the Olympics

FEW will argue that the recently concluded beijing Games will stand as a great example in the annals of the Olympic movement. but beyond the obvious, concrete legacies represented by beijing’s entirely modernized, envy-inducing infrastructure, the true impact of the 2008 Olympics will take time to manifest itself as China continues its march forward.     

London 2012：Young Chinese Athletes Begin to Prepare for Gold

CHINESE athletes achieved remarkable success at the XXIX Olympic Games,earning a record number of gold medals in disciplines long dominated by China,such as weightlifting,diving and gymnastics. But they also scored impressively in other events,such as swimming,fencing and archery,establishing a presence that is certain to reap victories in London in 2012.