The Relevance of Intention to Criminal Wrongdoing

In this paper, we defend the general thesis that intentions are relevant not only to moral permissibility and impermissibility, but also to criminal wrongdoing, as well as a specific version of the Doctrine of Double Effect that we believe can help solve some challenging puzzles in the criminal law. We begin by answering some recent arguments that marginalize or eliminate the role of intentions as components of criminal wrongdoing [e.g., Alexander and Ferzan (Crime and culpability: a theory of criminal law. Cambridge University Press, New York, 2009), Chiao (Crim Law Philos 4:37–55, 2010), Walen (Crim Law Philos 3:71–78, 2009)]. We then turn to some influential theories that articulate a direct role for intentions [e.g., Duff (Answering for crime: responsibility and liability in the criminal law. Hart Publishing, Portland, 2007), Husak (Crim Law Philos 3:51–70, 2009)]. While we endorse the commitment to such a role for intentions, we believe that extant theories have not yet been able to adequately address certain objections or solve certain puzzles, such as that some attempt convictions require criminal intent when the crime attempted, if successful, requires only foresight, and that some intended harms appear to be no more serious than non-intended ones of the same magnitude, for example. Drawing on a variety of resources, including the specific version of the Doctrine of Double Effect we have developed in recent published work, we present solutions to these puzzles, which in turn provide mutual support for our general approach to the role of intentions and for thinking that using others as means is itself a special kind of wrongdoing.     

Books

The Chinese Army after Mao, by Ellis Joffe. Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, 1987. 210 pp. £20. ISBN 0 6745 4849 3

Centre and Province in the People's Republic of China: Sichuan and Guizhou 1955–1965, by David S. G. Goodman. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1986. 257 pp. £22.50. ISBN 0 5213 2530 7.

The China Challenge, by David S. G. Goodman, Martin Lockett and Gerald Segal. (Chatham House Papers 32) Routledge and Kegan Paul, London, New York and Andover, 1986. 86 pp. £5.95 paperback. ISBN 0 7102 1111 2.

Understanding Communist China: Communist China Studies in the United States and the Republic of China, 1949–1978, by Tai‐chun Kuo and Ramon H. Myers. Hoover Institution Press, Stanford, California, 1986. 179 pp. £17.50 hardback, £9.95 paperback. ISBN 0 8197 8341 4 and 0 8179 8342 2.

The Myth of Japanese Uniqueness, by Peter N. Dale. Croom Helm, London, 1986. xi + 233 pp. £25. ISBN 0 7099 0899 7.

Mongolia: Politics, Economics and Society, by Alan J. K. Sanders. Francis Pinter, London, and Lynne Reinner, Boulder, 1987. xxii + 179 pp. £22.50 hardback, £6.95 paperback. ISBN 0 86187 430 7 and 0 86187 431 5.     

The leadership environment of public sector executives

Olshfski uses critical incident methodology to describe the leadership environment of state cabinet officials. The rich data set offers insight into how state executives (1) learn about their jobs, (2) exercise discretion to determine their policy agenda, and (3) operate in the political environment of state administration. She concludes by pointing out discrepancies in our understanding of leadership and offers suggestions for leadership, research, and teaching.

Somerset Maugham is said to have begun all his lectures by saying there are only three things that one must know in order to be a good writer: the only problem being that no one knows what those three things are. The same might be said of leadership research. For example, Stogdill's survey of leadership research contains over 3,000 references and Bass's revision documents over 5,000 references.⁽¹⁾ The preface to Stogdill's survey assesses the status of leadership research: “four decades of research on leadership have produced a bewildering mass of findings…. The endless accumulation of empirical data has not produced an integrated understanding of leadership. “⁽²⁾ A more pithy evaluation is offered by Bennis and Nanus, “never have so many labored so long to say so little.”⁽³⁾ Yet, most people still vigorously believe in the importance of the leader and leadership research.⁽⁴⁾

Recognizing the confusion in the field of leadership research, this study attempts to describe the context within which public executives operate. It is assumed that the executive's operating environment determines the extent to which leadership is possible. Critical incident methodology is used to illustrate how public sector executives conceptualize their environment and how they operate based on that conceptualization. This research is driven by two questions: What is the leadership environment of the state cabinet executive? Secondly, how does the leadership literature facilitate the understanding and interpretation of executive leadership in the public sector?     

Family violence and depressive symptomatology among incarcerated women

This study examines the potential association between witnessing parental violence as a child and later adult depressive symptomatology within a population that has received limited attention in the scientific literature, namely, incarcerated women. The Conflict Tactics Scale and the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale were administered to 60 women incarcerated in a maximum security prison in North Carolina. A majority of the women reported that they had witnessed verbally aggressive or physically violent interactions among the adult members in their families. Seventy percent of these women suffered from clinically relevant levels of depressive symptomatology. Stepwise multiple linear regression analysis revealed that increasing levels of reasoning conflict resolution strategies used in the women's families of origin were associated with decreasing levels of depressive symptomatology of the women, whereas increasing levels of physically violent conflict resolution strategies were associated with increasing levels of depressive symptomatology.