Juror decision making in the capital penalty trial

Two factors thought to influence jurors' penalty decisions in capital trials—the nature of the crime committed and the defense's portrayal of the convicted offender's character—were examined. Mock jurors were death-qualified and exposed to one of twelve simulated penalty trials. Each trial was comprised of one of three capital crimes and one of four defense strategies. Jurors were least punitive in robbery-murder conditions and most punitive in multiple murder conditions. A conceptual argument against capital punishment was the most effective defense; a mental illness defense was the least effective. Penalty decisions were mediated by three attributional variables: (a) juror perceptions of the defendant's volition, (b) juror perceptions of the defendant's future dangerousness, and (c) juror perceptions of the relative competency of the opposing attorneys.This article is based on the author's dissertation which received an Honorable Mention in the 1985 SPSSI Dissertation Prize competition. The research was made possible by grants from the University of California, Santa Cruz and Division 41 of the American Psychological Association. The author is indebted to Craig Haney, Elliot Aronson, and Dane Archer for their valuable suggestions and support.     

The evolution of employment in Mexico: 1895-1980

Employment figures from the Mexican national census are the basis for this analysis of employment changes in Mexico between 1895-1980. The work identifies longterm trends in the volume and composition of employment and distinguishes 3 main periods in the evolution of employment. The first period, from 1895-1930, marked the end of a stage of development lasting until about 1907 in which sufficient internal stability was achieved to support Mexico's entrance into the world market. Export of agricultural products and metals was the principal focus of economic growth. Construction of roads and railroads was a central element of progress. But economic and social problems manifested in regional disparities, concentration of wealth, conflicts between economic sectors, low pay for agricultural workers, and fierce social and political control characterized the period and culminated in the Mexican Revolution. After the first decade of the 20th century the ability of the economy to absorb new workers began to decline, and the falling of crude activity rates was not reversed until the 1940s. During the 1920s, total employment increased less than 6%, reflecting a net increase of 403,000 male workers and a decrease of 110,000 female workers. The second major period of employment from 1930-1970 saw the change from an economy based on export of primary products to one based on manufacturing for the internal market. There were 2 subperiods, a stage of transition from 1930-50, the economy registered marked fluctuations, but by the 1940s the consolidation of state power and important reforms permitting expansion of the internal market were factors in an accelerated growth of employment relative to the preceding intercensal period. Despite considerable increases in agricultural employment, the relative share of the agricultural sector in total employment was beginning a decline. Employment registered the highest growth rates of the century in the 1940s and exceeded population growth. The increased employment was explained by accelerated growth and accumulation in manufacturing along with increases in commerce, services, construction, and agriculture. From 1950-70, industrial development was consolidated, and there was a generalized expansion in employment in manufacturing as well as in the secondary and tertiary sectors. The economy was less able to absorb new labor, primarily because the agricultural sector had reached the limits of expansion in both the commercial and peasant sector by 1965, at just the time that population growth was most rapid. During the 1970s, manufacturing employment grew less rapidly because of modernization, almost exclusive orientation to the internal market which limited expansion, and scarcity of funds for importing capital goods. A new model of growth will be needed if Mexico is to escape its present stagnation, and a significant share of economic activity will need to be oriented to export. Until this process is consolidated, the national economy is unlikely to show signs of sustained recuperation.     

Reviews

Alexander Yanov, The drama of the Soviet 1960s: a lost reform. Institute of International Studies, University of California, Berkeley, 1984, 141 pp. $8.50.

Karen Dawisha, The Kremlin and the Prague Spring. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1984, xiv + 426 pp. £22.50.

Christer Jônsson, Superpower: Comparing American and Soviet Foreign Policy. London: Francis Pinter, 1984, viii + 248 pp. £18.50.

Joseph Nye, The Making of America's Soviet Policy. Yale University Press, 1984, £20.00.

Alexander Dallin, Black Box: KAL 007 and the superpowers. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1985, xii + 130 pp. £14.25.

Alex Kozulin, Psychology in Utopia. Toward a Social History of Soviet Psychology, Cambridge Massachusetts, London: The MIT Press, 1984, xi + 179 pp. £16.65.

Timothy Edward O'Connor, The Politics of Soviet Culture. Anatolii Lunacharskii. Ann Arbor: UMI Research Press, and London: Bowker Publishing Company, 1984,193 pp. £35.50.

Alexander Vucinich, Empire of Knowledge. The Academy of Sciences of the USSR (1917–1970). Berkeley and London: University of California Press, 1984, x + 484 pp. £23.95

Lawrence Badash, Kapitza, Rutherford, and the Kremlin. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1985, xi + 129 pp. £20.00.

Mark Popovsky, The Vavilov Affair. Archon, Hamden, Connecticut, 1984, viii + 216 pp. £21.40.

Timothy Dunmore, Soviet Politics 1945–53 London: Macmillan Press Ltd., 1984, vi + 167 pp. £20.00.

George Ginsburgs, The Citizenship Law of the USSR, Law in Eastern Europe No. 25 (general editor F. J. M. Feldbrugge). The Hague, Boston, Lancaster: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1983, 406 pp. £50.00.

R. F. Miller and F. Féhér (eds.), Khrushchev and the Communist World. London and Canberra: Croom Helm and Totowa, New Jersey: Barnes and Noble Books, 1984, 243 pp. £15.95.

Michael Haynes, Nikolai Bukharin and the Transition from Capitalism to Socialism, Beckenham, Kent: Croom Helm Ltd., 1985, vii + 136 pp. £14.95.

Bernd Bonwetsch (ed.), Zeitgeschichte Osteuropas als Methoden‐ und Forschungsprob‐lem. Osteuropaforschung: Schriftenreihe der Deutschen Gesellschaft fur Osteuropa‐kunde, Band 13. Berlin: Verlag Arno Spitz, 1985, 192 pp. DM 28,00.

Marie Lavigne, Economie Internationale des pays Socialistes, Paris: Armand Colin, 1985, 255 pp.

Marcel Drach, La crise dans tes pays de l'Est, Paris: Editions La Découverte, 1984, 127 pp. FF. 31.

L. Csaba, Kelet‐Europa a Világgazdaságban. (Eastern Europe in the World Economy), Budapest: Közgazdasági és Jogi Könyvkiadö, 1984, 316 pp., bibliography but no index.

Michael Shafir, Romania: Politics, Society and Economics, London: Frances Pinter, 1985, xvii + 232 pp. h/b £18–50, p/b £6.95.

Nicholas G. Andrews, Poland 1980–81. Solidarity versus the Party, Washington: National Defense University Press, 1985, xii + 351 pp.

Peter Raina, Poland 1981. Towards Socialist Renewal, London: George Allen & Unwin, 1985, vii + 472 pp. £20.00.

Stephen D. Kertesz, Between Russia and the West: Hungary and the Illusions of Peacemaking 1945–1947, London and Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1985, xix + 299 pp. £18.95.

Mårta‐Lisa Magnusson (ed.), Bogen i Sovjet. Fra forfatter til laeser, Esbjerg: Sydjysk Universitetsforlag, 1985, 106 pp. p/b, 74–75 DK Kr.

Margit Nielsen, Udenrigsøkonomi i Østeuropa—tilpasning eller krise? Esbjerg: Sydjysk Universitetsforlag, 1985, 99 pp. p/b, 65–00 DK Kr.     

Adjunctive use of scanning electron microscopy in bite mark analysis: a three-dimensional study

An examination of a case in which adjunctive use of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) demonstrated the presence of unusual three-dimensional characteristics in a bite mark. Despite the fact that many bite marks do not show "depth," demonstration of the presence of this third dimension can produce significant data for evidentiary purposes. In some instances, these data may transform what seem to be class characteristics of a bite mark into individual characteristics and thus impart much more uniqueness to the evidence. Because of the high level of resolution and magnification of SEM, some three-dimensional characteristics not visible to the eye can be shown quite clearly by its use. Emphasis will be given to the value of SEM as a tool of the forensic odontologist in bite mark analysis.     

Book reviews

Handbook of Legal Information Retrieval Edited by J Bing, Norwegian Research Centre for Computers and Law, Oslo, in co‐operation with T Fjeldvig, T Harvold and R Svoboda North‐Holland 1984, US $96.25

Information Technology: The Challenge to Copyright. James Lahore, Gerald Dworkin and Yvonne Smyth Sweet & Maxwell and The Centre for Commercial Law Studies 1984, £12.00

Data Processing and the Law Edited by Colin Campbell Sweet and Maxwell 1984, £20.00

Le droit des Contrats Informatiques — Principes — Applications Centre de Recherches informatique et droit des Facultes Universitaires de Namur Maison Ferdinand Larder (Brussels), 1983, 45 FB

Computer Insecurity Adrian R.D. Norman Chapman and Hall 1983, £14.95

The Data Protection Act Richard Sizer and Philip Newman Gower Publishing, 1984, £16.95

The Data Protection Act 1984 Professor Bryan Niblett Oyez Longman Publishing, 1984, £18.00

The Data Protection Act 1984 — A Guide to the New Legislation J. A. L. Sterling CCH Editions, 1984, £15.00

Privacy and Data Protection — An International Bibliography Professor David H. Flaherty Mansell Publishing, 1984, £23.50

Computer Contracts R Morgan & G Stedman Oyez Longman Publishing 1984, 2nd Edition, £27.50

Computer Contracts Handbook Michele Rennie Sweet & Maxwell 1984, £15.00

Computer Contracts — An International Guide to Agreements and Software Protection Hilary Pearson Financial training 1984, £14.95     

Defining risk

Risk is the focal topic in the management of many activities and technologies. For that management to be successful, an explicit and accepted definition of the term risk is essential. Creation of that definition is a political act, expressing the definers' values regarding the relative importance of different possible adverse consequences for a particular decision. Those values, and with them the definition of risk, can change with changes in the decisionmaker, the technologies considered, or the decision problem. After a review of the sources of controversy in defining risk, a general framework is developed, showing how these value issues can be systematically addressed. As an example, the approach is applied to characterizing the risks of six competing energy technologies, the relative riskeness of which depends upon the particular definition used.