Design protection Italian style

Legal context and key points. The particular geographical structureof Italy has favoured the development of parallel cultures thatin the past competed not only with spears and arrows, but alsowith works of art -hence, the particular sensitivity of theItalians for design. The Community regime of design is highly unsatisfactory, andthe "individual character" required for protection is an evanescentconcept. "Design approach" is a sexy expression, but devoidof practical significance. The risk is therefore of excessiveprotection, of the hugely and non-distinctive.This is not welcomedby the Italians and may also damage the development of design. Practical significance. An independent (non-judicial) body hasbeen created in Italy, to adjudge (or rather, advise) when awork of design deserves protection. It is suggested that a similarindependent body be created on a European scale (and perhapsthis Journal may function as a catalyst for this endeavour).     

The Canadian constitutional amending formula: Bargaining in the past and the future

Public Choice - The amending formula of Canada's Constitution Act, 1982 is analysed and assessed, as are a variety of alternative formulae, some of which were actually proposed and then...     

Author Index of Volume 14

Authors Index

Author Index of Volume 14     

A multivariate analysis of sex offender recidivism

Sex offender recidivism risk is a multifaceted phenomenon requiring consideration across multiple risk factor domains. The impact of treatment involvement and subsequent recidivism is given limited attention in comparison to other forensic mental health issues. The present analysis is a retrospective study of sex offenders treated at a secure facility utilizing a cognitive-behavioral program matched with an untreated correctional sample. Variables studied included demographic, criminal history, offense related, and treatment progress. Recidivism was assessed through arrest data. Multivariate analysis suggests that recidivism is significantly related to quality of treatment involvement, offender demographics, offense characteristics, and criminal history. Successfully treated offenders were significantly less likely to subsequently reoffend. Recidivists were also significantly younger, less likely married, had engaged in more victim grooming or less violent offending behavior, and had significantly more prior property charges. The authors discuss the clinical and policy implications of the interrelationship between treatment involvement and recidivism.     

Cultures in Orbit,or Justi-fying Differences in Cosmic Space: On Categorization,Territorialization and Rights Recognition

The many constraints of outer space experience challenge the human ability to coexist. Paradoxically, astronauts assert that on the international space station there are no conflicts or, at least, that they are able to manage their differences, behavioral as well as cognitive, in full respect of human rights and the imperatives of cooperative living. The question is: Why? Why in those difficult, a-terrestrial, and therefore almost unnatural conditions do human beings seem to be able to peacefully and collaboratively live together? What is there beyond terrestrial boundary conditions that allows for such a result? And what can we learn from the astronauts’ experience about the (lack of) effectiveness of human rights on Earth? My proposal is that the a-terrestrial dimension deeply alters the mind/body indexical framework and, in this way, disentangles the human inclination to semiosis from the cognitive and behavioral habits of categorization and territorialization inherent in the experience on Earth. If analyzed through the spectrum of an interdisciplinary approach involving anthropology, semiology, law, and human geography, I think that outer space enterprises can offer many insights into the cognitive and ethical/political hindrances to the effectiveness of human rights and their intercultural uses. Meanwhile the compulsive greed for a possessive territorialization of outer space and celestial bodies is growing by leaps and bounds. It haunts and imbues both astropolitics and space law. The astronauts’ semio-anthropological experience of human rights and cooperative coexistence seems to have been left in orbit. The future requires awareness and action by anthropologists, semioticians, cognitive scientists, geographers and lawyers, working all together in an interdisciplinary effort to move beyond approaching the experiential with a territorial mindset. The hope is that the “dark dream” of human exploitation/colonization of outer space will not turn from a political and legal speculation into a future reality.     

A Closer Look at an Eye for an Eye: Laypersons’ Punishment Decisions Are Primarily Driven by Retributive Motives

According to recent research on laypersons’ punitive attitudes people’s sentencing decisions are primarily driven by a desire for retribution. The research designed to test this notion, however, can be criticized for suffering from several limitations. Three online-based studies were conducted with samples from Western Europe with the aim of replicating the findings of Carlsmith (J Exp Soc Psychol 42:437–451, 2006) in which participants’ punishment motives were inferred from their behavior in a process tracing task. In the present research, this approach was adopted and modified in order to provide a more conservative test for the notion that people mainly care about retribution. Although these modifications strongly influenced the overall pattern of results, retribution still was the most important punishment motive in all three studies.     

Social Impact Bonds: Blockbuster or Flash in a Pan?

Despite the general hype, Social Impact Bonds’ (SIB) rate of adoption is still modest. The mismatch between widespread interest and actual adoption raises interesting questions as to whether we are still in the early adoption phase of SIBs and massive diffusion is yet to come, or we are observing a marginal phenomenon. In order to shed some light on this issue, the paper provides a review of the cases in which the SIB model has been already applied, exploring the specific configuration employed, with the purpose to identify regular configuration patterns and their deviation from a prototypical structure.