Developing a Multicenter Randomized Trial in Criminology: The Case of HIDTA

In criminal justice, as in other fields, an experimental study conducted ata single site does not offer a solid basis upon which to make strong publicpolicy recommendations. To date, criminal justice researchers have reliedupon two general approaches to overcome the limitations of single-siteexperimental research. The first, termed ``meta-analysis, seeks tocombine independent studies to identify consistent effects across criminaljustice settings or contexts. The second, sometimes termed replicationstudies, seeks to replicate investigations in multiple criminaljustice jurisdictions. In this paper we describe a related approachdeveloped in clinical studies in medicine and examine its applicabilityin criminal justice settings. Termed a multicenter clinicaltrial, this method demands the implementation ofa single experimental protocol at multiple sites. We contrast themulticenter approach with other methods and provide a substantiveexample of an ongoing multicenter criminal justice study. We begin byexamining the specific limitations of current approaches and solutionsoffered by multicenter studies to overcome these. We then turn to anapplication of the multicenter clinical trial in a criminal justicesetting. Using the example of the HIDTA (High-Intensity Drug TraffickingAreas) evaluation of drug treatment programs currently being conducted atmultiple sites, we illustrate components of the multicenter approach aswell as potential drawbacks researchers are likely to face in itsapplication in crime and justice studies.     

The Birth of a 'Discipline': From Refugee to Forced Migration Studies

This essay seeks to understand and explain the birth of ForcedMigration Studies. It argues that the turn from Refugee Studiesto Forced Migration Studies must be viewed against the backdropof the history and relationship of colonialism and humanitarianism,as a certain commonality binds the past and present eras. Themove to Forced Migration Studies accompanies the inaugurationof a phase of political humanitarianism with a distinct accent,albeit encapsulated in new forms and issues, on ‘civilizing’the Other. In making this contention the paper distances itselffrom both the defenders and critics of the turn to Forced MigrationStudies. It inter alia contends that Refugee Studies, like ForcedMigration Studies, has served the geopolitics of hegemonic states.But since all knowledge is dual use, both have also had humanitarianeffects. But a greater degree of disciplinary reflexivity wouldgo a long way to ensure that the genuinely humanitarian strandin Forced Migration Studies prevails.     

古田会议研究中的几个问题

本文分析了1929年6月14日毛泽东《给林彪的信》的具体内容,赞同这封信＂是古田会议决议形成的基础＂这一理论观点,同时认为,古田会议后,毛泽东于1930年1月5日给林彪的复信《星星之火,可以燎原》在批评林彪错误的同时,更希望林彪摆脱悲观情绪,增强革命信心。古田会议决议不仅是中国共产党和红军建设的纲领性文献,也是毛泽东中国特色革命道路理论的重要组成部分。     

Promising Justice: Derrida with Jewish Jurisprudence

Law and Critique - “Deconstruction is justice”. How are we to understand this striking and extraordinary sentence Jacques Derrida has written? Whose justice? Which deconstruction? The...     

中国-东盟自由贸易区争端解决机制之探讨--以比较研究为视角

建立行之有效的争端解决机制是区域经济组织有效运作的保证.本文通过对欧盟、北美自由贸易区、东盟自由贸易区三大区域性经济组织各具代表性的争端解决模式与中国-东盟自由贸易区的争端解决机制进行比较研究,探讨中国-东盟自由贸易区争端解决机制的性质、特点.     

The case for a victimology of nonhuman animal harms

For the last twenty years ‘victimology’, the study of crime victims and victimisation has developed markedly. Like its ‘parent’ discipline of criminology, however, very little work has been done in this field around the notion of environmental victimisation. Like criminology itself, victimology has been almost exclusively anthropocentric in its outlook and indeed even more recent discussions of environmental victims – prompted by the development of green criminology – have failed to consider in any depth the victimisation of nonhuman animals. In this paper, we examine the shortfall in provision for and discussions of nonhuman animal victims with reference to Christie’s notion of the ‘ideal victim’ and Boutellier’s concept of the ‘victimalization of morality’. We argue that as victimology has increasingly embraced concepts of victimisation based on ‘social harms’ rather than strict legalistic categorises, its rejection of nonhuman victims from the ambit of study is no longer conceptually or philosophically justified.     

中日文化比较研究的几点思考

中日文化既有相通之处,更有差异。不同的文化背景使这些差异逐渐放大了,在了解日本文化的同时必须着眼于相同点与相异点。日本在模仿中国文化的长期过程中逐步创新,生发出本民族的文化特色。在关注日本文化独特审美情趣时,应该避免将这种独特性绝对化,以历史的、发展的、科学的眼光来研究和探索中日两国的文化与交流。     

比较文学学科的"死亡"与"再生"

传统意义上的比较文学学科在经历了多次"危机"之后其衰落之趋势是无可挽回的,但这种衰落恰恰为其"再生"奠定了内在的基础,此也即比较文学学科内部的反拨.在这方面,包括中国学者在内的东方和第三世界学者将对一门新的比较文学学科的"再生"有所作为.比较文学的最高境界是世界文学阶段.那种为比较而比较的牵强比附式的"比较文学"确实应该死亡,而一种新的融入了文化研究和世界文学成分的比较文学学科将在这其中获得再生.     

Occupancy rights: life planners and the Navajos

ABSTRACT

This Comment focuses on the limitations of Stilz’s individualist conception of occupancy rights. Her account of occupancy is critical to her attempt to answer the question of where one holds territorial rights as well as related place-related rights like the right of return. Her account appeals to the geographical location of individual life plans. This Comment argues that this fails to distinguish between Indigenous People who are connected historically and in many other ways to a place and individual Life-Planners: it treats the two as equivalent, which I argue is counter-intuitive. I also argue that Stilz’s occupancy account fails to explain the scope of occupancy rights in a number of cases that she appeals to in her examples, such as the Navajos’ expulsion from the area in which they lived. What she needs, I argue, is a group based conception of occupancy rights, in addition to the idea of individual rights of residency.     

The advocacy coalition framework in Japan: Contributions to policy process studies and the challenges involved

The advocacy coalition framework (ACF), a unified framework for understanding the policy process, has been applied in various countries and regions; however, there are few contributions from Japan, despite seemingly favorable conditions for applying it. An exploration of what hinders ACF applications in Japan is worthwhile for developing the ACF as a framework for comparative policy process studies across various social and political settings. Therefore, this study aims to systematically review previous Japanese ACF studies. Our review found that Japanese ACF studies are fewer in number, have less coverage of policy fields, and have less methodological diversity and transparency than international trends. While most of the Japanese ACF studies supported the basic hypotheses of the ACF, we found a need to refine some hypotheses and research methods of the ACF studies. We also discuss the background factors in the inactivity of ACF studies in Japan and suggest solutions for it.