Effect of time and relationships on victim–offender dialogue completion in felony cases

Victim–offender dialogues (VODs) often take place in organizational contexts, the stakeholders of which may very well be interested in measures of program effectiveness such as completion rates. When reported, completion rates typically ranged from 40 to 60%. At the time of this study, Ohio’s VOD program was completing just 25% of initiated cases and program stakeholders were unsure as to the cause(s). An archived data analysis was performed on a sample (n?=?212) of the Office of Victim Services (OVS) completed and will-not-proceed files. One hypothesis and two research questions make use of archived data to explore this felony VOD context. The amount of time between the date the crime occurred and the date on which the dialogue file was initiated was not a significant predictor of dialogue completion. However, both victim-offender’s pre-crime relationship and dialogue file initiator were found to significantly impact dialogue completion rates. These results are considered in light of social exchange and uncertainty reduction theories.     

Against the law: Arthur Maimane’s pioneering hard-boiled black detective fiction in Drum Magazine

ABSTRACT

This article sets out to re-examine, and recover, South Africa’s first hard-boiled crime fiction created by a black writer: Arthur Maimane’s crime stories published in Drum magazine in 1953. Maimane wrote a series of stories about a black PI, styled on the American hard-boiled genre for Drum, a popular South African magazine aimed at a black audience, known for its borrowing from American popular culture. Mamaine’s fiction has been widely dismissed by generations of Drum critics, as “derivative” “imitation.” Repositioning the stories within the broader context of crime fiction suggests quite a different reading. Maimane’s stories reveal how tensions between the genre and laws in apartheid South Africa resulted in radical alterations to the hard boiled formula. Since Maimane’s stories precede Chester Himes’s African-American novels, they should be recognized as a pioneering example of black crime fiction that demonstrates the relationship between race and genre.     

The Stability of M3 Money Demand and Monetary Growth Targets: The Case of South Africa

The main purpose of this article is to determine whether money should continue to play an important role in the formulation of monetary policy in South Africa, even though the monetary policy framework has recently changed to an inflation targeting strategy. Money can continue to play an important role in the formulation of an efficient monetary policy strategy as long as there is a stable money demand function and money contains useful information about future price changes. The paper presents empirical evidence of a constant and structurally stable M3 money demand function for South Africa over the period 1968-97. The analysis further shows that the non-constancies experienced during 1998-99 may only be temporary. Despite evidence of a stable M3 money demand function, the results indicate that M3 money provides little information about future price changes in South Africa and may therefore have lost its usefulness as a reliable indicator for monetary policy. The money stock is endogenous, with prices determining money through the stable M3 money demand function.     

人民币汇率变动对中美贸易结构收支的影响——基于SITC分类标准的实证分析

人民币汇率变动能否解决中美双边贸易失衡问题一直是国内外学者研究与争论的焦点。实证分析表明,人民币汇率的水平变动无法起到调节中美两国贸易收支的作用,但适度增加汇率波动弹性有助于缓解贸易失衡。因此,只有消除对人民币升值的预期、进行经济结构调整以及改善外商直接投资的流向,才能从根本上恢复中美之间的贸易平衡。     

Paradigm Shift for the Alcohol Breath Test

Abstract: The alcohol breath test (ABT) has been used for quantification of ethyl alcohol in individuals suspected of driving under the influence for more than 50 years. In this time, there has been little change in the concepts underlying this single breath test. The old model, which assumes that end‐exhaled breath alcohol concentration is closely related to alveolar air alcohol concentration, is no longer acceptable. This paper reviews experimental research and mathematical modeling which has evaluated the pulmonary exchange processes for ethyl alcohol. Studies have shown that alcohol exchanges dynamically with the airway tissue both during inspiration and expiration. The airway tissue interaction makes it impossible to deliver air with alveolar alcohol concentration to the mouth. It is concluded that the ABT is dependent on physiological factors that need to be assessed for accurate testing.     

人民币购买力平价的实证研究

购买力平价是汇率决定最有影响的理论之一,经常成为各国作为制定经济政策的重要依据.能否依据购买力平价理论来制定人民币汇率政策,已成为目前国内关注的焦点.现有文献对人民币购买力平价的检验结论存在明显的分歧.根据我国汇率体制改革各阶段的特点,通过对1994年1月-2008年12月整体时段和分时段数据进行实证检验,表明人民币兑美元汇率并不符合购买力平价理论,这一理论难以成为我国制定人民币汇率政策的依据.     

论审前程序改革对我国证据制度的影响——兼评举证时限制度在我国的确立

审前程序的改革一直是民事诉讼法学探讨的前沿问题,也是司法实践中亟待解决的重要问题。随着我国《证据规定》的颁布和实施,我国的审前程序得到了完善和发展,对我国的证据制度也产生了重要影响。我国已初步确立了举证时限、证据交换等制度,但也存在需要完善之处。     

“发展陷阱”的形成原因分析——兼论中国经济落入发展陷阱的必然性

陷入“发展陷阱”之前的追赶型国家,往往会出现以美元计量的人均名义GDP增长率快于以本币计量的人均实际GDP增长率,这实际上也就是国际相对成本的上升和国际相对竞争力的下降,国内外市场因此会不断被更低收入国家蚕食;人均美元收入的快速提高产生的对生活品质的追求,会导致大量有效需求向发达国家转移。这些表现在企业收支上,也就是成本的提高与收入的减少;在国家层面则表现为外贸收支逆差增加和外汇储备减少或外债增加,由此落入“发展陷阱”。我国目前可能正处在该陷阱的入口。     

论金钱之债迟延履行的损失认定

金钱之债的迟延履行损失认定是司法实务重点关注的问题,司法实践中裁判标准相去甚远。就“利息损失”而言,通过欠付款项的一定比例或参考借款合同利率上限均缺乏关联性与合理性,该损失通过法定孳息之思路确认又面临计算方法难确定、存款利率过低之问题。在守约方损失无法计算时,可通过违约方得利计算,违约方对本应归还债权人的价款在逾期期间占有、使用而减少支出的资金使用成本,可认定为银行贷款利息,以LPR计算。最高人民法院相关司法解释的罚息规定应属特别法定赔偿,除迟延方不具可惩罚性的场合以外,应适用于所有有偿合同。对于其他损失,在合同可体现迟延将发生的损失时,合同订立时债务人知道款项用途及迟延造成的后果时以及债权人因此向第三人举债产生利息时,损失应当赔偿。     

On equity in intergroup exchange process,outcome distributions,and some considerations of cognitive orientation

Interactive behavior, viewed on a continuum ranging from intragroup to intergroup situations, is modeled in an attempt to describe the effectiveness of feedback structures in the modification of exchange equity. It is concluded that intragroup situations permit the use of feedback in the alternation of interpersonal equity relations, but that the corresponding application to integroup structures is highly limited. Collectivities that do not constitute groups in the traditional sociological sense are difficult to manipulate and care must be taken to select aspects of interactive outcomes shared by participants if attempts to modify unjust interactive structures are to be successful.