Procedural Justice for Victims and Offenders?: Exploring Restorative Justice Processes in Australia and the US

Sociolegal research indicates that when citizens perceive that legal processes and procedures are fair, both positive and negative legal outcomes will be viewed as acceptable. However, little is known about perceptions of fairness in informal contexts such as in restorative justice (RJ) practices and with victims (and offenders) who participate in these programs. Drawing on interviews with key actors engaged in post-conviction RJ programs for serious crimes in Australia and the USA, this paper asks, do post-conviction therapeutic RJ programs for violent crimes enhance procedural justice for victims and offenders? The data reveal that RJ is compatible with procedural justice for both victims and offenders. Specifically, RJ aids in correcting the harms created by the formal criminal justice system and, thus, satisfies and even greatly enhances procedural justice goals for both victims and offenders.     

美国警方通过预防和执法减少青少年暴力犯罪

青少年暴力犯罪已成为世界普遍关注的犯罪现象。文章通过详述美国孟菲斯警察局"反青少年暴力犯罪计划"的几项具体措施及其获得的诸多成效,旨在为我国预防和惩治青少年暴力犯罪提供新思路和可行性策略。     

Deradicalisation,disengagement, rehabilitation and reintegration of violent extremists in conflict-affected contexts: a systematic literature review

ABSTRACT

This article identifies, assesses and synthesises existing literature on deradicalisation, disengagement, rehabilitation and reintegration (DDRR) in conflict-affected states through a systematic literature review. While existing research has methodological shortcomings and determining the outcomes of DDRR programmes is challenging, 12 common themes surfaced in the synthesis. According to the studies selected, varying experiences of the individuals in violent extremist organisations, including form of engagement, role in the organisation and experiences of insecurity and disillusion, may affect DDRR processes. Capacity and resource constrains may pose challenges to DDRR programming in conflict-affected contexts, but engaging former extremists, their families and communities at large mitigates the issues characteristic for conflict-affected contexts and contributes to wider peace-building objectives.     

走出维稳悖论:亲民、和谐、理性维稳的回归——从"打错门"事件谈起

在社会转型过程中,利益主体日趋多元化,利益矛盾凸显,利益冲突加剧,如何维稳已成为当今各级党政领导的一门必修课。打错门的暴力维稳模式是反稳定的,是与构建社会主义和谐社会背道而驰的。因此,跳出维稳怪圈,回归亲民和谐理性维稳是未来维稳工作的重要行动逻辑。     

法院执行中的暴力抗法:1983-2009

暴力抗法是国家与社会的短兵相接。以司法能力为线索,从国家与社会两个层面,结合自上而下、自下而上两种视角对暴力抗法进行分析,可以发现,暴力抗法的产生主要源于国家能力的不足,体现在司法领域即司法能力的不足。治理暴力抗法的主要思路为加强司法能力建设,应从惩罚与激励两个方向入手,努力提升司法的强制能力、救济能力及合法性能力。     

Psychological distress and severity of personality disorder symptomatology in prisoners convicted of violent and sexual offences

Abstract

Background: There have been recent proposals in England and Wales to develop services aimed at reducing the risk to the public posed by offenders with so-called “severe personality disorder”. The emphasis of the proposals is on risk. However, prisoners with personality disorder may have psychiatric treatment needs other than those purely relating to public protection. The aim of the study was to examine the association between severity of self reported personality disorder pathology and psychological distress in serious offenders.

Method: All male prisoners in two prisons, convicted of violent or sexual offences, were sent the Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire 4+(PDQ?4+) and the Symptom Checklist 90-R (SCL-90-R).

Results: High levels of self reported personality pathology were associated with high levels of psychological distress.

Conclusions: Offenders with the most severe self reported personality disorder pathology experience distress that may be clinically significant. Services for offenders with personality disorder will need to address their associated psychiatric symptoms.     

John Mueller. Overblown: How Politicians and the Terrorism Industry Inflate National Security Threats,and Why We Believe Them

The history and identity of fundamentalism is complex. Religious fundamentalism names an ideological perspective found in most, if not all, major religions and is currently associated with variant forms of extremism and religiously-motivated acts of violence, including terrorism. Following a discussion of religious extremism per se, a typological paradigm of religious fundamentalism that attempts to demonstrate the ideological development from what might be referred to as an “initial” and relatively benign fundamentalism into extremism and thence to terrorism, will be presented. A discussion of a model of fundamentalism as applied to Islam will provide a comparative basis for assessing Christian fundamentalism and extremism, so setting the scene for an applied exploration of religious extremism and terrorism with particular reference to Christian contexts and examples.     

Experimental Effects of a Call-Center Disclaimer Regarding Confidentiality on Callers’ Willingness to Make Disclosures Related to Terrorism

ABSTRACT

Utilizing a sample drawn to represent the general U.S. population, the present study experimentally tested whether a call-center’s disclaimer regarding limits to caller confidentiality (i.e., that operators would be required to refer calls to law enforcement if callers were to discuss anyone who was a danger to themselves or others) affected disclosures related to a third party’s involvement with terrorist groups, gangs, or such party’s commission of assault and/or non-violent crimes.

Disclaimer type did not significantly affect the number of terrorism-related disclosures. Furthermore, it did not significantly affect either the number of gang-related disclosures or reports of assault. However, the law enforcement referral disclaimer/condition reduced the number of disclosures of non-violent crimes that were not directly related to terrorism, gangs, or assault, though its effect accounted for less than one percent of the variance between conditions. Additionally, disclaimer type did not significantly affect willingness to recommend the call-center, nor did that effect vary significantly by age or sex. Implications for the call-center’s role in addressing ideologically motivated violence (terrorism, violent extremism), as a form of secondary/targeted prevention, are discussed.     

Fueling the Fire: Violent Metaphors,Trait Aggression,and Support for Political Violence

The recent concurrence of violent political rhetoric and violence against political targets in the U.S. and abroad has raised public concern about the effects of language on citizens. Building from theoretical foundations in aggression research, I fielded two nationally representative survey experiments and a third local experiment preceding the 2010 midterm elections to investigate support for violence against political authority. Subjects were randomly assigned to view one of two forms of the same political advertisements. Across all three experiments, mild violent metaphors multiply support for political violence among aggressive citizens, especially among young adults. Aggressive personality traits also predict support for political violence in both national studies. This work identifies dynamic roots of violent political orientations and reveals for the first time surprising interactions between this elite discourse and personality traits in citizens.