DOWNWARD DEPARTURES FOR SERIOUS VIOLENT OFFENDERS: LOCAL COURT “CORRECTIONS” TO PENNSYLVANIA'S SENTENCING GUIDELINES*

We examine downward departures for serious violent offenders, using quantitative and qualitative data from Pennsylvania. We find that offense severity and prior record have negative direct effects on downward departures, but a positive interaction effect on them. Offenders convicted of aggravated assault, those who plead guilty, young black women, and offenders sentenced in large urban courts are more likely to receive downward departures, whereas those convicted by trial, young Hispanic males, and offenders sentenced in small rural courts are less likely to receive them. We argue that downward departures represent local “corrections” to guideline recommendations when there is a mismatch between guidelines and local court actors' definitions of key focal concerns of sentencing for serious violent offenders.     

AN EXPLORATORY STUDY OF THE VIOLENT VICTIMIZATION OF WOMEN: RACE/ETHNICITY AND SITUATIONAL CONTEXT*

Although much has been learned in recent years about the victimization experiences of women, there remains a considerable knowledge gap with respect to the victimization of women of different racial and ethnic backgrounds. In order to confront this issue, we use the large number of cases available in the National Crime Victimization Survey (1992–2000) to examine the risk and protective factors associated with violent victimization among non‐Hispanic white, non‐Hispanic black, Hispanic, Asian/Pacific Islander, and Native American women. We then describe in more detail the violent incidents against these women, looking for distinguishing patterns across groups. Our results are useful for fine‐tuning theories of victimization to explain variance in violence for females across racial and ethnic subgroups.     

当前个人极端暴力事件研究分析———以“失意群体”为视角简

在社会转型的特殊历史时期,“失意群体”已成为当前我国个人极端暴力事件的主要制造者。“失意群体”制造的个人极端暴力事件背后,是社会结构剧烈变动所造成的一系列社会失范现象,以及由此引发的个人心理、行为的失调及社会控制功能的弱化,并在此基础上产生背离性越轨行为。基于默顿的越轨社会学理论,对“失意群体”的疏导与调控亟需从根本上消融“失意群体”产生的社会基础,即对收入调节制度、社会流动机制、社会保障制度、利益表达机制、法律救济途径等进行再建构,以达到利益的均衡、社会的稳定和谐。同时,要充分发挥社会控制的综合协作功能,强化多元社会控制,并采取更有针对性的化解策略,以逐步减少此类事件发生的概率。     

现场处置较大规模暴恐案件行动方法探究

现场处置较大规模暴恐案件的行动方法,广义上也称之为战法。不同的暴恐案件,现场处置所采用的行动方法自然也有所不同。在总结以往相似案件处置行动成功经验和借鉴国内外理论著述观点的基础上,把现场处置较大规模暴恐案件的行动归纳为包围封控、侦察判断、攻心劝降、突击抓捕、救生救援等五种方法。     

Exploring psychological features in adolescents who assault their parents: a different profile of young offenders?

This study aimed to explore some psychological features of adolescents who have been reported by their parents for being violent towards them, analysing how they differ from other young offenders and from non-offender adolescents. Concretely, the presence of clinical diagnosis was explored and whether these juveniles received some psychological/psychiatric treatment. Moreover, this study examined substance use and some variables that characterise the social-cognitive style of these juveniles, along with the level of self-esteem. Information concerning clinical diagnosis and psychological/psychiatric treatment was extracted from the young offenders’ legal files. Measures included the social-cognitive subscale from the attitudes and social-cognitive strategies questionnaire (AECS), Rosenberg self-esteem scale, and a structured interview to assess substance use. Results indicated that juveniles who assaulted their parents present a different profile when compared to the other groups, as they showed a higher presence of psychopathology and more social-cognitive difficulties. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for the design and implementation of specific treatments with these aggressive adolescents.     

‘Thoroughly reforming them towards a healthy heart attitude’: China’s political re-education campaign in Xinjiang

ABSTRACT

Since spring 2017, the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in China has witnessed the emergence of an unprecedented re-education campaign. According to media and informant reports, untold thousands of Uyghurs and other Muslims have been and are being detained in clandestine political re-education facilities, with major implications for society, local economies and ethnic relations. Considering that the Chinese state is currently denying the very existence of these facilities, this paper investigates publicly available evidence from official sources, including government websites, media reports and other Chinese internet sources. First, it briefly charts the history and present context of political re-education. Second, it looks at the recent evolution of re-education in Xinjiang in the context of ‘de-extremification’ work. Finally, it evaluates detailed empirical evidence pertaining to the present re-education drive. With Xinjiang as the ‘core hub’ of the Belt and Road Initiative, Beijing appears determined to pursue a definitive solution to the Uyghur question.     

生存权与城市管理权之争——以商贩与城管为例

生存权和城市管理权分属不同的主体所享有,作为两种正当权利,两者之间不应当存在矛盾和冲突。但这两项权利的典型享有者——小商贩和城管执法人员之间则不断上演着暴力执法和暴力抗法的悲剧。屡见报端的城管和小商贩之间的摩擦使公众对这两种正当权利产生了诸多困惑。如何正确协调两种权利关系已成为政府工作的当务之急。本文认为,要使两者之间的关系走向常态化,不仅需要政府的正确引导,还需要提高小商贩自身的责任意识提高以及增强城管执法人员的法治意识。     

Characteristics of young suicides by violent methods in rural China

Suicide is one of the most common public health problems in the world. Information on 392 completed suicides aged 15-34 years were consecutively collected from 16 counties in three provinces of China. Information on each suicide was obtained from two informants. The results showed ingesting pesticides or other poisons (73.5%) and hanging (10.5%) were the two most common methods of suicide. Suicides happened more in autumn (30.10%) or summer (27.29%), nighttime (68.3%), and at home (73.6%). However, suicides with violent methods were more common in winter and spring and outside of home. Season (autumn or summer), place (at home), and pesticide stored in home were negatively while depression was positively associated with violent methods of suicide. Characteristics of the suicides by violent methods are different from those by nonviolent methods. Investigations into the methods of rural young suicides are necessary for suicide prevention in China.     

The Swedish dystopia: violent imaginaries of the radical right

ABSTRACT

Thorleifsson examines the ways in which violent imaginaries of Sweden have been discursively constructed and used by populist radical-right (PRR) parties and actors in contemporary Europe. Based on multisited fieldwork among politicians and supporters of the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) and the Hungarian Jobbik party, this article demonstrates how individual acts of violence are ‘transvaluated’ into violent imaginaries of migrants from Muslim-majority lands. What Thorleifsson terms ‘the Swedish dystopia’ not only entails a message of alarm and warning. PRR actors also use the trope of the Swedish dystopia in their call for action against Muslim migrants and minorities who, they claim, pose an ethnoreligious threat to national identity, security and even (Judaeo)-Christian civilization as a whole.