社区矫正人员再犯风险评估工具实证研究

在社区矫正力量有限、增长速度缓慢,社区矫正规模不断扩大的现实背景下,准确鉴别出再犯风险高的罪犯加以重点控制,并根据高致罪因素进行个别化矫正是目前唯一可行、科学的策略。因此,制定科学有效的社区矫正人员再犯风险评估工具,将其应用于审前社会调查和罪犯监管矫正是一种当然选择。基于同期群比较研究研发的CIRAI系统经过实践部门两年实际应用,多次修订完成了社区服刑人员再犯风险评估评估表修订版(CIRAI-R),并取得了明显的实践效果。     

Towards a universal framework for democracy assessment

Assessing the state or quality of a country's democracy has become an increasingly widespread undertaking over the past ten years, whether to construct league tables of democratic attainment, to explore correlations between democracy and economic condition or performance, or to identify likely recipients and projects for international aid. This article reports on a civil society-based programme and framework for democracy assessment in which the author has been involved, whose purpose is to contribute to public debate about a country's democracy, to monitor its progress over time, and to identify pressing areas for reform. Distinctive features of the methodology are the derivation of assessment criteria from clearly articulated democratic values, its relevance to new and established democracies alike, and the comprehensiveness of the assessment framework, covering citizen rights and the rule of law, institutions of representative and accountable government, civil society and participation, and international dimensions of democracy. The article explores the intellectual underpinnings of the assessment methodology in the universal validity of democratic norms and a common imperative for democratization in developed as well as developing countries; and argues for the framework's usefulness in teaching as well as research. It concludes with a brief report on the comparative findings from pilot assessments undertaken with in-country partners in eight countries from across the world.     

Environmental technology assessment for enhanced green economy transition in South Africa

Abstract

South Africa has in place policies that promote green economy and sustainable development path. For example, the National Environmental Management Act Principle 3 states that development must be socially, environmentally and economically sustainable. The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) practice in South Africa was formalised in 1997 when the first set of EIA regulations were passed. The DEA EIA review report however suggested that the EIA does not contribute adequately to achieving sustainable development. To this end, a framework is outlined to incorporate the key elements of the environmental technology assessment (EnTA) to EIA, consequently strengthening the EIA process for enhancing green economy transition in the context of sustainable development. The method used consists of case studies and survey data. It is established in the article that there is a level of incorporation between some EnTA elements and issues considered in EIA. It is, however, also established that, of the twelve key elements of EnTA, institutional capacity is the least considered in the EIA. Further research is recommended to investigate the extent to which the lack of consideration for institutional capacity relates to the EIA not contributing to sustainable development.     

Mandatory life sentences for serious sex offenders in England and Wales: tough,but intelligent too?

Abstract

This paper reviews the changes in risk assessment procedures for sexual offenders over the last 15 years from the viewpoint of two active participants in that change. Best practices with this target group have evolved at a dizzying pace, leaving many practitioners and programme managers uncertain about which tests or procedures they should use and, frankly, wondering why things keep changing. We view this ongoing evolution as very positive. Compared to the early 1990s, evaluators now have better knowledge of the static and dynamic factors associated with sexual recidivism, and a number of empirically validated risk assessment tools. We describe the various risk assessment procedures we have introduced (e.g. STATIC-99, SONAR, STABLE-2007/ACUTE-2007), the reasons why practices have changed and the reasons why practices will continue to change.     

国际项目融资中的环境影响评价制度

世界银行等国际金融组织在其项目贷款守则中已将是否进行环境影响评价程序作为其项目可贷性的前提条件,中国作为世行的最大受惠国,应该加强对国际项目融资中环境影响评价制度的研究.本文从多方面论证了二者存在的实质性联系,从风险均衡的角度提出了推行环评审查法人负责制的必要性,认为中国的银行在其贷款守则中应考虑将环评程序纳入项目可贷性的内容并确保当事人诉诸法律,对特定事项请求司法审查权利的实现.     

我国环境影响评价中的公众参与

公众参与是环境影响评价制度的一项重要内容。我国《环境影响评价法》对公众参与做出了较为具体的规定,从而使公众参与更加有法可依。但我国目前环境影响评价中的公众参与现状并不理想,需进一步提高、完善。     

Validity and reliability of the Self-Report Delinquency among a sample of at-risk youths

Self-Report Delinquency scales have formed the basis of much understanding of juvenile delinquency today, but further improvement and extensive measurement research on self-report measures of crime are needed. The present study examined the psychometric properties of the shorter general delinquency scale version of the classic commonly used Self-Report of Delinquency (SRD) measure created for the original National Youth Survey (NYS) using a sample (N = 412) of male (n = 200) and female (n = 212) at-risk Portuguese youths. The shorter version of the SRD demonstrated satisfactory validity and reliability, namely in terms of its latent one-factor structure, internal consistency, convergent validity, divergent validity, concurrent criterion validity and discriminant groups validity that overall justifies its use among this population. The shorter general delinquency scale version of the SRD is a valid and reliable measure from a modern psychometric perspective that can be used with at-risk youths.     

Single-item predictive validity of the Short-Term Assessment of Risk and Treatability (START) for violent behaviour in outpatient forensic psychiatry

The single-item predictive validity of the Short-Term Assessment of Risk and Treatability (START) has not been thoroughly investigated, although this has great clinical relevance for the selection of treatment targets. Furthermore, it remains unclear whether the characteristic START additions of scoring strengths next to vulnerabilities and selecting key items, add incremental predictive validity. Finally, predictive validity has primarily been studied in inpatient settings and included mainly patients with a psychotic disorder. We analysed data from a mixed diagnostic sample of 195 forensic psychiatric outpatients with a 3-month and 170 patients with a 6-month follow-up period, using logistic regression analysis. The occurrence of violent or criminal behaviour was established based on the case manager’s recordings in the patient’s file. Only 5 of the 20 START items were found to have predictive validity: Impulse Control, Attitudes, Material Resources, Rule Adherence and Conduct. The last three were the only items for which incremental predictive validity was found with respect to scoring it as a strength and a vulnerability. Selection of key items did not add to the predictive validity. While possibly having therapeutic significance, the scoring of strength next to vulnerability and the selection of key items, may not be beneficial for risk assessment.     

Judges’ Perceptions of Screening,Assessment, Prevention,and Treatment for Substance Use, Mental Health,and HIV among Juveniles on Community Supervision: Results of a National Survey

Juvenile Justice‐Translational Research on Interventions for Adolescents in the Legal System (JJ‐TRIALS) National Survey was funded in part to describe the current status of screening, assessment, prevention and treatment for substance use, mental health, and HIV for youth on community supervision within the US juvenile justice system. Surveys were administered to community supervision agencies and their primary behavioral healthcare providers, as well as the juvenile or family court judge with the largest caseload of youth on community supervision. This article presents the findings from the judges’ survey. Survey results indicated juvenile and family court judges were open to innovations for improving the court's performance, rated their relationships with collaborators highly, and appreciated the impact of screening, assessment, prevention, and treatment on judicial practices.     

Predicting daily-life antisocial behaviour in institutionalized adolescents with Transgression-related Implicit Association Tests

This study investigated whether implicit attitude (IA) and implicit self-concept (ISC) towards transgression predicted daily-life antisocial behaviour (ASB) in institutionalized adolescents. Eighty-seven adolescents completed two Implicit Association Tests (IAT) assessing IA and ISC towards transgression, and reported four times a day during eight days the intensity of their ASB. Staff members concurrently reported the intensity of each adolescent’s ASB. Adolescents filled in the Inventory for Callous-Unemotional Traits and answered a semi-structured interview assessing conduct disorder. Multilevel regression analyses confirmed that adolescents’ ISC towards transgression significantly predicted their self - and staff-reported ASB over and above conduct disorder and callous-unemotional traits. However, adolescents’ IA towards transgression did not predict their ASB. Results indicate that ISC towards transgression is a reliable predictor of daily-life ASB in institutionalized adolescents. These results suggest that transgression-related ISC represents a promising target for ASB prevention in institutionalized adolescents.