Measures of opportunity and the calculation of the arson rate: The connection between operationalization and association

The crime of arson is complicated in part because of the motives associated with the offense and the vast assortment of combustible objects or targets deliberately burned in urban areas. This research attempts to conceptualize the crime in light of criminal law and demonstrates that arson occupies a rather unique position. Although classified as a property crime, the legislative intent appears to focus on the protection of human life. Moreover, legislative developments have brought us to the point where burning almost any property is designated arson. There is a growing concern over the incidence of arson, but there has been little discussion of how to calculate the arson rate when the targets of opportunity are not known. The exploratory research presented here addresses the structure of arson rates by using an assortment of indirect and direct measures of opportunity as denominators in the calculation of the arson rate. Factor analysis reduces a 27×27 correlation matrix to six significant factors and demonstrates that some measures share the same underlying rate structure. By using a factorbase scale (dependent variable) for each factor and a set of independent variables, regression analysis reveals that there are differences in the direction of association, the degree of association, and the types of independent variables that associate with different measures of the arson rate.     

高师班《心理学》课程教法新探--关于学生学习兴趣培养的思考

注重学习兴趣的培养,是心理学课程教学的基础和捷径.针对高师班学生心理学学习兴趣急剧下降的状况,必须分析原因,从教法入手,采取有效措施培养其良好的学习兴趣,这是提高心理学课堂教学效果的最佳途径.     

论行政合同与民事合同的区分标准

合同定性的不同 ,直接决定其适用规则与救济渠道的差异。我国现行行政合同与民事合同的区分标准 ,就总体而言 ,偏于抽象 ,操作性不强。西方国家行政合同与民事合同的区别标准多元且具有成文化趋势。借鉴西方经验 ,我国行政合同与民事合同的区分 ,应以合同是否具有公法性质为判断中心 ,以公权力因素与公益因素作为主要判断基准 ,建立多元的具有操作性的规则体系     

Associations between national gambling policies and disordered gambling prevalence rates within Europe

Policymakers and other interested stakeholders currently are seeking information about the comparative effectiveness of different regulatory approaches to minimising gambling-related harm. This study responds to this research gap by exploring associations between gambling policies and disordered gambling prevalence rates. We gathered information about gambling policies for thirty European jurisdictions and past-year prevalence rates for disordered gambling for twelve of these jurisdictions. We present policy trends and prevalence rates and then describe the level of association between policy and prevalence. We observe one statistically significant association between policy and prevalence: rates of sub-clinical (i.e., Level 2) disordered gambling were higher within environments that mandated less strict regulation of advertising for online gambling. Finally, we discuss the implications of our research in the context of the current process regarding the pan-European regulation of gambling. Our findings do not offer evidence for certain assumptions made in the past by the European judiciary.     

England's New Scheme for Funding Higher Education through Student Fees: ‘Fair and Progressive’?

From September 2012 most home undergraduates at English universities are being charged fees of £9,000 per annum. These are funded by a government loan, which attracts interest from the moment they start their course; after three years their accumulated debt exceeds £30,000. They can also borrow to cover their living costs, on the same terms, so that those studying in London can graduate with a debt of more than £50,000—although those from low‐income families can obtain grants and universities are encouraged to provide bursaries and other support to students from underrepresented groups. Graduates start repaying their debts once their annual income exceeds £21,000—at a rate of 9% of the difference between their income and that figure: until the debt is fully repaid it continues to attract interest, by as much as three percentage points above the current inflation rate. Using data from a calculator on a government website, this paper shows that the highest‐paid graduates pay back less than those on middle incomes: the ‘squeezed middle’ pays back more not only than those on low incomes but also the better‐paid and those whose incomes increase more rapidly. This has differential effects according to occupation—and sex; and middle‐income groups also contribute more to the costs of widening participation programmes, which all universities charging more than £6,000 per annum are required to fund.     

论单位犯罪

单位犯罪在以前的刑法理论及司法实践中被称为法人犯罪,它产生于改革开放以后,由于经济体制的改革,主要是财政体制的改革,使得我们国家的企事业单位、机关团体成为一个个相对独立的经济实体,各单位都有了自己的经济利益,而由此产生了一个个特定团体与社会整体之间的利益冲突。当特定团体以非法手段谋取自身不正当利益从而损害社会整体利益时,就产生了单位犯罪现象。也就是说,当这种利益冲突发展到一定程度时,就会用犯罪的形式表现出来,应对单位犯罪问题的现行立法规定进一步的完善。     

澳大利亚司法审查原告资格探析

根据立法和法院判例,原告起诉须四个条件:须有某种利益;利益受到损害;利益损害系公权行为导致;申请的救济对矫正利益损害有作用。只有把这四者有机地结合起来,才能准确地把握原告起诉资格。     

界定中国国家安全利益

对国家安全利益的认识 ,具有显著的国家本位主义特征。在概念上 ,国家安全利益是国家利益中关系到主权独立、领土完整、基本制度的稳定、民族团结、经济繁荣等国家生存利益的部分 ,它是国家利益的主要成分和重要基础。在目前和今后的一段时间内 ,我国的安全利益着重体现为 :1、主权独立、领土完整与国家统一 ;2、基本制度与文化意识形态的保持 ;3、反对民族分离势力和宗教极端势力 ,保障各民族和睦共处 ;4、维护经济安全。中国国家安全利益主要集中在亚太地区 ,是多元化的 ;既有传统的安全利益 ,同时新型安全利益正在变得越来越突出。从内容看 ,政治安全利益、军事安全利益、经济安全利益是中国在亚太地区安全利益的核心成分。政治安全利益内容广泛 ,包括政治稳定、主权独立、国家统一、民族关系稳定等 ;军事安全利益着重表现为维护领土完整、捍卫祖国统一、防范军事威胁以及军控和防止核扩散 ;经济安全利益涵盖金融安全、稳定的资金来源和良好的投资环境、资源安全特别是能源安全、市场安全、运输线安全、海外投资安全等     

村庄公共事件中农民的价值观念与利益表达——基于湖北省M村和湖南省S村的调查

农民的价值观念与利益表达关联的现有研究多集中于学理分析,为了探讨两者之间的真实关系,本文选取鄂南和湘北的两个村庄作为个案进行实证分析。研究发现,在特定村庄公共事件中,农民的价值观念体系和利益表达体系的现实呈现程度均具有显著的差异性,这种现实呈现程度会影响两者之间的关系状态;农民的价值观念与利益表达之间总体上是相互促进的正向关系,民主观、信任观、效率观对利益表达有促进作用,利益综合、合法性的接近渠道、主体行动对价值观念有促进作用。因此,应在优化内外环境基础上,强化农民的价值观念与利益表达之间的双向良性互动效应,推动村庄治理的有序化运行。