The Overrepresentation of Juvenile Crime Proportions in Robbery Clearance Statistics

Many, especially casual observers, interpret juvenile arrest statistics to bea measure of crime committed by juveniles. Others argue that clearancestatistics are a more representative index of the relative responsibility ofjuveniles. Using data from the FBI's National Incident-Based ReportingSystem, this paper explores the likelihoods of arrests for juvenile andadult robbery offenders. The findings show that juvenile robbery suspectsare 23% more likely to be arrested than adults, and 32% more likely aftercontrolling for other incident characteristics. Analyses also found anincreased likelihood of arrest in robbery incidents in which (1) the victimwas a juvenile, a female, or white; (2) the offender was white or female;and (3) the victim was injured. The presence of a weapon was not relatedto the likelihood of arrest. The differential influences of specificincident characteristics on the likelihood of arrest for juveniles andadults highlight the underlying biases of law enforcement statistics inassessing the juvenile component of crime.     

《欧盟研究、技术开发及示范活动第七框架计划》及其参考借鉴价值

《欧盟研究、技术开发及示范活动第七框架计划》是迄今欧盟投资最多、内容最丰富、市场目的最明确的全欧洲性中长期重大科研与技术开发计划。该计划所资助的项目几乎都是针对国际科技发展最前沿的课题或者是具有基础性、前瞻性、预竞争性的科技难点。在计划实施过程中,欧盟在项目遴选程序,研发资金的筹集、拨付,风险共担融资工具(RSFF)的引入,财务报告审计以及科技项目最终成果的双重评估机制等诸多方面进行了创新,取得了非常显著的效果。欧盟在框架计划执行中取得的经验及制度成果对于我国创新型国家建设中的制度建设,无疑具有重要的参考借鉴价值。     

试论中国立法语言中法律主体缺失现象的翻译

汉英两种语言差异在立法文本中的体现是我们翻译时应该特别注意的。该文结合西方国家一些法学家对立法句子的观点,评述了目前中国法律英译文中一些条款的法律主体缺失现象,讨论了英语国家法律评论家普遍赞同的立法句子的施动性,有生性和主动性的特点,提出了译者在翻译立法句子的过程中要遵循突出法律行为的主体,而在某些情况下被动句能更好的传达立法目的。     

Public Perception and Reporting of Different Kinds of Family Abuse in Hong Kong

The prevalence and serious consequences of family violence have given rise to massive research efforts. However, there is often a discrepancy between the official definitions and public perception of child abuse, elder abuse, and spouse abuse cases. Under-reporting is common due to lack of awareness of the abusive behaviors by the public. Differences between perception of abuse and reporting are well documented in the context of single group of victims. However, research studies on the differences in perception and reporting of different forms of abusive behaviors that occur to victims of child abuse, spouse abuse, and elder abuse are scarce. The present study attempts to examine whether perception and reporting of abuse will be different with respect to who the victim is and how the victim is abused. Findings show that perception and reporting of abusive behavior differ with respect to the victims of abuse and to the nature of abusive behaviors. Implications of these differences and directions for practice are discussed.

From Contest to Content: The Impact of Public Journalism on New Zealand Election Campaign Coverage

Supporters of public journalism hope to reengage citizens with politics and overcome the shortcomings of contemporary political journalism. However, there has been little systematic study of how public journalism differs from mainstream journalism. During the 1996 general election campaign in New Zealand, the first under proportional representation, three newspapers, conscious of the challenges imposed by electoral changes, experimented with public journalism coverage. This presented an opportunity to study how coverage as a whole differed from coverage of the previous elections and what specific changes were the result of public journalism initiatives. The researchers analyzed 1,938 stories from a 12-day sample of the New Zealand general election campaign coverage in 1993 and 1996. A total of seven metropolitan and provincial papers were included. The results showed public journalism articles covered proportionally more policy issues and concentrated less on personality than conventional campaign stories. Public journalism stories also were less negative and more neutral in tone and were more inclined to be ''soft'' news, reflecting a tendency to cover issues rather than events. Public journalism articles also were less likely than conventional coverage to cover the campaign from a ''horse race'' angle. The findings provide support for the utility of public journalism in campaign reporting.     

“基本法律”与“基本法律以外的其他法律”划分之反思

从法律文本和立宪意图分析,全国人大只能制定和修改"基本法律"、"基本法律以外的其他法律"由全国人大常委会制定和修改。弥补全国人大立法不足是现行《宪法》赋予全国人大常委会国家立法权的首要目标,而防范全国人大常委会侵夺全国人大立法权则是其附带的要求,这二者之间并非平行的目标关系;"基本法律"和"基本法律以外的其他法律"的划分,正是这种附带要求的产物。实践中,全国人大与全国人大常委会立法权限的错位以及两种不同的"法律"在效力上的混同,根源于人民代表大会制度下人大与其常委会之间权力关系在制度层面与实践层面存在的张力。     

Victims and Offenders in Two Crime Statistics Programs: A Comparison of the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) and the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS)

The National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) overcomes a basiclimitation of the traditional summary Uniform Crime Reporting program (UCR)by collecting victim information. Using this new victim information tocompare National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) and NIBRS results, wefind some similarities as well as some differences in the characteristics ofvictims and offenders suggested by the two programs. Similarities appear inthe proportions of men and women involved as victims and offenders forrobbery and assault. Comparisons are more difficult and the proportions lesssimilar for property offenses. Nevertheless, the results suggest that whenthe NIBRS is fully developed, it will be an important source of informationon the characteristics of both victims and offenders. Even before theredesigned program is fully implemented, one of the most important featuresof NIBRS reports will be their ability to provide local area victimizationinformation. In addition, the NIBRS will provide much more information onarrests and the characteristic of offenders than any existing program.