The association of distress and denial of responsibility with maladaptive personality traits and self‐esteem in offenders

This study aimed to examine the relationship of offenders' distress and responsibility with maladaptive personality traits, self‐esteem, and offence‐type. It also further validated the Distress and Responsibility Scale (DRS; Xuereb et al., 2009a, Pers. Individ. Diff., 46, 465). A new sub‐scale measuring social desirability was included and assessed in the DRS. Maladaptive personality traits and self‐esteem were measured in relation to the following predictions: (1) that maladaptive personality traits would positively correlate with distress (2) that self‐esteem would negatively correlate with distress and acknowledging responsibility. The sample was 405 male sexual, violent, and general offenders from a UK prison. Participants anonymously completed a questionnaire measuring the variables under investigation. The factor‐structure of the DRS was confirmed via Confirmatory Factor Analysis after minor changes. No significant differences in distress and denial of responsibility were found between sexual, violent, and general offenders. Maladaptive personality traits positively correlated with chronic and offence‐related distress, chronic self‐blame, and minimization of offence harm. Chronic and offence‐related distress and responsibility negatively related to self‐esteem. The study concludes that the DRS has reached stability, and that the social desirability scale increases the measure's validity. Assessment and treatment for offence‐related distress and denial of responsibility should be offered to all offence groups. Offenders would benefit from structured interventions to manage difficulties associated with maladaptive personality traits, including chronic distress and self‐blame. Finally, it was concluded that self‐esteem might serve a self‐defensive function for offenders.     

Between Autonomy and Interdependence: The Challenges of Shared Rule after the Scottish Referendum

Drawing on the distinction between self‐rule and shared rule in multilevel states, this article argues that shared rule has been the neglected element of the UK devolution settlement. The ability of the devolved administrations to participate in, and influence, national decision making through shared rule mechanisms is very limited. The article argues that the lack of shared rule is especially problematic in light of the increasing complexity of the Scottish devolution settlement in the wake of the Scotland Act 2012 and the Smith commission report. Smith, in particular, seems set to increase both the power of the Scottish Parliament and its dependence on UK policy decisions in the areas of tax, welfare and the economy. Creating a more robust intergovernmental system which could manage these new interdependencies will be a significant challenge, and yet, without such a system, the new settlement will be difficult to sustain.     

我国黑社会性质组织犯罪的特点及心理基础

打击黑社会性质组织犯罪是当前我国司法机关的一项重要工作。黑社会性质组织犯罪社会危害性巨大 ,严重危害着社会治安稳定 ,甚至威胁着地方政权 ,也是当今世界各国重点防范与打击的对象。为了有效地遏制和打击这一日趋严重的社会治安问题 ,文章针对这类犯罪的特点 ,分析了我国当前黑社会性质组织犯罪形成的社会心理原因。     

法律职业技能及培养途径

法律职业技能是从事法律职业的人所应具备的与法律职业密切相关的能力、技术和方法的总称。它所涵盖的内容十分广泛,其中解决问题的技能、事实调查的技能和法律表达的技能之于法律职业尤为关键,法律职业技能的训练存在着不同的模式,本文所关注的是法学教育对法律职业技能培养的途径:课堂教学和非课堂教学即诊所教学对法律职业技能的意义。     

理解他人：道德教育的哲学视域

理解他人既是发展人际关系的基本前提,也是道德教育的基本目标之一,尤其是在物质主义和个人主义盛行的社会转型期,人与人之间的疏离、冷漠、紧张甚至冲突的现象愈加严重,彰显理解他人的道德意义更加必要。笔者对理解他人的必要性;理解他人的可能性和如何理解他人三个问题进行了哲学思考,并在理解他人与自我价值的实现之间建立起内在的统一关系。     

SIZE OF HOUSEHOLD FIREARM COLLECTIONS: IMPLICATIONS FOR SUBCULTURES AND GENDER*

Recent work (Cook and Ludwig, 2003) has linked local firearm density to increased burglary victimization risk. The current work investigates within‐household gun density or household firearm collection size. Previous work has suggested two subcultures of gun owners: protection‐minded and sport‐ or hunting‐minded. It also has identified gender gaps in reporting any household guns and in the number reported. None of the earlier work, however, has controlled for selection into gun‐owning household status. This limitation raises potential questions about earlier findings. The current research controls for selection. If the two subcultures thesis is correct, protection‐minded owners should report smaller household firearm collections. The expected impact is observed in one national survey and is partially replicated in a second. Gender gaps seemed more independent than previously suggested. This study is the first to provide evidence of two partially overlapping subcultures of gun owners even after controlling for selection into gun‐owning household status. Practical implications for burglary risk may exist.     

从竹均到白露--试论陈白露悲剧的根源

《日出》中的陈白露是一个纠缠着复杂矛盾心理的人物。本文从陈白露的生活经历入手,结合其个性特征,从自我的追求、自我的丧失和自我的挣扎三个方面分析、判断陈白露复杂矛盾心理的产生及其悲剧的根源。     

PSYCHOLOGICAL,NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL AND PHYSIOLOGICAL CORRELATES OF SERIOUS ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOR IN ADOLESCENCE: THE ROLE OF SELF‐CONTROL*

Gottfredson and Hirschi claim that self‐control is the only enduring personal characteristic implicated in criminal activity. Other scholars, such as Moffitt and Rowe, claim that although self‐control is important, so are neuropsychological and physiological factors. This study attempts to adjudicate between these two positions by examining the ways in which neuropsychological factors, especially those relevant to executive function, biological factors, especially those relevant to autonomic reactivity, and self‐control interrelate to distinguish between offenders and nonoffenders. Data were obtained from adolescents attending public high schools in northern California and adolescents incarcerated in the California Youth Authority. Serious juvenile offenders evince lower resting heart rate, show poorer performance on tasks that activate cognitive functions mediated by the prefrontal cortex, especially those measuring spatial working memory, and score lower on measures of self‐control. Regression analyses indicated that although variations in self‐control distinguish between the two groups, so too do neuropsychological and biological factors, a result that both supports and refutes Gottfredson and Hirschi's contention. In contrast, variation in minor delinquency among high school students is unrelated to frontal lobe functioning and heart rate, but related to variations in self‐control.     

Love,fear, and justice: Transforming selves for the new world

Two current models of the self are contrasted. The limitations of these (egocentric autonomous and sociocentric organic) models generate five problems for a comprehensive approach to justice. An alternative model is presented that views the self as an agent who is dependent on others and is motivated by both love for the other and fear for the self. This alternative model has three advantages: The two current models can be derived from it; it resolves the problems created by their limitations; it provides a concrete vision of how we must develop ourselves if we wish to obtain a just world.     

分歧与和谐:析WTO争端解决机制的法律适用

关于WTO争端解决机制的法律适用问题,目前学术界存在“并入说”与“自足说”之争。两种学说分歧实质在于WTO法的属性是开放性还是自足性。从WTO争端解决机制发展而言,似应取两种学说之长,这一方面可以使DSB有效解决成员方之间的贸易争端;另一方面可以使DSB的裁决报告受到WTO成员方更广泛的接受,从而使WTO法随着时代的发展而与时俱进。