Victim resistance and offender weapon effects in robbery

What happens when victims resist robbers? Logistic regression analysis of over 4500 sample robbery incidents reported in the 1979–1985 National Crime Surveys reveals the following about various forms of victim resistance. Self-protection (SP) of any kind apparently reduces the probability of the robbery being completed, i.e., the robber getting away with the victim's property. Armed resistance is more effective than unarmed resistance, and resistance with a gun, though relatively rare, is the most effective victim response of all. Resistance with a gun also appears to reduce the likelihood of the victim being injured, while two types of resistance appear to increase it: (1) unarmed physical force against the robber and (2) trying to get help, attract attention, or scare the robber away. The robber's possession of a gun appears to inhibit victim resistance, which can sometimes provoke a robber to attack; robber gun possession thereby reduces the probability of victim injury. However, even controlling for victim resistance, robber gun possession, is associated with a lower rate of injury to the victim. Finally, robbers with handguns are much more likely to complete their robberies, and those with knives and other weapons are somewhat more likely to do so, compared to unarmed robbers.     

被害人承诺的刑法意义

被害人的承诺有广义和狭义之分。广义的被害人承诺包括关系人的合意和被害人的同意,其中,关系人的合意是阻却构成要件该当性事由,而被害人的同意则是刑法中的正当化行为;狭义的被害人的承诺则仅指作为刑法中的正当化行为而存在的被害人的同意。由于关系人的合意中并无所谓被害人的存在,因而刑法理论中的被害人承诺,凡未作特别说明,一般专指狭义的被害人的承诺即被害人同意,而法益衡量理论,则为基于被害人承诺的行为的刑事正当性提供了有力的根据和说明。     

The Effect of Participant Sex,Victim Dress,and Traditional Attitudes on Causal Judgments for Marital Rape Victims

This study investigated the effects of participant sex, victim dress, and attitudes influencing the tendency to blame a marital rape victim. College undergraduates completed the Attitudes toward Marriage Scale, an intervening cognitive task, and a read fictitious scenario of a marital rape incident where the victim was dressed somberly or seductively. Participants then completed a brief questionnaire. As predicted, males rated the victim more deserving of the attack than females. As predicted, the suggestively dressed victim was rated more responsible and deserving than the somberly dressed victim. As predicted, participants holding more traditional attitudes toward marriage were more likely to assign more victim responsibility and deservingness than participants with more egalitarian attitudes. These findings are discussed within an attitudinal framework.     

Gender Bias in Attributions of Responsibility for Abuse

The bulk of previous research investigating attributions of responsibility in victimization scenarios have portrayed the assailant as male and the victim as female. The present study varied gender of the participant, gender of the assailant, and gender of the victim in order to examine gender bias in attributions of responsibility in abuse scenarios. Male and female participants were presented with scenarios depicting an abusive interaction between two males, two females, or a male and a female character and then made judgements of responsibility either with or without the narratives present. The results indicated that attributions made by females were biased against male victims of a male assailant when judging actions of the assailant. Attributions made by females and, to a lesser degree, attributions made by males were biased against the victim when the assailant and the participant were of the same gender and attributions of assailants' actions were made without the narrative present. In the analysis of attributions of actions of the victim, males attributed more responsibility to male than female victims. It is concluded that gender of all parties may be an important consideration when judging responsibility in victimization scenarios.     

The Effects of a Police/Victim Assistance Crisis Team Approach to Domestic Violence

A police/victim assistance crisis intervention program was evaluated over a 6-month period for its effect on police-related outcomes. Police report data on crisis team cases (N = 96) were compared to a random selection of family violence cases (N = 80) that were not served by the crisis team. The crisis team cases generated more arrests; however, victim cooperation was lower than in noncrisis intervention cases. Implications for work with family violence and victim assistance are discussed, as well as needs for future research.     

刑事和解中的价值冲突和制度架构

对刑事和解的不同评价,实际上反映了刑事和解本身蕴涵的价值冲突.刑事和解或许是后法治时代刑事司法制度的常态,但法治社会中,刑事和解的倡导与实验仍有不可低估的意义.在刑事和解的推进过程中,应对其进行必要的引导、规范,使其逐渐成为我国刑事诉讼中的一项制度,以改进我国的刑事司法.     

刑事和解制度的权衡与超越

法学界倡导我国实施刑事和解制度,实务界也有推广的趋势。将刑事和解制度放在和谐社会背景下和整个中国法治进程、宪政建设中,遵循诉讼平衡理念,分析刑事和解的效率价值,我们发现我国移植这种制度尚不具备相应的理念基础、制度体系和社会环境,刑事和解在我国现有环境下不宜施行。但我们可以对其合理成分进行借鉴与吸收,坚定刑事法治理念,探索建立被害人援助制度和补偿制度,进一步完善诉讼程序设计。     

被害人视角下的刑事和解探析

刑事和解是上世纪中叶出现于西方的一种新的刑事思潮,为解决轻刑刑事案件提供了一种新的思路和方案,我国自本世纪初开始关注这一制度,在国家提出建设和谐社会以来,又成为新的研究热点。刑事和解以个人本位为分析视角,在坚持传统刑事观念给予犯罪人关注的同时,也极大地体现了对被害人的人文关怀,被害人在刑事诉讼中地位大大提升,被害人的利益得到更多的保护等都彰显现代法治理念精神,无疑这些对于我国的刑事立法和司法都具有积极的借鉴意义。     

Assessment of STR Typing Success Rate in Soft Tissues from Putrefied Bodies Based on a Quantitative Grading System for Putrefaction

To date, there is no systematic investigation of the association of short tandem repeat (STR) typing success rate in soft tissues with different signs of putrefaction. Herein, putrefaction was rated using a newly developed 19‐parameter system in soft tissues from a collective of 68 decaying bodies, and DNA yield was determined in 408 samples. DNA integrity was rated using a self‐devised pentaplex PCR generating an “integrity score” (S_i). STR typing success rate was then assessed for selected cases. DNA yield and S_i differed significantly between tissues with kidney on average exhibiting the highest S_i values. Statistical analysis revealed that nine parameters were significantly and positively correlated with S_i. The observed values for each of these nine parameters were summed up to generate a putrefaction score (S_p) for each sample. Our results show that STR typing success rate can be predicted based on S_p before expensive multiplex STR profiling is performed.