Reconstruction and reparations: Lessons from China and the Pan-African world

Abstract

This article addresses the role of the university and institutions of higher learning in carrying out the mandate of the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance (WCAR), held in Durban, South Africa in 2001. The active contribution of the university is anticipated in Article 98 of the Programme of Action published in the Report of the World Conference (2001), which clearly states:

We emphasize the importance and necessity of teaching about the facts and truth of the history of humankind from antiquity to the recent past, as well as of teaching about the facts and truth of the history, causes, nature and consequences of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, with a view to achieving a comprehensive and objective cognizance of the tragedies of the past.     

IS BEING “SPIRITUAL” ENOUGH WITHOUT BEING RELIGIOUS? A STUDY OF VIOLENT AND PROPERTY CRIMES AMONG EMERGING ADULTS

Although prior research has had a tendency to confirm a negative association between religiousness and crime, criminologists have been slow to incorporate new concepts and emergent issues from the scientific study of religion into their own research. The self‐identity phrase “spiritual but not religious” is one of them, which has been increasingly used by individuals who claim to be “spiritual” but disassociate themselves from organized religion. This study first examines differences in crime between “spiritual‐but‐not‐religious” individuals and their “religious‐and‐spiritual,” “religious‐but‐not‐spiritual,” and “neither‐religious‐nor‐spiritual” peers in emerging adulthood. Specifically, we hypothesize that the spiritual‐but‐not‐religious young adults are more prone to crime than their “religious” counterparts, while expecting them to be different from the “neither” group without specifying whether they are more or less crime prone. Second, the expected group differences in crime are hypothesized to be explained by the microcriminological theories of self‐control, social bonding, and general strain. Latent‐variable structural equation models were estimated separately for violent and property crimes using the third wave of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. The overall results tend to provide a partial support for the hypotheses. Implications for criminology and future research are discussed.     

Ethnic Origins and the Disposition of Delinquents in Israel

Theoretical considerations lead to the hypothesis that the dispositions of juvenile cases affecting Oriental Jews will be harsher than those affecting European Jews in Israel. Further, that Arab juveniles will be dealt with more harshly than will either European or Oriental Jews. Analysis of official delinquency data reveals that this is the tendency. However, the authoritarian structure of the Arab community rather than prejudice explains the difference in handling Jewish or Arabic cases.     

Environmental crime prosecutions in Ireland, 2004–2014

Despite increased interest in environmental crime and green criminology, few studies address the use of criminal penalties in response to environmental crimes. A handful of published examples employ data from the United States or the Flanders court system, and little is known about how other nations punish environmental violations. Addressing this issue, the current study examined the use of criminal environmental penalties in Ireland from 2004 to 2014. Few criminal environmental cases (N = 147) and few environmental offenders (N = 154) were represented in these data over time. Consistent with the expectations of green/environmental crime researchers, mean penalties for environmental violations, which in Ireland only include fines and investigative cost recovery penalties, were rather small. Unlike in the US or Flanders, the majority of offenders were corporate offenders as opposed to individuals. Contextual factors related to Ireland’s economy, history and use of criminal sanctions should be used to interpret these factors, and prevent generalising from these data.     

What Have We Learned from Columbine

Abstract

This study first examined a model of the predictors and mediators of both suicidal ideation and violent ideation, particularly since both types of ideation were highly correlated (r = .55) among our young adolescent participants. The variables in the model were those identified in media accounts of the histories of the 10 high-profile school shooting cases, and that have also been included in our earlier model of the predictors of suicidal ideation, which we expanded to include violent ideation. Perceptions of competence or adequacy and social support from peers and parents predicted two mediators in the model, an adjustment/depression composite (self-esteem, hope to hopelessness, and affect, along a continuum from cheerful to depressed) and anger-induced physical aggression. These variables, in turn, predicted both suicidal and violent ideation. Secondly, we examined adolescents' reactions to vignettes that described harassing events, at the hands of peers and teachers simulating the type of audience-observed ridicule experienced by the school shooters. We were particularly interested in the emotional reaction of humiliation, an effect that has received surprisingly little attention in the emotion literature. Humiliation was related to other emotions such as anger and depression, consistent with the co-occurrence of internalizing and externalizing symptoms demonstrated in the overall model. Next we compared those who reported that they would respond violently to the events in vignettes compared to those reporting nonviolent reactions. Examining the variables in the general model, those who reported violent ideation reported markedly lower perceptions of adequacy, lower levels of social support, lower self-esteem, greater hopelessness, depressed affect, and anger-induced aggression. The violent ideators also reported higher levels of both homicidal and suicidal ideation. Discussion focused on the fact that thoughts of violence toward others as well as toward the self have similar psychosocial origins that should be considered in prevention and intervention efforts.     

Radical distinctions: a comparative study of two jihadist speeches

Work on contemporary instances of “violent extremist” texts tends to see these primarily as more or less instrumental extensions of political (or political-religious) movements. As a result, there are few studies that devote close attention to individual examples of the texts themselves. In this article, we offer a detailed analysis of two jihadist speeches by the prominent ideologues Adam Gadahn and the late Anwar al-Awlaki. We argue that Al-Awlaki’s work ultimately succeeds where Gadahn’s seemingly fails because it is underpinned by a form of fundamentalism which, paradoxically, is inherently premised on the survival of possibilities for dialogue and polyglossia.     

A New Look at the Gender Gap in Offending

Studies of public support for capital punishment have consistently observed a strong and enduring gender gap in the level of death penalty support, with males consistently more inclined than females to support capital punishment. This unexplained relationship has endured over time and space as well as across a myriad of research designs. The present study uses attribution theory in a factorial survey design to account for this relationship. Analyses of data obtained from jurors provide mixed support for attribution theory yet fails to bridge the gender gap in death penalty support. The implications of these findings as they relate to gender, socialization, and attributions are discussed.     

简析赌博机犯罪之司法认定——以“两高一部”《意见》为视角

设置赌博机组织赌博活动构成开设赌场罪即所谓的赌博机犯罪。根据《意见》赌博机犯霏的司法认定,应该包括对利用赌博机组织赌饵行为的性质认定、定罪标准、罪与非罪的界定和共犯、赌资、赌博机的认定等方面内容的考量。     

论暴力恐怖事件发生后社会心理氛围的调控

恐怖犯罪的发生与特定的政治经济环境、国际形势、历史遗留问题等多种因素有关。反恐怖策略固然需要重视对暴力恐怖犯罪的打击,但更要重视营造健康的社会心理氛围,降低既定的社会环境对个体的消极影响,从一般预防的层面减少恐怖犯罪发生的机率。暴力恐怖事件发生后社会心理氛围的调控要注意反恐宣传、社会控制与心理引导等问题。     

城市少数民族流动人口犯罪实证研究--以S市M区的统计数据为基础的分析

对s市M区统计数据的实证分析表明,城市涉嫌犯罪的少数民族人员以无任何前科记录的初中文化水平以下的外来男性农民和无业人员为主;实施的犯罪行为比较轻,相对集中于盗窃罪,寻衅滋事罪,走私、贩卖、运输、制造毒品罪等几个罪名;共同犯罪的规模较小,共同犯罪人之间的联系比较松散,作案手段多元化、相对平和,重特大案件罕见;适用刑罚比较轻缓,以3年以下有期徒刑、拘役、罚金为主。城市少数民族人员犯罪并不是严重的社会现象,其数量和严重程度远远低于汉族人犯罪。因此,少数民族“流动人口”犯罪问题不应当特殊化,应当在人口流动和城镇化的背景下,理性客观地对待少数民族人员犯罪问题,贯彻宽严相济的刑事政策,采取措施使得少数民族“流动人口”尽快融入大城市。