Interaction of criminological research and public policy

We examine here some of the interactions of research and policy over the past several decades. The “rehabilitation period” was effectively terminated by nulleffect evaluations of various rehabilitation techniques. The “just deserts-utilitarian period” was fed by research estimates of the deterrent and incapacitative effects of criminal justice activities. The more recent “overt politicization period” saw the earlier attempt to bring rational and theory-based perspectives to policy development replaced by much stronger emphasis on political concerns. We explore possible ways to reestablish the research-policy connections. This paper was prepared for the Plenary Session,Journal of Quantitative Criminology 10-Year Anniversary, 1995 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Criminology, Boston, MA.     

Partner Assaultive Men and the Stages and Processes of Change

Researchers have recently suggested that the Transtheoretical Model of behavior change (TTM; Prochaska, J. O. DiClemente, C. C., and Norcross, J. C., 1992, Am. Psychol. 47: 1102–1114) might help in understanding the mechanisms through which partner assaultive men attempt to change their abusive behavior. In the present study, we present data from 2 psychometrically sound scales designed to assess the stages and processes of change in a cross-sectional sample of 250 men attending 2 batterer's intervention and prevention programs: the University of Rhode Island Change Assessment Scale for Domestic Violence (URICA-DV; Levesque, D. A., Gelles, R. J., and Velicer, W. F., 2000, Cog. Therapy Res. 24: 175–200), which assesses movement through the stages of change, and the Processes of Change Scale (POC), developed by the authors to assess self-reported usage of behavior change processes. Cross-validated cluster analyses indicated a three-cluster solution based upon URICA-DV scores: Immotive, Unprepared Action, and Preparticipation. Results indicated that individuals in more advanced stages of change reported using more behavior change processes, although this did not appear to result from being in treatment for a longer period of time. These data are interpreted in light of recent data indicating relatively small effect sizes for batterer's treatment programs and how assessment of the stages and processes of change might assist in matching men to different levels of treatment.     

北京市依法行政调研

本文总结了北京市依法行政的现状及成绩 ,查找出依法行政中存在的问题 ,并有针对性地提出推进首都依法行政进程的对策与建议。     

法律介入科研违规行为的障碍因素分析

由于严重的科研违规行为同样会带来严重的社会危害性,从而为法律介入科研违规行为提供了可能性。但法律介入科研违规行为的时间毕竟不长,目前还存在着许多障碍因素。这些障碍主要有:我国传统社会的“德主法辅”的观念仍在产生消极影响;科研活动的特点会导致立法的复杂性;我国刑法理论中的犯罪概念含混不清,给具体科研违规行为的定性带来了困难。     

禁毒工作的经济学思考

毒品作为特殊商品的劳动二重性以及毒品市场不同于一般市场的畸型发展,如果从经济学理论的角度出发,或许可以找出毒品犯罪的内在根源,或许禁毒工作会更加强调经济因素的考虑。其具体措施是:加大禁毒经费投入;讲求禁毒工作效益;应用经济惩罚手段;加大反“洗钱”力度以摧毁贩毒集团经济实力等。     

Violent Crime in the Urban Community: A Comparison of Stockholm and Basel

In this article the authors present some preliminary findings from a comparative study of police recorded violent crimes in Stockholm and Basel. They present the first results from a comparative analysis of the situational context, the ecology of crime, and of offender residences in these cities. There is impressive evidence of basic similarities in the situational context of violent crime and the residential distribution of violent offenders. Yet there are also significant differences, some of which may have interesting implications for crime prevention. Firstly, violent crime seems to be more highly concentrated during weekend nights in Stockholm than in Basel. Secondly, they find evidence that the presence of weapons in a community increases the risk of more serious outcomes of violent events. Efforts to reduce the availability of weapons may thus have significant effects on the outcomes of violence, but not necessarily on its frequency. Thirdly, they show that offenders in both cities are highly concentrated in socially disorganised communities with few economic and social resources.     

Connecting the dots: Crime rates and criminal justice evaluation research

The National Research Council’s report on evaluating anticrime programs contains sensible suggestions for improving evaluation research in criminal justice but neglects the important role of substantive theory in linking evaluations of anticrime initiatives to variation in crime rates across time and place. A working knowledge of crime rates is essential for designing and evaluating anticrime programs. This essay calls for the development of a policy evaluation infrastructure that would support the continuous monitoring of crime rates, generate knowledge of crime-producing conditions, and link evaluation research findings to one another and to expected policy outcomes, notably crime reduction.

续论钱大昕的考史之“学”

钱大昕考史之"学"浩博,纵的方面已超越同时代的其他考据大师,学逾三代,通贯古今;横的方面尤重官制、舆地、氏族谱牒之学,还把精通方志、金石、避讳之学等,作为基本的知识储备,使它们都成了善事(指考史)之利器.此前笔者曾作文详论,限于篇幅,未能对方志、金石、避讳学在钱大昕考史中的作用予以评述.若以此定格,非但失于完整,而且不够充分.故特为前篇作续,缀文以求补遗.     

A Meta-Analysis of Race and Sentencing Research: Explaining the Inconsistencies

Numerous studies have addressed the question: Are African-Americans treated more harshly than similarly situated whites? This research employs meta-analysis to synthesize this body of research. One-hundred-sixteen statistically independent contrasts were coded from 71 published and unpublished studies. Coded study and contextual features are used to explain variation in research findings. Analyses indicate that African-Americans generally are sentenced more harshly than whites; the magnitude of this race effect is statistically significant but small and highly variable. Larger estimates of unwarranted disparity are found in contrasts that examine drug offenses, imprisonment or discretionary decisions, do not pool cases from several smaller jurisdictions, utilize imprecise measures, or omit key variables. Yet, even when consideration is confined to those contrasts employing key controls and precise measures of key variables, unwarranted racial disparities persists. Further, a substantial proportion of variability in study results is explained by study factors, particularly methodological factors.     

日据初期日本在台湾的宗教调查及其宗教政策——以佛教调查为中心的考察

日本据台初期,非官方和官方组织了一系列以佛教为中心的宗教调查.这些调查涉及日本佛教在台的布教、台湾寺庙僧侣、台湾原有习俗信仰、台湾佛教历史发展等.在调查的基础上,日据当局形成了其初期的宗教政策,即对来台的日本佛教加以有限的控制和限制,对台湾旧有宗教实行有限的"放任主义",是其"旧惯温存"政治统治政策的体现.日据初期的宗教政策,确立了日据当局对台湾宗教发展的统辖地位,影响了台湾传统佛教的发展方向,开拓了日本佛教以后在台湾的发展空间