The Moderating Effect of Criminal Thinking on Certainty of Apprehension in Decisions to Engage in Antisocial Behavior: Replication and Extension

This study explored whether the rational (certainty of punishment) and nonrational (criminal thinking) aspects of antisocial decision‐making interact. A convenience sample of 319 undergraduates (106 men, 213 women) completed a measure of criminal thinking and responded to three fictional vignettes (i.e., cheating on a final examination in a class they were in jeopardy of failing, stealing $50 off a table in a dorm room, and selling marijuana for a friend) at three different levels of risk or certainty of apprehension (50%, 10%, and 1%). Results indicated that participants reported that they would be more likely to engage in antisocial behavior when the certainty of getting caught was low and the level of proactive (P) or reactive (R) criminal thinking was high. An interaction between certainty and criminal thinking was also observed in which the gap between lower and higher criminal thinking respondents grew as the probability of getting caught fell.     

Sympathy for the devil: state engagement with criminal organisations in furtherance of public policy

Governments have long relied on non-state actors to assist in the implementation of public policy. Legitimate elements of civil society have become familiar instruments of governance. States have also engaged criminal actors to this end. This article will note examples of state collaboration with criminal interests, from pirates turned privateers during the 17th and 18th centuries, to the patriotic hackers of today. It will discuss the strategic considerations giving rise to such engagements, the pitfalls that may beset them, and the ethical considerations that might inform the decision by a state to enlist the services of illicit organisations.     

Marriage,Cohabitation, and Crime: Differentiating Associations by Partnership Stage

A wealth of scholarship generally finds that marriage protects against crime, but there is less consistent evidence for cohabitation. In this article, we contribute to scholarship on marriage and put forward new evidence about cohabitation by examining marital and cohabiting partnerships as transitions with distinct stages of entry, stability, and dissolution. We use within-person change models with contemporary data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 to analyze these stages for the full sample and separately for men and women. The findings show differential protective associations of marriage and cohabitation depending on the stage of the partnership. Both recently formed cohabiting partnerships and stable cohabiting partnerships are associated with reductions in the level of offending, although to a lesser degree than marital relationships. Cohabiting partnerships that are stable, in that they have lasted at least a year, are associated with larger decreases in offending, particularly among women.     

中国古代判词与当代刑事判决书对比研究

中国古代判词作为古代司法官员听讼断狱所制作的司法文书,反映着中国历史上的礼法文化传统。当下中国的刑事判决书改革,不仅需要借鉴国外的先进庭审制度和制判模式,而且需要从我国的本土断案决狱文化中汲取营养,把我国优秀的传统法律文化发扬光大,从而更好地推动司法改革的发展。本文首先对中国古代判词进行分类,继而从古代判词的文学性特征、道德化倾向、天理、人情和法意的兼顾、文本结构和用词的感情色彩等角度探讨了古代判词与现代刑事判决书的差异,并揭示了其对当今刑事判决书改革的启示。古代判词的这些特征不仅有利于实现古代社会的司法目的,对于中国当下的司法改革,尤其是刑事判决书改革也具有现实的参考价值。     

Referrals to a mental health criminal justice Liaison and diversion team in the North East of England

There is growing interest in the health correlates of people detained in police custody, and a number of innovations have been introduced to try to meet the complex needs of detainees. The implementation of Criminal Justice Liaison and Diversion (CJL&D) Services commissioned by the Department of Health in England is a substantial part of this investment. In this paper, we describe data from 858 detainees who were referred to the CJL&D service of a busy metropolitan police station in the North East of England. The detainees referred to the service had complex mental health needs, substance misuse and a range of vulnerabilities requiring specific intervention. The effective operation of these teams and how they interface with health and criminal justice systems also depend upon a number of systematic issues that emanate both from within the teams, and from external policy drivers.     

我国刑事被告人品格证据规则之探索

近年来,我国在刑事司法领域开展一系列制度性改革,其中"和谐司法"、"认罪认罚从宽"、"恢复性司法"等缓和性司法理念与制度正在全面铺开。某些缓和性刑事政策需要被追诉方的品格加以佐证支撑,以对其人身危险性进行度量。因此了解和审查被追诉方品格因素就显得很关键。品格证据可以对被告人刑事责任承担产生较大影响。故研究品格证据,可在理论上界定品格证据含义特征,探究域外规则发展路径,归纳我国建立该规则的可行建议,完善我国证据规则体系。     

THE LANGUAGE OF STIGMATIZATION AND THE MARK OF VIOLENCE: EXPERIMENTAL EVIDENCE ON THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION AND USE OF CRIMINAL RECORD STIGMA

After years of stagnation, labeling theory has recently gained new empirical support. Simultaneously, new policy initiatives have attempted to restructure criminal record stigma to reduce reintegration barriers, and subsequent recidivism, driven by labeling. For example, in a recent Department of Justice (DOJ) language policy, person‐first terms (e.g., “person with a conviction”) were substituted for crime‐first terms (e.g., “offender”). The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has also issued guidelines to structure how decision‐makers use criminal records. Unfortunately, little is currently known about the social construction and use of criminal record stigma or the potential effects of such policy changes. In the current study, we provide two unique empirical tests. In study 1, we examine the social construction of stigma by testing DOJ's language policy with experimental data from a nationally representative sample of American adults (N = 996). In study 2, we use a separate nationwide experiment (N = 1,540) to examine how the contextualization of criminal records influences social exclusion decisions. Across both studies, we find consistent evidence of a “mark of violence.” The public perceives that individuals with violent convictions are the most likely to commit future crimes, and it is more supportive of excluding these individuals from employment. Crime‐first terms exacerbate perceived recidivism risk for individuals with violent convictions.     

昆明市103例高坠死亡案件的坠落高度以及案件性质分析

目的对103例高坠死亡案例进行回顾性分析,研究尸体损伤与坠落高度、坠落高度与水平移行距离、水平移行距离与案件性质之间的关系。方法收集2001~2015年间昆明市公安局所受理的高坠案例共103例,所得数据均经spss17.0进行统计检验。结果颅骨骨折在坠落高度为11米以上时的概率较大,四肢骨折在各高度出现的概率均比较大,肋骨骨折在坠落高度为21米以上时的概率较大,尸体的坠落高度与水平移行距离存在正相关关系。坠落高度在11米以上时自杀多见,水平移行距离在1.1m以上时自杀多见。结论尸体损伤、水平移行距离可作为辅助手段估算坠落高度,水平移行距离可作为判断案件性质的参考数据。     

Factors associated with desistance from violence in prison: an exploratory study

Desistance from crime has been of increasing interest within criminal justice literature, but desistance from offending behaviour whilst in custodial environments has not yet been investigated. Violence within prison establishments continues to be a significant problem; therefore, this study investigated the factors that are associated with desistance from custodial violence in 63 UK Category C adult male prisoners with a record of violence in prison. Participants completed measures of eight social and subjective factors associated with desistance in community samples. Those who had desisted from prison violence for 12 months or more showed greater levels of pro-social attitudes, agency and resilience than those who persisted in violence. Agency independently predicted desistance and this was particularly the case for younger offenders. Internal shifts appeared to be supported by a positive work environment. It is concluded that in custody an internal shift in perspective is especially important for desistance, and that this can be supported by the social environment. Opportunities to intervene may be greater in younger prisoners. It is recommended that current initiatives in developing agency and positive social interaction, such as Psychologically Informed Planned Environments, are further developed.