“She's Nobody's Child/the Law Can't Touch Her at All”: Seeking to Bring Dignity to Legal Proceedings Involving Juveniles

Inquiries into a range of issues involving juveniles in the psychiatric hospitalization and criminal trial process reveal that, regularly, juveniles are subject to shame and humiliation in all aspects of the legal system that relate to arrest, trial, conviction, and institutionalization, shame and humiliation that are often exacerbated in cases involving racial minorities and those who are economically impoverished. We contextualize them into the juvenile justice system, and look specifically at how this is reflected in the case law. We then consider these findings through the filters of therapeutic jurisprudence and international human rights laws, concluding that these approaches best remediate the current state of affairs and infuse this system with badly‐needed dignity.     

从《红楼梦》看中国艺术之“情本体”

本文试图以实践美学的情本体理论分析以《红楼梦》为代表的中国艺术的“情本体”精神。《红楼梦》明确地把“情”为人生的本体,并使之具有了形而上的品格,成为一种既植根于现世、又具有超越性的精神。“情”在《红楼梦》里不仅是一种狭义的男女之间两心相悦之情爱,而且是一种广义上热爱人生、热爱生命、热爱世界的“爱”,更是一种超越现实世界的“悟”,一种形而上之“体”,一种既入世又出世之“玄”,也是人生存于世的“本体”。这种本体之“情”,在中国传统美学中源远流长,传承悠久。它与儒家的社会本体论、道家的自然本体论互为补充,同时也互相批评,构成中国传统人生本体论的立体交叉网络。情本体美学的理论表述可以明李贽的“童心说”和汤显祖的“唯情说”为代表,屈原的忠君爱国精神为其人格象征,《红楼梦》则是其作品的代表。     

未完全定型背景下的协商性法律监督——法律监督的方法论变革

理论界对于检察机关法律监督权的研究一直倾向于在宪法文本乃至宪政精神下进行本体论的研究,但本体论研究无法改变目前宪法及部门法的条文规定,因而无法促进法律监督权的深化与拓展。法律监督权在政治生活中属于未完全定型的概念。在未完全定型的情形下,抛开分歧,更加注重权力行使过程、行使方式的研究更为重要。法律监督权之所以尚未定型及运行中之所以遇到很多难题,不同机关的绩效考核之间相互博弈、监督与被监督单位及个人之间的情面是尤为重要的影响因素。在这些因素构成的复杂法治环境中,考虑到法律监督权在政治、法律中的未完全定型,提倡合作共赢、又不折损情面的协商式监督更能促进法律监督工作的开展。     

Crime and mental disorders among native Dutch and ethnic minority juvenile defendants in the Netherlands

We examined the prevalence of mental disorders and the recommendations regarding criminal responsibility and treatment in pre-trial mental health evaluations requested by Dutch juvenile courts for youths between the ages of 12 to 17. Youths of native Dutch (n = 2694) and of ethnic minority background (n = 1393) were compared. The prevalence of mental disorders was similar for both groups (76.8% versus 74.4%). Criminal responsibility in native Dutch youth was more often considered ‘diminished’ or ‘strongly diminished’ than in ethnic minority youth. Admission to a juvenile institution was more often recommended for ethnic minority juveniles than for native Dutch juveniles. It remains unclear from our data whether these differences reflect a false stereotype of ethnic minority populations as being more dangerous and threatening.     

Diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder and criminal responsibility

The present study empirically investigates whether personality disorders and psychopathic traits in criminal suspects are reasons for diminished criminal responsibility or enforced treatment in high security hospitals. Recently, the tenability of the claim that individuals with personality disorders and psychopathy can be held fully responsible for crimes has been questioned on theoretical bases. According to some interpretations, these disorders are due to cognitive, biological and developmental deficits that diminish the individual's accountability.The current article presents two studies among suspects of serious crimes under forensic evaluation in a Dutch forensic psychiatric observation clinic. The first study examined how experts weigh personality disorders in their conclusions as far as the degree of criminal responsibility and the need for enforced forensic psychiatric treatment are concerned (n = 843). The second study investigated associations between PCL-R scores and experts' responsibility and treatment advisements (n = 108).The results suggest that in Dutch forensic practice, the presence of a personality disorder decreased responsibility and led to an advice for enforced forensic treatment. Experts also take characteristics of psychopathy concerning impulsivity and (ir)responsibility into consideration when judging criminal accountability. Furthermore, they deem affective deficiencies sufficiently important to indicate suspects' threat to society or dangerousness and warrant a need for forensic treatment.     

Violence against care workers in psychiatry: is prosecution justified?

The number of (severe) violent incidents against staff caused by psychiatric inpatients is high. Victims often do not report these incidents to the police, because of various reasons. But if they do report these incidents, the judicial authorities are often reluctant in prosecuting and convicting these patients. The central question in this article is ‘in which cases is it appropriate to prosecute assaultive psychiatric patients?’In order to identify the influential factors in the decision in respectively reporting, prosecuting and convicting psychiatric patients who assault staff, a literature review has been performed. On the basis of this literature it is advised to report and investigate a case when the incident resulted in severe injury, the incident is a sexual offence, or when a patient repetitively causes violent incidents. Moreover, it appears that, although large amount of studies has been published on violence in psychiatry, the prosecution of violent psychiatric patients has hardly received any attention in the international literature. Empirical studies on this subject are suggested, in order to develop a uniform policy, which is embraced by all parties involved.     

犯罪构成体系的价值评价：从存在论走向规范论

德日三阶层犯罪构成体系以规范论为基础,以评价性概念为基石,价值评价的对象是事实,价值评价的实证标准是罪状,实质标准是开放的,诸如新康德主义的超验理性、罗克辛的刑事政策以及雅各布斯的社会规范等。我国四要件犯罪构成体系以存在论为基础,以描述性概念为基石,评价对象与对象评价不分,事实判断与价值评价同一。存在论体系及其描述性概念严重限制了价值评价的功能,无法协调好事实判断与价值评价、体系内评价与体系外评价、积极评价与消极评价的关系。我国犯罪构成体系应该从存在论走向规范论。     

“A Plague on both Your Houses?”: Risks,Repeats and Reconsiderations of Urban Residential Burglary

Research has shown that mapping techniques are useful in forecasting future crime events. However, the majority of prospective mapping techniques has focused on the event-dependent influence of instigator incidents on subsequent incidents and does not explicitly incorporate the risk heterogeneity of the setting. The study here discussed is a modest attempt to address this issue by using a two-step process: first, using risk terrain modeling, we operationalized the “environmental backcloth,” (the risk heterogeneity of an area) to forecast locations of residential burglaries in the urban city of Newark, New Jersey. Second, using the near repeat calculator, we assessed the variability of underlying risk between different types of residential burglaries. A discussion of the findings and the joint utility of these approaches is provided.     

Basal renal tubular epithelial cell vacuolization and alcoholic ketoacidosis

Subnuclear renal tubular epithelial cell vacuolization is a marker for diabetic ketoacidosis. Whether it is because of hyperglycemia or of ketoacidosis is unclear. To examine the effect of ketoacidosis on renal cells in isolation, five cases of lethal alcoholic ketoacidosis without hyperglycemia were examined (vitreous humor β-hydroxybutyrate: 6.42-8.75 mM, mean 7.66 mM; and glucose: 0.1-4.2 mM, mean 1.46 mM). Microscopic examination of the kidneys revealed basal vacuoles in three cases (60%). Seven control cases with acute alcohol toxicity without ketoacidosis (blood alcohol: 0.18-0.43%, mean 0.31%; and β-hydroxybutyrate: 0.12-0.42 mM, mean 0.21 mM) did not have these changes. In this study, basal epithelial vacuolization was found only in cases with significant ketoacidosis. Although the numbers are small, the finding of basal renal tubular epithelial vacuolization in normoglycemic cases with elevated β-hydroxybutyrate levels provide further evidence that disordered lipid metabolism may be involved in the pathogenesis of this phenomenon.