Low Self‐Control and Contact with the Criminal Justice System in a Nationally Representative Sample of Males

Prior research on law enforcement and court system actions suggests that offender demeanor influences practitioner decision making. However, few studies have examined a key implication of this body of work—namely, criminogenic factors associated not only with offending but also with demeanor may result in a greater likelihood of contact with and formal processing by law enforcement and the courts. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, we test the hypothesis that low self‐control, which is associated with a range of characteristics that might influence practitioner perceptions of individual offenders’ demeanors, will predict greater contact and formal processing. Briefly, we found that low self‐control was consistently related to criminal justice system involvement as measured by police contacts, arrests, age at first police contact, and arrest onset. The implications of the findings for theory and research are discussed.     

Gang Membership,Gun Carrying,and Employment: Applying Routine Activities Theory to Explain Violent Victimization Among Inner City,Minority Youth Living in Extreme Poverty∗

Conceptual inconsistencies in routine activities theory are illustrated by demonstrating how gang membership, gun carrying, and employment can be categorized as both risk and protective factors in a high‐poverty context. Two waves of longitudinal data from a high‐poverty sample of African American youth were used to examine the determinants of victimization risk. Bivariate analyses indicated that gang membership, gun carrying, and employment status are significant risk factors for violent victimization, but these effects were mediated by measures of lifestyles (e.g., demographic and family factors, deviant lifestyles) included as controls in the full multivariate model. In other words, the strong positive relationship between gang membership and gun carrying found in previous studies may be due to model misspecification and/or the lack of research on high‐poverty samples of inner city youth from the Deep South. Additional logistic regression analyses also indicate that the number of hours employed per week (but not employment status) is a risk factor for violent victimization. Finally, the theoretical implications of these findings for routine activities theory are discussed.     

Strain,Crime, and Contingencies

Hypotheses from General Strain theory are addressed using data from a random sample of adults in Raleigh, NC. Analyses examine three issues: (1) whether strain predicts self‐projected criminal behavior; controlling for past self‐reported crime; (2) whether negative emotions mediate the relationship between strain and projected crime; and (3) whether social support and criminal peers serve as contingencies or mediators for strain in predicting criminality. Results are generally consistent with previous studies focusing on youth. Three of four measures of strain are found to predict the crime measures. However, that relationship is not mediated by negative emotion and the measures of social support and criminal peers do not act as contingencies or mediators. The results suggest that strain may not operate through negative emotions and that theoretical refinement is needed to identify which potential contingencies are likely to be operating under various circumstances.     

德日犯罪论的中国命运考量

德日犯罪论第一次进入我国的时候,由于种种原因,并未引起任何反响。再次面对德日犯罪论,刑法学界已经由赞叹走向对该理论的反思。这一反思主要从两个向度上展开：理论自身和方法论。德日犯罪论所具有的外在不稳定性,表明该理论还在发展,其内在的缺陷,显示出该理论仍需完善。而仅仅运用哲学方法对它进行研究也存在一定的问题。德日犯罪论的中国命运不容乐观。     

自崇礼到重法（下）——以先秦士阶层“得君行道”观念为视角

东周以降,礼崩乐坏,君、师分离,士阶层出现,“得君行道”观念随之产生。孔、孟认定道尊于势,不能得君,则以明道自任,道即为赋予礼以内在道德上的根据,彰显其仁心,其治道之重心在礼。战国中晚期,“势”观念勃兴,尊君思想张扬,荀子在“道”与“势”之间游移,因要尊君,遂将礼外在规范化,在治道上礼法并重。战国末期,成为思想界主流的法家,将尊君推到空前高度,因得君之切而牺牲了行道之实;因尊君而尚法,其法治沦为君主“治”臣下和人民的工具。先秦时期,士阶层从强调“行道”逐渐转向“得君”,与治道从“重礼”向“尚法”之演变大体一致。     

双层区分制下正犯与共犯的区分

世界各国刑法关于共犯体系的立法存在着"单一制"与"区分制"两大类型。中国刑法中的共犯体系在解释论上可归结为区分制,如何区分正犯与共犯亦是中国共犯理论必须回答的问题。在德、日刑法中,正犯与共犯的区分具有同时解决参与人的定罪和量刑的双重功能。在此种单层区分制下,重视参与人在不法事实实现过程中的实质支配力或作用大小的犯罪事实支配理论、重要作用说有其论理上的妥当性。中国刑法对参与人同时采用了分工和作用两种并存不悖、功能各异的分类标准。分工分类标准下的正犯与共犯旨在解决参与人的定性及其间的关系问题,而不直接决定和评价参与人的刑罚轻重,承载量刑功能的是作用分类标准下的主犯和从犯。在这种双层区分制立法模式下,正犯与共犯的界分宜采以构成要件为轴心的实行行为说。     

社区治理视野下的社区民间组织发展——以珠海为例

本调研小组通过实证调查的方式发现并分析了当前珠海市社区民间组织存在的问题,其中包括社区居民对社区民间组织了解程度不高,社区民间组织提供的服务内容不均衡,缺乏政府支持以及社区民间组织的参与率不高等。在此基础上提出应以彻底落实"社区本位"的社会管理体制改革的思路为基础,以社区居委会为平台,多元化地拓展对社区民间组织的政策和资金扶持的渠道,创新调动社区居民参加社区民间组织潜在动力的实际措施,建立社区民间组织宣传机制,扩大社区民间组织影响力,让社区居民更加了解社区民间组织。     

融贯论、道德实在与法律——一个基于内在实在主义的整合

不同的真理理论导致不同的法律方法论。符合论实在主义的哲学会导致哲学的和自然主义的法律发现,而融贯论则是规范分析和法律解释的基础。不少哲学家认为没有脱离融贯论的符合论(如普特南)。但同时,从真理的客观性维度讲,融贯论只能保障认知的客观性,而不能获得形而上的客观性。融贯论的结果必然是相对主义。因此,法律哲学的认识论选择必然是折中的,这个折中的认识论可以由普特南的内在实在主义来承担,而内在实在主义将最终引向包容的法律实证主义。     

论经济法的理论基础

任何法部门都要有理论基础。经济法理论基础应当以讲求法意理论、突出经济法特征和承认其他部门法理论基础为立论之本,并从经济法价值层面推衍出来。以往学界关于经济法理论基础的研究还没能够符合这些条件,故诸说成立的根据不充分;而民商法、行政法、社会法等理论基础对于从经济法价值层面推衍的"整体经济效益"的价值取向及覆盖的法内容,又无力支撑。于是,寻找经济法自身的根本理论支撑就十分关键了。笔者研究发现,经济法为了实现"整体经济效益"的价值取向,必须不断解决个体性经营无序带来的"整体"损害问题,于是,经济法配置的整体性经济权应当是限定个体性经营权的职权。笔者将这一理论称为"限权论"并定位为经济法理论基础。这一理论也是在与民商法的"保权论"、行政法的"控权论"、社会法的"扶权论"等理论基础的界分和协调中形成的。