Childhood and Adolescent Predictors of Late Onset Criminal Careers

This study explores the emergence of a criminal career in adulthood. The main hypothesis tested is that late criminal onset (at age 21 or later) is influenced by early factors that delay antisocial manifestations. The Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development (CSDD) was used to examine early determinants of criminal behavior. 400 Inner London males were followed from ages 8–10 to 48–50, and were classified as follows: 35 late onsetters who were first convicted at age 21 or later, and did not have high self-reported delinquency at ages 10–14 and 15–18; 129 early onsetters first convicted between ages 10 and 20; and 236 unconvicted males. Odds ratios and logistic regression analyses revealed that the best predictors of late onset offenders compared with early onset offenders included nervousness, having few friends at ages 8–10, and not having sexual intercourse by age 18. The best predictors of late onset offenders compared with nonoffenders included teacher-rated anxiousness at ages 12–14 and high neuroticism at age 16. It is concluded that being nervous and withdrawn protected boys against offending in adolescence but that these protective effects tended to wear off after age 21. These findings show that adult offending can be predicted from childhood, and suggest that early intervention might prevent a variety of maladjustment problems and difficulties in adult life.

The Penal Voluntary Sector in England and Wales: Adaptation to Unsettlement and Austerity

This article draws on some findings from research which investigated penal voluntary sector adaptation to the mixed market in criminal justice services. The article firstly reprises the main trends for aligning state relationships with the voluntary sector from the 1980s to the present. We then outline some findings about adaptive experiences, situations and practices of the voluntary sector in criminal justice resettlement in the light of considerable upheaval. The research found that service providing voluntary sector organisations (VSOs) either outwardly comply with, or, in a minority of cases, actively embrace, competitive marketised models of service delivery. Secondly, the sector has normalised commercial approaches to organisational efficiency as well as aligned with bureaucratic practices common to the statutory sector. Despite charges that they are effectively co‐opted by both state and market interests, many have reported conflicts between prioritising long‐term financial viability with their founding ‘ethos and values’. We conclude that while many VSOs have successfully adjusted to market and bureaucratic norms, aspects of that repositioning have been at a cost to their traditions of relative autonomy, localism and distinctiveness, to the possible detriment of a vigorous civil society.     

The identity of ‘the other’ for sexual violence victims: is there anything new in sexual violence prosecutions before the International Criminal Court?

Despite the spectacular development in the field of international criminal law, critical feminism stresses the narrow scope of the sex and gender crimes in the Rome Statute establishing the first permanent International Criminal Court. The current international criminal law discourse, as expressed by recent case law, is geared towards the protection of certain groups targeted on account of their distinctiveness within the framework of a conflict situation, and gender is not recognized as one of these group identities. The question whether international criminal law on sexual violence applies only to inter-group conflicts brings to the fore an uneasy likelihood of exclusion of some recently emergent situations where identities of the conflicting parties transcend a particular ethnicity or nationality, and where victims of sexual violence belong to the same group as their perpetrators. The article argues that, rather than the Rome Statute or newly introduced rules and regulations, a significant obstacle in developing gender justice is the narrow interpretation of sexual violence to inter-group hostilities.     

Local-level law enforcement: Muscovites and their uchastkovyy

The uchastkovyy, or beat officer, is at the front lines of Russian police work. This article investigates the general environment in which the uchastkovyy functions, using Moscow as an example. More specifically, this article examines the institutional structure within which the beat cop operates, his/her duties and resources, the quota system used to evaluate his/her performance, and the nature of the interaction between the uchastkovyy and the public. In so doing, the study disaggregates the monolith that is the Russian police, focusing on that component of the force (uchastkovyy) that interacts most directly with the citizenry. It relies on data from a survey of 1500 Muscovites and four focus group encounters organized by the author to elicit a broad range of public attitudes regarding the performance and conduct of uchastkovyy, exploring particularly what measures might be taken to enhance the level of public trust in their local beat officers.     

浅析刑法因果关系理论的共同性

关于刑法因果关系出现了不同的理论学说,各种学说的实质是一样的,但判断标准却是模糊的,并表现出了较强的主观性,但这在一定的历史条件下无疑又是合理的。因此,我们有妊要对刑法因果关系理论的共同性进行深入的剖析。     

日本刑法中的事实错误理论研究

事实的错误是日本刑法理论中关于“错误论”中极其重要的内容之一。虽然中日两国的法律制度相差较大,但是我们可以通过本文的研究得出日本刑法解释者是怎样平衡司法与立法的。本文主要介绍了关于事实错误的三种学说,即具体的符合说、法定符合说和抽象符合说,并对日本的事实错误理论进行了简单的评析。     

我国台湾地区的刑事搜查制度与借鉴

我国大陆与台湾地区刑事搜查制度各不相同,然而搜查一般都应遵循司法审查、特定性、合理根据、人格权保障等原则。为加强两岸间交流和保护人权,我们可以借鉴台湾地区刑事搜查制度的经验,逐步完善我国的刑事搜查制度。     

论罪犯教育个性化

过分强调罪犯教育的统一模式 ,不利于罪犯教育质量的提高。调整、改革罪犯教育思想和方式 ,把罪犯教育改造成为既适应社会需要 ,又有个体特色的新人 ,是罪犯教育面临的必然选择。应当明确罪犯在教育过程中的主体地位 ,注意提高罪犯的自我意识和主体意识 ,在改变罪犯个性心理结构上下功夫 ,建构有助于罪犯教育个性化运行的狱所环境     

加强刑嫌调控的思考

面对刑事犯罪的急剧变化情况,刑嫌调控工作虽有所发展,但仍不能适应斗争的需要。加强刑嫌调控工作,可以掌握斗争主动权,先发制敌,主动出击,以有限警力、物力和时间,获取较大侦查破案效果。加强刑嫌调控工作,应根据形势变化调整刑嫌对象,诸警种尤其派出所密切配合,与阵地控制、刑事特情、犯罪情报资料工作相结合。     

论惩治恐怖活动犯罪的国际国内立法

恐怖活动严重危害国际秩序与安全,需要各国共同努力,联手行动,而健全与完善相关的国际立法与国内立法是非常重要的一个方面。我们要在充分了解国际社会及其他国家惩治与防范恐怖活动立法的同时,进一步完善我国的相关刑事立法。