The effects of uncertainty and sex in a crisis simulation game

We conducted an experimental test of spiraling behavior, sex differences, and uncertainty in a simulated crisis situation. We investigated the relationship between weapons acquisition and the likelihood of engaging in aggressive behavior, such as going to war. The sample included 100 male and female subjects who participated in a crisis simulation in same‐sex dyads; each student was instructed to role play the leader of a country in conflict with another leader over a nearby island replete with newly discovered oil resources. Participants were randomly assigned to stimulus materials that manipulated the certainty of the information they received about their partner's force structure. In four cycles of decision‐making, each participant made procurement decisions, took an action related to the conflict, including decisions about going to war, completed questionnaires on characteristics such as the hostility and trustworthiness of themselves and their opponents, and wrote messages to the other member of the pair. The results of the study demonstrate a strong relationship between weapons acquisition and hostility. In addition, we found large and robust sex differences, showing that men are much more likely than women to acquire weapons and engage in aggressive behavior at every stage. There was no effect of uncertainty on either arms procurement or aggression.     

论民主科学决策与公民参与的互动

民主、科学是公共决策的生命线。公共决策的民主化、科学化有利于促进社会和谐,增强公民共同体意识,维护公共政策合法性,营造良好的外部环境。但在实际工作中,公共决策权过于集中党委一把手,制度化缺失,公民参与公共决策程度有限,缺乏普遍性,因此需要健全党内民主决策机制,提高党的执政能力,同时积极促进公民参与公共政策,提高公共政策决策水平,形成党内民主、科学决策与公民参与的良性互动,进而优化我国公共决策机制。     

我国人民陪审员制度的完善——评《关于完善人民陪审员制度的决定》

2004年8月28日,第十届全国人大常委会第十一次会议通过了《关于完善人民陪审员制度的决定》,无疑是我国人民陪审员制度发展的一个里程碑,具有极大的进步意义,文章从人民陪审员的学历、任期以及法官对其在审判过程中的引导和提示,健全人民陪审监督惩处机制四方面予以完善,使该制度更好地发挥民主监督与保障司法公正的价值。     

Impact of the popular legal participation on forced confessions and wrongful convictions in Japan＇s bureaucratic courtroom： A cross-national analysis in the U.S. and Japan

The interrogation and lengthy detention of the accused by Japan＇s police and prosecutors without access to legal counsel has generated many forced confessions in Japan＇s criminal court. As results, past research estimated that a large number of innocent people have been falsely convicted, and some of them were even executed for crimes they have not committed. Since almost all of indicted cases result in convictions in Japan＇s criminal court, allegations of wrongful convictions have raised serious human rights issues, and the use of forced confessions in criminal proceedings has long been criticized by families of the accused, their attorneys, legal scholars, citizen activists, and international human rights groups. This paper examines whether or not the 2009 introduction of the Saiban-in Saiban （the quasi-jury trial）, where ordinary citizens deliberate together with Japan＇s bureaucratic judges, helps prevent instances of wrongful convictions. As Japan＇s high conviction rate has substantiated that the Japanese court may be another bureaucratic system that is more interested in preserving its own authority and maintaining the status quo, the infusion of non-bureaucratic legal participants into the traditional judicial process may create the potential to alter the nature of trial processes, the quality of deliberations, and thus ultimate outcomes of criminal trials. Based on interviews and survey responses from Japan＇s grand jury （i.e., Kensatsu Shinsa-kai, or prosecutorial review commission （PRC）） participants and American citizens who served in jury trials, the paper explores the ways in which civic participation in criminal processes may affect the quality of legal decision making in Japan＇s criminal court.     

BUILDING A CHILD PROTECTION MEDIATION PROGRAM IN BRITISH COLUMBIA

Effective implementation of mediation programs on a large scale is a complex challenge. This article describes the process of design and implementation of a child protection mediation model and highlights the challenges and successes involved in leading fundamental culture shifts within the child welfare system over a period of eleven years.     

为什么公正的判决会被公众指责为不公

之所以会出现公正的判决被公众指责为不公的情况,其根本原因在于法律世界与生活世界认知模式迥然有异。这种差异表现在事实认知、法律认知和法律判断形成上。大众传媒出于某种认知偏好,往往会对司法裁判的信息进行选择和重构,此后再公之于众。这种选择和重构在某种程度上妨碍了全面客观地反映司法裁判,加剧了公正的判决被公众指责为不公的情况。要减少此类现象,必须引导公众以正确的方式理解司法裁判。而这种引导既是法院的责任,也是大众传媒的责任。     

Sexual Assault Case Outcomes: Disentangling the Overlapping Decisions of Police and Prosecutors

The rape reform movement of the 1970s and 1980s was designed to improve the likelihood of prosecution and conviction in sexual assault cases. However, there is evidence that the attrition rate for sexual assaults reported to the police remains high, and that the locus of case attrition is arresting and charging decisions. In this paper, we analyze police and prosecutorial decision-making in sexual assault cases using quantitative data on sexual assaults reported to the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department in 2008. We argue that decisions made by police and prosecutors should not be examined in isolation from one another and that researchers who analyze arrest decisions by examining only cases that are formally cleared by arrest or who focus only on charging decisions that follow the arrest of a suspect may be ignoring important aspects of police and prosecutorial decision-making. This is confirmed by the results of our study, which reveal that a significant proportion of cases in which the police appear to have probable cause to make an arrest do not result in the arrest of the suspect and that a substantial number of cases are rejected for prosecution by the district attorney before an arrest is made. Moreover, the factors that predict arrest and charging vary depending upon the way in which the outcome is operationally defined. These results have a number of important policy implications for police and prosecutors handling sexual assault cases.     

论地方立法体系的科学构建

科学合理的构建地方立法体系 ,不仅能够实现地方立法的民主化、科学化 ,使地方立法体系完备科学 ,而且也能避免地方立法之间的重复、交叉、冲突 ,使地方立法和国家立法相衔接。为了保证地方立法体系的科学性 ,在构建地方立法体系的过程中 ,应根据地方立法的实际 ,遵循合法性、可行性、科学性、适应性等原则 ,并且要在长期的地方立法实践中 ,采取科学确定地方立法体系的调整范围、确定地方立法思路、制定地方立法规划等步骤与方法逐步完成。