Showing papers in "Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology in 1983"

Drinking and crime : perspectives on the relationships between alcohol consumption and criminal behaviour

Abstract: rehabilitation have proven to be ineffective responses to crime, attention should now be focused on the prevention of crime and reparation by offenders, in which community involvement would be of central significance. The success of many existing crime prevention initiatives makes heartening reading against the otherwise gloomy backcloth of current policies; so that the proposals for treating many minor crimes virtually as torts and developing mediation procedures in which the community would be involved, as a means of reconciling offender and victim, have much to commend them. Nor should such ideas be dismissed as unrealistic in view of the success of some American schemes. Sadly, however, regardless of the merits and viability of such radical ideas, which are well-argued and developed by the author, political, public and judicial attitudes to crime and punishment will probably override the persuasive rationality of the arguments presented in this book which, none the less, deserves to be widely read and debated. Adrian L. James University of Hull

Race of victim and location of crime: The decision to seek the death penalty in South Carolina.

Abstract: In 1972, in Furman v Georgia,' the United States Supreme Court invalidated every death penalty statute in the United States Furman was decided by a five to four margin and each justice wrote a separate opinion Only two Justices, Brennan and Marshall, rejected capital punishment as per se unconstitutional2 In support of the eighth amendment challenge, the remaining three Justices of the majority, Douglas, Stewart and White, held that the statutoryprocesses by which defendants were being sentenced to death were unconstitutional3 In his opinion, Justice Douglas noted the possibility of discrimination in existing capital punishment statutes, anchoring his objection to an implied equal protection component of the eighth amendment4 Justice Stewart, however, held that the death penalty as currently practiced was unconstitutional because of the capricious manner in which those who receive the death penalty were selected Noting that there are many more "reprehensible" offenders than those sentenced to death, Justice Stewart concluded that those given death sentences "are among a capriciously selected random handful" and that therefore "death sentences

Control in the Police Organization

Abstract: Looking behind the facade of tightly structured tables of organization and chains of command, this group of studies addresses the key question of how the police go about policing themselves in the real world. The contributors' point of departure is the documented evidence that the men and women on the streets enjoy considerable autonomy and discretion that make strict accountability and close supervision the exception and mutual back-scratching in the lower ranks the rule, where the code of silence and the falsified report cover up widespread work avoidance, short-cut methods, illicit violence, and pay-offs.In spite of this, there are clearly constraints on police behavior-institutional controls, formal or informal, that keep the police under rein to a greater or lesser extent. The book probes the various sources of organizational control, including formal internal disciplinary regulations, the norms and values of the occupational culture, external legal constraints, and the overriding need to prevent scandals. It also suggests ways of improving organizational control through managerial reforms that bring to key positions not just proficient bureaucrats but leaders at all levels within the force who possess insight and empathy into the inescapable dilemmas of the men and women on the line where the real police decisions are made.The book is interdisciplinary and international in its scope, representing the research and informed views of sociologists, students of management and public policy, and police from the United States, Great Britain, Belgium, and The Netherlands.Maurice Punch is Professor of Sociology at Nijenrode, The Netherlands School of Business. The book is fourth in The MIT Press Series on Organization Studies.

Estimating Perceptual Stability and Deterrent Effects: The Role of Perceived Legal Punishment in the Inhibition of Criminal Involvement

Abstract: the relationship between perceptions of the certainty and severity of legal punishment and involvement in criminal behavior.' A recent article by Grasmick and Green2 is typical of this line of deterrence research. In this study, Grasmick and Green are concerned with the causal connections between three control-inhibitory variables (moral commitment, perceived threat of legal punishment, and threat of social disapproval)

Is Capital Punishment a Short-Term Deterrent to Homicide--A Study of the Effects of Four Recent American Executions

Abstract: The issue of whether capital punishment deters murder is still unresolved. Until 1975, the available research led to the conclusion that there was no substantial evidence of a deterrent effect.' The data supporting this conclusion were generally: (1) comparisons of homicide rates between states or nations with and without the death penalty,2 (2) analyses of changes in homicide rates associated with the aboliton or installment of capital punishment,3 (3) comparisons of homicide rates between states with relatively high rates of execution and those with relatively low rates of execution,4 or (4) comparisons of homicide rates for different social groups (e.g., blacks, women, white men) and their correlation with the rates of executions within those groups.5 The appearance of Isaac Ehrlich's first study in 1975 revived the plausibility of deterrence.6 Using an econometrics model to predict the "supply" of homicides, Ehrlich reported a significant elasticity in the homicide rate associated with the probability of murderers being exe-

Disaggregation in Deterrence and Death Penalty Research: The Case of Murder in Chicago

Abstract: The proper role, if any, of capital punishment in our criminal justice system is an issue of unparalleled discussion in professional literature Over one thousand books, articles, and reports on one or more aspects of the death penalty question have appeared since the turn of the century In addition, the death penalty debate is not confined solely to professional circles; it occupies a prominent role in the popular press, media, and periodicals In fact, the literature is so voluminous and the moral, legal, ethical, and empirical issues involved are so diverse and complex, that even the most recognized contemporary authorities on capital punishment readily acknowledge the limitations of their knowledge and understanding1 The death penalty issue that is the focus of the greatest discussion and polarization both in professional and lay literature is the question of deterrence: does capital punishment deter crime, and most notably, murder? More properly and practically stated, does capital punishment provide a more effective general deterrent to murder than alternative legal sanctions such as imprisonment? Social scientists-most notably sociologists and criminologistshave played a long and active role in addressing this question empirically, with all studies up until the mid-1970's rejecting the deterrence hypothesis for capital punishment For example, over five decades of research in this country failed to show higher murder rates in abolition than death penalty states, an increase in the murder rate after some states abolished capital punishment, or a decrease in murder after some

Friends' Use and Adult Drug and Drinking Behavior: A Further Test of Differential Association Theory

Abstract: Past research on drug behavior, especially at testing peer group influences, has tended to concentrate on high school and college populations. The purpose of this study is to find out the extent to which the theoretical and empirical findings are applicable to an adult population. This Note reports the findings of an analysis of self-reported drug use data representing a general Texas adult population. Zero-order correlation results provide strong support for extending the usefulness of differential association theory to the explanation of drug use within an adult population. The most influential theory of cultural deviance is Edwin Sutherland's theory of differential association.' The third postulate of this theory states: "The principal part of the learning of [deviant] behavior occurs within intimate personal groups."2 This study attempts to measure one's intimate personal groups in response to this postulate. Within intimate personal groups, value development and behavior learning, both deviant and nondeviant, take place. The basic principle of differential association theory is that a person becomes deviant because of an excess of learned definitions favorable to the violation of norms.

Capital Punishment and Deterrence: Conflicting Evidence

Abstract: Until 1975, belief in the deterrent value of capital punishment had no authoritative empirical support. The studies widely cited prior to that time, most notably those of Sellin' and Schuessler,2 had in fact found evidence consistent with the theory that the death penalty has no deterrent effect. Then Isaac Ehrlich reported results of a complex econometric analysis of aggregate United States times-series data, results indicating that capital punishment is an effective deterrent.3 While Ehrlich's study has received a considerable amount of criticism,4 it has also received some support,5 and was even cited by the United States Solicitor General in briefs to the Supreme Court supporting the death penalty.6 With the publication of his second major empirical study on the

Homicide and the Death Penalty: A Cross-National Test of a Deterrence Hypothesis

Abstract: bate is complex and confused, partly because support for the death penalty reflects no single theory but, instead, a conglomeration of several different theories. These include retribution, avoidance of economic costs associated with protracted imprisonment, a disbelief in rehabilitation, and, finally, a conception that has come to be called "deterrence theory." While each argument for the death penalty has its supporters, it is deterrence theory that has captured public imagination and scientific attention.

Bentham's Utilitarian Critique of the Death Penalty

Abstract: During a long and productive life, Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) twice undertook to apply his general utilitarian principles of punishment to a critique of the death penalty.' The earlier and by far the more thorough effort was in 1775, when at the age of twenty-seven he provided an extensive discussion of capital punishment in two chapters of Book II of his Rationale ofPunishment.2 This 1775 essay (as I shall henceforth refer to these chapters) contains about eight thousand words and is

The Florida Supreme Court and Death Penalty Appeals

Abstract: In the 1972 case of Furman v Georgia,1 the United States Supreme Court narrowly voted to invalidate all death penalty statutes then in existence While each Justice wrote a separate opinion, the death penalty statutes were criticized repeatedly for allowing unguided discretion This, it was believed, led to the imposition of death sentences in an arbitrary and capricious manner Within four years of Furman, thirty-five states had enacted new death penalty statutes These new statutes were of two general types: those legislating a mandatory death sentence for everyone convicted of a certain crime and those specifying new rules to guide juries and judges in deciding who should receive a death sentence Five of the new statutes were reviewed by the United States Supreme Court in 1976 The Court held that mandatory capital punishment statutes were unconstitutional,2 but it upheld those containing guided discretion provisions3 The history and content of these decisions have received detailed analysis elsewhere4

Improving the Analysis and Presentation of Data on Case Processing Time

Abstract: Delay is one of the most pressing problems facing the American judicial system. Several prestigious national commissions have identified delay as a critical problem.' In addition to the constitutional guarantee of a speedy trial,2 federal and state legislatures have passed speedy-trial bills mandating that criminal defendants be processed within a set period of time.3 Advocates of judicial reform point to burdensome caseloads and excessive delay as direct or indirect rationales for their proposals.4 The general public is similarly dissatisfied with slow and inefficient justice. Over fifty percent of the respondents in a survey conducted by the Yankelovich, Skelly, and White polling organization rated the efficiency of the courts as a "serious" or "very serious" social problem.5 Dissatisfaction and complaints, however, have far surpassed systematic

A Political Theory of Political Trials

Abstract: Are political trials necessary? Do they reflect something about the nature of politics and law which makes them inevitable in every society? Or, are political trials a disease of both politics and law? Predictably, totalitarian regimes employ political trials-some sensational, most secret-in order to accomplish the obvious ends of total power: the total control of a total population. Stalin's purge trials and the Nazi Peoples' Court were juridical nightmares, demonstrating that corrupted absolute power tends toward absolute self-justification. Do such "trials" have anything in common with other trials which must also be called political, including the Wounded Knee trial, the trials of the Boston Five, the Chicago Seven, and the Berrigan brothers, or even of Galileo, Joan of Arc, and Socrates? Do political trials make a positive contribution to an open and democratic society? This Article concludes that they do make a positive contribution to an open and democratic society. They bring together for public consideration society's basic contradictions, through an examination of competing values and loyalties. They are not incompatible with the rule of law, and they are best understood by examining the questions they raise.