Journals

Uncertainty and the use of force among Venezuelan police officers

Abstract  Literature often emphasizes the use of force as a distinctive feature of police work, while risky encounters and uncertainty
are conditions under which such work is carried out daily. Conditions leading to the use of force by the [...]

The Nature of Customary Law

The Nature of Customary Law

  • Content Type Journal Article
  • DOI 10.1007/s11158-008-9079-6
  • Authors
    • Nicole Roughan, Victoria University of Wellington Faculty of Law P.O. Box 600 Wellington New Zealand


The quality of the legal system and labor market performance around the world

Abstract  Using data on 75 countries for six years in the period 1995–2003, this paper analyzes empirically whether and to what extent
the quality of the legal system affects the performance of the labor market. According to the regression results, a legal
system characterized by a dependent judiciary, biased courts, a lack of intellectual property protection and a lack of integrity
increases unemployment and lowers the employment level. The magnitude of the effect seems to be substantial, particularly
among young people.

  • Content Type Journal Article
  • DOI 10.1007/s10657-008-9092-4
  • Authors
    • Horst Feldmann, University of Bath Department of Economics and International Development Bath BA2 7AY UK

Cultural Cognition and Public Policy: The Case of Outpatient Commitment Laws

Abstract  What explains controversy over outpatient commitment laws (OCLs), which authorize courts to order persons with mental illness
to accept outpatient treatment? We hypothesized that attitudes toward OCLs reflect “cultural cognition” (DiMaggio, P. Annl
Rev Sociol 23:263–287, 1997), which motivates individuals to conform their beliefs about policy-relevant facts to their cultural values. In a study involving
a diverse sample of Americans (N = 1,496), we found that individuals who are hierarchical and communitarian tend to support OCLs, while those who are egalitarian and individualistic tend to oppose them. These relationships, moreover, fit the cultural cognition hypothesis: that is, rather than directly
influencing OCL support, cultural values, mediated by affect, shaped individuals’ perceptions of how effectively OCLs promote
public health and safety. We discuss the implications for informed public deliberation over OCLs.

  • Content Type Journal Article
  • Category Original Article
  • DOI 10.1007/s10979-008-9174-4
  • Authors
    • Dan M. Kahan, Yale Law School PO Box 208215 New Haven CT 06520 USA
    • Donald Braman, George Washington University Law School Washington DC USA
    • John Monahan, University of Virginia School of Law Charlottesville VA USA
    • Lisa Callahan, Policy Research Associates Delmar NY USA
    • Ellen Peters, Decision Research Eugene OR USA

Determining ease of access to arms methodology and coding

Abstract  This paper aims to establish an initial determination of what the primary indicators of the ease of access to small arms and
light weapons are. Guns are so abundant and ubiquitous in most parts of the world that the right question [...]



Contributive Justice and Meaningful Work

Abstract  The dominant focus of thinking about economic justice is overwhelmingly distributive, that is, concerned with what people
get in terms of resources and opportunities. It views work mainly negatively, as a burden or cost, or else is neutral about it,
rather than seeing it as a source of meaning and fulfilment—a good in its own right. However, what we do in life has at least as much, if not more, influence on whom we become, as does what we get. Thus we have good reason also to be concerned with what Paul Gomberg has termed contributive
justice, that is, justice as regards what people are expected and able to contribute in terms of work. Complex, interesting work
allows workers not only to develop and exercise their capacities, and gain the satisfaction from achieving the internal goods
of a practice, but to gain the external goods of recognition and esteem. As Gomberg’s analysis of the concept of contributive
justice in relation to equality of opportunity shows, as long as the more satisfying kinds of work are concentrated into a
subset of jobs, rather than shared out among all jobs, then many workers will be denied the chance to have meaningful work
and the recognition that goes with it. In this paper I examine the contributive justice argument, suggest how it can be further
strengthened, arguing, inter alia, that ignoring contributive injustice tends to support legitimations of distributive inequality.

  • Content Type Journal Article
  • DOI 10.1007/s11158-008-9077-8
  • Authors
    • Andrew Sayer, Lancaster University Department of Sociology Lancaster LA1 4YT PA USA

Understanding the law: improving legal knowledge dissemination by translating the contents of formal sources of law

Abstract  Considerable attention has been given to the accessibility of legal documents, such as legislation and case law, both in legal
information retrieval (query formulation, search algorithms), in legal information dissemination [...]

Researching the use of force: the background to the international project

Abstract  This article provides the background to an international project on use of force by the police that was carried out in seven
countries. Force is often considered to be the defining characteristic of policing and much research has been conducted on
the determinants, prevalence and control of the use of force, particularly in the United States. However, little work has
looked at police officers’ own views on the use of force, in particular the way in which they justify it. Using a hypothetical
encounter developed for this project, researchers in each country conducted focus groups with police officers in which they
were encouraged to talk about the use of force. The results show interesting similarities and differences across countries
and demonstrate the value of using this kind of research focus and methodology.

  • Content Type Journal Article
  • DOI 10.1007/s10611-008-9177-6
  • Authors
    • Philip Stenning, Keele University School of Sociology & Criminology Keele Staffordshire ST5 5BG UK
    • Christopher Birkbeck, University of Salford School of English, Sociology, Politics and Contemporary History Crescent House Salford M5 4WT UK
    • Otto Adang, Netherlands Police Academy De Kleiberg 15 7312 SN Apeldoorn Netherlands
    • David Baker, Monash University Criminal Justice, School of Humanities, Communications and Social Sciences Gippsland Campus Churchill Victoria 3842 Australia
    • Thomas Feltes, Ruhr-University Bochum Criminology, Criminal Justice Policy and Police Science Universitätsstraße 150, GC 5 44801 Bochum Germany
    • Luis Gerardo Gabaldón, Universidad Católica Andrés Bello Instituto de Investigaciones Jurídicas Edificio de Postgrado, piso 2, Urbanización Montalbán, La Vega Caracas Venezuela
    • Maki Haberfeld, John Jay College of Criminal Justice (CUNY) 899 Tenth Avenue New York NY 10019 USA
    • Eduardo Paes Machado, Universidade Federal da Bahía Faculdade de Filosofia e Ciências Humanas Salvador Bahía CEP 40210-90 Brazil
    • P. A. J. Waddington, University of Wolverhampton History and Governance Research Institute Room MC309, Millennium City Building, Wulfruna Street Wolverhampton WV1 1LY UK

Integrity, culture, and scale: an empirical test of the big bad police agency

Abstract  Building on Klockars et. al. (2000) analysis of survey data on police agency integrity, this analysis develops an economic model of police corruption within
police agencies. Empirical estimates of the economic model are consistent with Klockars et. al. (2000) in that there is no evidence to support the traditional theory that police agency corruption is attributable to the “individual
bad-apple.” Independent of other factors, the present analysis shows that police culture fosters corruption. Furthermore,
the present analysis shows that incentive structures within police agencies increase the problem of corruption as the scale
of police agency operation increases. Policies that would promote higher levels of integrity are considered.

  • Content Type Journal Article
  • DOI 10.1007/s10611-008-9184-7
  • Authors
    • Gary E. Marché, Rogers State University 1701 W Will Rogers Blvd Claremore OK 74017 USA

Mortgage fraud: A risk factor analysis of affected communities

Abstract  Mortgage fraud is a fast-growing form of white-collar crime that has received much press coverage in the United States of
America. Mortgage fraud has an adverse effect on individual homeowners, communities, and many indirect victims of the crime.
While past research has focused on the personal motivating factors behind the commission of white-collar crime, this particular
article reviews several facets of the crime itself and explores the potential neighbourhood risk factors that help attract
the crime. From a national perspective, mortgage fraud seems to occur more frequently in neighbourhoods that have low socioeconomic
indicators. These associations become even more pronounced when the degree of fraud occurrences within the community is factored
in as a variable. Upon disaggregating the data according to region, the fraud indicator variables also display differing trend
levels, perhaps indicating that as mortgage fraud practices begin to mature within an area, its community dynamics tend to
change as well. The article concludes with recommendations for policymakers, community organizations, and law enforcement
officials as to how to address mortgage fraud once it appears within a community, and also addresses future avenues of research
for what is largely an untapped area of financial crime research.

  • Content Type Journal Article
  • DOI 10.1007/s10611-008-9186-5
  • Authors
    • Andrew T. Carswell, University of Georgia Athens GA USA
    • Douglas C. Bachtel, University of Georgia Athens GA USA