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Full-Text Articles in Law
A Reflection And Response To Using Criminal Punishment To Serve Both Victim And Social Needs, Kenneth R. Downes
A Reflection And Response To Using Criminal Punishment To Serve Both Victim And Social Needs, Kenneth R. Downes
Law and Contemporary Problems
Downes comments on Erin Ann O'Hara and Maria Mayo Robbins' article that accurately describes the nuanced and complex nature of apology and forgiveness. These are not actions that can be programmed--they happen at their own pace and in paths that are winding and unchartable. One of the reasons that victim-offender mediation is unpopular with some is that it can be emotionally messy and slow. Thus, one of the most helpful insights in his work has been that forgiveness is developmental, meaning that it often happens in normal and predictable stages. Forgiveness can be divided into manageable pieces. Indeed, their article …
Using Criminal Punishment To Serve Both Victim And Social Needs, Erin Ann O'Hara, Maria Mayo Robbins
Using Criminal Punishment To Serve Both Victim And Social Needs, Erin Ann O'Hara, Maria Mayo Robbins
Law and Contemporary Problems
In recent decades, the criminal-justice pendulum has swung to the opposite extreme. Criminal law is often described as covering disputes between the offender and the state. Victims are not direct parties to criminal proceedings, they have no formal right to either initiate or terminate a criminal action, and they have no control over the punishment meted out to offenders. In this state-centric system, victim needs have been left unsatisfied, giving rise to a politically powerful victims' rights movement that has had success in giving victims rights of access to prosecutors and rights to be heard in the courtroom. Here, O'Hara …
Encountering And Countering Tribal Conflict With Film And Dialogue, Steve D. Martin
Encountering And Countering Tribal Conflict With Film And Dialogue, Steve D. Martin
Law and Contemporary Problems
Martin explores the ability of group leaders to overcome resistance to reconciliation in group conflicts, whether innate or otherwise. He uses an example of a group conflict that occurred across religious lines with the pending release of a movie titled Theologians Under Hitler. Even if out-group biases make group conflicts harder to resolve, offsetting that complication might be a predisposition to attend to the views of a respected leader of the in-group.
Victims, “Closure,” And The Sociology Of Emotion, Susan A. Bandes
Victims, “Closure,” And The Sociology Of Emotion, Susan A. Bandes
Law and Contemporary Problems
Bandes discusses the polarizing function of victim impact statements used in the context of the death penalty. The use of victim impact statements is justified in order to promote closure for the victim, but it's unclear what psychological closure can be accomplished from the formal litigation process. Even if victim impact statements do help their authors, in the context of the death penalty the authors are family members of the victim, not the direct victim, and Bandes questions whether it's important to further their interests at the expense of the interests of the defendant. The only recourse for the jury …
Polarization: The Role Of Emotions In Reconciliation Efforts, Meghan Clarke
Polarization: The Role Of Emotions In Reconciliation Efforts, Meghan Clarke
Law and Contemporary Problems
Clarke points out some strategies that have been used in the Collaborative Change Approach to group-conflict resolution that are designed to help depolarize the competing sides' stances toward one another. In order to try to break down the hostility between the groups, Clarke brings together each identity or stakeholder group in order to share with one another why each group cares passionately about the issue. Clarke provides the example of a groundfishery conflict that involved recreational fishermen, commercial fishermen, environmentalists, researchers, and government officials. The interests of each of these groups conflicted, but no group had morally problematic motivations or …
Saving Face: The Benefits Of Not Saying I’M Sorry, Brent T. White
Saving Face: The Benefits Of Not Saying I’M Sorry, Brent T. White
Law and Contemporary Problems
White discusses the socio-psychological research that suggests humans invest significant emotional stake in "face"--or their "claimed identity as a competent, intelligent, or moral persons"--and apologize only when they can do so without significant "face threat." Criminal offenders, many of whom are likely to be low on self-determination, may resist apology to victims out of psychological fragility and the psychological need to preserve face rather than lack of remorse. Thus, the criminal-justice system should be cautious about punishing offenders more harshly because they fail to show external remorse--or even when they are openly defiant. This caution should be exercised whether the …
Irreconcilable Differences? The Troubled Marriage Of Science And Law, Susan Haack
Irreconcilable Differences? The Troubled Marriage Of Science And Law, Susan Haack
Law and Contemporary Problems
There haven't always been scientific witnesses: in fact, there haven't always been witnesses. In early medieval times, courts relied on tests by oath, ordeal, and sometimes by combat. Here, Haack provides a brief historical background to the use of scientific experts in law and then proceeds to discuss in greater detail the values underlying scientific inquiry, the uncertainty in the quest of knowledge and understanding, and the methods by which consensus is reached, even if that consensus is always tentative. She then contrasts scientific inquiry with the law's quest for "truth" in the courtroom and, particularly, the normative and temporal …
The Arts Of Persuasion In Science And Law: Conflicting Norms In The Courtroom, Herbert M. Kritzer
The Arts Of Persuasion In Science And Law: Conflicting Norms In The Courtroom, Herbert M. Kritzer
Law and Contemporary Problems
Epistemology is important in the debate about science and technology in the courtroom. The epistemological issues and the arguments about them in the context of scientific and technical evidence are now well developed. Of equal importance, though, is an understanding of norms of persuasion and how those norms may differ across disciplines and groups. Norms of persuasion in the courtroom and in legal briefs differ from norms at a scientific conference and in scientific journals. Here, Kritzer examines the disconnect between science and the courtroom in terms of the differing norms of persuasion found within the scientific community and within …