bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Vascular PPARδ Protects Against Stroke-Induced Brain Injury
Authors: Yin Ke-Jie , Deng Zhen , Hamblin Milton , Zhang Jifeng , Chen Y. Eugene
Published: January 2011

Objective—

To investigate the effects of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)δ in the cerebral vasculature following stroke-induced brain injury.

Methods and Results—

Here, we report a novel finding that selective PPARδ genetic deletion in vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) resulted in increased cerebrovascular permeability and brain infarction in mice after middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO). Mechanistically, we revealed for the first time that PPARδ expression is reduced, but matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9 activity is increased in cultured VSMCs after oxygen–glucose deprivation and also in the cerebral cortex of mice following MCAO. Moreover, gain- and loss of PPARδ function in VSMCs significantly reduces and increases oxygen–glucose deprivation–induced MMP-9 activity, respectively. We have further identified that MMP-9 is a direct target of PPARδ-mediated transrepression by chromatin immunoprecipitation and PPARδ transcriptional activity assays. Furthermore, inhibition of MMP-9 activity by lentiviral MMP-9 short hairpin RNA effectively improves cerebrovascular permeability and reduces brain infarction in VSMC-selective PPARδ conditional knockout mice after MCAO.

Conclusion—

Our data demonstrate that PPARδ in VSMCs can prevent ischemic brain injury by inhibition of MMP-9 activation and attenuation of postischemic inflammation. The pharmacological activation of PPARδ may provide a new therapeutic strategy to treat stroke-induced vascular and neuronal damage.
Value of Age, Creatinine, and Ejection Fraction (ACEF Score) in Assessing Risk in Patients Undergoing Percutaneous Coronary Interventions in the ‘All-Comers' LEADERS Trial
Authors: Wykrzykowska Joanna J. , Garg Scot , Onuma Yoshinobu , de Vries Ton , Goedhart Dick , Morel Marie-Angele , van Es Gerrit-Anne , Buszman Pawel , Linke Axel , Ischinger Thomas , Klauss Volker , Corti Roberto , Eberli Franz , Wijns William , Morice Marie-Claude , di Mario Carlo , van Geuns Robert Jan , Juni Peter , Windecker Stephan , Serruys Patrick W.
Published: January 2011

Background—

The age, creatinine, and ejection fraction (ACEF) score (age/left ventricular ejection fraction+1 if creatinine >2.0 mg/dL) has been established as an effective predictor of clinical outcomes in patients undergoing elective coronary artery bypass surgery; however, its utility in “all-comer” patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention is yet unexplored.

Methods and Results—

The ACEF score was calculated for 1208 of the 1707 patients enrolled in the LEADERS trial. Post hoc analysis was performed by stratifying clinical outcomes at the 1-year follow-up according to ACEF score tertiles: ACEF
low
≤1.0225, 1.0225< ACEF
mid
≤1.277, and ACEF
high
>1.277. At 1-year follow-up, there was a significantly lower number of patients with major adverse cardiac event–free survival in the highest tertile of the ACEF score (ACEF
low
=92.1%, ACEF
mid
=89.5%, and ACEF
high
=86.1%;
P
=0.0218). Cardiac death was less frequent in ACEF
low
than in ACEF
mid
and ACEF
high
(0.7% vs 2.2% vs 4.5%; hazard ratio=2.22,
P
=0.002) patients. Rates of myocardial infarction were significantly higher in patients with a high ACEF score (6.7% for ACEF
high
vs 5.2% for ACEF
mid
and 2.5% for ACEF
low
; hazard ratio=1.6,
P
=0.006). Clinically driven target-vessel revascularization also tended to be higher in the ACEF
high
group, but the difference among the 3 groups did not reach statistical significance. The rate of composite definite, possible, and probable stent thrombosis was also higher in the ACEF
high
group (ACEF
low
=1.2%, ACEF
mid
=3.5%, and ACEF
high
=6.2%; hazard ratio=2.04,
P
<0.001).

Conclusions—

ACEF score may be a simple way to stratify risk of events in patients treated with percutaneous coronary intervention with respect to mortality and risk of myocardial infarction.

Clinical Trial Registration—

URL:
http://www.clinicaltrials.gov
. Unique identifier: NCT00389220.
Carotenoid-based signals in behavioural ecology: a review
Authors: Svensson  , Wong
Published: January 2011

Carotenoids are among the most prevalent pigments used in animal signals and are also important for a range of physiological functions. These concomitant roles have made carotenoidbased signals a popular topic in behavioural ecology while also causing confusion and controversy. After a thorough background, we review the many pitfalls, caveats and seemingly contradictory conclusions that can result from not fully appreciating the complex nature of carotenoid function. Current controversies may be resolved through a more careful regard of this complexity, and of the immense taxonomic variability of carotenoid metabolism. Studies investigating the physiological trade-offs between ornamental and physiological uses of carotenoids have yielded inconsistent results. However, in many studies, homeostatic regulation of immune and antioxidant systems may have obscured the effects of carotenoid supplementation. We highlight how carefully designed experiments can overcome such complications. There is also a need to investigate factors other than physiological trade-offs (such as predation risk and social interactions) as these, too, may shape the expression of carotenoidbased signals. Moreover, the processes limiting signal expression individuals are likely different from those operating over evolutionary time-scales. Future research should give greater attention to carotenoid pigmentation outside the area of sexual selection, and to taxa other than fishes and birds.
The Commercialisation of University-Based Criminological Research in Australia
Authors: Israel Mark
Published: January 2011

As part of the Australian university sector, criminologists have been encouraged to find commercial clients for their skills and products. This paper examines the implications for the future development of criminology in Australia of changing patterns of Commonwealth, State and non-government organisation funding. It explores what might happen to criminology if the entrepreneurial periphery gains a tighter purchase on the academic core.
Part of Living in the Late Twentieth Century: Notions of Risk and Fear in Relation to Crime
Authors: Lupton Deborah
Published: January 2011

This article reports on some of the findings of a study into fear of crime among a group of Australians, examining the relationship between assessments of personal risk of being a victim of six specified crimes and worry about being a victim of these crimes. The findings revealed that while the two are related, assessments of risk tended to be higher than assessments of worry in relation to the same crime. Participants drew on their perception of their own vulnerability based on such attributes as gender, age and everyday routines, their personal experiences of crime, knowledge of others' experiences and media accounts to explain their assessments. Also underlying their notions of risk and fear were two paradoxical discourses on victimisation. The first discourse represents individuals as able to control their destiny and responsible for protecting themselves from crime. The second represented victimisation as a product of fate, against which it was impossible to fully protect oneself. It is argued that these notions of victimisation are underpinned by wider discourses in western societies that emphasise the vulnerability of individuals to risk and danger but also the importance of approaching the world as an active, entrepreneurial subject who refuses the victim status.
Repeat Burglary Victimisation: Spatial and Temporal Patterns
Authors: Townsley Michael , Homel Ross , Chaseling Janet
Published: January 2011

To date there has been little Australian research on repeat victimisation. This is a study of repeat burglary in an area of Brisbane using police calls for service data. We demonstrate: (a) the prevalence of residential repeat victim addresses (‘hot dot’) is of a similar magnitude to that found in studies in the United Kingdom; (b) the time distributions of revictimisation are identical with those found in studies in the UK and elsewhere; (c) ‘hot spots’ (small areas with high crime density) can be identified by statistical analyses of spatial concentrations of incidents; (d) unstable hot spots tend to be temporary aggregations of hot dots, whereas stable hot spots seem to reflect more the social and physical characteristics of certain localities; and (e) the overall incidence of burglary could be reduced by at least 25 per cent if all repeat victimisation could be eliminated. There are a number of areas where concepts and techniques for repeat victim research could potentially be strengthened: (a) clarifying the connections between hot dots and hot spots, particularly through exploration of the concept of a ‘near repeat address’; (b) applying survival analysis to the data on the time periods between victimisations; and (c) using moving average techniques to examine changes in the spatial distributions of burglary over time.
Civilization and Punishment
Authors: Pratt John
Published: January 2011

This paper provides an overview of a programme of research on the history of modern punishment that uses the work of Norbert Elias as its theoretical frame of reference. It sketches in the contours of this programme while at the same time showing how this work can provide a critical point of departure from both Foucauldian and postmodernist scholarship in this area.
Penal Policy and Criminological Challenges in the New Millennium
Authors: Hood Roger
Published: January 2011

This article explores the relationship between criminology and penal policy. It draws attention to recent developments in penal law and practice that have caused concern to criminologists and discusses some of the reasons why criminological ideas and findings appear to have had less impact on penal policy than many criminologists had hoped for. It suggests that some of the blame may attach to criminologists for failing to establish a scientific legitimacy for their subject and concludes by arguing that criminology needs independent funding to guarantee a scientific agenda free of direct political influence. The establishment of an independent Criminological Research Council in their country should be the ambition of criminologists who want to take the subject forward to a period of greater legitimacy and influence as the new millennium unfolds.
Beyond ‘What Works?’ A 25-year Jubilee Retrospective of Robert Martinsons Famous Article
Authors: Sarre Rick
Published: January 2011

The story behind the publication of American sociologist Robert Martinson's 1974 article entitled “What Works?” provides researchers, policy-makers and social science observers with a sobering reminder of the possibilities of research conclusions assuming an inappropriate life of their own. This paper explores briefly the origins of the article and its impact at the time on corrections policy It discusses some of the events since 1974, in both the USA and Australia, that demonstrate the subsequent reification of “Nothing Works”. It is not designed as contributing to the debate on the effectiveness of rehabilitation. Rather the story is used an illustration of the potential for research to fall victim to the dangers of socially constructed realities.
Crime Control in the 21st Century
Authors: Grabosky P.N.
Published: January 2011

This article speculates on what society's response to crime will look like in the year 2020. Following a brief discussion of the anticipated criminal environment, and trends which will influence the delivery of public services, the article will suggest some of the forms which future institutions of crime control are likely to take. In addition to the transformation of Australian police services, the paper will discuss private and non-profit institutions of crime control, and how these will interact with public institutions. The paper will conclude with a discussion of trade-offs between personal safety and individual freedom, and how these will shift over time. It predicts greater societal investment in personal safety at the expense of individual freedom.
Deaths in Private and Public Prisons in Australia: A Comparative Analysis
Authors: Biles David , Dalton Vicki
Published: January 2011

Public opinion in Australia has been divided on the question of whether private prisons are welcome and one of the issues in dispute has been the question of whether or not private prisons are associated with proportionately more or fewer deaths of prisoners, particularly suicides, than public prisons. The available evidence is examined, and when the number of deaths, or suicides, per 1000 prisoner years served for all private and public prisons are calculated it is found that the rate for all deaths is significantly lower in private prisons at the 0.05 level of confidence. However, the difference in the suicide rates is not statistically significant.The lower overall death rate is particularly surprising as private prisons in Australia hold proportionately more unconvicted remandees,who are at higher risk, than public prisons. A close examination of the data for three relatively new remand and reception prisons, two private and one public, shows that all have much higher rates for both all deaths and for suicides than the national averages. This is an updated and expanded version of a paper by the same authors published by the Australian Institute of Criminology in June 1999. That paper was admitted into evidence at a coronial inquiry that was held into five deaths that occurred in the Port Phillip Prison in Victoria. Address for correspondence: D. Biles, 25 Kidston Cres, Curtin ACT 2605, Australia.
Changes in the Juvenile Crime Incidence Rate by Gender in New South Wales, Australia, 1991/2 to 1996/7
Authors: Gliksman Michael , Chen Jack
Published: January 2011

The rates of appearance by boys and girls on several categories of charges before the Children's Courts in New South Wales, the most populous state in the Australian Federation, was calculated between the years 1991/2 to 1996/7, inclusive. The results show that the rate of assaults including serious assaults, robbery and extortion and drug offences allegedly committed by young people, rose during this period. The rate of increase in all these categories was greater among girls than among boys. The rates of the alleged committal of homicide and sexual assaults showed no significant change over the years 1991/2 to 1996/7 inclusive, among both boys and girls. Although the rate of alleged criminal activity by boys remains well above that of girls in all categories during this period, girls are “catching up” to boys in the alleged committal of crimes of violence and other crimes against the person.
Predicting Juvenile Delinquency
Authors: Dootjes Inez
Published: January 2011

A version of the 3 Factor Social Prediction Table was applied to a representative sample of 388 boys selected from six schools in a large urban community in Australia. This was part of a larger study of the prediction of juvenile delinquency. The three factor ratings were obtained from data collected when these boys were in 5th grade (age range 9-12 years). A follow-up was conducted 10 years later to determine which boys had had official police contact for criminal offences. It was found that this version of the Glueck 3 Factor Social Prediction Table applied prospectively and not, as usual, retrospectively, did not predict official juvenile delinquency. It was concluded that for a representative sample, and using objectively based data, measures of social class and ecological area are more likely to be appropriate and efficient as predictors of delinquency, than the three family factors in the Gluecks Social Prediction Table, except perhaps in cases where these have been retrospectively applied.
Prison Discipline: The Inherent Conflicts
Authors: Misner Robert L.
Published: January 2011

“I'm here because I supposedly broke the law. But any time you put anybody in ‘the hole’ you break the law. What the hell are we supposed to learn?” Prisoner testifying at hearings on Prisoner Internal Disciplinary Procedures, Oregon State Penitentiary, May 30, 1972.
The Prison Strike: Some General Considerations and a Case Study
Authors: Hopkins Andrew
Published: January 2011

This paper is concerned with the phenomenon of the prison work stoppage. It discusses the conditions which make prison strikes possible and invokes a general theory of strike action to account for the prevalence of prison strikes. In addition, it focusses on a particular, successful prison work stoppage in Massachusetts and analyzes both the extent to which it was organized and the nature of its leverage.
Birth Order and Delinquency: Findings From a Youth Training Centre
Authors: Ogden E.J.D. , Horne D.J. de L.
Published: January 2011

THE AIM of this study was to carry out a retrospective evaluation of data on admissions to a youth training centre in Victoria, Australia, to determine the relationship between birth order and risk of delinquency.

The findings confirmed the results of other studies (e.g. Biles, 1971) that middle children were at greatest risk.

Other factors associated with ‘risk’ were large family size and educational retardation.
Social Implications of Driver Disqualification: Reality and Road Traffic Laws
Authors: Robinson C. D.
Published: January 2011

MOTOR vehicle accidents constitute one of the major health hazards in urban societies, and it has been widely argued that some drivers are worse accident risks than others due to factors such as personality, attitude or lack of ability. On this basis, it is reasonably tempting to suggest that the accident problem can best be solved by removing the unsafe motorist from the driver population.

The present paper explores the legal sanction of driver disqualification in terms of its deterrent effects, and some social factors which limit these effects. In particular, four types of factors are examined which limit the effectiveness of this sanction: the low probability of apprehension of disqualified driving offenders; the uncertainty and inconsistency of punishment of these offenders; the attractiveness of this unlawful behaviour; and the inadequacy of alternatives to the unlawful behaviour.

After consideration of these factors, it is evident that the penalty of licence suspension can have at best a minimal effect on road safety, and it is suggested that there is a need for a re-examination of the rationale underlying present traffic laws and penalties given the social value placed on motor vehicle operation.
Violence: Occurrence and reporting
Authors: Krupinskif Jerzy , Emmerson Roma
Published: January 2011

A study has been carried out to determine whether there has been a real increase in violent crime in Victoria or whether the public has been affected by the greater prominence given to violence in the mass media. The rates of violent crime, based on “persons taken into custody or proceeded against” were highest in the seventies and eighties of the 19th century. They, then, showed a steady decline until the mid thirties of the 20th century. Since the fifties, there has been an increase, but, with the exception of assault causing grievous bodily harm, they are still much lower than they were 100 years ago. The content analysis of the four main dailies ( The Age, The Argus, the Herald and the Sun) has shown an increasing coverage of violent crime both in the number, and in the size of articles devoted to it. The authors discuss the reasons for and possible effects of this phenomenon.
New Zealand Drinking Habits and Treatment of Probationers WHO Abuse Alcohol
Authors: Brown Robert A
Published: January 2011

The importance of drinking in New Zealand and the ambivalent cultural attitudes towards the use of alcohol are outlined. Although the cost to society is most dramatically illustrated by those who suffer the ravages of alcoholism with its poor prognosis, a case is made for identifying and providing treatment at an earlier stage to other groups of suspected alcohol abusers.

The second part of the paper describes a controlled drinking training programme being established by the author for probationers whose offending involved drinking. By providing community-based treatment for these inappropriate drinkers it is hoped to short circuit the sequence of institutionalization, labelling, and subsequent social rejection (Blizzard, 1971) which appear to be central in the development of the alcoholic's selffulfilling prophecy of “one drink, then drunk”.

By shaping up controlled drinking as a social skill, the avoidance conditioning paradigm outiined here fulfils the “constructional” approach to problem behaviours advocated by Coldiamond (1974). This contrasts with the traditional medical model which entails abstinence, but at the same time removes responsibility for drinking from the alcohol abuser by endowing him with a disease process which is progressive and irreversible.
Juvenile Unemployment and Delinquency
Authors: Kraus J
Published: January 2011

To become a fully functional adult male, one prerequisite is essential: a job. In our society a person's occupation determines more than anything else what life he will lead and how others will regard him …for most young men, it is securing jobs consistent with their aspirations that is crucial, that provides a stake in the law-abiding world and a vestibule to an expanding series of opportunities: to marry, to raise a family, to participate in civic affairs, to advance economically and socially and intellectually.
The Subjective Probability of Being Labelled Criminal in Juvenile Corrections
Authors: Grichting Wolfgang L
Published: January 2011

A nationally representative sample of 1837 youths detained in 42 juvenile correctional programs is analyzed to determine the subjective probability of their being labelled criminal by people because they were sent to a correctional program. Both status offenders and youths committed for more serious offences are increasingly more afraid of being labelled criminal as they penetrate the juvenile justice system and as the quality of interaction between youth and staff in these programs deteriorates. This holds for first-offenders and recidivists alike. Ascribed properties are of secondary importance in accounting for their perceived probability of being labelled criminal.
Psychiatry and the Railway Vandal
Authors: Bartholomew Allen A , Milte Kerry L
Published: January 2011

Psychiatric referrals to the Department of Mental Hygiene (Victoria) of 139 consecutive railway vandals is investigated and the diagnoses made noted. It is concluded that railway vandalism in Victoria is not a feature of gross psychiatric disturbance or pathology.
Restitution an Analysis of the Victim-Offender Relationship: Towards a Working Model in Australia
Authors: Duckworth A M E
Published: January 2011

This paper is intended as a discussion on one development in the criminal justice system which has some promise in offering an alternative disposition of offenders which could offset many of the complaints about the present system. It briefly traces the history of restitution, its demise and recent formal reappearance on a limited scale as a model for administering justice. Suggestions are made as to how restitution might be used in the Australian setting to deal with some categories of offence.
Case structure, participation and verdict in the Melbourne magistrates' courts
Authors: Douglas Roger
Published: January 2011

Analysis of 907 cases decided by six Melbourne magistrates' courts suggests that the high conviction rates obtaining in these and other courts are largely explicable in terms of the circumstances under which defendants are apprehended, and their behaviour on apprehension. According to prosecution evidence defendants are almost invariably either seen offending or seen to have offended. On apprehension, defendants confess to 85% of the charges against them.

Some of the confessors and almost all the non-confessors plead not guilty. The success of their pleas depends largely on the basis for their defence and to a limited extent on whether they give evidence and are legally represented. The implications of these findings are briefly discussed.
Crime seriousness ratings: The relationship of information accuracy and general attitudes in Western Australia
Authors: Broadhurst Roderic , Indermaur David
Published: January 2011

A sample 278 Western Australians completed questions asking them to suggest penalties for 27 “crime vignettes” based on a cross cultural study by Scott and Althakeb (1977). A moral indignation score (average number of days in gaol) was then calculated and compared to other factors such as information about Criminal Justice, general punitive or non-punitive attitude and demographic factors such as location, sex, age, marital status, education, political status, etc. Overall results showed considerable variance in response even with crimes defined as violent or very serious. The sample produced scores (averaged for all crimes) higher than for other comparable data. Non punitive and punitive groups were highly correlated with moral indignation. Information while statistically significant was not a useful predictor of moral indignation score. Assumed penalties also were not a useful predictor of attitude or moral indignation. On average, assumed penalties were approximately half the suggested penalty, and was independent of suggested sentences. The survey concludes noting the high degree of variance observed, except in those crimes defined victimless (eg suicide, prostitution, homosexuality, abortion) where suggested penalty was predominantly no penalty and emphasizing the role the media played in the development and formation of attitudes to crime.

The study of criminology depends directly on the labelling and definition of certain behaviour as crime. This identification process is often assumed to reflect community attitudes to these behaviours and is the goal of moral indignation studies, Scott and Althakeb (1977); Wilson and Brown (1973); and crime seriousness rating studies, Sheley (1980); Sebba (1980); Walker (1978). Sheley (p 123) suggests that this field has become “a fairly important concern in the field of criminology” and that “as research into the deterrence of crime Erickson (et al (1977)): Silberman (1976): and moral commitment to societal norms (Hirschi (1969) increases, the use of crime seriousness ratings will also increase”. Also as Sebba writes “since the publication of Sellin and Wolfgang's ”The Measurement of Delinquency“ (1964) much scholarship has been devoted to the topic of seriousness scales”. Some of the studies have emphasized the validity and reliability of the scales while others have raised doubts about their methodology and usefulness, Walker (1971).
The Impact of Infants in Prison on Institutional Life: A Study of the Mother/Infant Prison Programme in Western Australia
Authors: Hartz-Karp Janette
Published: January 2011

The Western Australian prison system, following trends of other prison systems in the western world, has embarked upon a limited programme of accommodating infants with their prisoner mothers during the mother's term of imprisonment. This research canvasses other mother/infant programmes noted in the literature, pointing to the special nature of the Western Australian situation. The focus of the study is on the impact of infants in prison on institutional life and the management problems so engendered. The data indicate that overall, infants have a positive impact on prison life, muting some of the more debilitating effects of institutionalization. The finding that the impact of the mother/infant prison programme is more peripheral to institutional life than expected is explained in the light of the obduracy of the "total institution". The major concerns expressed by those interviewed: prison staff, prisoner mothers and other prisoners, are, respectively: prisoner management, mother/infant prison facilities and family ties, and concerns of justice. With these issues in mind, problems of the current programme are discussed together with suggested resolutions.
Levels of Custody and Attitude Differences Among Prison Officers: A Comparative Study
Authors: Williams Trevor A , Soutar Geoffrey N
Published: January 2011

Research reported in a previous paper (Williams, 1983) suggests that the extent of prison officers' role in maintaining custodial control may be an important variable affecting their attitudes towards disciplinary authority, inmates, and non-custodial staff. This implies that officers working in institutions with different levels of custodial confinement may also vary in their attitudes towards these dimensions. An analysis of responses from officers in prison institutions suggests that attitudes between institutional types do vary significantly. The analysis identified differences between the maximum security prison and non-maximum security prisons, while “treatment institutions” did not appear to be significantly different. However, officers in the female institution appear to hold quite distinctive role orientations and attitudes.
Fear of crime — Rational or not?
Authors: Mugford Stephen
Published: January 2011

Fear of crime is discussed in relation to various concomitants. This article suggests that fear of crime has two components. One is related to group membership and social support. These affect general levels of anxiety and hence fear (of crime and of other things). The second relates to likelihood of victimization. Thus the fear of crime of, for example, elderly persons may be greater than that of younger persons, despite lower victimization. At the same time two elderly samples may report a level of fear directly related to different victimization experience.

This model is discussed with the use of some Australian data on fear of crime in relation to victimization and general psychological distress of Australian women. It is suggested that small differences in fear of crime between married and never married women despite higher victimization rates of the former, are a result of higher levels of distress among the latter, which largely “cancel out” the effect of victimization.
Prison Officers' Work Attitudes: The Influence of Background and Work Experience
Authors: Soutar Geoffrey N , Williams Trevor A
Published: January 2011

A number of work related attitudes were obtained from a sample of prison officers employed by the Western Australian Prisons Department. Prison officers were first cluster analysed to determine if there were any distinct groups with different attitudes. It was found that there were six such groups. A number of background and work experience variables were then examined to determine if there were any significant intergroup differences. It was found that only previous Prisons Department experience differed over the six groups and that other variables, such as age and previous work history, which others had suggested may explain prison officers' attitudes did not differ significantly.

In two previous papers data collected from prison officers in the Western Australian Prisons Department were analysed (Williams, 1983; Williams and Soutar, 1983). The papers examined first the relationships between a number of work related attitudes and second differences in the attitudes of officers in different institutions. However, these analyses did not examine possible relationships between officers' personal, social and work background and these work related attitudes. This appears to be a desirable extension of the previous analysis because Emery (1970), in his study of Bristol Prison, suggested that officers' social backgrounds may be important, while Morris and Morris (1960) argued that previous work experience may also be important in that they considered officers with a military background to be more authoritarian than other officers. Consequently, the prison officers' data were re-examined to determine whether or not such effects were apparent in the Western Australian prison system.
Use of Community Service in New Zealand
Authors: Leibrich Julie
Published: January 2011

1534 people who received a community service sentence during 1981 and 1982 were studied. Almost one in three of the people sentenced to community service were women, although only one in seven offenders are women. More Maoris (41%) were sentenced to community service than would be expected given that 33%1 of offenders are Maori. People given this sentence were mainly young, with over half of them (58%) under 25 and less than 10% over 40. Most people (91%) had pleaded guilty at the court apearance in which they received community service and most (78%) had been represented in court. Over half the offences (55%) for which people were sentenced to community service were property offences, with traffic offences (27%) the second most common group. The community service group had been convicted of the more serious offences amongst a police classified offence list. The average sentence length was 89 hours, with approximately a quarter of the group (24%) being given over 100 hours of community service. An additional sentence of probation, disqualification or fine was given to just over half (52%) of the group.
Prohibitions Against Heroin Use: Can They Be Justified?
Authors: Leader-Elliott Ian D
Published: January 2011

Legislative responses to the drug problem in Australia have been predominantly penal in character. In the case of heroin, a drug which has assumed a mythic or totemic status among the illicit drugs, the calculated effect of criminal prohibitions has been to worsen the plight of the individual user. Few, if any, attempts have been made in this country to present a rational and principled justification for our current practices. The article presents an analysis of the operation of existing laws as they affect the heroin problem. The question whether these effects can be justified as an example of state paternalism is then discussed. It is argued that existing laws are unprincipled, indefensible and that our primary reliance on the mechanisms of the criminal law has been misplaced.
The Controversy Over Pornography and Sex Crimes: The Criminological Evidence and Beyond
Authors: Brannigan Augustine , Kapardis Andros
Published: January 2011

Renewed governmental inquiries into the regulation of sexually explicit materials have revived interest in the relationship (if any) between pornography and sexual offences. In this article we review the criminological studies which have explored this relationship. Availability of sexually explicit materials appears to be unrelated to the frequency distributions of reported rape, though evidence points to a decline in child molestation. In the second part of the article we situate the putative link between pornography and sexual deviance within some of the contemporary theories of rape causation and some of the known social correlates of rape victims and offenders. Community, victim, offender and legislative characteristics would appear to be much more convincing explanations of variations in the rates of reported rape than the circulation of pornography and sexist repression attributed to it by certain feminist and Christian writers.
Public perception of sentencing in Perth, Western Australia
Authors: Indermaur David
Published: January 2011

The present study replicates some of the key findings of earlier “revisionist” studies of public attitude towards the punishment of offenders: 554 Perth residents were interviewed from a sample frame of 800. Most respondents overestimated the amount of crime which involves violence, and tended to see the murder rate as “increasing” when it is not. Most (76%) said that sentences “are not severe enough”. However, 80% of these reported that they were thinking of a violent criminal when answering that question. It is suggested that general questions about crime may essentially reflect respondent concern about violence.

The second part of the interview involved a split sample designed to test differences in responses to two types of item presentation. Approximately half the sample (288) were asked to chose a penalty they considered appropriate for three offences. The other half were given brief descriptions of the offence and the offender and then asked to choose an appropriate penalty. The minimum sentences were significantly lower for the group given the case descriptions. The results are interpreted as suggesting that public responses to questions of punishment are largely influenced by stereotypes.

A good deal of acceptance was found for proposed alternatives to imprisonment. The most popular (75%) said “year, in all or most cases”) was the use of attendance centres. Most respondents also favoured programmes for fine defaulters, on-the-spot fines for petty offences and a day fine system “in all or most cases”. The implications of the results are discussed in terms of survey methodology and sentencing reform.
The state as a victim of crime
Authors: Freiberg Arie
Published: January 2011

Neglect of the study of collectivities as victims of crime, in particular of the state, has been a major lacuna in victimological research. This article examines the role of the state both as a surrogate and direct victim of crime, focussing on the harm suffered by the state as a victim of white-collar crime. The nature of such harm is examined, as are some of the victimogenic factors which result in the state being probably the most frequent victim of crime.
The prosecution of insider trading: Obstacles to enforcement
Authors: Tomasic Roman , Pentony Brendan
Published: January 2011

Insider trading has been criminalised in Australia for over a decade. Yet there have been few prosecutions in respect of such conduct, and none of these have been successful. There is little doubt that insider trading in Australia is extensive and is to be found across many sectors of the securities industry. Despite this, the law has not proved to be an effective vehicle for the social control of insider trading or for the deterrence of such conduct. It seems that the criminal sanctions for insider trading have been largely symbolic in nature. This article explores the obstacles to enforcement of criminal laws in this area by reference to findings from a national empirical study funded by the Criminology Research Council. The study involved in-depth interviews with almost 100 key figures in the Australian securities industry (brokers, lawyers, merchant bankers etc) and of officials involved in its regulation (from the Corporate Affairs Commissions and the Australian Stock Exchange). Problems in detection, proof and punishment, in the nature and extent of regulatory resources devoted to this area and in the content of the law itself are identified and discussed.
Police rules and the organisation of policing in Queensland, 1905–1916
Authors: Finnane Mark
Published: January 2011

The development of the modern form of policing required a bureaucratic apparatus complete with rules and regulations prescribing police procedures. In spite of the organisational significance of police rule books and manuals, little is known about their origins and composition. Conflict between the Queensland Police Commissioner, W G Cahill (1905–16), and other senior criminal justice system personnel over the content and authorisation of a police rule book for Queensland suggests that the prescription of police practices and procedure was itself the outcome of longer-term changes in the organisation of policing; in particular of an increasing demand for police autonomy of other elements of the criminal justice system.
Social crisis and social policy in Queensland: patterns of control
Authors: O'Connor Ian , Callahan Mary
Published: January 2011

This article seeks to locate within its political economy the forms and patterns of care and control that developed in Queensland. It is argued that the State government sought to manage the social tensions that resulted from economic transition of the 70s and 80s through coercive methods and most notably through the criminal justice system. This argument is developed through an analysis of Queensland's use of the legal system, its pattern of social services and its law and order expenditures in comparison to other States. The changing patterns in Queensland's summary courts are consistent with the drift to coercion which identified in the analysis of the State's response to its social and economic difficulties.
The state of criminology: Theoretical
Authors: Braithwaite John
Published: January 2011

Criminology has not done very well at explaining why some societies, some periods
Prisoners' Rights in Australia
Authors: Birtles Terry B
Published: January 2011

This study directs attention to the history of legal developments prior to the
Restrained Dissent; Restrained Repression: Political Offenders and the Victorian Criminal Courts
Authors: Douglas Roger
Published: January 2011

This article examines the conduct of political trials in Victoria between 1966–1989. Using a definition of political trial which classes trials as “political” if they relate to offences arising out of some form of political activity, the article discusses the problems faced by prosecutors, defendants and magistrates and judges in determining an optimal response to the problems and opportunities created by political trials. It examines prosecution strategies (the decision to withdraw charges); defence strategies (plea, type of defence, use of lawyers, types of plea in mitigation, decisions on whether to pay fines); and court strategies (response to contests, use of the contempt power, sentencing). Changing patterns over time are also explored. Marked differences are found to emerge between political and non-political cases, and between early and late cases.
Prohibition or regulation: an economist's view of Australian heroin policy
Authors: Marks Robert
Published: January 2011

Concern for the spread of HIV infection and with the growing social costs associated with the policy of heroin prohibition have recently led many to reconsider the policy. A large question facing advocates of decriminalisation or legalisation is to what extent the numbers of users would grow under a more regulated scheme. “More regulated” because under prohibition there is a completely unregulated market, which is, however, illegal: lawless laissez-faire. This article advocates some degree of regulation for the supply of heroin, and abandonment of the unsuccessful policy of prohibition.

In attempting to answer the question of the number of users under different regimes — and their importance to society — the article closely examines the structure of the black market, using a previously unpublished survey of the illegal industry performed in Victoria some years ago by the illicit industry itself. This confirms recent findings that there are relatively large numbers of occasional users who seldom come to the attention of medical or law-enforcement authorities, and whose heroin use per se imposes little cost on society.
The extent of insider trading in Australia: A socio-legal account
Authors: Tomasic Roman , Pentony Brendan
Published: January 2011

This article reports findings from a national empirical study of insider trading in Australia. The study is based upon in-depth interviews conducted with almost one hundred key actors involved in the Australian securities industry. The interviews were conducted in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Canberra and involved stock exchange officials, brokers, merchant bankers, lawyers in large law firms, various other financial advisers and observers as well as national, state and territory corporate regulatory officials. Although it was not the intention of this study to seek to quantify the extent of insider trading, something which is probably not possible to achieve, it was found that as insider trading was seen by most observers to be commonplace in Australia, this was likely to be a good indicator of its extent. This research also found mat insider trading tended to be more prevalent in certain situations, such as in takeovers and in closely held corporations, and that it was more likely to occur amongst particular groups involved in the Australian securities industry.
Destructuring sentencing decision-making in Victoria
Authors: Corns Christopher
Published: January 2011

One of the most problematic aspects of sentencing is the construction of a methodology through which the sentencer arrives at the final sentence. In the recent decision of R v Young Dickensen and West, the Victorian Court of Criminal Appeal rejected a structured two-stage method to sentencing, preferring instead the traditional “instinctive synthesis” approach. Contemporaneously, the Victorian Government is developing legislation to provide a more rigorous sentencing methodology to guide the courts. This article explores a number of tensions arising from competing models of sentencing decision-making and the political processes within which resolutions must be found.
Ranking offence seriousness in reviewing statutory maximum penalties
Authors: Fox Richard , Freiberg Arie
Published: January 2011

Some ranking of the relative seriousness of criminal conduct for the purpose of allocating statutory penalties is needed. A number of different approaches are possible. This article examines those based on assessments of harm and culpability; analysis of current judicial sentencing practices; and public opinion research. It discusses problems inherent in each of these approaches. A combination of techniques is applied to some 500 Victorian offences, both serious and trivial, in order to produce a revised ranking of statutory offences for the purpose of rationalising their accompanying sanctions.
Back to justice for juveniles: The rhetoric and reality of law reform
Authors: Naffine Ngaire , Wundersitz Joy , Gale Fay
Published: January 2011

Motivated by growing doubts about the value of a welfare approach towards the processing of young offenders, law reformers in recent years have advocated a shift towards more traditional “justice” principles. This article examines the rhetoric of the “back to justice” trend in one Australian State, South Australia, where in 1976, a Royal Commission into juvenile justice argued in favour of a system which, at least at the adjudication stage, was based firmly on the notions of adversarial justice and due process. Central to this traditional approach is the trial where accused persons invoke their rights by pleading not guilty and putting the prosecution to the test. Yet, as this article demonstrates, the overwhelming majority of young persons in South Australia forego these rights by admitting the allegations made against them. Thus the rhetoric of adversarial justice and the Due Process Model is incompatible with the reality of the routine admission of guilt.
Police and Politics in Australia — The Case for Historical Revision
Authors: Finnane Mark
Published: January 2011

Contemporary arguments about policing in Australia have been marked by a concern over an increasingly interventionist role of police in politics. Police, both departments and unions, have been playing a prominent role in public debates over law and order issues, police staffing levels and other policy matters. It is argued that historical scrutiny of policing since the 1890s indicates a continuing role and influence of police in both policy making and law reform. If such has been the case, then understanding the contemporary political role of police in Australia requires re-evaluation of the changing contexts affecting the visibility and prominence of police interventions.