113 research outputs found
‘Hanging out and sleeping on the ground’:Acoustic environments, rationality, and the minimal account of permissible means of crime prevention
No full textAltering acoustic environments to prevent crime is a strategy employed by municipalities, police departments, and other state actors around the world. Most often such means are used to dispel groups of loitering youth and/or to discourage the homeless from rough sleeping in public locations. Examples of these measures include inter alia the playing of classical music in subways, opera at train stations, Barry Manilow songs in car parks, and “Baby Shark” and other children’s songs in the vicinity of high-end venues. It also includes using the so-called “Mosquito” devices—devices that emit an unpleasant high-frequency sound which is only audible to those under the age of 25—to keep youngsters away from parks and recreation centres at night. One moral objection that has been raised to the idea of employing such sound-based measures to prevent teen loitering or rough sleeping is that they fail to treat their targets as befits rational agents. This chapter argues that three variations of this objection all fail. However, it is then argued that any means of crime prevention must meet at least two conditions for its use to be morally permissible, and that sound-based measures to prevent teen loitering and rough sleeping often fail to meet both of these conditions.Altering acoustic environments to prevent crime is a strategy employed by municipalities, police departments, and other state actors around the world. Most often such means are used to dispel groups of loitering youth and/or to discourage the homeless from rough sleeping in public locations. Examples of these measures include inter alia the playing of classical music in subways, opera at train stations, Barry Manilow songs in car parks, and “Baby Shark” and other children’s songs in the vicinity of high-end venues. It also includes using the so-called “Mosquito” devices—devices that emit an unpleasant high-frequency sound which is only audible to those under the age of 25—to keep youngsters away from parks and recreation centres at night. One moral objection that has been raised to the idea of employing such sound-based measures to prevent teen loitering or rough sleeping is that they fail to treat their targets as befits rational agents. This chapter argues that three variations of this objection all fail. However, it is then argued that any means of crime prevention must meet at least two conditions for its use to be morally permissible, and that sound-based measures to prevent teen loitering and rough sleeping often fail to meet both of these conditions
Introduction:Crime Prevention by Exclusion: Setting the Scene
No full textThat preventing crime is usually a worthwhile endeavour is uncontroversial. But, how we should go about preventing it is a matter of dispute. According to some views, crime prevention should consist of attempting to change offenders’ disposition towards committing crimes, altering the social structures said to (at least partly) cause crime, or by penological means. However, since the idea was first made popular by Ronald Clarke and others in the 1970s and 1980s (Clarke, 1980; Mayhew, Clarke, Sturman, & Hough, 1976), criminologists, social scientists, and practitioners have become increasingly interested in ways of preventing crime by manipulating the specific opportunities or incentives for crime. This approach to crime prevention, which has come to be known as Situational Crime Prevention (SCP), includes a myriad of techniques. For example, it includes measures that attempt to: make it harder for potential offenders to gain control over their targets; ensure that offenders will not accrue benefits from committing a crime; remove the objects of prospective crimes; make it more likely that offences will be detected by means of surveillance; and much more (Clarke, 2009; Freilich & Newman, 2017)That preventing crime is usually a worthwhile endeavour is uncontroversial. But, how we should go about preventing it is a matter of dispute. According to some views, crime prevention should consist of attempting to change offenders’ disposition towards committing crimes, altering the social structures said to (at least partly) cause crime, or by penological means. However, since the idea was first made popular by Ronald Clarke and others in the 1970s and 1980s (Clarke, 1980; Mayhew, Clarke, Sturman, & Hough, 1976), criminologists, social scientists, and practitioners have become increasingly interested in ways of preventing crime by manipulating the specific opportunities or incentives for crime. This approach to crime prevention, which has come to be known as Situational Crime Prevention (SCP), includes a myriad of techniques. For example, it includes measures that attempt to: make it harder for potential offenders to gain control over their targets; ensure that offenders will not accrue benefits from committing a crime; remove the objects of prospective crimes; make it more likely that offences will be detected by means of surveillance; and much more (Clarke, 2009; Freilich & Newman, 2017)
Anarchy or chaos: the theory of humans, society and revolutionary praxis in social anarchism
No full textI det foreliggende projekt begynder jeg først med at præsentere en arbejdsdefinition af 'anarkisme' med udgangspunkt i intellektuel historiker Zoe Baker, samtidig med at jeg forklarer betydningen af social anarkisme. Bagefter giver jeg en kort introduktion til den moderne anarkismes historie som politisk bevægelse i 1800-tallet, ved at gennemgå stiftelsen af organisationen ’The Internationale’, og også hvordan den anarkistiske bevægelse udviklede sig til at afvige fra andre socialistiske strømninger. Jeg udfører derefter en analyse af ideerne om social anarkisme, som de kommer til udtryk i teksterne fra nogle af de førende historiske intellektuelle og militante skikkelser Mikhail Bakunin, Peter Kropotkin og Errico Malatesta. Anarkisterne hævdede, at brug af autoritet og centraliseret magt var i modsætning til udviklingen af et frit samfund, og som eksempler på autoritet analyserede jeg deres syn på staten og kapitalismen, som de mente var i sagens natur undertrykkende og udbytende strukturer. Efter kritikken af deres nutidige status quo redegør jeg kort for socialanarkismens filosofiske grundlag og undersøger derefter deres etiske principper om lighed, solidaritet og frihed; deres endelige mål om anarki og kommunisme; og endelig deres organisationsmetoder, som jeg finder, var forankret i princippet om enhed af midler og mål. I sidste kapitel præsenterer jeg nutidige eksempler på den relative levedygtighed af socialanarkistiske ideer og praksisser i det 21. århundrede, idet jeg trækker på den kurdiske bevægelse, zapatisterne og andre nyere teoretiske strømninger, og vurderer, om de kan ses som forbundet med det intellektuelle. afstamning af de førnævnte anarkistiske skikkelser. Jeg konkluderer så, at socialanarkistiske ideer bestemt kan spores fra eksisterende organisationer tilbage til historiske anarkister i mange større eller mindre tilfælde. Jeg konkluderer også, at det at trække på ikke-anarkistiske bevægelser, mens man holder sig til tilstødende værdier og praksisser, kunne stimulere yderligere diskussion om, hvorvidt anarkisterne havde ret i at bestemme to væsentlige impulser i mennesker: strid eller harmoni.In this project, I first begin with presenting a working definition of 'anarchism’ drawing on intellectual historian Zoe Baker, while also explaining the meaning of social anarchism. Afterwards, I make a brief introduction to the history of modern anarchism as a political movement in the 19th century, by going through the founding of the organization ‘The Internationale’, and also how the anarchist movement evolved to deviate from other socialist currents. I then carry out an analysis of the ideas of social anarchism, as expressed in the texts of some of the leading historical intellectual and militant figures Mikhail Bakunin, Peter Kropotkin and Errico Malatesta. The anarchists argued that use of authority and centralized power was antithetical to the development of a free society, and as examples of authority I analyzed their views of the state and capitalism, which they believed were inherently oppressive and exploitative structures. Following the critique of their contemporary status quo, I briefly lay out the philosophical underpinnings of social anarchism and then examine their ethical principles of equality, solidarity and freedom; their final goal of anarchy and communism; and lastly their methods of organization that I find were rooted in the principle of the unity of means and ends. In the last chapter, I present contemporary examples of the relative viability of social anarchist ideas and practices in the 21st century, drawing on the Kurdish movement, the Zapatistas and other newer theoretical currents, and assess if they can be seen as connected to the intellectual lineage of the aforementioned anarchist figures. I then conclude that social anarchist ideas can definitely be traced from existing organizations back to historical anarchists in many larger or minor cases. I also conclude, that drawing on non-anarchist movements, while adhering to adjacent values and practices, could stimulate further discussion on whether the anarchists were right in determining two essential impulses in human beings: strife or harmony
A culture that is hard to defend: extralegal factors in federal death penalty cases
No full textEmpirical research has exposed a troubling pattern of capital punishment in the United States, with extralegal factors such as race, class, and gender strongly correlated with the probability of a death sentence. Capital sentencing also shows significant geographic disparities, although existing research tends to be more descriptive than explanatory. This study offers an alternative conception of local legal culture to explain place-based variation in the outcomes of federal capital trials, accounting for the level of attorney time and expert resources granted by the federal courts to defend against a death sentence. Using frequentist and Bayesian methods—supplemented with expert interviews—we empirically assess the processes determining the total allocation of defense resources in federal death penalty trials at the peak of the federal death penalty—between 1998 and 2004. Our findings strongly connect extralegal factors to the lowest levels of defense resources, which in turn correlate with a higher risk of a death sentence. Far from being idiosyncratic discrepancies, these are systemic and systematic extralegal factors that stand between a defendant and his opportunity to defend against a death sentence. Ultimately, we argue for a reconceptualization of extralegal influences and the relationship between local legal culture and capital case outcomes.Peer reviewe
The facets of populism and the challenges of democracy - An analysis of their interplay and influence
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MERCY AS A RELEVANT FACTOR WITHIN [ALGORITHMIC] SENTENCING
No full textIn this paper i examine mercy as a relevant factor within algorithmic sentencing. This brings up other discussions within sentencing practice, and the academic fields of punishment theory and mercy theory. Initially I give an account for Dagan and Baron’s proposals of a four-way matrix consisting of two types of algorithms as well as two opposing views on mercy. I then discuss their conclusion and its implications, before moving incorporating different punishment rationales and other accounts of mercy theory does not consider by aforementioned authors. Within this discussion I reach various subject such as mitigation and aggravation factors, as well as mercy mechanisms such as pardons, as well as other views on mercy, such as it being a human virtue as opposed to a mitigating factor. It quickly becomes clear that modern criminal justice systems are plagued by disparity and inconsistency within sentencing. It is shown that this, in part, is due to jurisdictions (and judges and courthouses alike) inadvertently achieve disparity because of inconsistent applications of soft factors such as mercy, while also being seen as untrustworthy by the community due to inequality of outcomes at trials. As such I argue that various accounts of mercy are relevant to discuss at sentencing, thus also being necessary for potential algorithms to adapt to (which I show is possible in most cases), while also disregarding some views within both punishment theory and mercy that are inconsistent with modern mercy theory as well as newly spearheaded empirical research into personal mitigation factors. In the conclusion I account for the findings in the paper; that algorithms can indeed be implemented to greater degree than Dagan and Baron initially proposed, but with the caveat that there are further adaptations needed than those set up within their matrix, in order for algorithmic sentencing (as well as normal sentencing) to be consistent with our everevolving ideas of justice, utility and retribution.In this paper i examine mercy as a relevant factor within algorithmic sentencing. This brings up other discussions within sentencing practice, and the academic fields of punishment theory and mercy theory. Initially I give an account for Dagan and Baron’s proposals of a four-way matrix consisting of two types of algorithms as well as two opposing views on mercy. I then discuss their conclusion and its implications, before moving incorporating different punishment rationales and other accounts of mercy theory does not consider by aforementioned authors. Within this discussion I reach various subject such as mitigation and aggravation factors, as well as mercy mechanisms such as pardons, as well as other views on mercy, such as it being a human virtue as opposed to a mitigating factor. It quickly becomes clear that modern criminal justice systems are plagued by disparity and inconsistency within sentencing. It is shown that this, in part, is due to jurisdictions (and judges and courthouses alike) inadvertently achieve disparity because of inconsistent applications of soft factors such as mercy, while also being seen as untrustworthy by the community due to inequality of outcomes at trials. As such I argue that various accounts of mercy are relevant to discuss at sentencing, thus also being necessary for potential algorithms to adapt to (which I show is possible in most cases), while also disregarding some views within both punishment theory and mercy that are inconsistent with modern mercy theory as well as newly spearheaded empirical research into personal mitigation factors. In the conclusion I account for the findings in the paper; that algorithms can indeed be implemented to greater degree than Dagan and Baron initially proposed, but with the caveat that there are further adaptations needed than those set up within their matrix, in order for algorithmic sentencing (as well as normal sentencing) to be consistent with our everevolving ideas of justice, utility and retribution.<br/
Écriture féminine and rewriting myths as a feministic movement
No full textThis paper examines how écriture féminine and rewriting myths in collaboration can be seen as a feministic movement. The paper examines how rewriting myths with the use of écriture féminine can be used to influence structures in society to be less problematic with a focus on gender equality and values. In doing so this paper seeks to define what écriture féminine is to understand how it can be mixed with an understanding of myths being an important part of creating the structures of society. In the rewritten myths with the use of écriture féminine the focus lies in the rewriting of the female body, the soft values and in a deconstruction of the fallogocentric structures. In the examination of rewriting myths with the use of écriture féminine, it exemplifies the practice by analyzing Hélène Cixous’ rewritten myth of the Medusa. Then it goes on to examine what happens in the rewriting of myths in popular culture with the exemplification of the song God is a Woman by Ariana Grande. This paper concludes that if you accept the premise of rewritten myths being able to affect the structures of society, then rewritten myths with the use of écriture féminine can possibly have a liberating effect on the patriarchal norms in society. The key towards equality is representation
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