"Ask a Policeman": Community Consultation in Practice

This article examines the development of police-community consultation arrangements in one large county in southern England: arrangements made under Section 106 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984. It analyses the various responses of the main parties in the process: the police, the police authority, and the local committees themselves; and considers the extent to which the practice of consultation relates to wider claims for the enhancement of police accountability. The main conclusions are that, at least in the force area concerned, the predominant conflict was not, as might have been expected, between police representatives and the local community, but rather between the police authority and the local committees, for which they were formally responsible. In so far as such tensions can occur, the article argues for a more cautious approach to the question of the democratic accountability of the police to the extent that the police authority is to be entrusted with a central role in the reform of the current system of police accountability.     

争夺地带：从基层政府化解劳资纠纷看社会转型

摘要：本文通过对华南PS街道办事处化解劳资纠纷的过程及相关事件的田野研究,提供了一个关于2008年劳动合同制度实施的具体案例分析。笔者发现,在《劳动合同法》生效以后,街道办事处在劳资纠纷中的角色由过去的放任转向了干预,并人为地降低了法律的执行标准,以预防可能出现的社会不稳定因素。笔者认为,劳动合同制度未能得到有效实施是受制于多个相互联系的社会过程——如基层政府的组织环境、城市化以后街道办事处与社区关系的变化、产业的升级转型等——的互动。本研究表明,在评估地方政府在社会转型中的作用时,需要特别关注地方背景和具体的制度条件。     

试析学区房的形成及其社会效应——以天津市为例

在教育成为居住的配套设施和基础教育资源分布不均衡的情况下,中国政府颁布了＂就近入学＂的教育政策,重点校就学范围内的房屋便成了学区房。学区房是教育政策、教育需求者、教育配置、市场等多种力量共同作用形成的一种社会空间,呈片状分散于城市中,其中居住的大多是以孩子就学为目的的家庭。学区房与教育资源配置密切相关,它的出现加剧了教育资源分配不平等,引起＂人户分离＂,同时也缓解了老城社区衰落。     

A Different Sort of Doctor: The Police Surgeon in England and Wales

Police surgeons occupy a neglected and potentially influential role in the criminal justice system, falling between medical and legal functions. This article considers the implications of this role which operates at the interface of two major areas of social policy concern. Drawing evidence from a unique survey of police surgeons in England and Wales, it considers specifically, the professional background of police surgeons, the administration and management of the police surgeon service, surgeons' attitudes to aspects of their professional practice and the impact of this role on civil liberties. The paper concludes with a brief discussion of the possibilities for the reform of the police surgeon service.     

The effects of urban socioeconomic and political context on support for business in the federal district courts

Despite an expansive literature relating the social and political characteristics of cities and states to the economic outputs of legislators and administrators, there has been no comparable study of the impact of local environmental factors on economic policy outcomes of either state or federal trial courts. Neglect of this topic is especially unfortunate, given that exploratory analysis of federal district court judges' decision making in an urban context has suggested a link between federal district court policies and those of other local government institutions (Dolbeare, 1969).This article begins to fill the research lacuna by examining the impact of local environments on federal district courts' economic policy making. Substantial variance in economic case outcomes among courts in cities serving as district court points is explained by certain characteristics of the courts' social and political environments. Patterns of support for business in the district courts is examined to illustrate possible consequences of environmental influences on trial court outcomes. Conclusions regarding the impact of environmental factors on district court policy outcomes are offered along with a comparison of this research with the larger and more developed body of state and local policy research.     

Professionals in the Firing Line

Summary The article describes the impact of the 1972 miners strike uponthe local social and youth workers in the Ayrshire mining villageof Auchinleck and examines how some of the experiences of thestrike may have implications for community development programmeswhich are currently being promoted in this and other areas. While a number of factors disposed the social and youth workersin the village to identify positively with the miners strugglethey encountered, particularly during the early weeks of thestrike, considerable suspicion and hostility from the minerson the local strike committee. The front line workers foundthemselves being labelled as part of the 'system' with whichthe miners were in conflict It is suggested that the sharplypolarized nature of the confrontation between the miners andthe central government, coupled with the remedial image of thesocial and youth services were the central forces in creatingthis situation. The problem the social and youth workers experiencedin establishng a positive and promotional identity, in the eyesof the miners, is discussed in relation to community developmentprogrammes. It is argued that the status of social and youthworkers as government employees may, especially in conflictsituations which involve the central government, place limitationsupon their ability to negotiate collaborative relationshipswith local community groups     

CHANGING CHARACTERISTICS OF WOMEN ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT COUNCILS IN AUSTRALIA: 1982 – 1993

Between 1982 and 1993 the number of women serving on local government councils, the political arena in which women have been most successful, more than doubled. Data from two Australia wide surveys, one in 1982, the other in 1993, indicate that in the period between the two studies there were also some significant changes in the characteristics of women entering local government, with the 1993 respondents better educated and more likely to be in the paid workforce than their earlier counterparts. Some aspects of the commonly held stereotype of female councillors as middle aged, middle class housewives with adult children are challenged by these data, particularly with respect to workforce participation. While this indicates that female councillors are in some ways more heterogeneous than the stereotype suggests, their characteristics remain unrepresentative of those of many women in the community. This paper attempts to provide a picture of women who serve on local government councils, drawing on survey data collected Australia wide in 1982 and 1993. It examines the extent to which the characteristics of female councillors have changed over the period between the two surveys and the extent to which these women conform to the commonly held stereotype of women in local government, and considers the relevance of this to the issue of representation.     

Enforcing the Gambling Laws

A great deal of controversy surrounds the writing and enforcement of antigambling laws. In large part, this is due to a lack of consensus among citizens, police departments, and prosecutors in defining the objectives of antigambling laws and the methods of enforcing them. It is suggested that since standards of appropriate behavior vary from place to place, the wishes of the local citizens should be the primary guide in determining enforcement effort priorities. The authors differentiate the four main targets of enforcement efforts and conclude that only two—public social gambling and commercial gambling—can be substantially affected by local police. Finally, specific suggestions about how police and prosecutors can cooperate in enforcing local antigambling laws are made.     

Impacts of Demographics on Citizen's Access to Information: An Empirical Study of District Dera Ismail Khan, North Western Frontier Province, Pakistan

The impact of demographic dimensions on local government behavior is well identified, analyzed and documented at the global level. Likewise, several studies are available on developing countries, but empirical evidence on the conditions of Pakistan is lacking. This study is an effort to unearth empirical evidence on access to information in the local government system exemplifying data from the district Dera Ismail Khan (DIK), North Western Frontier Province (NWFP). Most global hypotheses for developing countries are accepted in this study but the statistics on local data are far more different in terms of the value and weight of variables, relationships and impacts on the research concepts. The most dominant concept in the impact of access to information on the local government system is "education for all." Mass education is a leading concept in making or breaking the role of people participation in the success or failure of local democracies. Data show that illiteracy is causing many problems, including the mass population's unawareness of their interests and duties at the public level, thereby giving the ruling elite a free hand in exploiting public resources for self-interest, at the cost of the public good.     

警察与近代北京城市治安管理——以1901～1937年为中心的考察

近代北京[1]发生了一系列的社会变动,原有的治安管理体系几近瘫痪,城市秩序混乱。为稳定城市秩序,警察出现在市民生活中,具有现代社会治安管理职能的警察体系逐渐建立起来。北京治安在政府、警察与民众的互动作用下,出现了一些好转,但其中的问题依然不可忽视。     

‘Civic’ police and the condition of liberty: the rationality of governance in eighteenth-century England

In this article it is argued that previous attempts to understand the organization of eighteenthcentury systems of police have failed to take into account the political implications of governmental organization. Examining the office of constable in terms of the contemporary governmental imagination reveals that concerns with the independence of the officers and the need to ward against ‘corruption’ are not simply practical requirements. The unpaid, sequential nature of eighteenth-century police service was defined in terms of the classical model of civic duty, which saw active participation in government and the rotation of public office as key conditions of the free state, and as such the liberty of the citizens. This vision of freedom as a condition of freedom from dependence or domination, not an absence of interference, was instrumental in defining the way the system of police was debated and reformed over the course of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Given that ‘police’ in this period represents a much wider programme of administration than the simple control of law and order, this has implications for our understanding of the structure of eighteenth-century government in general.     

Police and Psychiatrists: A Case of Professional Dominance?

Drawing on data from a recent study and Freidson's theory of professional dominance, this article considers the contemporary nature of relationships between police officers and psychiatrists. The different strategies used by the two occupational groups in attempting to control the management of a group of patients considered by both to be “dirty work” is explored, as is the “political” agenda of police/psychiatric relations in the context of current mental health policy.     

北部湾经济区:国家开放战略转型先行区

当前,中国的开放战略已进入转型期,而国家给广西北部湾经济区的定位是"国际区域经济合作区",这无疑使广西北部湾经济区成为国家开放战略转型的先行区,广西北部湾经济区也具备了这样的条件。为此,要革新观念,树立发展信心,要处理好开放与开发的关系,同时在地方自主创新的基础上争取中央更多的授权,先试先行,这样才能"以开放促改革,以改革促发展"。     

Getting to the Top: Selection and Training for Senior Managers in the Police Service

This paper examines the processes by which the senior police officers in England and Wales are chosen and prepared for their role. Based upon research interviews with a sample of chief constables and assistant chief constables, it develops a critical assessment of the quality of each of the three key stages in this respect: the selection of those considered to have the potential to become senior officers, senior management training, and the appointments process at police authority level. In the light of the assessments made, the paper considers alternative schemes to those which currently operate at each stage of the process.     

Human Trafficking in Australia: The Challenge of Responding to Suspicious Activities

This paper relates to the Australian government's community awareness campaign, as part of the Action Plan to Eradicate Trafficking in Persons, which was announced in October 2003 in response to evidence of human trafficking in Australia. The authors explore the challenges that are likely to be encountered during the implementation of the campaign using empirical data from two Victorian studies, the first of which explored community awareness of trafficking and the second of which examined Victoria Police and local government's responses to trafficking. We conclude that there are significant barriers to both the community and authorities identifying suspicious activities and acting on reports by community. In addition, institution challenges faced by Victoria police and local government in dealing with referred information appropriately will jeopardise the success of the initiative.     

抗日时期国民政府组织难民西北垦荒问题述略

抗日时期,难民大量内迁西北为垦荒提供了充足的劳动力,同时西北又有大量的生熟荒地。在国民政府和西北各省地方政府的积极组织和领导下,垦荒取得了一定的成效。对于难民的西北垦荒,在充分肯定其成绩和意义的同时,也应看到其具有的战时特性。     

Police violence and judicial bias in the age of mass democracy: Glasgow, 1933–1935

Using the example of an impoverished, so-called ‘slum’ district in Glasgow, this article argues that poorer, working-class people were subjected to aggressive and frequently violent policing along with systematic hostility from the judiciary and the press in Britain during the 1930s. In Glasgow, attempts to challenge police methods and police officers’ courtroom testimonies met with a highly punitive response from the city’s legal establishment. Despite enjoying the rights of citizenship, working-class people found it difficult to find politicians to take up their complaints about police incivility and brutality, embodied in the conduct of a police constable known locally as ‘Hitler’. Those few politicians willing to do so, whether in Glasgow Corporation or in the House of Commons, found themselves marginalized as mainstream politicians of all parties refused to accept that the British police were capable of inflicting ‘terror’ on civilians. Press sympathy extended only to those working-class women jailed for perjury and separated from their children in the wake of trials of ‘rioters’ at Glasgow Sheriff Court. Human-interest coverage of the plight of their families gave working-class people a voice as victims of misfortune. They were not permitted to speak as victims of miscarriages of justice.     

He wahine tangi tikapa 1 …: Statutory investigative processes and the grieving of Maori families who have lost a baby to SIDS

Abstract

Among Maori families, the loss of an infant to SIDS is a terrible burden that reverberates through social networks for years after the event. The statutory services that investigate the death have a huge impact on such processes. This qualitative investigation studied the experiences of whanau following a SIDS death by reporting narrative data, gathered from families, police officers, coroners, and pathologists. Thematic analyses revealed multiple domains of high significance—police actions, post‐mortem, and coronial process—to bereaved whanau, and this paper considers their implications for grieving, service provision, and social justice.     

Social Workers: Their Role and Tasks (1982)

Summary This article reviews the Barclay Report It explores, Inter alia,the Committee's views on matters such as client rights and communitysocial work. It also considers some of the implications of theReport for policy and practice in the light of the purposeswhich may be served by government sponsored committees of thiskind.     

VICTIMS OF CRIME AND LAW AND ORDER IDEOLOGY: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS

This article will argue that conservative forces in the community have used the renewed concern for crime victims in order to further their own political positions, rather than to genuinely advance crime victims' interests. These forces, commonly referred to as the ‘law-and-order’ lobby, include right wing politicians, the police and some sections of the media. The ideology which informs their approach will be critically examined, as well as the most important specific policies relating to crime victims deriving from this ideology.