Reflections on the 25\u3csup\u3eth\u3c/sup\u3e Anniversary of the WMU Center for the Study of Ethics in Society

Center for the Study of Ethics in Society: Celebrating 25 Years - Presented November 15, 2010

Defining the Concept of Crime: A Humanistic Perspective

This paper argues that the traditional definition of crime is too narrow and unnecessarily constrictive of criminological work. Definitions more in accord with the objectives of a humanistic criminology must be developed. The traditional debate over the definition of crime has not been grounded within the context of the more fundamental images of crime that actually guide criminological work. By clarifying these underlying images (paradigms) and displaying the value questions and domain assumptions contained within them, we are in position to develop first order and second order definitions of crime which are more suitable to the task of humanistic criminology

Critical Criminology, Traditional Crime, and Public Policy

Critical criminologists have often ignored the serious problem of traditional or common street crime. As a result, crime prevention policy has been forfeited to the political right or to those who advocate ineffective liberal reforms. This paper argues that critical criminology can make a contribution to the formulation of public policy concerning traditional crime. Recent theoretical developments within the criitical perspective on crime, as.well as a variety of supporting data, are reviewed and specific policy recommendations to reduce traditional crime are offered. These progressive recommendations constitute an important alternative to the individualistic approaches (liberal or conservative) which now dominate crime prevention policy

Vol. 27, No. 1

Contents: Ricci v. DeStefano: What It Means for Public Employees, by Ronald J. Kramer Recent Developmentshttps://scholarship.kentlaw.iit.edu/iperr/1049/thumbnail.jp

Humanistic Perspectives in Criminology

In the past two decades, the field of criminology has changed dramatically. Mainstream criminology, which focused primarily on the etiology of behavior taken for granted as criminal, has been successively challenged by a number of different sociological theories and perspectives. These challenges have come from the labeling or interactionist perspective, various pluralistic conflict theories, and a number of radical, critical, or Marxist approaches. Although there are many differences among these theoretical developments, they share a common set of humanistic concerns. All of these perspectives attempt to combine a theoretical explanation of crime and social control with a practical concern for human liberation and social justice. All of these perspectives are concerned, in one way or another, with the way in which the social structuring of crime and social control affects the human rights, survival, and material well-being of people

Leading Boldly: Foundations Can Move Past Traditional Approaches to Create Social Change Through Imaginative -- Even Controversial -- Leadership

Rarely do foundations publicly communicate their dissatisfaction with their grantees, withhold funds, or use tactics that carry the risks of creating ill will. Yet extraordinary results can be achieved if foundations were more imaginative, visible, and controversial. Three foundations shocked the city of Pittsburgh in 2002 by abruptly suspending their funding to local public schools. The foundations announced their decision in a news conference that attracted both local and national coverage -- a sharp departure from their usual approach of working quietly behind the scenes. Foundation executives explained that they had completely lost confidence in the ability of the local school board to run the district. Their action yielded a community-wide process that led to real change. Here's how foundations can exercise Adaptive Leadership without misusing authority

Labour market dynamics and worker heterogeneity during the Great Recession - Evidence from Europe

Using harmonised micro data, this paper investigates the effects of the early phase (2008-10) of the recent economic crisis on transitions between labour market states in Europe. Our analysis focuses on individual heterogeneity, on the type of employment contract, and on cross-country differences. Our analysis shows that specific worker groups, such as men and young persons, were particularly strongly hit by the crisis. Furthermore, more transitions from employment, especially temporary employment to unemployment, were the main factor behind rising unemployment. Reduced unemployment outflows did not contribute substantially to the increase in unemployment during the early phase of the crisis

Characterizing the Effect of Videophone Conversations on Intersection Driving Performance

The present study examined the efficacy of videophone conversations for enhancing conversation partner situational awareness and mitigating cell phone distraction during intersection drives. Younger and older drivers drove through simulated intersections in four conditions: undistracted, with an in-car passenger, with a remote partner who could see the driver and a subset of the driving scene via a videophone, and with a remote partner on a cell phone. Relative to the cell phone condition, passenger and videophone conversations enhanced situational awareness and mitigated distraction. Younger and older drivers showed similar benefits, although there were age-related costs to driving performance overall. Videophone information offers a simple and promising potential strategy to enhance partner situational awareness during cell phone conversations, even when the conversation partner can see only a subset of the driving scene

Positive Voltage Hazard to EMU Crewman from Currents through Plasma

This paper describes the model of the EMU with a human body in the circuit that has been used by NASA to evaluate the low positive voltage hazard. The model utilizes the electron collection characterization from on orbit Langmuir probe data as representative of electron collection to a positive charged surface with a wide range of on orbit plasma temperature and density conditions. The data has been unified according to non-linear theoretical temperature and density variation of the electron saturated probe current collection theory and used as a model for the electron collection at EMU surfaces. Vulnerable paths through the EMU connecting through the crewman s body have been identified along with electrical impedance of the exposed body parts. The body impedance information is merged with the electron collection characteristics in circuit simulation software (SPICE). The assessment shows that currents can be on the order of 20 mA for a 15 V exposure and of order 4 mA at 3V. These currents formally violate NASA protocol for electric current exposures however the human factors associated with subjective consequences of noxious stimuli from low voltage exposure during the stressful conditions of EVA are an area of active inquiry

Training and Transfer of Training in Rapid Visual Search for Camouflaged Targets

Previous examinations of search under camouflage conditions have reported that performance improves with training and that training can engender near perfect transfer to similar, but novel camouflage-type displays [1]. What remains unclear, however, are the cognitive mechanisms underlying these training improvements and transfer benefits. On the one hand, improvements and transfer benefits might be associated with higher-level overt strategy shifts, such as through the restriction of eye movements to target-likely (background) display regions. On the other hand, improvements and benefits might be related to the tuning of lower-level perceptual processes, such as figure-ground segregation. To decouple these competing possibilities we had one group of participants train on camouflage search displays and a control group train on non-camouflage displays. Critically, search displays were rapidly presented, precluding eye movements. Before and following training, all participants completed transfer sessions in which they searched novel displays. We found that search performance on camouflage displays improved with training. Furthermore, participants who trained on camouflage displays suffered no performance costs when searching novel displays following training. Our findings suggest that training to break camouflage is related to the tuning of perceptual mechanisms and not strategic shifts in overt attention