Leslie Sebba

Is Mens Rea a Component of Perceived Offense Seriousness

Since the publication in 1964 of Sellin and Wolfgangs The Measurement of Delinquency, 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. The present article will address a question that has received only sporadic attention in the related literature; namely, the extent to which offense descriptions used in evolving a seriousness scale should take into consideration the mental attitude of the offender at the time of commission.

The Effectiveness of Service Work: An Analysis of Recidivism

The Israeli “service work” law of 1987 enables a court to commute prison sentences of up to 6 months to service work in the community. This paper examines the correctional effectiveness of this new sanction by comparing the rate of recidivism (over a period of 14 months) among 407 offenders sentenced to service work to that of 950 comparable offenders sentenced to imprisonment. As the research design is quasi-experimental, an adjustment for confounders is carried out using the propensity score (PS) methodology. The estimation of the odds ratio of recidivism with respect to sanction comprises two steps: (a) the PS, which is the conditional probability of assignment to a particular sanction given a set of confounders, is estimated by a logistic model; and (b) the conditional probability of recidivism, given the PS and other covariates, is estimated by a second model. The findings indicate that before an adjustment for the systematic differences between the two sanctions was carried out, the odds for recidivism among prisoners were 2.4 times higher than the odds for service workers. After the adjustment, the odds ratio was reduced to 1.7. This estimate indicates that the service work sanction has a considerable correctional effect. The need to address additional criteria for the effectiveness of service work (e.g., net-widening) is emphasized.

The Victim's Role in the Penal Process: A Theoretical Orientation

The attention which has been directed in recent years to that ‘“poor relation” of the criminal law’, the victim,1 has led to the crystallization of professional and public opinion in favour of alleviating the predicament of this forgotten figure of the contemporary criminal justice system. The impetus for reform has concentrated primarily on improving the material situation of the victim by means of schemes for compensation or restitution, and reducing his psychic trauma — particularly where victims of sexual assaults are concerned — by means of crisis intervention and the provision of other services for the victim.2

Sentencing and the victim: the aftermath of Payne

In 1991 the U.S. Supreme Court — reversing its earlier decisions on this point — held that it was permissible to present before a jury at a capital sentencing hearing evidence regarding the character of the victim and the suffering inflicted upon the vistims family. The implications of this decision for sentencing philosophy are considered, particularly in the context of the ‘justice’ model, and in relation to the two components of determining offence seriousness — harm and culpability. Alternative models of justice are considred, and a suggestion is profferred for enabling the victim to have a ‘day in court’ without unfairly prejudicing the position of the defendant.

On the Relationship between Criminological Research and Policy:: The Case of Crime Victims

The past two decades have seen a growing interest in the topic of crime victims. This has been reflected in intensive legislative activity and policy reforms, accompanied by a not inconsiderable body of research. The question arises, however, as to whether and to what extent there is any connection between the policy reforms and the research. This question arises, of course, in other areas of criminological policy—as, indeed, in other areas of social policy. Thus crime victims may be seen as a case study for the analysis of a more general issue. The current article attempts to evaluate how far criminological policy in general, and victim policy in particular, is research driven. The same issue is then approached from another perspective: what are the factors that influence policy making, and what, if any, is the role of research in this? This analysis is followed by a review of the findings of victim research, in order to indicate their implications for victim policy, in the event of such policy becoming research oriented.1

Sanctioning Policy in Israel - An Historical Overview

The sanctioning policy of a given society may be analysed on a number of levels. It may focus on the actions of the legislative body in the adoption of statutes, or on the legislative and administrative measures taken by the ministers and policy-makers who derive their formal powers from such statutes. Alternatively it may focus on the decisions of the courts, either by examining these on a statistical level or by analysing the content (the rhetoric as well as the substance) of their decisions. The present article will focus primarily upon the legislative policies of the Knesset in the matter of sanctions since the establishment of the state.

Victimology and the sociology of new disciplines A research agenda

Focusing on the literature on the sociology of scientific knowledge, the purpose of the present article is to explore the extent to which its conceptual frameworks may be applicable to the field of victimology, thus providing new perspectives for the enhancement of our understanding of the manner in which this field has been developing and related ontological issues. The theoretical discussion is supplemented by initial explorations towards a quantitative analysis of the subject matter of victimology, based on a topical search using the EBSCO Criminal Justice Abstracts database. This analysis may serve to assist in identifying various characteristics pertaining to the publications, such as their academic focus and disciplinary framework, and in exploring the relationship between the journal publications, the literature on developing fields, and the historical development of victimology. The article seeks to promote a research agenda deriving from the linkage of the field of victimology to the literature on the sociology of scientific knowledge, thereby stimulating new ways of critiquing this field.

Attitudes of New Immigrants Toward White-Collar Crime: A Cross-Cultural Exploration

This study was designed to determine how far new immigrants to Israel from diverse cultures and economic systems-the Soviet Union and the United States-would differ in their attitudes to crime, in particular white-collar crime. Respondents were asked to rate various deviant acts in terms of their seriousness and to express their views on certain other questions related mainly to criminal justice. A sample of veteran Israelis was also questioned for the sake of comparison. While the relative offence weighting for most offences attributed by the different groups did not differ substantially, there was a general tendency, for the veteran Israelis to be the most punitive and the Russians the most lenient. Various explanations for this were considered, as well as the implications of the findings for multi-cultural societies and legal systems.

Child protection or child liberation? Reflections on the movement to ban physical punishment by parents and educators

In recent years the debate on the legitimacy of the infliction of corporal punishment by parents on their children has been intensified. This traditional parental power has been challenged both at governmental and legislature levels and in the courts, in some cases leading to its prohibition — a policy which has now been endorsed by various international norm-setting bodies. This article traces the historical development of this abolitionist movement on the international plane and seeks to identify the ideologies which have motivated it. In particular, it assesses the respective roles of the child protection ideology, which is concerned with the prevention of victimization, and the childrens rights perspective. The contravening role of the family rights ideology is also considered. The article also uses case-studies to analyse the interplay of these forces on the national level, and considers the usefulness of this analysis to predict abolition.

Victimhood, Dignity, and the Criminal Justice System: A Comment

While this comment primarily addresses the article by Anat Horovitz and Thomas Weigend on human dignity and victims’ rights in the German and Israeli criminal process, it begins with a consideration of the role of the victim in other component parts of the criminal justice system, and in particular the substantive criminal law ― a topic addressed in other articles included in this issue. There follows a review of the comparative analysis of the victim’s role in Germany and Israel put forward by Horovitz and Weigend and a critique of the issues they raise, particularly as to the salience of the victim’s procedural role. It is argued here that the victim should have a somewhat more meaningful role than that envisaged by these authors. The comment concludes with a brief consideration of the potential for the advancement of alternative remedies currently neglected by both systems, such as restorative justice.