Thesis (doctoral)--Universität Erlangen.

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Roman Catholic recusancy was a significant component of the religious demography of Monmouthshire throughout the seventeenth century; but its importance has been simplified through an historiographical tradition that has focused upon the earls of Worcester and a small number of recusant gentry. The present study, drawing largely upon an examination of all of the very substantial Monmouthshire entries in the Exchequer Recusant Rolls, has sought a consideration of the nature of Catholic nonconformity through a statistical analysis of the record of recusancy conviction and the delineation of a social morphology of Catholic recusancy in Monmouthshire between 1603 and 1689. The conclusions derivable from this reconstructive analysis have been tested against a range of data of demographic significance - most notably, that provided by the Compton Census, 1.676 - and the available evidence of Catholic allegiance during the First Civil War: they suggest Catholic recusancy in the county to have been a far wider and more complex phenomenon than would appear from an emphasis. upon the centrality of the earls of Worcester. The record of recusancy convictions indicates i,nstead a social morphology essentially reflective of society at large, and a nonconformist culture that was popular and parochial rather than seigneurial and gentry-orientated. To a certain extent, the role played by the local recusant gentry in the shaping of a Catholic demography was catalytic; but the evidence does not suggest it to have been determinative. Rather, the numerical extent, continuity and geography of Catholic recusancy in Monmouthshire between 1603 and 1689 may be attributed to a complex amalgamation of factors that were topographical and administrative, which owed as much to th~ ministrations of itinerant priests as to the influence of Catholic gentry, and which was consolidated in family relationships and the development of a recusant popular culture.

Yes / The Bradford Innocence Project provides a university led, community supported initiative that deals with cases of wrongful conviction. The project provides students from a wide variety of academic disciplines the opportunity to research and subsequently run cases under the close supervision of academics and practitioners in the legal field.

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No description available.

For approximately the last fifteen years, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police have been mounting highly sophisticated undercover sting operations in Canada known colloquially as Mr. Big stings. These undercover operations involve multiple officers posing as members of a ruthless, powerful and wealthy criminal organization in order to trick suspects into making confessions to serious crimes, nearly always homicides. The undercover officers essentially orchestrate a chance meeting with the suspect, known operationally as the “target”, and exert their considerable influence and resources to convince him that he is being inducted into a criminal gang. The target is typically a person suspected of having committed a murder in the past, but who has never been charged due to lack of evidence. Over a period of months or weeks the undercover officers attempt to build a relationship with the target based on fear, greed, companionship, or a combination of those or other emotions. The target is given tasks to perform which appear criminal in nature, but which are actually staged crimes in which every participant is an undercover officer. The target is eventually told he must meet with the boss of the gang, the “Mr. Big” after whom the sting is named, in order for a final decision to be made on whether or not the target can join the gang. The target is told that he must confess to the previous murder of which he is suspected in order to join the gang. Sometimes the target confesses readily, other times he protests his innocence, but Mr. Big will not accept exculpatory statements. Often further inducements are offered by Mr. Big, most notably a promise to derail the investigation by using his influence over corrupt justice system participants. If the suspect admits culpability he will be charged with the crime and nearly always convicted at trial. Canadian courts have exercised virtually no control over police tactics in these cases. Defence counsel have argued against the use of the evidence on the basis of a breach of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms with regard to the right to silence and also with regard to abuse of process. These arguments have been unsuccessful. Defence counsel have also argued unsuccessfully that the statements should be inadmissible under Canadian hearsay law. It has also been argued, equally unsuccessfully, that the undercover operators should be treated as persons-in-authority, and hence that the statements elicited from the targets should have to be proven voluntary beyond a reasonable doubt. Canadian judges have also been unwilling to allow the defence to lead expert evidence in these cases to tell the trier of fact about the possibility of false confessions. The ultimate result is that there is no control over police tactics in these stings. There has been one proven wrongful conviction as a result of these stings, that of Kyle Wayne Unger. Other wrongful convictions may come to light. Short of its outright abolition, probably the best way to control the sting and prevent wrongful convictions is to subject the statements to a formal voluntariness inquiry.

Although youth crime and young offenders have attracted a significant amount of ongoing research attention and have given rise to a voluminous amount of literature devoted to describing and explaining their existence and providing suggestions for what may be done, much less attention has been paid to the youth court itself and, more specifically, the convictions of young persons over time. Using the Youth Court Survey as a source of longitudinal data, the present study describes the youth court convictions of a birth cohort of Canadian offenders from the time they officially enter the system at age 12 up to their 18th birthdays. The criminal career paradigm is used in the present study to guide the detailed and structured analysis of the key features of these conviction histories by partitioning convictions into four central parameters: prevalence of convictions, individual frequencies, age at first conviction, and patterns of transition (i.e. specialization and versatility). Findings revealed that approximately 23,000 males and 6,000 females—12 percent and 3 percent of the 1979/80 birth cohort, respectively—were convicted of at least one offence in youth court. While the patterns of convictions were found to be similar for both males and females, the prevalence among females rose relatively faster at younger ages and peaked earlier. Findings also indicated that the vast majority of young people who were convicted in a Canadian youth court had a conviction history consisting of only one conviction. However, findings also highlighted the extent to which the phenomenon of a concentration of offending, which has been noted in numerous countries, is present in Canada with a small group of chronic offenders being responsible for a disproportionate amount of court activity. The study also found that the younger an individual was at the time of their first conviction, the more likely they were to accumulate future convictions, and also to receive a conviction for a violent offence. Lastly, findings revealed that the youth court career is characterized by neither complete specialization nor complete versatility, but rather that these two tendencies in offending exist side by side. Overall, the current study provides a more complete picture of the conviction history of this cohort of young offenders than one-time snapshots from individual surveys could allow.

Although youth crime and young offenders have attracted a significant amount of ongoing research attention and have given rise to a voluminous amount of literature devoted to describing and explaining their existence and providing suggestions for what may be done, much less attention has been paid to the youth court itself and, more specifically, the convictions of young persons over time. Using the Youth Court Survey as a source of longitudinal data, the present study describes the youth court convictions of a birth cohort of Canadian offenders from the time they officially enter the system at age 12 up to their 18th birthdays. The criminal career paradigm is used in the present study to guide the detailed and structured analysis of the key features of these conviction histories by partitioning convictions into four central parameters: prevalence of convictions, individual frequencies, age at first conviction, and patterns of transition (i.e. specialization and versatility). Findings revealed that approximately 23,000 males and 6,000 females—12 percent and 3 percent of the 1979/80 birth cohort, respectively—were convicted of at least one offence in youth court. While the patterns of convictions were found to be similar for both males and females, the prevalence among females rose relatively faster at younger ages and peaked earlier. Findings also indicated that the vast majority of young people who were convicted in a Canadian youth court had a conviction history consisting of only one conviction. However, findings also highlighted the extent to which the phenomenon of a concentration of offending, which has been noted in numerous countries, is present in Canada with a small group of chronic offenders being responsible for a disproportionate amount of court activity. The study also found that the younger an individual was at the time of their first conviction, the more likely they were to accumulate future convictions, and also to receive a conviction for a violent offence. Lastly, findings revealed that the youth court career is characterized by neither complete specialization nor complete versatility, but rather that these two tendencies in offending exist side by side. Overall, the current study provides a more complete picture of the conviction history of this cohort of young offenders than one-time snapshots from individual surveys could allow.

The relationship between normative convictions, sexual behaviour and personality. In order to fill the gap of knowledge regarding sexuality in South Africa, the sexual attitudes and behaviour of 95 Afrikaans-speaking undergraduate psychology students were investigated by means of the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire, the Mosher Sex-Guilt subscale and a combined biographical and attitude questionnaire. The study concentrated on the relationship between normative convictions, personality factors and sexual behaviour. Most respondents reported a fair degree of intimacy in their relationships, while one third had already had premarital sexual experience. Although respondents expressed predominantly negative sexual attitudes, they expected men to be more promiscuous than women. No difference in males•and females• experience of intimacy in relationships and sexual experience could be indicated. Although the respondents were predominantly religious, the female respondents were more religiously inclined than the male respondents. The religious convictions of the respondents were strong enough to influence their sexual attitudes. On the behavioural level sexually inexperienced respondents were more involved with church activities and those with fewer sex partners also expressed strong religious convictions. No connection between the personality factor extraversion and any form of pro-sexuality could be indicated. Socially undesirable personality factors were, however, identified as predictors of positive sexual attitudes. Elements in Ajzen•s theory of reasoned behaviour correlated positively with sexual attitudes. This model was also found to be suitable for the prediction of sexual attitudes. The opinion of the father and members of the peer group, as well as the expectation of positive consequences, among others, was identified as predictors of positive attitudes while the opinion of the parson, grandparents and lecturers was rejected, Respondents with many sex partners not only expected positive consequences, but because of social sanctions they valued the reverend's opinion highly and expressed negative emotional set towards sexuality. Although Ajzen•s model often explained a high proportion of the variance in the dependent variables. it is clear that variables other than those included in this model, like sexual guilt, greatly contribute to the explanation of variance in both sexual attitudes and behaviour. / MA, PU vir CHO, 1992