Search

This report to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child contains observations of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) concerning the application of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child by the Federation of Nigeria. The report's introduction asserts that the rule by decree of Nigeria's present military regime has serious implications for human rights, and that the most fundamental recommendation of any report seeking to further the interests of the rights of Nigerian children must be a return to democratic civilian rule. The report then presents observations and recommendations in the following areas: (1) the definition of a child; (2) criminal responsibility; (3) the practice of torture; (4) the use of corporal punishment as a punitive measure; (5) physical chastisement of the child in the home; (6) punishment on a gender discriminatory basis; (7) death penalty and life imprisonment; (8) summary execution; (9) arrest and detention; (10) special arbitrary detention measures; (11) detention in prison; (12) children in need of protection outside the familial environment; (13) administration of juvenile justice; and (14) de facto conditions for "Almajiris," a practice which consists of parents entrusting their children to strangers for religious teaching (these strangers then force the children to be beggars.) The report concludes with a summary of observations and recommendations by the U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child--Nigeria, in the following areas: positive factors, factors and difficulties impeding the implementation of the convention, principal subjects of concern, and suggestions and recommendations. (EV)

A study of essays on a single topic (capital punishment) written by 22 American high school students and 30 second-year Japanese college students investigated: cultural differences in organizational patterns in argumentative essays; comparative use of rational and affective appeals; differences in content of rational and affective appeals; characteristic types of rhetorical devices used; and specific cultural features of the compositions. Analyses and writing excerpts are presented here. Results indicate that in organizational pattern, a difference was found in the organizational unit termed "reservation," which gives Japanese rhetoric an impression of circularity. American students used more rational appeals and Japanese students used more affective appeals. Typical American argumentative strategies were logical, and Japanese strategies were more emotional. Americans preferred emphatic devices (e.g., "should, I believe") while the Japanese preferred softening devices and hedges (e.g., "I think, maybe") and emotional words (e.g., "Sad, Sorrow"). Distinctive differences were also found in preferred cultural tokens; Americans often referred to "Counseling, Biblical teaching, taxpayer's standpoint") while the Japanese touched on the victim's and family's needs ("empathy"). The study's results suggest further areas for research. Contains 16 references. (MSE)

Whether or not subjects can simulate mental retardation, a consideration that has implications in criminal cases, was studied using 21 adult Caucasian males between 20 and 30 years of age, largely comprised of students and staff employees of the University of New Mexico. Subjects were asked to give genuine and simulated responses to two major test batteries of intelligence, the Stanford Binet Fourth Edition and the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale Revised. Individual subjects did not appear able to simulate mental retardation consistently on both subtests and achieve statistically similar results. Latency times for simulating appeared to be significantly longer than latency times for genuine responding. Findings further suggested that genuine responses will yield similar scores on both subtests. Qualitative data suggest that it is more difficult to simulate mental retardation than to give genuine answers. Implications for participants in the criminal justice system may be significant, particularly for defendants accused of falsifying a test. Fourteen tables present study data. (Contains 145 references.) (SLD)

This article reviews the literature advocating or opposing a universal ban on capital punishment for people diagnosed with mental retardation and also offers the author's own views. It is argued that the realities of the American legal and penal systems require such a ban until each case can be examined thoroughly by individuals well informed about the manifestations of such cognitive limitations. (Contains references.) (Author/PB)

Examines the legal and moral issues, controversies, and unique trial procedures involved with the death penalty. Discusses the 1972 landmark Supreme Court decision that resulted in many states abolishing this punishment, only to reintroduce it later with different provisions. Reviews the controversial case of Sam Sheppard. (MJP)

Contends that often lawmakers misread their constituents' opinions on important issues. Presents data from an Indiana survey that suggest support for the death penalty vanishes when citizens are given the option of life in prison without possibility of parole combined with a requirement of work and restitution. (MJP)

Describes each of 20 cases briefly to show the pattern of killers who committed their crime in order to be executed. Concludes that the death penalty itself can serve as an invitation to murder, and asserts that legislators should vote against the implementation of the death penalty in order to save lives. (JPS)

Tested hypotheses concerning the relationship between alcohol and homicide from four major theoretical perspectives; specific predictions on the causes of types of homicide were also derived. Findings revealed that alcohol consumption rates change the way important predictors, such as poverty and deterrence, are related to specific types of homicide. (RJM)

Using a quota sampling procedure, 514 Indiana citizens were asked about specific circumstances surrounding capital punishment and about their support for various goals of sentencing. Results suggest that although general favorability toward capital punishment is quite high, such a result is misleading with only nine percent supporting it under all circumstances. (JBJ)

Examined life ownership orientation (extent to which one believes that God, individual, or society has power over one's life) among 117 college students who completed Life Ownership Orientation Questionnaire (LOOQ). Found LOOQ scores demonstrated higher predictive validity with regard to attitudes toward abortion, suicide, doctor-assisted suicide, and capital punishment than did measures of religiosity and political liberalism/conservatism. (Author/NB)

Reports on study of economic and social data from 400 counties in cotton-growing areas of southern United States between 1890 and 1929. Finds economic and political competition between white and African-American cotton growers led to racial discrimination and legal executions of African Americans. Asserts legal executions declined when political threat from African Americans was neutralized by restrictive voting statutes. (CFR)

Notes that, during sentencing phase of capital trial, social worker can have potentially powerful influence on proceedings by presenting comprehensive, reliable social history, and expert opinion based on accepted theory and research regarding human behavior in social environment. Reviews social worker's role as expert witness, ethical issues, defense team collaboration, and nature of social evaluation in sentence mitigation. (Author/NB)

This paper focuses on the deterrent effect of the celerity of the death penalty on homicide rates. The deterrent effect of both the certainty and the celerity of the death penalty on homicide rates is examined cross-sectionally for States. Multiple measures of execution and homicide are considered, along with various sociodemographic variables, in investigating the possible spuriousness of the sanction-offense rate relationship. Analysis consistently fails to provide support for the deterrence argument for the effect of the certainty and celerity of executions on homicide rates. Rather, results fall well within the pattern of negative findings of over five decades of deterrence and death penalty research. (Author/EB)

A study examined the effect of attitude toward capital punishment on the evaluation of evidence and the determination of guilt. Subjects were 224 undergraduate students who read a description of a murder. They then received two, four, or six items of evidence relevant to the defendant's guilt. Subjects were asked to determine a verdict and indicate their certainty of that verdict, whether they were for or against capital punishment, and how certain they were of the correctness of that stance. The results supported the hypotheses that (1) persons favoring capital punishment would be significantly more certain of their attitude than those opposed to it, (2) those who found the defendant guilty would be significantly more certain of their verdict than would those who found the defendant not guilty, (3) those who received more evidence of guilt would be significantly more certain of their verdict than those receiving less evidence, and (4) given the same amount of evidence, more people favoring capital punishment would find a guilty verdict than those opposing it. The results did not support the hypothesis that people favoring capital punishment would be more certain of their verdict than would those opposing it. In light of the "death qualified" juries required by some states for capital crimes, it is significant that persons favoring capital punishment are different from those who oppose capital punishment both in the certainty with which they find their verdict and in the amount of evidence they require to find a defendant guilty. (HTH)