The expansion of the US carceral state has been accompanied by the emergence of what we call the ‘shadow carceral state’. Operating beyond the confines of criminal law and justice institutions, the shadow carceral state expands penal power through institutional annexation and legal hybridity, including: (1) increased civil and administrative pathways to incarceration; (2) the creation of civil ...

Humans show a rare tendency to punish norm-violators who have not harmed them directly-a behavior known as third-party punishment. Research has found that third-party punishment is subject to intergroup bias, whereby people punish members of the out-group more severely than the in-group. Although the prevalence of this behavior is well-documented, the psychological processes underlying it remai...

Once considered a legitimate parenting tool, physical punishment is increasingly being redefined as a developmental risk factor by health professionals. Three forces that have contributed to this significant social change are the evolution of pediatric psychology, increasing understanding of the dynamics of parental violence, and growing recognition of children as rights bearers. However, despi...

BACKGROUND The Danish Medico-Legal Council provides the court with statements based on available psychiatric assessment reports to assist the law in the use of the Penal Code sections on mentally disordered offenders. AIMS To analyse the impact of the Council on the courts' choice between punishment and treatment in cases of offenders falling under §69 of the Penal Code, i.e. mentally disorde...

in iran, department of forensic psychiatry is one of the special units of legal medicine organization concerned with individuals who demonstrate psychological and psychiatric problems. the duties of forensic psychiatrists in the department are, performing psychiatric examinations and determining mental competence of two major groups of referrals: individuals who are involved in a legal problem ...

Section 300/A/A of the Israel Penal Law, amended in 1995, deals with reduction of punishment for severe mental and/or intellectual disturbances insufficient to warrant a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. The present version of the amendment allows the court total freedom in determining punishment, thereby creating a plethora of court decisions. In this article, we have attempted to prov...

The ability to survive within a cooperative society depends on impartial third-party punishment (TPP) of social norm violations. Two cognitive mechanisms have been postulated as necessary for the successful completion of TPP: evaluation of legal responsibility and selection of a suitable punishment given the magnitude of the crime. Converging neuroimaging research suggests two supporting domain...

This account traces the changes in social and legal attitudes towards homosexuality in England. It begins with mediaeval times, when sodomitical and heretical practices were lumped together and dealt with severely by the ecclesiastical courts. It describes the long period, starting with the statute of 1533 'for the punishment of the Vice of Buggery', when homosexuals were dealt with as criminal...

legal and judicial mitigating factors are one of the effective mechanisms for individualization of punishments and persuading offenders to avoid the continuation of the act of crime. these would also prevent the harmful consequences of crime from proliferating, and it help to discover crime and arrest aiders and abettors. the legislature has in different instances specified such legal exemption...