William J Bowers
Biographic Data
| ID | 90204 |
|---|---|
| NAME | William J Bowers |
| GIVEN NAMES | William J |
| FAMILY NAME | Bowers |
| SIGNATURE | BOWERS W J |
| AFFILIATIONS | Northeastern University |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-2255-2116 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 17 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 84 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 17 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1967 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
Ibn Saud’s Increased Attention to Palestine Based on Newly Revealed US Documents
The role that Saudi Arabia played in the earliest days of the conflict between the Arabs and Zionists in Palestine and later after the establishment of the State of Israel is highly contested. This article seeks to contribute to the ongoing dialogue of the Saudi role by exploring the question from the standpoint of the United States. An examination of the American documentary evidence demonstrates that Ibn Saud and Saudi Arabia were viewed as sig…
Folk Knowledge as Legal Action
This article traces interconnections between folk knowledge-the everyday, taken-for-granted understandings and beliefs that shape people's perceptions, actions, and reactions to events and situations-and legal action. It examines the consciousness of crime and punishment as that consciousness comes to bear when citizens are given the responsibility for the life or death decision made by jurors in capital cases. It seeks to identify the sources of…
Capital Punishment and Contemporary Values
Twenty years after the Supreme Court struck down existing death penalty statutes (Furman v. Georgia 1972) and a day after Justice Thurgood Marshall's death, the senior Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, Harry Blackmun, charged the Court with coming "perilously close to murder" in its latest death penalty ruling. He made this charge in an unusual oral dissent from a decision which held that a federal appeals court could not hear newly developed ev…
How Did Tarasoff Affect Clinical Practice
The Tarasoff decisions of the California Supreme Court in 1974 and 1976 held that psychotherapists could be held liable for failing to protect the victims of their potentially violent patients. Our survey of psychiatrists, psychologists, and social workers in eight metropolitan areas showed that Californians were more likely to have heard of the case, to believe it required warning the likely victim, and actually to issue warnings in such cases t…
Legal Homicide
The Bartley-Fox Gun Law's Short-Term Impact on Crime in Boston
By making the illicit carrying of a firearm punishable with a one-year "mandatory" prison term, the Massachusetts (Bartley-Fox) gun law intervenes at what ap pears to be a critical juncture—from the standpoint of deterrent effectiveness and political feasibility—in the chain of decision that leads from the acquisition of a gun to its use in a crime. Drawing on FBI crime data, we employed interrupted time series techniques and multiple control gro…
The Uses of the American Prison
Executions in America
Education in Crisis
Severity of Formal Sanctions as a Repressive Response to Deviant Behavior
In a critique of our paper, “Severity of Formal Sanctions as a Deterrent to Deviant Behavior” ( Law and Society Review , 1970: 21-40), Professor Paul E. Meehl has questioned our interpretation of the data particularly in Table 3 of the original paper. On the basis of that evidence, we concluded that severity of formal sanctions show no direct deterrent effect on the deviant behavior under consideration, but do appear to have an indirect deterrent…
"Murray Wax on Kahn and Bowers' "The Social Context of the Rank-and-File Student Activist
SLEIGHT OF HAND may be conventional in sociological research, but its presence is nonetheless disquieting in Social Context of the Rank-and-File Student Activist: A Test of Four Hypotheses, Roger Kahn and William J. Bowers (Volume 43, Number 1, Winter 1970:38-55). Originally the researchers drew sample whose size is not clearly specified: a stratified sample of 100 institutions. .. within each school samples of 75 to 100 students. . But the resul…
Dimensions of Academic Freedom
Severity of Formal Sanctions as a Deterrent to Deviant Behavior
The imposition of penalities for violation of criminal laws has been traditionally justified for such reasons as social justice and retribution. Today, perhaps the main justification for imposing severe penalties on those who violate the law is that such punishments serve as a specific deterrent to future violations by the offender and as a general deterrent to violations by others who might be tempted to follow his lead
The Social Context of the Rank-and-File Student Activist
This paper examines, within colleges of varying institutional quality, a core of characteristics that previous studies have identified as strongly associated with students' political activism. We find that there is no consistent association between socioeconomic background and activism within quality contexts; that academic commitment is related to activism only at the better institutions; that majoring in the humanities and social sciences is as…
The College Fraternity as an Opportunity Structure for Meeting Academic Demands
Studies have generally shown that college cheating is more common among fraternity members than among independents. On the basis of such findings, others have argued that the fraternity serves its members as an illicit opportunity structure for meeting academic demands. This paper examines the extent to which fraternities in different college contexts display the characteristics of an illegitimate opportunity structure—specifically, the extent to…
Normative Constraints on Deviant Behavior in the College Context
This paper examines normative constraints on ten forms of deviant behavior among samples of students from 99 colleges. Normative constraints are separated into individual and contextual disapproval. A general pattern of deterrent effects appears for nine of the ten forms of misconduct. The individual effect of disapproval is strongest where the level of disapproval in the social context is low. No contextual effect occurs until the proportion str…
On Fraternity Membership and College Cheating
On Fraternity Membership and College Cheating William J. Bowers, William J. Bowers The Russell B. Stearns Study, Northeastern University Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic PubMed Google Scholar Charles I. Stannard Charles I. Stannard The Russell B. Stearns Study, Northeastern University Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic PubMed Google Scholar Social Problems, Volume 15, Issue 1, Summer 1967, Pages 120…
Capital Punishment and Contemporary Values
Twenty years after the Supreme Court struck down existing death penalty statutes (Furman v. Georgia 1972) and a day after Justice Thurgood Marshall's death, the senior Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, Harry Blackmun, charged the Court with coming "perilously close to murder" in its latest death penalty ruling. He made this charge in an unusual oral dissent from a decision which held that a federal appeals court could not hear newly developed ev…
Severity of Formal Sanctions as a Deterrent to Deviant Behavior
The imposition of penalities for violation of criminal laws has been traditionally justified for such reasons as social justice and retribution. Today, perhaps the main justification for imposing severe penalties on those who violate the law is that such punishments serve as a specific deterrent to future violations by the offender and as a general deterrent to violations by others who might be tempted to follow his lead
The Bartley-Fox Gun Law's Short-Term Impact on Crime in Boston
By making the illicit carrying of a firearm punishable with a one-year "mandatory" prison term, the Massachusetts (Bartley-Fox) gun law intervenes at what ap pears to be a critical juncture—from the standpoint of deterrent effectiveness and political feasibility—in the chain of decision that leads from the acquisition of a gun to its use in a crime. Drawing on FBI crime data, we employed interrupted time series techniques and multiple control gro…
Folk Knowledge as Legal Action
This article traces interconnections between folk knowledge-the everyday, taken-for-granted understandings and beliefs that shape people's perceptions, actions, and reactions to events and situations-and legal action. It examines the consciousness of crime and punishment as that consciousness comes to bear when citizens are given the responsibility for the life or death decision made by jurors in capital cases. It seeks to identify the sources of…
Normative Constraints on Deviant Behavior in the College Context
This paper examines normative constraints on ten forms of deviant behavior among samples of students from 99 colleges. Normative constraints are separated into individual and contextual disapproval. A general pattern of deterrent effects appears for nine of the ten forms of misconduct. The individual effect of disapproval is strongest where the level of disapproval in the social context is low. No contextual effect occurs until the proportion str…
The Social Context of the Rank-and-File Student Activist
This paper examines, within colleges of varying institutional quality, a core of characteristics that previous studies have identified as strongly associated with students' political activism. We find that there is no consistent association between socioeconomic background and activism within quality contexts; that academic commitment is related to activism only at the better institutions; that majoring in the humanities and social sciences is as…
The College Fraternity as an Opportunity Structure for Meeting Academic Demands
Studies have generally shown that college cheating is more common among fraternity members than among independents. On the basis of such findings, others have argued that the fraternity serves its members as an illicit opportunity structure for meeting academic demands. This paper examines the extent to which fraternities in different college contexts display the characteristics of an illegitimate opportunity structure—specifically, the extent to…
Severity of Formal Sanctions as a Repressive Response to Deviant Behavior
In a critique of our paper, “Severity of Formal Sanctions as a Deterrent to Deviant Behavior” ( Law and Society Review , 1970: 21-40), Professor Paul E. Meehl has questioned our interpretation of the data particularly in Table 3 of the original paper. On the basis of that evidence, we concluded that severity of formal sanctions show no direct deterrent effect on the deviant behavior under consideration, but do appear to have an indirect deterrent…
How Did Tarasoff Affect Clinical Practice
The Tarasoff decisions of the California Supreme Court in 1974 and 1976 held that psychotherapists could be held liable for failing to protect the victims of their potentially violent patients. Our survey of psychiatrists, psychologists, and social workers in eight metropolitan areas showed that Californians were more likely to have heard of the case, to believe it required warning the likely victim, and actually to issue warnings in such cases t…
On Fraternity Membership and College Cheating
On Fraternity Membership and College Cheating William J. Bowers, William J. Bowers The Russell B. Stearns Study, Northeastern University Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic PubMed Google Scholar Charles I. Stannard Charles I. Stannard The Russell B. Stearns Study, Northeastern University Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic PubMed Google Scholar Social Problems, Volume 15, Issue 1, Summer 1967, Pages 120…
Dimensions of Academic Freedom
On Fraternity Membership and College Cheating
On Fraternity Membership and College Cheating William J. Bowers, William J. Bowers The Russell B. Stearns Study, Northeastern University Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic PubMed Google Scholar Charles I. Stannard Charles I. Stannard The Russell B. Stearns Study, Northeastern University Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic PubMed Google Scholar Social Problems, Volume 15, Issue 1, Summer 1967, Pages 120…
Normative Constraints on Deviant Behavior in the College Context
This paper examines normative constraints on ten forms of deviant behavior among samples of students from 99 colleges. Normative constraints are separated into individual and contextual disapproval. A general pattern of deterrent effects appears for nine of the ten forms of misconduct. The individual effect of disapproval is strongest where the level of disapproval in the social context is low. No contextual effect occurs until the proportion str…
Dimensions of Academic Freedom
Severity of Formal Sanctions as a Deterrent to Deviant Behavior
The imposition of penalities for violation of criminal laws has been traditionally justified for such reasons as social justice and retribution. Today, perhaps the main justification for imposing severe penalties on those who violate the law is that such punishments serve as a specific deterrent to future violations by the offender and as a general deterrent to violations by others who might be tempted to follow his lead
The Social Context of the Rank-and-File Student Activist
This paper examines, within colleges of varying institutional quality, a core of characteristics that previous studies have identified as strongly associated with students' political activism. We find that there is no consistent association between socioeconomic background and activism within quality contexts; that academic commitment is related to activism only at the better institutions; that majoring in the humanities and social sciences is as…
The College Fraternity as an Opportunity Structure for Meeting Academic Demands
Studies have generally shown that college cheating is more common among fraternity members than among independents. On the basis of such findings, others have argued that the fraternity serves its members as an illicit opportunity structure for meeting academic demands. This paper examines the extent to which fraternities in different college contexts display the characteristics of an illegitimate opportunity structure—specifically, the extent to…
"Murray Wax on Kahn and Bowers' "The Social Context of the Rank-and-File Student Activist
SLEIGHT OF HAND may be conventional in sociological research, but its presence is nonetheless disquieting in Social Context of the Rank-and-File Student Activist: A Test of Four Hypotheses, Roger Kahn and William J. Bowers (Volume 43, Number 1, Winter 1970:38-55). Originally the researchers drew sample whose size is not clearly specified: a stratified sample of 100 institutions. .. within each school samples of 75 to 100 students. . But the resul…
Severity of Formal Sanctions as a Repressive Response to Deviant Behavior
In a critique of our paper, “Severity of Formal Sanctions as a Deterrent to Deviant Behavior” ( Law and Society Review , 1970: 21-40), Professor Paul E. Meehl has questioned our interpretation of the data particularly in Table 3 of the original paper. On the basis of that evidence, we concluded that severity of formal sanctions show no direct deterrent effect on the deviant behavior under consideration, but do appear to have an indirect deterrent…
Education in Crisis
Executions in America
The Uses of the American Prison
The Bartley-Fox Gun Law's Short-Term Impact on Crime in Boston
By making the illicit carrying of a firearm punishable with a one-year "mandatory" prison term, the Massachusetts (Bartley-Fox) gun law intervenes at what ap pears to be a critical juncture—from the standpoint of deterrent effectiveness and political feasibility—in the chain of decision that leads from the acquisition of a gun to its use in a crime. Drawing on FBI crime data, we employed interrupted time series techniques and multiple control gro…
Legal Homicide
How Did Tarasoff Affect Clinical Practice
The Tarasoff decisions of the California Supreme Court in 1974 and 1976 held that psychotherapists could be held liable for failing to protect the victims of their potentially violent patients. Our survey of psychiatrists, psychologists, and social workers in eight metropolitan areas showed that Californians were more likely to have heard of the case, to believe it required warning the likely victim, and actually to issue warnings in such cases t…
Capital Punishment and Contemporary Values
Twenty years after the Supreme Court struck down existing death penalty statutes (Furman v. Georgia 1972) and a day after Justice Thurgood Marshall's death, the senior Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, Harry Blackmun, charged the Court with coming "perilously close to murder" in its latest death penalty ruling. He made this charge in an unusual oral dissent from a decision which held that a federal appeals court could not hear newly developed ev…
Folk Knowledge as Legal Action
This article traces interconnections between folk knowledge-the everyday, taken-for-granted understandings and beliefs that shape people's perceptions, actions, and reactions to events and situations-and legal action. It examines the consciousness of crime and punishment as that consciousness comes to bear when citizens are given the responsibility for the life or death decision made by jurors in capital cases. It seeks to identify the sources of…
Ibn Saud’s Increased Attention to Palestine Based on Newly Revealed US Documents
The role that Saudi Arabia played in the earliest days of the conflict between the Arabs and Zionists in Palestine and later after the establishment of the State of Israel is highly contested. This article seeks to contribute to the ongoing dialogue of the Saudi role by exploring the question from the standpoint of the United States. An examination of the American documentary evidence demonstrates that Ibn Saud and Saudi Arabia were viewed as sig…
Political science (17 works) · Psychology (14 works) · Law (12 works) · Criminology (9 works) · Law (9 works) · Social Psychology (9 works) · Sociology (9 works) · Social Psychology (7 works) · Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis (5 works) · History (5 works)