Judging offenders: the moral implications of criminological theories

2013 ◽  
pp. 5-20
Author(s):  
Simon Cottee
Keyword(s):  
Criminological Theories

The Annual Reports of the Prison Commissioners for Scotland and Religion, 1903–1931

2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-101
Author(s):  
Cameron McKay
Keyword(s):  
Annual Report ◽  
Annual Reports ◽  
Individual Choice ◽  
Drinking Habits ◽  
Parental Neglect ◽  
Late Nineteenth ◽  
Causes Of Crime ◽  
Criminological Theories ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Insight Into

During the late nineteenth and early twentieth century penologists began to explore the possibility that environment and upbringing, as opposed to individual choice, were the causes criminality. The Prison Commissioners for Scotland, the devolved body who administered prisons north of the border, were not immune to this wider trend. Smith has argued that from the 1890s onwards the Commissioners began to accept that criminality was caused by social problems, namely alcoholism, but also parental neglect, poor education and poverty. In their efforts to test these new criminological theories, the Commissioners began to make more careful enquiries into the backgrounds of their charges. From 1896 to 1931 the Commissioners interviewed a sample of prisoners each year and included the findings in their annual report. Although the main focus of these interviews was on the upbringing and drinking habits of prisoners; by the 1900s the Commissioners seem to have added irreligion to the growing list of etiological causes of crime, and from 1903 onwards prisoners were asked to give details on their religious habits. Although it is debateable how much the Prison Commissioners revealed about the relationship between religion and crime, they did however provide a useful insight into the religiosity of the average prisoner.

scholarly journals Institutional Anomie Theory and Cybercrime—Cybercrime and the American Dream, Now Available Online

2021 ◽  
pp. 104398622110015
Author(s):  
Thomas E. Dearden ◽  
Katalin Parti ◽  
James Hawdon
Keyword(s):  
American Dream ◽  
Negative Binomial ◽  
National Sample ◽  
Dark Side ◽  
Curvilinear Relationship ◽  
Online Behavior ◽  
Institutional Anomie Theory ◽  
Anomie Theory ◽  
American Capitalism ◽  
Criminological Theories

As the world becomes increasingly connected and interdependent upon technology, crimes are moving online. Research on cybercrime is beginning to test the applicability of traditional criminological theories for understanding crime in this new medium. Using a national sample of 215 self-admitted cybercriminals, we examine Messner and Rosenfeld’s institutional anomie theory. Negative binomial regressions reveal that expressed levels of institutional anomie correlate with increased cybercrime activity. A curvilinear relationship was found, such that low and high levels of institutional anomie lead to higher levels of cybercrime. Our findings reveal how the dark side of the American Dream can lead to online criminality. Specifically, the penetration of, and accommodation to economic values dictated by American capitalism can lead individuals to adopt values such as the fetishism of money that, in turn, affects their online behavior and criminality.

scholarly journals Family violence against children in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic: a review of current perspectives and risk factors

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Noemí Pereda ◽  
Diego A. Díaz-Faes
Keyword(s):  
Children And Adolescents ◽  
Family Violence ◽  
Violence Against Children ◽  
The People ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Vulnerable Families ◽  
The Social ◽  
Restrictive Measures ◽  
Criminological Theories ◽  
The Impact

Abstract The situation of crisis produced by the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic poses major challenges to societies all over the world. While efforts to contain the virus are vital to protect global health, these same efforts are exposing children and adolescents to an increased risk of family violence. Various criminological theories explain the causes of this new danger. The social isolation required by the measures taken in the different countries, the impact on jobs, the economic instability, high levels of tension and fear of the virus, and new forms of relationships have all increased levels of stress in the most vulnerable families and, therefore, the risk of violence. In addition, mandatory lockdowns imposed to curb the spread of the disease have trapped children in their homes, isolating them from the people and the resources that could help them. In general, the restrictive measures imposed in many countries have not been accompanied by an analysis of the access to the resources needed to reduce this risk. It is necessary to take urgent measures to intervene in these high-risk contexts so that children and adolescents can develop and prosper in a society which is likely to undergo profound changes, but in which the defense of their rights and protection must remain a major priority.

scholarly journals A study on the perception of the corruption phenomenon within the Inland Revenue

2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-33
Author(s):  
Maurizio Longhi
Keyword(s):  
International Studies ◽  
General Terms ◽  
Inland Revenue ◽  
Criminological Theories ◽  
Political Scandals

In spite of many national and international studies on the causes of corruption, it is rarely investigated in which terms the criminological theories can provide useful suggestions to better understand the etiology of this form of criminality. The present work aimed to study how the corruption phenomenon is perceived by the employees of the Inland Revenue. The research was conducted on a sample of 50 subjects between 30 and 65 years old. For the purposes of the research, a questionnaire consisting of 19 items was distributed to them. It was significantly found that the subjects did not have problems to respond to general questions, despite particular questions, where instead the sampling found considerable difficulties. Therefore the knowledge is resulted in general terms and not in specific terms. A limitation of this study is that perceptions can rapidly change as a result of political scandals or different cultural settings. The different answers can be influenced by both the quality in the formulation of the application and the little experience of the interviewed subjects. Given the found data we can consider that this study confirms what is already evident in the literature. Corruption is the result of contacts with criminal patterns and the removal from anti-criminal patterns, since each individual assimilates the culture surrounding him.

Governance and Regional Variation of Homicide Rates

2016 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liqun Cao ◽  
Yan Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Regression ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Development Economic ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Asian Countries ◽  
Ceteris Paribus ◽  
Region Data ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Criminological Theories ◽  
Cross National

Criminological theories of cross-national studies of homicide have underestimated the effects of quality governance of liberal democracy and region. Data sets from several sources are combined and a comprehensive model of homicide is proposed. Results of the spatial regression model, which controls for the effect of spatial autocorrelation, show that quality governance, human development, economic inequality, and ethnic heterogeneity are statistically significant in predicting homicide. In addition, regions of Latin America and non-Muslim Sub-Saharan Africa have significantly higher rates of homicides ceteris paribus while the effects of East Asian countries and Islamic societies are not statistically significant. These findings are consistent with the expectation of the new modernization and regional theories.

scholarly journals Correction to: Systematic Quantitative Literature Review on Criminological Theories in Asia

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 153-153
Author(s):  
Masahiro Suzuki ◽  
Chen-Fu Pai ◽  
Md. Jahirul Islam
Keyword(s):  
Literature Review ◽  
Criminological Theories

Using Lisrel to Choose between Contradictory Criminological Theories

Data Analysis ◽  
1987 ◽  
pp. 345-369
Author(s):  
P. G. M. van der Heijden ◽  
F. Meijerink ◽  
A. Mooijaart
Keyword(s):  
Criminological Theories

scholarly journals New Labour and New Surveillance: Theoretical and Political Ramifications of CCTV Implementation in the UK

2002 ◽  
Vol 2 (2/3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pete Fussey
Keyword(s):  
Fear Of Crime ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Local Policy ◽  
Disciplinary Power ◽  
Structure And Agency ◽  
Surveillance Society ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Criminological Theories ◽  
The Impact

This paper examines the implications of New Labour's approaches to crime and disorder on CCTV implementation. It concentrates on the usage of CCTV as one of the government's many initiatives, which are intended to address crime and disorder, including the fear of crime. In particular, the impact of the 1998 Crime and Disorder Act (CDA) - the cornerstone of this government's approach to crime reduction - on the generation of such strategies is examined. The paper revisits neo-Marxist and Foucauldian analyses of the so-called surveillance society through an appraisal of the complex relationship between structure and agency in the formulation and implementation of anti-crime and disorder strategies. Drawing on fieldwork data the paper considers the activities of practitioners at a local level by focusing on the influence of central government, local communities and 'common sense' thinking based on certain criminological theories. It is argued that a myriad of micro-level operations, obligations, processes, managerial concerns (particularly conflict resolution and resource issues), structures and agency - as well as the indirect influence of central government - shape CCTV policy. Ultimately, the creation of new local policy contexts under the CDA emphasise the need to consider incremental and malleable processes concerning the formulation of CCTV policy. In turn, this allows a re-examination of theoretical accounts of surveillance, and their attendant assumptions of sovereign or disciplinary power.

scholarly journals The Criminal Histories of Drug-Drive Offenders

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 456-468 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Nunn
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Activity ◽  
Criminal History ◽  
First Year ◽  
Criminal Behaviour ◽  
Research Subjects ◽  
Criminal Sanctions ◽  
Criminal Histories ◽  
The Uk ◽  
High Level ◽  
Criminological Theories

Abstract This study examined the previous criminal behaviour of individuals who were arrested for violating the drug driving over the prescribed limit offence, introduced into the UK in March 2015. The sample consists of individuals arrested during the first year of enforcement of this offence from March 2015 to March 2016 within the jurisdictional boundaries of the Metropolitan Police Service in London. The previous criminal behaviour of the research subjects was framed within a number of criminological theories and there is examination of any correlation between their criminal history and the drug-driving offence they had been arrested for. The criminal activity was obtained from each individual’s criminal record held on the police national computer and coded with regards to offence groups. As well as criminal sanctions, there was also an examination of drug-related arrest histories. The results indicate a high level of previous criminal activity with drugs and driving matters dominating that activity. This supports the construct that, in this context, drug driving fits within their patterns of offending.

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