Differentiating Categories of Violent Adolescent Offending and the Associated Risks in Police and Youth Offending Service Records

Historical risk assessment forms for a sample of 173 males with a history of violent offending and under supervision by Merseyside Youth Offending Services (YOS) were investigated. Subsequent arrest records were scrutinised in order to obtain a better understanding of the relationship of social and psychological risk factors to offending behavior. The mean age of the sample at the point of contact with YOS was 16.01 ( SD = 1.37) with a range between 12 and 18 years. Assault was associated with solo expressive offending, a history of domestic violence, low school attendance and an inability to control impulsivity and aggression. Robbery was associated instrumental and escalated violent offending, psychological disorders, and deviant groups, including family criminal involvement. Risk assessments by professionals and the young people indicated that substance misuse co-occurred with robbery. The findings suggest that solo offenders commit the majority of violent offences and that targeted interventions should distinguish between expressive and instrumental offending.

Its scouse soldier’s lad init! An examination of modern Urban street gangs on Merseyside

Purpose This paper aims to discuss the emergence of the contemporary Urban Street Gang (USG) on Merseyside. In terms of gang scholarship in the UK, Merseyside has been greatly neglected despite regular reports in national mainstream media that suggest Merseyside USGs represent some of the most criminally active and violent members in the UK. Design/methodology/approach A specific methodology has been omitted because the author while providing a viewpoint from Hesketh (2018), also wishes to encapsulate observations from the remaining two pieces of research conducted on Merseyside (Smithson et al., 2009; Robinson, 2018). For this reason, a summary of the methods used in each of the three studies is provided. Findings The paper will highlight observations drawn from all three research studies that were prevalent with USG members throughout the Merseyside county at the time of each study. They include aspects surrounding territoriality, belonging and identity through dress style as well as USG structures and motivation for joining. In particular, the paper will address also address the role of drugs which has transformed the structural make-up of many Merseyside USGs from relatively loosely knit-street corner groups involved in anti-social behaviour (ASB) to more structural-deviant entrepreneurial enterprises. Research limitations/implications The paper calls for more research to be carried out on Merseyside. Limitations would include the omission of young women in each of the three studies. Practical implications The practical implications are as follows: a need to focus on the impact of bridging within excluded communities; a need to focus on emphasising that drug dealing is a crime that carries serious consequences, and not a form of work (grafting); a need to focus on young women and criminal involvement; and a need to concentrate on developing strategies that counter the allure and attraction of risk-taking behaviour. Social implications The paper addresses the impact of social exclusion and the need for equality to counter young people becoming involved in criminality and gangs as well as adult organised crime groups. Originality/value The paper is based on what have been so far the only three in-depth studies carried out on Merseyside.

Issues Of Improving The Institution Of Crime

This article examines the concept, nature and specifics of criminal involvement. Also, some problems in the legal norms of the institute of criminal involvement were analyzed, and on the basis of these analyzes, proposals and scientific recommendations were developed.

Sadism as a Key Dark Trait in the Link Between Football Fandom and Criminal Attitudes

Football (soccer) fans, particularly those with active involvement in supporting clubs, are especially prone to violence and criminal behavior. However, there is a gap in literature regarding individual characteristics which lead to criminal behavior in this group. In the present research, we examined the Dark Tetrad traits (narcissism, Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and sadism) and criminal attitudes (Violence, Entitlement, Antisocial intent, and Associates) in a group of active football fans ( N = 128) and a control group ( N = 118). We were led by a hypothesis that psychopathy and sadism as the dark traits with highest associations with violence are more pronounced in football supporters and key traits to predict criminal attitudes. The results showed that football fans had higher scores in all criminal attitude scales as well as in trait sadism. Furthermore, membership in a football supporters’ group was the most important predictor of all four measures of criminal attitudes. However, Dark Tetrad traits contributed to the prediction as well: sadism was the most important predictor of criminal attitudes, followed by psychopathy, and Machiavellianism, while narcissism had the fewest associations with the criteria measures. Finally, sadism was the only dark trait which significantly mediated the link between club supporting and criminal attitudes. Study findings help in understanding personality profiles of football supporters and provide new knowledge of the role that the Dark Tetrad traits (especially sadism) play in violence and criminal involvement in general.

Some Issues Of Qualification Of The Involvement Of A Minor In Antisocial Behavior

This article is aimed at strengthening the protection of the rights and freedoms of minors. The method of historical study is very helpful in revealing the content of criminal law norms, in fully understanding the essence of the existing criminal law prohibitions in them. By retrospectively observing a certain phenomenon, that is, when and how it appeared, what stages it went through in development, it is possible to explain its current state and determine its future development. The subject of the article is a theoretical analysis of scientific and practical problems of criminal liability for involving a minor in antisocial behavior, the norms of criminal law of the Republic of Uzbekistan and foreign countries for criminal involvement of a minor in antisocial behavior, scientific work on the problem under study. as well as case law on the specified category of crimes.

Exploring Potential Protective Factors for the Relationship between Low Self-Control in Adolescence and Negative Health Outcomes in Adulthood

Previous research links low levels of self-control with criminal involvement and negative life outcomes. A similar line of inquiry has begun to explore whether low levels of self-control are also associated with developing health problems in adulthood. This paper extends this research by examining associations between adolescent levels of self-control and four different categories of health outcomes in adulthood. In addition, this study examines whether associations between adolescent levels of low self-control and health outcomes in adulthood are moderated by environmental protective factors. The results reveal that low levels of self-control in adolescence are consistently associated with reporting more health problems. In addition, some evidence emerged in support of the role of environmental protective factors in buffering the risk of developing health problems conferred by low levels of self-control in adolescence.