Favoring Crime Desistance and Social (Re)Integration of Offenders Through Intersectoral Partnerships

The purpose of this chapter is to show the importance of intersectorality in partnerships to successfully understand and influence the processes of crime desistance and of social and community (re)integration of people subject to judicial control. It begins with an outline of the “what works” and “how it works” movements and provides tools to help understand such notions as crime desistance, (re)integration, trajectories, and intersectorality. After describing the objectives of the (RÉ)SO 16-35 partnered research project, the authors present various intersectoral collaborative initiatives in the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada and indicate what, according to the literature, contributed to their development. The chapter concludes with the identification of two central principles in the development of intersectoral partnerships aiming to favor crime desistance and social and community (re)integration trajectories: a culture of dialogue must be instilled, and the initial objective of the project must be kept in mind.

Bullying, Cyberbullying, and Interventions in Schools

Issues of bullying and cyberbullying among schoolchildren are nowadays a matter of international concern, with school bullies, cyberbullies, and victims having become a topic of public concern and research in various countries around the world. This chapter, besides a definition of bullying and cyberbullying, explains the characteristics, types, causes, and consequences of these acts based on findings from various studies. In addition, the chapter presents some school-based intervention programs, implemented in different school settings, with the aim of effectively reducing levels of bullying and cyberbullying in schools. Finally, the chapter aims to provide guidelines and propose best practices in order to fight acts of violence and aggression.

The Fight Against Corruption

Corruption, generally speaking, can be defined as “abuse of power for private gain” that can be classified as grand, petty, and political, depending on the amounts of money lost and the sector where it occurs. Therefore, it is a phenomenon that compromises rule of law, weakens public institutions and democracy, impacting negatively on productivity and economy. Indeed, because of all these implications, it can be analyzed stressing social, economic, politic, or legal perspectives. These features have allowed experts from different fields to investigate the phenomenon, which does not exclusively concern conduct punishable by criminal law, but also conduct that can be considered just an “expression of maladministration” in both the public and private sectors. This chapter seeks to address the legal aspect of corruption. In particular, it overviews the main anti-corruption measures international community has adopted in recent years. By showing the evolution and steps that led to the actual treaty situation, the Authors offer a hint on the goals achieved and those to be achieved.

Transnational Organized Crime

Criminal organizations have opened up to profound global transformations, putting themselves on the financial markets and creating a network in Mafia style. The present contribution intends to offer a framework of transnational criminal organizations, starting from defining aspects, normative forecasts and peculiarities, and then describing the Italian mafias and those of Eastern Europe, China, and Nigeria. Through these analyses the author intends to demonstrate how although Italy is the only country to have introduced “the Mafia Criminal Association” ex Art. 416 bis of the Penal Code, other countries also know this phenomenon. China, Russia, sub-Saharan Africa have given rise to mafia-style criminal organizations, even though they have not legally defined them. Today the branching of these associations at transnational level brings out their mafia values and the need to intervene with the legal and investigative methodology that was first experimented in Italy.

Crime and Victimization in Cyberspace

The development of information technologies in recent years has transformed our society into a “hyper-connected space” in which the pitfalls, the risks, as well as the damages to the victims have grown exponentially. Identity theft, hacking, information piracy, threats to data integrity, on-line scams, or CEO fraud are the commonplace keywords that are part of the internet of things. Cybercrime can cause serious harm and long-term effects, whether the victims are individuals or companies. It is important to address the definition of “cybercrime,” since the term itself refers to a harmful behavior that is in some way related to a single computer or to a computer network and examine the main types of computer crimes in order to understand which countermeasures can be implemented to counteract these phenomena where the human factor is the fundamental component to promote the concept of “conscious attention” as a necessary resource to limit the risks of “cyber victimization.”

Stories of Pain and Hope

In this chapter, the subject of mafia violence will be investigated from the victims' perspective. It will also focus on best practices and the national regulations by which government authorities and the civil society at large attempt to assist, support, and offer rehabilitation and resilience to the victims of mafias in Latin America, Central America, Asia, Russia, Africa, and Europe.

Psychological Violence

This chapter deals with psychological violence in its most recurrent forms. The author uses the general definition of psychological violence as a starting point to then analyze its manifestations in two different contexts: the professional and private environment. This way, the author wishes to demonstrate that psychological violence is associated with the establishment of a hold, a conditioning, which makes the individual who is subjected to it incapable of recognizing it. It is a process which is developed through typical schemes and which follows a similar pattern in different contexts. The consequences for the victims are numerous. The author analyzes them through a psychosomatic approach which explains why certain diseases develop when individuals are subjected to such pressures. The author also shares the results obtained in her practise of accompanying victims.

Criminological Treatment of Abusing Partners

Criminological rehabilitative treatments of abusive partners have always been considered of key importance from a preventive point of view. Criminological research, and our experience as criminologists, has proved that even the most abusive partners—including uxoricides—after their convictions repeat the same violent relationship pattern. That said, the Chair of Criminology (University of Milan) set up the first action and research program in Italy offering treatment for perpetrators of domestic violence, called S.A.Vi.D. (Stop Alla Violenza Domestica – an Italian acronym meaning: Stopping Domestic Violence) in 2010. Information about all the subjects treated will also be described and discussed: age, legal status motives, offender behavior prior to treatment, whether and how behavior changed after treatment.

Environmental and Corporate Crimes

Drawing inspiration from researches on environmental crime and corporate crime, this chapter examines the case of air pollution caused by road transport and industry in France. The purpose of the author is first to document the nature and extent of these health threats to populations and second to highlight the existence of delinquent practices (defined as deliberate violations of legal norms) that sometimes play a major role in perpetuating these threats. The author first examines the issue of pollution caused by automobile engines and returns to “Dieselgate.” It then details the pollution problems observed in the Fos-sur-Mer industrial area in the south of France and its consequences on the health of local populations.

Sex Offender Treatment Program in Prison and Rehabilitation

The chapter seeks to demonstrate and describe, from a critical perspective, the most widespread treatment models and programs for sex offenders in prison, opting for integrated approach based on risk assessment and the evaluation of their psychological and social characteristics. Furthermore, specifying factors that can affect the success of the treatment leads to the conclusion that sex offenders require the implementation of differentiated programs focused on their personal characteristics and needs. The reduction of recidivism is indicated as a criterion with which to assess the effectiveness of the programs, although the results achieved in research on the matter do not always agree and do not always confirm a reduction in repeat offenses in the subjects undergoing treatment. The chapter concludes by calling for greater program development and more precise methodological accuracy in verifying the results.