Crime Areas Research Articles

Reviewing crime psychology: introducing a new review journal

The number and variety of journals and books that deal with many different psychological aspects of crime, criminals and the legal process is growing at a rapid rate. Taylor & Francis alone, who publish this new journal, now have at least 25 journals covering the general area of crime and psychology. A simple search of the Taylor & Francis website with the term Forensic Psychology produces 6890 hits. A Google search of 'Crime Psychology' gives 26,900 hits. When limiting this search to books or journals, there are still 5490 results. Yet these terms were hardly known a quarter of a century ago. The plethora of current publications has increased rapidly in the last few years even though psychological contributions to the legal process have been made from the earliest days of modern scientific psychology. Over a century ago, in 1908, Hugo Munsterberg, one of the first experimental psychologists published On the Witness Stand: Essays in Psychology and Crime. In this book, he laid out many of the issues that are still being studied and explored in the courts today, such as the frailties of memory and the influence of sources external to the legal process on the judgements made in court. Around the same time Sigmund Freud, in 1906, told judges in Vienna that witnesses can have distorted memories because of unconscious processes; an issue that that has still not been fully explored, despite the important studies on false memories, false confessions and false allegations. Since the early days of modern psychology, there has been a steady influx of psychological ideas, theories, methods and findings into all aspects of the investigation and prosecution of crime and the processes for dealing with criminals and helping their victims. But it is only in the last decade or so that there has been such a rapid expansion in the full gamut of interactions between psychology, crime and the law. The expansion has been fuelled by a recently emerging, apparently insatiable interest in all aspects of forensic, socio-legal and criminal psychology. This interest crosses many disciplines and professions, so the area is of significance to people with a wide range of backgrounds, skills and training; students in psychology, criminology, and other social sciences, probation, social work, forensic psychology and psychiatry and those professionals already practising in these areas, as well as attorneys, solicitors, police and other law enforcement officers, who are increasingly receiving informal and formal training that covers psychological matters.... Language: en

Study on Devaluation of Public Housing in United States: Public Housing in the Past, Present and Future

As the cities developed and grew into larger metropolises, land value grew and land invariably became an asset. One of very critical causalities of such widespread need for development was the urban residence that got converted into cesspools of urban slum, major crime area and rapidly degraded. Incessant population growth of these cities called for more land to build residences especially the economically affordable and safe housings were needed for the citizens of none or low-income community. However, not enough attentions have yet been given to the essential basics of human habitation that exist within metropolitan limits by social, economical and political aspects. The following paper studies and elaborates the development motivation adopted by the government to develop public housing in the United States under the technical guidance of supporters and developers from national and international communities. The paper discusses current situation of public housing in the United States with a focus on understanding the present status of public housing and physical condition of their surroundings, strategies for fund mobilization, types of local involvement and community participation, ways of continuous monitoring and maintenance, etc. thereby creating a self-sustaining and integrated management plan for public housings in the future.

Annual research review: Optimal outcomes of child and adolescent mental illness.

'Optimal outcomes' of child and adolescent psychiatric disorders may mean the best possible outcome, or the best considering a child's history. Most research into the outcomes of child and adolescent psychiatric disorder concentrates on the likelihood of adult illness and disability given an earlier history of psychopathology. In this article, we review the research literature (based on a literature search using PubMed, RePORT and Google Advanced Scholar databases) on including optimal outcomes for young people with a history of anxiety, depression, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, conduct disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, or substance use disorders in childhood or adolescence. We consider three types of risks that these children may run later in development: future episodes of the same disorder, future episodes of a different disorder, and functional impairment. The impact of treatment or preventative interventions on early adult functioning is briefly reviewed. We found that very few studies enabled us to answer our questions with certainty, but that in general about half of adults with a psychiatric history were disorder-free and functioning quite well in their 20s or 30s. However, their chance of functioning well was less than that of adults without a psychiatric history, even in the absence of a current disorder. Among adults who had a psychiatric disorder as a child or adolescent, about half can be expected to be disorder-free as young adults, and of these about half will be free of significant difficulties in the areas of work, health, relationships, and crime. Optimal outcomes are predicted by a mixture of personal characteristics and environmental supports.

DOES WHAT POLICE DO AT HOT SPOTS MATTER? THE PHILADELPHIA POLICING TACTICS EXPERIMENT*

Policing tactics that are proactive, focused on small places or groups of people in small places, and tailor specific solutions to problems using careful analysis of local conditions seem to be effective at reducing violent crime. But which tactics are most effective when applied at hot spots remains unknown. This article documents the design and implementation of a randomized controlled field experiment to test three policing tactics applied to small, high‐crime places: 1) foot patrol, 2) problem‐oriented policing, and 3) offender‐focused policing. A total of 81 experimental places were identified from the highest violent crime areas in Philadelphia (27 areas were judged amenable to each policing tactic). Within each group of 27 areas, 20 places were randomly assigned to receive treatment and 7 places acted as controls. Offender‐focused sites experienced a 42 percent reduction in all violent crime and a 50 percent reduction in violent felonies compared with their control places. Problem‐oriented policing and foot patrol did not significantly reduce violent crime or violent felonies. Potential explanations of these findings are discussed in the contexts of dosage, implementation, and hot spot stability over time.

Factors associated with sitting time in adults with chronic disease or psychological distress: Findings from the 45 & Up Study

with zero crime, for example, those in CCDswith high overall crime had an Incidence Rate Ratio (IRR) of 0.90 (95% CI 0.85, 0.97). At the SLA scale, those in high crime areas had an IRR of 0.97 (95% CI 0.95, 0.99). Discussion: These findings support the hypothesis that inconclusive results obtained in previous research on crime and health may be due, at least in part, to issues related to geographic scale. Thus, while crime in the wider environs should not be ignored, our results suggest that it is crime in the more local area that discourages physical activity.

Twenty local health departments, 46 million people.

Twenty local health departments, 46 million people.

Configuring criminal proceeds in money laundering cases in the UK

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the way in which the courts in the UK have interpreted the meaning of criminal property in the principal money laundering offenses under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA). Design/methodology/approach – This paper employs a doctrinal legal analysis and secondary data, which analyze the primary source, which is POCA itself, and secondary sources including case law, articles in academic journals, books and online databases. Findings – The authors contend that the courts in the UK have been dynamically interpreting the ambit of money laundering offenses in POCA and that despite such judicial activism in the construction of criminal property, it has provided a much needed certainty to the law. Originality/value – This paper could be a useful source of information for the practitioners, academicians, policymakers and students in this particular area of crime.

The impact of neighborhood crime levels on police use of force: An examination at micro and meso levels

PurposeNeighborhood contextual factors have gained a considerable amount of attention, relating neighborhood crime levels to police force. Prior research mainly examined the relationship either at the police district level or at the city level. The current study intends to investigate the relationship at lower levels of geographic aggregation. MethodsUsing Geographic Information System techniques, the current study utilized four radial buffer zones around each use of force incident location to measure the impact of neighborhood violent criminal activities at the micro level on the level of police force used. In addition, hierarchical linear modeling using neighborhood crime rates within police command areas allowed for a comparison study to measure the impact of neighborhood criminal activities at the meso level on police force. ResultsThe current study found that neighborhood crime levels have a significant and positive effect of increasing the level of police force used at the micro level. ConclusionsThe current study supports the work of Black and Smith, concluding that more training and supervision are required for officers working in high crime areas.

Death-Related Crime: Applying Bryant’s Conceptual Paradigm of Thanatological Crime to Serial Homicide

The study of death within the field of sociology is expansive yet despite this research there is a lack of inquiry within the area of crime and deviance on the topic of thanatological crime. One researcher that has conducted an analysis of this topic is Bryant (2003). In his exposé on thanatological crime, Bryant (2003) developed a conceptual paradigm of death-related crime that consisted of four motivational categories and two patterns of victimization. Using data from the Radford/FGCU Serial Killer Database (Aamodt 2013), this article extends and applies the conceptual paradigm of thanatological crime to serial homicide.

Relationship between particular areas of victimization and mental health in the context of multiple victimizations in Spanish adolescents.

The main objective of this paper is to study the relationship between different areas of victimization (e.g., sexual victimization) and psychological symptoms taking into account the full range of victimizations adolescents suffer. The final aim is to contribute further evidence regarding the bias that those studies which focus on just one area of victimization may be introducing into our psychological knowledge. A total of 923 adolescents (62.4% girls) between 14 and 18 years old were recruited from seven secondary schools in Catalonia, Spain. The Youth Self-report and the Juvenile Victimization Questionnaire were employed to assess psychological problems (internalizing and externalizing symptoms) and victimization, respectively. The large majority of adolescents reported having experienced more than one area of victimization. However, Conventional Crime area was the one that was more reported in isolation. Overall, the explicative power of a particular area of victimization was greatly reduced or even lost its significance when the other areas were taken into account. However, some areas remained significant and were different by gender. Clinicians and researchers should take into account the whole range of victimizations adolescents suffer when intending to understand the psychological aftermaths of victimization. Some areas of victimization appear to be more important at explaining particular psychological symptoms, those being Peer and Sibling Victimization in the case of boys, and both Conventional Crime and Internet Victimization in the case of girls.

The President as Agenda Setter‐in‐Chief: The Dynamics of Congressional and Presidential Agenda Setting

In this paper, we investigate the agenda leadership capability of two American political institutions, Congress and the presidency, in an array of issue areas that include both domestic and foreign policy. The president has long been considered to have the most significant role in setting the policymaking agenda, but there is limited empirical research to support that claim. Examining the issue areas of defense, environment, health care, international affairs, law and crime, and macroeconomics from 1956 to 2005, we find statistically significant positive influence by the president on the congressional agenda in all six of the policy areas under examination, providing compelling evidence of presidential agenda leadership and a reactive Congress. Additionally, we find that the agenda relationship between the president and Congress is issue dependent, in that presidential attention has the largest substantive effect on the congressional agenda in the area of international affairs.

A cure for crime.

As an emergency department sister in an inner-city hospital Alice Kershberg knows only too well the consequences of violent crime. In her new role as violence reduction nurse at the Royal London Hospital, part of Barts Health NHS Trust, she will be supporting local councils and the police to reduce violence in the community. Ultimately, it is hoped the initiative will result in fewer victims of crime attending the trust’s emergency department for treatment. ‘Many victims of violent crime we see here are as young as 15 to 17,’ says Ms Kershberg. ‘And sadly, when we are treating them for one life-threatening wound, sometimes we can see scars from previous attacks. It’s a waste of lives. They see no alternative but to join gangs who carry knives or guns.’ Each month, between 150 and 200 patients are treated at the emergency department following a crime such as gang violence or domestic abuse. A key part of Ms Kershberg’s new job is to organise the collection of anonymous information from patients. The data-collection form is based on one designed by an A&E department in Cardiff that had a problem with violent crime, with added input from the College of Emergency Medicine. Questions cover the location of the assault, the type of weapon used and whether the patient knew the assailant. Representatives of local councils and the police, who Ms Kershberg meets with once a month, analyse the data for patterns that might reveal common causes or areas of high crime. Health and social services then use the information to put in place services designed to offer local residents, and young people in particular, alternatives to drinking in excess and joining gangs. Ms Kershberg says 75 per cent of assaults are not reported to the police, but victims will talk to nurses – and they are most receptive when they are being treated in the emergency department. ‘It is the best “teachable moment”,’ she says. ‘And we won’t be talking to just the victim – they usually turn up with ten to 12 friends, so we have an ideal opportunity to educate them all.’ Data collection in the emergency department has revealed that a quarter of violent crimes over the weekend are linked to alcohol consumption. ‘We are working closely with Barts’ alcohol liaison nurses and community services to offer support to people to help them cut down on their drinking,’ says Ms Kershberg.

Physical-Spatial Analysis and its role in the Social Abnormalities (12th Municipality Region of Tehran City)

Nowadays, development of urbanism and increase in the social abnormal behaviors such as crimes leads to decrease citizens’ safety considerably. It is considered as one of the most important criteria in spatial quality. This is why that nowadays the subject of crime is studied by researchers and authors more than pasts. The present study was aimed to investigate the physical-spatial analysis and its role in the social abnormalities in the 12 th municipality region of Tehran. This study is a descriptive-analytical research. In order to recognize spatial patterns of crime distribution in the city of Tehran, several statistical methods have been used. These include clustering, the nearest neighbor index, index of spatial autocorrelation, and Moran index. In order to recognize crime areas in the 12 th municipality region, statistical graphic methods such as Kernel Density Estimation have been used. The statistical population of this study includes offenses in a year in the 12 th municipality region in the city of Tehran. The results of this study revealed that 12 th municipality region has a cluster and concentration style and

Physical Attractiveness and Social Status

AbstractIn this article, we outline the evidence regarding the status effects of physical attractiveness, paying particular attention to outcomes in the areas of jobs, crime, performance evaluations, power, health perceptions, and exchange. The framework of status characteristics theory is used to guide our explication. The role of attractiveness in marketing is also discussed. While the literature generally supports the idea that attractiveness is good for people, we also consider evidence that beauty can be detrimental for some individuals in certain situations. Issues of race and gender are also considered as well as future research directions.

Phenomenology of fraud in property crimes in Serbia

The paper discusses the risk of property crime, particularly fraud which has an important place in the number of criminal offenses in the area of property crimes. From researching the observed negative correlation relationship of what we call the theory of detection, prosecution and adjudication of offenders offense of fraud. Furthermore, the number of fraud offenses, detected by the authorities, is in significant negative correlation in comparison to the number of charges raised.

Influence of perceived and actual neighbourhood disorder on common mental illness

PurposeFear of crime and perceived neighbourhood disorder have been linked to common mental illness (CMI). However, few UK studies have also considered the experience of crime at the individual and neighbourhood level. This study aims to identify individual and local area factors associated with increased perceived neighbourhood disorder and test associations between CMI and individuals’ perceptions of disorder in their neighbourhoods, personal experiences of crime and neighbourhood crime rates.MethodsA cross-sectional survey was conducted of 1,698 adults living in 1,075 households in Lambeth and Southwark, London. CMI was assessed using the Revised Clinical Interview Schedule. Data were analysed using multilevel logistic regression with neighbourhood defined as lower super output area.ResultsIndividuals who reported neighbourhood disorder were more likely to suffer CMI (OR 2.12) as were those with individual experience of crime. These effects remained significant when individual characteristics were controlled for. While 14 % of the variance in perceived neighbourhood disorder occurred at the neighbourhood level, there was no significant variance at this level for CMI.ConclusionsPerceived neighbourhood disorder is more common in income-deprived areas and individuals who are unemployed. Worry about one’s local area and individual experience of crime are strongly and independently associated with CMI, but neighbourhood crime rates do not appear to impact on mental health.

The immigrant paradox: immigrants are less antisocial than native-born Americans

Although recent research on crime and violence among immigrants suggests a paradox--where immigrants are more socially disadvantaged yet less likely to commit crime--previous research is limited by issues of generalizability and assessment of the full depth of antisocial behavior. We surmount these limitations using data from waves I and II of the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC) and compare immigrants (N = 7,320) from Asia, Africa, Europe, and Latin America to native-born Americans (N = 34,622) with respect to violent and nonviolent forms of antisocial behavior. After controlling for an extensive array of confounds, results indicate that immigrants are significantly less antisocial despite being more likely to have lower levels of income, less education, and reside in urban areas. These findings hold for immigrants from major regions of the world including Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. This study confirms and extends prior research on crime and antisocial behavior, but suggests that it is premature however to think of immigrants as a policy intervention for treating high crime areas.

Crime Salience and Public Willingness to Pay for Child Saving and Juvenile Punishment

Public policy in the area of youth crime has periodically shifted back and forth between punishment and child saving. Generally, scholars believe that public opinion and youth justice policies are linked. It is also believed that crime salience—fear and perceived risk of victimization—is linked to public opinion about youth sanctions. To test these widely held beliefs, this study examines public opinion about youth justice policies by exploring the impact of crime salience on public support for child saving versus youth punishment. This study expands on prior literature by also considering the public’s willingness to pay (WTP) for the youth justice policies they prefer. Results indicate that fear increases punitiveness, WTP for youth justice policies generally, and, more specifically, the WTP for youth punishment. However, fear does not affect the public’s WTP for child saving. Limitations and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Sentencing Guidelines for Insider Trading

When it passed the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984, Congress created the United States Sentencing Commission and envisioned that it would issue sentencing guidelines designed to ‘‘avoid[] unwarranted sentencing disparities.’’ 1 Yet this goal seems increasingly out of reach in the area of white-collar crime, where the recommended sentencing ranges and the sentences judges actually impose on defendants frequently diverge. 2 Indeed, some members of the judiciary have asserted that the exceedingly high Guidelines for fraud offenses reflect a political calculation that is neither substantiated by empirical evidence nor reflective of the ‘‘nuanced reality’’ in the ‘‘trenches where fraud sentences are actually imposed.’’ 3 In the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, politicians,

Dynamic Simulation of Crime Perpetration and Reporting to Examine Community Intervention Strategies

To develop a conceptual computational agent-based model (ABM) to explore community-wide versus spatially focused crime reporting interventions to reduce community crime perpetrated by youth. Agents within the model represent individual residents and interact on a two-dimensional grid representing an abstract nonempirically grounded community setting. Juvenile agents are assigned initial random probabilities of perpetrating a crime and adults are assigned random probabilities of witnessing and reporting crimes. The agents' behavioral probabilities modify depending on the individual's experience with criminal behavior and punishment, and exposure to community crime interventions. Cost-effectiveness analyses assessed the impact of activating different percentages of adults to increase reporting and reduce community crime activity. Community-wide interventions were compared with spatially focused interventions, in which activated adults were focused in areas of highest crime prevalence. The ABM suggests that both community-wide and spatially focused interventions can be effective in reducing overall offenses, but their relative effectiveness may depend on the intensity and cost of the interventions. Although spatially focused intervention yielded localized reductions in crimes, such interventions were shown to move crime to nearby communities. Community-wide interventions can achieve larger reductions in overall community crime offenses than spatially focused interventions, as long as sufficient resources are available. The ABM demonstrates that community-wide and spatially focused crime strategies produce unique intervention dynamics influencing juvenile crime behaviors through the decisions and actions of community adults. It shows how such models might be used to investigate community-supported crime intervention programs by integrating community input and expertise and provides a simulated setting for assessing dimensions of cost comparison and intervention effect sustainability. ABM illustrates how intervention models might be used to investigate community-supported crime intervention programs.