Crime Statistics Research Articles

Legal regulation of combating child abduction in international family law

The obligation of states in accordance with the Convention on the Civil and Legal Aspects of International Child Abduction to carry out the immediate return of the child is not always effectively implemented due to the procedural defects of the Convention [1], which is confirmed by the practice of its application at the international level. Based on the analysis of the rulings of the European Court of Human Rights, some procedural gaps of the Hague Convention of 1980 [4] are investigated and ways to solve them are proposed. Today, in the conditions of war, solving the issue of child abduction is an urgent necessity not only in Ukraine, but in many European countries. Every year, the statistics of child abduction crimes are increasing in all countries of the world. The issue of non-implementation of foreign court decisions by countries is one of the biggest problems today. In order to fulfill the obligations imposed by the Convention of 1980, the states are obliged to create competent bodies and adopt legislation corresponding to the norms of the Convention. Actualization of children’s rights in the modern world is becoming one of the key tasks of every country. Application of international documents regulating procedural issues of cross-border child abduction in the countries of the European Union as an example for other countries. Regulation of the situation that provoked the international abduction of children also by the norms of international procedural law as an additional set of measures aimed at the fastest return of the child to his usual life, a simplified and shortened procedure for obtaining the status quo. There is an exclusive opinion in the world that in the absence of crimes related to the abduction or trafficking of children, relations regarding the return of children should be regulated only at the international level by concluding international treaties.

Times and spaces of crime in the Historic Centre of Porto: Evidence from official data

The analysis of official data is a traditional strategy to study criminality in a geographic space (e.g., city, country). This work focuses on the analysis of the official statistics of crime against property at the Historic Centre of Porto, Portugal, in 2018. It addresses temporal (i.e., by period of the week, time of day) and spatial patterns (i.e., spatial analysis, typology of spaces) of crime occurrences. The database was analyzed through descriptive and inferential statistics, and by spatial density analysis. Theft was the most common type of crime, although crime types varied greatly with location, and time of the day. There were no significant differences on crime occurrences by days of the week and most crimes were reported in the afternoon. Concerning typology of spaces, most crimes occurred at linear spaces, especially robberies. Findings can be very useful for sustainable and considered urban planning, by aligning the location of material and human resources with the detection of seasonal and comparable crime patterns, enabling more efficient crime prevention in urban areas.

Experiences of physical and emotional intimate partner violence during the COVID-19 pandemic: a comparison of prepandemic and pandemic data in a longitudinal study of Australian mothers

ObjectiveThere is a lack of longitudinal population-based research comparing women’s experiences of intimate partner violence (IPV) prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using data from the Mothers’ and Young...

Challenges and ways forward for bi-cultural psychology and rehabilitation in New Zealand: perspectives from the coalface

Bi-cultural practice is a major focus for psychology in New Zealand, due to the intended partnership between indigenous Māori and non-indigenous (Tauiwi) peoples. This aspiration is particularly important within correctional rehabilitation, due to the over-representation of Māori in crime statistics. Despite a clear intention to uplift bi-cultural practice, little is known, beyond anecdotal evidence, about the experiences of rehabilitation practitioners when utilising Māori knowledge alongside Western psychological approaches. This study analysed interviews with rehabilitation practitioners (n = 20) employed by Corrections New Zealand in psychology and rehabilitation-focused roles. The research questions are: (a) How do practitioners conceptualise Western, Māori, and bi-cultural approaches to practice? (b) What are the challenges experienced when using Māori and Western approaches in practice? and (c) What do practitioners believe are ways forward to enhance bi-cultural practice? The themes developed provide insight into bi-cultural practice in this context and how this can be improved in the future.

Overview Pluralism Law: Application Ammatoa Customary Crime Kajang, Bulukumba, South Sulawesi After the New Criminal Code Law

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the implementation of the Ammatoa Kajang customary penal code in Bulukumba, South Sulawesi, and its recognition under Regional Regulation Number 9 of 2015, and to explore the interaction and adjustment between customary law, state criminal law, and religious law within the Ammatoa Kajang Customary Law Community.
  
 Method: The research employs empirical legal research methods and qualitative data analysis techniques. Inductive reasoning is utilized to draw conclusions from the gathered data.
  
 Result and Conclusion: The study finds that the Ammatoa Kajang Customary Law Community in Bulukumba, South Sulawesi, has criminal law instruments, including criminal articles and customary justice systems. The implementation of customary punishment is dominant within the Kajang customary territory, compared to state crimes and religious law. The coexistence of multiple legal systems leads to intersections and adjustments between them.
  
 Implication of the Research: The research highlights the complexity of legal pluralism and the interaction between different legal systems within Indigenous communities like the Ammatoa Kajang Customary Law Community. It underscores the importance of understanding and respecting customary laws alongside state and religious laws.
  
 Originality/Value: This study contributes to the literature by providing insights into the implementation of customary penal codes in Indigenous communities, particularly in Bulukumba, South Sulawesi. It sheds light on the dynamics of legal pluralism and the adaptation of legal systems within these communities, offering valuable information for policymakers and legal practitioners.

Spatial and Temporal Analysis: A GIS-Based Application Tool for Crime Monitoring and Clustering in Malawi

For the purposes of monitoring, evaluating, and conducting a geographical analysis of crime-related data, the study used geospatial technology to collect crime data based on spatial location and the Malawi Police Data Digest of 2019 and 2020. In a more generic sense, knowing the geographic patterns of crime in Malawi using GIS technology can help determine how to make and implement important decisions to reduce crimes in Malawi. The Malawi Police Service has established a number of database management systems to help with crime monitoring. Notwithstanding, it has not yet fully integrated Geographic Information Systems across all jurisdictions. Maps showing crime locations and crime hotspot zones are therefore not included in the crime data and statistics report provided by the Malawi Police Service. In this light, a lot of people have become victims of various forms of crimes in areas where those crimes are also prevalent. To collect, track, and analyze crime data in Malawi for this study, Geographical Information System (GIS) particularly network analysis techniques were used. Network Analysis was used to identify crime hotspots by analyzing crime data as a network of interconnected events and locations. The rationale behind this was to treat each crime event as a node in the network and the spatial relationships between the crimes as edges. By analyzing this network, patterns and relationships between crime events were revealed, allowing for the identification of crime hotspots. The study found that Lilongwe in the central region and the capital city registered the highest number of crimes seconded by Blantyre in the southern region and followed by Mangochi. Mzimba recorded high crimes in the northern region. In Malawi, the traditional systems of intelligence and criminal record keeping have failed to satisfy the demands of today's crime situation. Manual methods neither give accurate, dependable, or complete data 24 hours a day nor do they help in trend forecasting and decision assistance. It also leads to poorer productivity and inefficient workforce use. The appropriate application of information technology is the solution to this ever-increasing challenge.

Temporal Observations of Crime Dynamics

The study of crime dynamics is a vital element of its criminological analysis. At the same time, crime dynamics is hardly recognized as an independent research problem. The traditional approach consists of extending the period of observation over crime statistics and mainly results in the increase of the representative value of data on the current state of criminality; it does not, however, help to identify its criminologically relevant trends — long-term regularities and deviations from them. This problem could be solved by a methodological synthesis of the opportunities presented by criminology and history, and the development of historical criminology on their basis, viewed as an independent trend in the scientific research of crime. Modern crime, however «modern» might be interpreted, should be understood not as an object within arbitrarily chosen time limits, but as one of the fragments of the general development of criminality as a never-ending social process. The boundaries of the concept “modern crime” should be determined based on the research of criminality itself going as far back as it is possible. Inclusion of modern criminality in the general logic of this process, and, most importantly, understanding this logic is the primary task for a criminologist studying the issues of crime dynamics. Unfortunately, it should be stated that the interpretation of crime dynamics does not have any rigid theoretical basis and is not represented as an independent theoretical concept in criminology. The attempts to interpret crime dynamics through references to criminogenic and anti-criminogenic factors, the extension of the range of known facts do not bring any new understanding because they explain the genesis, but not the trends of crime. To study the trends, understand the causes of their formation and the reasons why criminality deviates from them, to recognize some or other change in criminality as a long-term trend or a deviation, it is necessary to turn to social and, often, non-criminological factors more connected with the spheres of sociology and history.

African Philosophical Contributions to International Criminal Law

Abstract This article displays the various ways that African philosophies have made a contribution to international criminal law. It shows that African philosophies have, to a certain extent, influenced the manner in which post-conflict African states as well as the African Union (au) address accountability for grave breaches of international law. This influence is evidenced in the setting up of traditional African approaches to accountability for international crimes in post-conflict African states as well as in some of the au initiatives which address accountability for grave breaches. The article begins by contextualizing the topic within traditional African cultures through a historical analysis of the practices, concepts and institutions that governed criminal accountability as well as an analysis of the African philosophies upon which these practices, concepts and institutions were anchored. It continues with the concern of ‘how’ and ‘to what extent’ African philosophies have influenced international criminal law. Moreover, it considers some of the controversial areas of international criminal law in which African philosophies are overlooked, despite their potential to make a valuable contribution. This section is supported by the belief that a combined approach to international criminal law, of both traditional African and Western concepts, offers a better solution to the current impasse experienced in certain areas.

Exploring young people’s views of their local area related to the 20-minute neighbourhood policy: a national cross-sectional study

ABSTRACT This study aimed to examine how young people subjectively perceive their local neighbourhoods and compare these perceptions with objective data regarding access to amenities aligned with features of the 20-minute neighbourhood (20MN) policy. Objective data (n:287 aged 12-18 years) were gathered through an online adaptation of the Place Standard Tool for Young People in Scotland. Subjective data concerning access to ten amenities in line with the 20MN concept, along with crime statistics, area-level deprivation and urbanicity were spatially linked. The association between perceptions of localities and factors such as gender, as well as both subjective and objective neighbourhood assessments were examined. Young people were most satisfied with nature and active travel in their local area. Conversely, their satisfaction was lowest for active travel to school. Rural young people were more dissatisfied with their localities. Agreement was observed between satisfaction with their 20 neighbourhoods and objective data indicating the presence of frequent public transportation, recreational spaces, and access to services. In conclusion, our study highlights the importance of amenities in healthy urban planning, showing a positive impact on young people’s perceptions. Additionally, we uncover a connection between crime perceptions and area-level crime variables, potentially influencing health outcomes.

The War on Crime and the War on Rape: The LEAA and Philadelphia WOAR, 1974–1984

This article uses Philadelphia Women Organized Against Rape (WOAR) as a case study to examine the intertwining of the feminist movement against sexual violence and state crime control agencies during the 1970s “war on crime.” Law Enforcement Assistant Administration (LEAA) officials expected the anti-rape organizers they subsidized to promote police reporting to the victims they served. This sharply contracted the terrain of feminist anti-rape activism, particularly for women of color who declined police reporting. Lynn Moncrief, a self-described “Black radical feminist” hired by Philadelphia WOAR using LEAA funds, rejected the mandate to increase police reporting rates. Instead, she devoted her energies to remaking WOAR's praxis with Black women and girls at the center. While LEAA funding tethered the anti-rape movement to the rapidly expanding carceral state of the late twentieth century, the example of Lynn Moncrief and the Third World Caucus of Philadelphia WOAR shows that cooptation was never total.

Towards a Grieving Church: Theo-ethical considerations for homophobic violence in South Africa

Hetero-masculine violence in South Africa continues to be an obstacle to peace. As indicated by crime statistics in South Africa, heterosexual women, heterosexual men and LGBTQI+ community have been victims of murder. Many continue to be victims of sexual violence as a result of hetero-masculine violence. While some Christian confessional traditions in South Africa have evolved and have become more welcoming to the LGBTQI+ community, this evolution has not made much difference to the public violence the LGBTQI+ community is exposed to in South Africa. Using the intersections of Caputo’s radical ethics and Meiring’s body theology, I propose a new theological framework that will assist and encourage confessional ecclesiological traditions in South Africa to deal with their own internal contradictions influenced by masculinist heterosexist discourse. This is an attempt to meaningfully contribute to the discourse on violence experienced by the LGBTQI+ community in South Africa. This article contends that the intersections of body theology and radical ethics assist ecclesiological traditions to recognise and embrace the fragility of metaphysics even in the face of discomfort. I argue that the exercise of continuously embracing the fragility of metaphysics assists ecclesiological traditions to be open to their own flaws. This gives them an authentic voice to constantly reconstruct and effectively speak out against the rejection of and violence perpetuated against the LGBTQIA+ community in South Africa.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: This paper draws on conversations from Christian theology, ethics and their engagement with LGBTQI+ and public homophobic violence in South Africa.

Abolitionism, Settler Colonialism and State Crime

Abolitionism, Settler Colonialism and State Crime

International Expert Statement on Israeli State Crime

International Expert Statement on Israeli State Crime

A nationwide time-series analysis for short-term effects of ambient temperature on violent crime in South Korea

Psychological theories on heat-aggression relationship have existed for decades and recent models suggest climate change will increase violence through varying pathways. Although observational studies have examined the impact of temperature on violent crime, the evidence for associations is primarily limited to coarse temporal resolution of weather and crime (e.g., yearly/monthly) and results from a few Western communities, warranting studies based on higher temporal resolution data of modern systemic crime statistics for various regions. This observational study examined short-term temperature impacts on violent crime using national crime data for the warm months (Jun.–Sep.) across South Korea (2016–2020). Distributed lag non-linear models assessed relative risks (RRs) of daily violent crime counts at the 70th, 90th, and 99th summer temperature percentiles compared to the reference temperature (10th percentile), with adjustments for long-term trends, seasonality, weather, and air pollution. Results indicate potentially non-linear relationships between daily summer temperature (lag0–lag10) and violent crime counts. Violent crimes consistently increased from the lowest temperature and showed the highest risk at the 70th temperature (~ 28.0 °C). The RR at the 70th and 90th percentiles of daily mean temperature (lag0–lag10), compared to the reference, was 1.11 (95% CI 1.09, 1.15) and 1.04 (95% CI 1.01, 1.07), indicating significant associations. Stratified analysis showed significant increases in assault and domestic violence for increases in temperature. The lagged effects, the influences of heat on subsequent crime incidence, did not persist 21 days after the exposure, possibly due to the displacement phenomenon. We found curvilinear exposure–response relationships, which provide empirical evidence to support the psychological theories for heat and violence. Lower public safety through increased violent crime may be an additional public health harm of climate change.

Criminal community as a manifestation of organised crime: A comparative legal analysis

The issue of combating organised crime is gaining increased attention in the context of developing comprehensive strategies for combating and preventing organised crime after the establishment of the Department of Strategic Investigations in Ukraine and its powers to bring criminal authorities to justice. The study aims to conduct a comparative study of the criminal community, in particular, to highlight the content and essence of the phenomenon, and to identify the shortcomings of the current legislation which does not provide for this form of complicity. The following methods were used in the study: systemic method – for characterising a criminal association as a type of organised crime; formal and dogmatic method – for analysing legal structures; comparative legal method – for comparing the features of a criminal association as a type of national organised crime in Ukraine and other states. The main reasons for the formation of criminal communities, their strategies, and tactics, as well as their impact on social and economic processes in society were investigated. The methods of counteracting this phenomenon at various levels, including legal, police and social, were analysed. The importance of developing an effective system of counteracting criminal communities to ensure public safety and maintain law and order was emphasised. The structure and composition of criminal communities were characterised. The strategy and tactics used by criminal communities to achieve their goals, including the organisational structure, communication channels and division of responsibilities, were studied. The interaction of criminal communities with other components of organised crime, such as transnational criminal networks, corruption, etc. was investigated. Strategies and measures to counteract and stop the activities of criminal communities were considered. The conclusions of the study can serve as a basis for developing strategies and policies in the field of combating organised crime and improving the level of security in society

Crime and Criminality – Problems of Definition, the Ability to Analyze this Issue in Conceptual and Structural Terms

This publication is addressed to students of security studies who attempt to define crime and describe criminogenic phenomena when working on their undergraduate or graduate theses. It is intended to help students decide which specific categories of crime to study and later describe. The main focus of the study is on specific categories of crime, including common crime, organized crime, drug-related crime, and juvenile crime. Students are presented with proposed definitions within selected criminological categories of crime as well as with suggestions on how to describe these phenomena in statistical terms. The hypothesis is that common crime remains the largest category in overall crime statistics, but it does not clearly prevail in terms of actual crime. The contents of this article are the product of the authors’ considerations, supported by many years of police experience, with reference to selected items of literature.

The Truth Behind Crime Statistics: Avoiding Distortions and Improving Public Safety

The Truth Behind Crime Statistics: Avoiding Distortions and Improving Public Safety

State Crime

State Crime

Urban Harmony: Balancing Fear of Crime with Sustainable and Innovative Community Development

The study investigates into the intricate nexus between fear of crime, urban sustainability, and the innovation of social systems. Crime fear, often neglected, is a potent influencer of urban dwellers' sustainability and overall welfare, surpassing mere policing concerns and crucially nurturing sustainable and innovative urban settings. The research contends that the essence of sustainable urban growth is inextricably linked with the life quality of inhabitants, highlighting the paramount importance of safety and security. In urban environments, the impact of crime-related fear on social unity, economic growth, and environmental guardianship is scrutinized. Fear is not just a reflection of actual crime statistics; it is also molded by various factors like the physical environment, media depictions, and general social perceptions. Particularly affected are vulnerable groups like women, the elderly, and ethnic minorities, who face heightened fear, resulting in deepening social divides and hampering inclusive urban progress. The study puts considerable emphasis on urban design and planning as key tools in alleviating this fear. Intelligent urban design can shift safety perceptions, employing methods such as better lighting, public spaces centered around communities, and advanced surveillance technology to diminish fear and boost communal bonds. Moreover, the paper underlines the significance of social innovation in confronting crime-related fear by fostering community participation and empowerment, thus enabling residents to contribute to creating safer living environments. It also critically examines the media's role in shaping perceptions of crime and calls for responsible journalism. In conclusion, the research champions a multidisciplinary strategy for urban sustainability, positioning fear of crime as an integral aspect. It calls for persistent research, pioneering approaches, and cooperative ventures to forge urban areas that are secure, nurturing, inclusive, and robust, culminating in the realization of genuine urban harmony.

ISIZULU-SPEAKING CAREGIVERS’ PERCEPTIONS ON DISCLOSING CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE

Child sexual abuse affects children and caregivers all around the world. According to the South African Police Service’s (2020/21) crime statistics report, child sexual abuse is common in South Africa, particularly the township of Tsakane. Tsakane, located in Ekurhuleni, Gauteng, is predominantly comprised of IsiZulu-speaking residents and has a significant child sexual abuse problem. Child sexual abuse may be perceived differently by IsiZulu-speaking caregivers than by other cultural groups and hence a qualitative study was carried out to explore this phenomenon. The study employed an exploratory design and semi-structured individual interviews. Thematic content analysis was conducted in analysing the data. The findings revealed that isiZulu caregivers in Tsakane are hesitant to report incidences of child sexual abuse because of cultural, environmental and psychological cost factors. This means that socialwork should address child sexual abuse in a comprehensive, culturally sensitive and community-focused manner. Keywords: caregiver, child sexual abuse, culture, disclosure, isiZulu