ABSTRACT Alternative justice systems and peacemaking criminology share a bond in addressing the root causes of crime, promoting healing and reconciliation, and fostering a more holistic understanding of justice. As a theoretical framework, peacemaking criminology challenges traditional punitive approaches to crime by advocating for nonviolent conflict resolution, social justice, and community empowerment. It views crime as a social problem rooted in structural inequalities, systemic violence, and interpersonal conflicts rather than solely as individual deviance deserving punishment. Alternative justice systems, such as restorative justice and transformative justice, align closely with the principles of peacemaking criminology. They prioritize repairing harm, rebuilding relationships, and addressing underlying social issues to avoid future conflicts and criminal behavior. These systems facilitate meaningful dialogue and decision-making among victims, offenders, and communities, as well as reconciliation, healing, and accountability. Furthermore, while both address crime and conflict, they also recognize the significance of social networks, support structures, and community resources in fostering resilience, rehabilitation, and long-term peacebuilding. This article investigates how peacemaking criminology, through alternative justice systems, can transform criminal justice systems around the world.

BackgroundPatients in forensic psychiatric care (FPC) are often treated with various psychotropic medications. However, evidence regarding their effectiveness in this setting is lacking.ObjectiveThe study aimed to estimate how different psychotropic medications are associated with the use of coercive measures and recidivism during FPC.MethodsIn this observational national register-based study, we included all patients newly registered as admitted to FPC in Sweden between January 2009 and August 2024. Exposures included major classes of psychotropic medication (typical antipsychotics, atypical antipsychotics, antidepressants, hypnotics and sedatives, antiepileptic medications, opioids, medications for addictive disorders and mood stabilisers), antipsychotic treatment strategies (no use, monotherapy, polypharmacy, long-acting injectables or clozapine) and specific antipsychotic agents. Outcomes were the use of coercive measures and recidivism into criminal behaviour. We performed a within-individual analysis using conditional generalised estimating equation models, where the risk of outcomes was compared between exposed and non-exposed time periods.FindingsIn total, 2690 patients were included, of which 25.1% experienced at least one occasion of coercion and 27.1% at least one event of recidivism during FPC. Atypical antipsychotics were associated with a reduced risk of subsequent use of coercive measures (OR 0.70, 95% CI 0.55 to 0.89) and recidivism (OR 0.79, 95% CI 0.63 to 0.99). Medication for addictive disorders was associated with a reduced risk of coercive measures by 34% (OR 0.66, 95% CI 0.47 to 0.93). Among antipsychotic agents, clozapine was associated with the largest risk reduction in the use of coercive measures (OR 0.48, 95% CI 0.33 to 0.69) and recidivism (OR 0.49, 95% CI 0.33 to 0.74). There was no significant difference between long-acting injectable, oral monotherapy or polypharmacy.ConclusionsWe observed that atypical antipsychotics, especially clozapine, were associated with a risk reduction for coercive measures and recidivism during FPC. Additionally, medications for addictive disorders were associated with a reduced risk of coercive measures.Clinical implicationsOur results can help inform decision-making processes in this clinical setting regarding pharmacotherapy but should be interpreted as one of many aspects influencing treatment success in FPC.

This study examines the legal dimensions of cybercrime in Algerian legislation, through a detailed analysis of its material and mental elements amid rapidly evolving technology. The research focuses on the material element, which constitutes the criminal behavior, whether positive, such as unauthorized access to information systems, or negative, such as data destruction and theft of electronic information, emphasizing the necessity of the criminal outcome and the causal link between the act and its result. The mental element, on the other hand, concerns the conscious intent and will to commit the unlawful act, as cybercrimes require the presence of criminal intent, usually manifested through knowledge and volition, noting that some offenses demand a specific intent, such as the desire to cause harm or obtain an illicit benefit.

The article provides a comprehensive criminological analysis of alcoholization and drug addiction as background phenomena of crime that significantly influence the formation of individual criminogenic behavior and the overall trends of contemporary criminality. It is substantiated that the consumption of alcohol and narcotic substances should not be considered solely as a medical or social issue, since their criminogenic potential manifests itself through profound deformation of the motivational, value- based and volitional spheres of personality, reduction of self-control, and impairment of the ability to critically assess one’s own actions. The study emphasizes that alcoholization, being a socially tolerated phenomenon, acts as one of the most widespread catalysts of violent and domestic crime, especially under conditions of urbanization and increased social tension. It is demonstrated that a state of alcohol intoxication contributes to the escalation of interpersonal conflicts, transformation of antisocial behavior into criminal acts, and reproduction of deviant behavioral patterns at the intergenerational level. Special attention is paid to drug addiction as a more dangerous criminogenic factor characterized by the formation of persistent dependence and a specific motivation for criminal behavior. It is argued that drug dependence leads to a systemic nature of criminal activity, a high level of recidivism, and involvement of individuals in criminal environments, including offenses related to illicit drug trafficking. Based on the analysis of scientific approaches and official statistical data, the article reveals criminological characteristics of offenders who commit crimes under the influence of alcohol or drugs and highlights the role of psychoactive substances in the structure of serious and especially serious criminal offenses. Considerable attention is devoted to the criminal law assessment of intoxication, particularly to the analysis of Articles 21 and 67 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, which establish a coherent model of criminal liability and punishment individualization for offenses committed in a state of intoxication. The author concludes that effective counteraction to crime associated with alcoholization and drug addiction is impossible solely through criminal law measures. Instead, it requires the implementation of a comprehensive prevention system combining general social, special criminological, and individual preventive mechanisms aimed at reducing the criminogenic impact of psychoactive substances and enhancing public safety in modern society.

ABSTRACT This article critically examines the making crime process within anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (AML/CFT) frameworks in Switzerland and Canada, through the analytical lens of the ‘chain of security’. By deconstructing the mechanisms of suspicion production by reporting entities and the role of financial intelligence units (FIUs), we highlight how the governance of (il)licit financial flows reveals a diversity of mechanisms and frameworks that deviate from the linearity perceived by the chain model. Our analysis reveals that, contrary to the theoretical assumptions of intelligence-led policing, the AML/CFT system operates through a selective process in which suspicion is often transferred rather than actively detected. Law enforcement actors maintain control over the ‘making crime’ process by leveraging financial intelligence in ways that reinforce pre-existing investigative priorities, rather than uncovering new criminal behaviours. This study challenges dominant conceptualisations of financial security governance and underscores the need to rethink the role of financial intelligence in shaping crime definitions and enforcement strategies.

ABSTRACT The protection of children from sexual abuse is of paramount importance to society, and the threat of this abuse has only grown in recent years. Those who pose this threat, child sex offenders, have been found to congregate in online communities where they can trade abusive material and interact with each other. Despite concerns raised in research about the harmful influence of these communities on their members, they remain greatly understudied. The present article aims to bring to light a phenomenon taking place in these communities: how the offenders present their identities, behaviors, and motivations. Two complementary datasets were approached from a computer-mediated discourse and thematic analysis perspective, which were sourced from (1) clear-web offender-to-offender interactions in private social media chats, and (2) offenders responding to a survey on the dark-web. The results show that there was diversity in how offenders portrayed themselves to others, with predominantly positive self-presentations in the private chats and many negative self-presentations in the survey responses. Offenders rationalized and defended their criminal behaviors, dehumanizing victims and transferring blame away from themselves. They also disclosed primarily sexual motivations for offending, but a range of motivations were cited. Identity construction differed substantially between the two datasets, potentially indicating that offenders tailor how they present their pedophilia to their audience.

Criminal behaviour by people with schizophrenia has been attributed variously to direct effects of the illness, an interplay between clinical features and social circumstances or neither. A difficulty in the interpretation of the relevance of the illness may lie in the focus on the more clearly psychotic features and the relative neglect of emotional dysregulation or deficits in social cognition. We, therefore, aimed to examine whether psychological and social cognitive factors-such as alexithymia, impulsivity, aggression and facial emotion recognition-differ between individuals with schizophrenia who have a criminal history and those who do not. Forty-seven patients with schizophrenia and a criminal record were recruited from consecutive admissions to a specialist forensic mental health inpatient unit and 73 patients with schizophrenia but no criminal record were recruited from a general psychiatry unit in the same hospital. All participants, aged 18-65 years, completed a battery of assessments, including the facial emotion recognition test, the Toronto Alexithymia Scale, the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale and the Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire, between October 2023 and June 2025. The offender-patients showed significantly higher average motor impulsivity scores, significantly higher alexithymia scores-particularly externally oriented thinking-and significantly higher anger scores, but significantly superior performance in facial emotion recognition tests, specifically identifying shame, fear, surprise and happiness more accurately than the noncriminal group. Clinically, individuals with a criminal history had a significantly later onset of disorder (30.78 vs. 23.42years), shorter disorder duration (8.85 vs. 12.36years) and fewer psychotic episodes (2.48 vs. 3.21) and were more prone to self-harm. The offender-patients appeared to have been less treatment-adherent; specifically, they were less likely to have sustained treatment with depot antipsychotic medication. These findings remained significant in regression analyses, with offending as the dependent variable and these other characteristics as independent variables. This study adds evidence on links between criminal behaviour and schizophrenia other than, or over and above, positive psychotic symptoms. Emotional dysregulation, substance use and poor treatment adherence were problematic, but facial emotion recognition was not. Thus, forensic risk assessments should include tests of emotion dysregulation to inform clinical interventions. Attention is also needed to improve treatment engagement and substance use management. Future research is needed to better understand the apparent disconnection between intact emotion recognition and criminal behaviour in this population.

Standardized risk assessments are essential to evidence-based responses to criminal behaviour, including sexual offending. Since the 1990s, many actuarial and structured risk assessment instruments have been developed that are now routinely used in sentencing, treatment, and post-release risk management. The majority of these scales, however, were developed using undifferentiated groups, raising questions about their utility within meaningful subgroups, such as persons with low intellectual ability. This study presents meta-analytic findings of the predictive accuracy (discrimination) of risk tools for crime and violence when used with men with low intellectual ability and a history of sexual offending. We also examined age as a recidivism risk predictor. Database searches identified 15 distinct samples (N = 923). Age, as a single variable, showed moderate to large effects for sexual, violent, and general (any) recidivism. Overall, the predictive accuracies of the instruments were moderate and similar to those observed for other samples. Amongst the measures investigated, a measure specifically for persons with low intellectual ability (ARMIDILO-S; Boer et al., 2013) demonstrated the highest predictive accuracy. Larger effects were found when recidivism was measured by staff reports than by official records (e.g., charges, convictions). Our findings support the use of existing risk tools with men with low intellectual ability. Researchers should privilege staff reports over official records of recidivism for studies concerned with sexual recidivism.

Economic exclusion and criminal adaptations: A qualitative study of youth unemployment in Ghana

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are traumatic events occurring before the age of 18 that may undermine a child's sense of safety, stability and attachment. ACEs can have lifelong consequences, including an elevated risk of developing psychological disorders and an increased likelihood of engaging in delinquent or violent behaviour later in life. Clinical practice suggests that many forensic psychiatric patients have a history of ACEs, but scientific research on ACEs within this population remains limited. To study the prevalence of ACEs before the age of 18 within a large Dutch forensic psychiatric prison cohort and the relationship between repeated ACEs and psychopathology or violent criminal behaviour. Data collected from 3421 adults (91% men) who had been admitted to one of the four penitentiary psychiatric centres (PPCs) in the Netherlands were used to examine the prevalence of ACEs and their association with different clusters of psychological disorders or violent criminal behaviour. Over half of the men (1,633, 53%) and nearly two thirds of the women (198, 62%) had experienced repeated ACEs. The men with repeated ACEs had greater odds of having a neurobiological developmental disorder, having committed a violent offence and developing a substance use or addiction disorder, a personality disorder and/or a trauma- or stress-related disorder. The women with repeated ACEs had greater odds of developing a personality disorder. Our findings underscore the importance of incorporating assessment of trauma histories and trauma-informed service for forensic psychiatric offenders. We also add evidence for the potential for early intervention, given that repeated ACEs were associated with certain mental disorders and with violent offending, in particular for men.

This study examines the effects of substance use on individuals across a broad range of domains, from social relationships and family bonds to academic performance, criminal tendencies, and psychological health. Substance addiction is a complex condition that significantly reduces quality of life and is influenced by various factors. These factors include loneliness, family conflicts, academic difficulties, criminal tendencies, and depression. In this study, a correlational survey model and quantitative analysis methods were used to evaluate the relationship between substance use and these factors within a scientific framework. The sample of the study consisted of 500 participants, including high school and university students aged between 15 and 24. In the data collection process, valid and reliable scales were employed, including the UCLA Loneliness Scale, the Family Assessment Device (FAD), the Friendship Quality Scale (FQS), the Academic Motivation Scale (AMS), the Antisocial Behaviours Scale (ABS), and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). In the data analysis process, correlation and multiple regression analyses, together with statistical significance tests, were used to examine the relationships among these variables. This approach provided a scientific basis for understanding the multidimensional effects of substance use on individuals. Previous research indicates that substance use has a negative impact on social relationships, leading to increased feelings of loneliness and changes in the individual’s social environment. A significant relationship has also been found between family conflicts and substance use, suggesting that individuals with limited family support are more likely to engage in substance use. In terms of academic achievement, substance use has been found to reduce students’ performance, while individuals with low academic motivation are more likely to use substances. In addition, substance use has been associated with a tendency toward criminal behaviour, and antisocial behaviours have been found to be more common among substance users. From the perspective of psychological health, substance use has been shown to increase levels of depression, and individuals with poorer psychological well-being tend to use substances more frequently. This study provides empirical support for the proposed hypotheses and suggests that substance use is significantly associated with individuals’ social, academic, behavioural, and psychological experiences. By examining substance use through a multidimensional framework, the research may contribute to the development of prevention and intervention strategies. The findings highlight the importance of strengthening social support mechanisms, improving family communication, supporting academic motivation, and providing psychological assistance for young individuals at risk of substance use.

ABSTRACT Adolescent criminal behavior in India presents complex challenges shaped by developmental, familial, systemic, and institutional contexts. This study explored the challenges Indian therapists face in addressing adolescent criminal behavior and how they navigate them in practice. An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was conducted using in-depth interviews with five therapists, generating shared experiential themes while preserving individual meanings. IPA with five therapists produced 11 superordinate and 28 subordinate themes, organized into the five-layered Developmental – Systemic – Therapeutic Navigation (DSTN) Model: (1) Developmental – Familial Foundations, (2) Structural – Systemic Constraints and Enablers, (3) Interdisciplinary and Institutional Navigation, (4) Therapist-Level Emotional Labor and Coping, and (5) Transformational and Reform-Oriented Vision. Therapists acted as active navigators across fragmented systems under significant emotional and professional demands. Effective intervention for adolescent criminal behavior depends on therapists’ navigation of developmental, familial, and systemic contexts, as captured by the DSTN Model, underscoring the need for coordinated, trauma-informed systems.

ObjectiveThis study conducted a comprehensive analysis of psychological and institutional factors that lead to the transformation of criminal behaviour in conditions of armed conflict, using the Russian-Ukrainian war as a case study.MethodThis research was based on qualitative analysis of secondary data. The study examined reports and analytical materials from international monitoring missions, including the United Nations, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, and Amnesty International. These sources were compared with theoretical approaches from criminal psychology and criminology in order to identify patterns in behavioural transformation under wartime conditions.ResultsThe findings demonstrate that the transformation of criminal behaviour occurs at 3 interconnected levels. First, the destruction or weakening of legitimate legal institutions in occupied territories creates an institutional vacuum and a state of anomie, which facilitates opportunistic crimes such as looting and organised criminal activity, including enforced disappearances. Second, among combatants there is a normalisation of violence supported by psychological mechanisms such as dehumanisation and moral disengagement, which contributes to systematic war crimes, including torture, sexual violence, and indiscriminate attacks. Third, changes occur in the behaviour of the civilian population, manifested in survival-related crimes, aggression caused by trauma, and forced criminalisation through collaboration with occupying authorities.ConclusionsThis report describes how armed conflict significantly alters patterns of criminal behaviour through the interaction of institutional collapse and psychological adaptation to violence. The results emphasise the need to incorporate psychological factors into post-war justice mechanisms and conflict-zone law enforcement strategies. They may also contribute to the development of post-war rehabilitation programs, improvements in transitional justice systems, and the training of peacekeeping personnel and law enforcement agencies operating in conflict environments.

Extreme risk protection orders (ERPOs) are used to disarm individuals making threats of interpersonal harm, but little is known about respondents’ pre- and postorder criminal behavior. We sought to quantify ERPO respondents’ rate of arrest vis-à-vis timing of the order. This was a retrospective cohort study of Californian respondents with ERPOs issued 2016–2019 and for whom we received ERPO court case files (n = 679). Arrest and legal firearm purchasing information was obtained from the California Department of Justice, while contextual information about the respondents and their cases was abstracted from ERPO case files. We used adjusted Poisson models to estimate incident rate ratios (IRRs) for arrest (any arrest and arrest for violence, firearm offenses, and firearm violence) comparing rates 6 months before the ERPO was issued to rates while the ERPO was in effect and 6 months after it expired. Respondents were 14–89 years old, 91.9% were men, and 59.9% were non-Hispanic white. Most cases (70.6%) included interpersonal violence threats. Half of respondents (49.8%) legally purchased a firearm prior to the ERPO and 3.4% purchased firearms in the 6 months following the ERPO's expiration. Respondents were significantly less likely to be arrested while the ERPO was in effect than during the 6 months prior to it being issued (IRRs ranged from 0.20 [firearm violence] to 0.45 [any arrest]). These associations persisted after the ERPO expired. Low incidence rate ratios for arrest after ERPOs were issued suggest ERPOs may prevent arrest for criminal behaviors, including violence perpetration, among respondents.

Forensic outcome in schizophrenia: It's the system, not the symptoms.

ABSTRACT This study validated the Psychopathic Personality Traits Scale – Revised (PPTS-R) using a representative sample of 4,606 Polish adults (M age = 45.13, SD = 15.29). Statistical analysis confirmed a robust four-factor structure and high measurement reliability. The results demonstrated strong factorial invariance across sex, ensuring the scale’s applicability for both men and women. Additionally, the study provided standardized T-score norms for non-forensic and clinical use. These findings position the PPTS-R as a validated instrument for assessing core psychopathic traits in the general population, effectively distinguishing personality features from antisocial or criminal behavior.

ABSTRACT Objectives We investigated how the psychosocial components of criminality stigma can influence the reactions to the pain of individuals framed as violent criminals. Methods Undergraduate students (N = 487) were randomly divided into three groups. Groups viewed models and read scenarios describing either models’ criminal behaviour, neutral behaviour or just saw models’ initials. Participants rated models on various components of stigma (valence, trust, threat, social status). Their reactions to the pain expressed by these models were measured (willingness to help, perception of pain signals, recommended medication). Results Participants in the criminal condition perceived models as having a lower social status, which was associated with evaluations of models being lower in trustworthiness, lower in valence, and higher in threateningness. Participants were also less willing to help alleviate models’ pain, despite accurately estimating it. Crucially, the relationship between violent crime exposure and willingness to help was mediated by the link between lower social status and decreased likability. Conclusion These findings reveal psychosocial mechanisms that may contribute to healthcare inequities experienced by individuals with a history of criminality. Future research could explore these results in more ecologically valid settings.

Narrative criminology has highlighted the role of storytelling in criminal behaviour and processes of change. In studies of intimate partner violence desistance, micro-social scholarship shows that therapeutic success often depends on negotiations between offenders' narratives and institutional narratives. Yet this literature has paid limited attention to the material and institutional conditions shaping such negotiations. Drawing on repeated life story interviews conducted with 41 men attending batterer intervention programmes in Argentina and Uruguay, this study compares participants' institutional trajectories and evolving narratives of change. Through the analysis of three cases, we show that men's accounts of desistance are shaped by their familiarity with institutional logics (such as programme expectations, timelines, and evaluative practices) as well as by their access to material resources that support change. We argue that the capacity to adapt and stabilise narratives of change is unevenly distributed and rooted in prior life trajectories and social resources, generating unequal possibilities of "successful" desistance (of passing through the hoop) across social backgrounds.

Depression, anxiety and criminal behaviour are often correlated, but the direction and nature of these associations remain contested. To investigate the temporal relationships between depression and/or anxiety and criminal behaviour at age 32 and depression and/or anxiety and criminal behaviour at age 48. Using prospective, longitudinal data from the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development, we applied propensity score matching to estimate the associations between (a) depression and/or anxiety at age 32 and criminal convictions at age 48 and (b) criminal convictions at age 32 and mental health problems at age 48. Propensity score matching (PSM) was used to adjust for a wide range of childhood and adolescent risk factors for offending or illness. Overall, a significant association between depression and anxiety and much later offending was evident, but after allowing for childhood adversities by propensity score matching, these relationships disappeared, suggesting that they are best explained by the common antecedent of childhood adversities. There was no relationship between any offending up to age 32 and depression or anxiety measured at age 48. Although our findings were limited by the very large time gap between measures of mental health and offending, it is clear that depression and anxiety may be important in the pathway to crime, but that this association is largely accounted for by shared early-life risk factors. Our findings also, however, caution against assuming any direct relationship between these symptoms and crime, regardless of direction. Recognising early developmental vulnerabilities and intervening appropriately may be the most effective way of preventing later ill health and criminal behaviour.

Invisible harm after lethal violence: Victims of homicide by offenders with mental disorders.