Criminology Research Articles

The Environmental Approach to Security: A Historical-Theoretical Literature Review on Space and Crime

This article offers a historical-theoretical review of the environmental approach to security. It critically traces its development from the early origins to the latest progress with a multidisciplinary approach by highlighting the importance of the environment in preventing crime. In particular, this review tidies up the subject by emphasizing the founders’ foundational ideas – and their importance, which are sometimes misinterpreted; it develops the matter by updating it up to the latest advances, as in the case of crime theories; and it allows further evolution of Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED), increasingly overlapping with the environmental approach, also pointing out the importance of the fear of crime concept.

A Great Leap Forward: Changing Landscape of Shadow Energy-Maritime Economy Off the Coast of Nigeria

The Atlantic coast of Nigeria, especially the Niger Delta corridor is a dynamic energy-maritime space. The region witnesses a trend in continuous evolution, propelled by the intersection of the upper world and underworld economic activities, with several individual and institutional actors at its core. The underworld end of the socio-economic spectrum on which this coastal region of Nigeria is anchored is known for its robustness and has attracted significant scholarly attention. In furtherance of scholarly interrogation of the region’s informal economy, this paper critically analyses the pervasiveness, entrenchment, and dynamics of shadow energy activities in the Niger Delta. Primarily, in a theoretical construction, the study discusses trends, patterns, and overlaps in the transition of energy-maritime shadow activities in the region. The study adopts a qualitative research method; combining primary data with a synthesis of the extant literature on the region’s shadow economy and the involvement of organised crime in the region’s energy-maritime landscape. The objective of the study flows from the fact of a great leap forward in shadow economy in the region through different social realities- grievance, greed, illegality, and organised crime. The paper develops a hybrid theory of crime; enterprise-value chain as an analytical archetype to explain the latest stage in the evolution of the underworld, shadow energy-maritime activities off the coast of Nigeria.

The broken-windows theory of crime: A Bayesian approach

The broken-windows theory of crime is based on the idea that aggressive enforcement of petty crimes, like misdemeanors, will have a deterring effect on would-be perpetrators of more serious crimes. This paper develops a model of this theory that depends on three factors: (1) potential offenders make decisions about committing crimes based on their beliefs about the probability of apprehension; (2) those beliefs depend on prior observations or knowledge about the rate of petty crimes; and (3) there is a linkage across criminal categories (minor vs. serious crimes) as a component of actual enforcement policy. Our results show that even if these factors are all present, increased enforcement of low-harm crimes does not necessarily lead to fewer high-harm crimes.

The relationship between four indicators of future time orientation, criminal thinking style, and illegal behaviors.

Individuals who commit criminal behaviors are often thought to prioritize short-term goals rather than long-term goals (i.e., a present vs. a future time orientation). Though previous theories of crime and empirical research support a relationship among future time orientation, criminal thinking, and illegal behaviors, there is disagreement in the literature about how to operationalize the multidimensional construct of future time orientation. The primary aim of this pre-registered survey study was to measure multiple components of future time orientation to better understand the relationship with criminality-related outcomes. Participants were 248 undergraduate college students. Survey materials included a measure of impulsivity (Barratt Impulsiveness Scale-11), self-control (Brief Self-Control Scale), delay discounting (Monetary Choice Questionnaire), and Carstensen's Future Time Perspective Scale. Participants also completed two measures of criminal thinking style (the Texas Christian University Criminal Thinking Scale, the Criminogenic Cognitions Scale) and an illegal behaviors checklist. Bivariate results demonstrated a negative relationship between future time orientation (i.e., low impulsivity, high self-control, high future time perspective) and criminal thinking style. The relationship between delay discounting and criminal thinking was in the hypothesized direction but failed to reach statistical significance. Multiple regression analyses indicated that the measure of self-control had the most consistent and incrementally significant relationship with both criminal thinking style and illegal behaviors. Theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed along with study limitations and future directions.

The Self-Control Ability Scale: Measuring a Key Construct of Situational Action Theory

Situational Action Theory (SAT) has emerged as a prominent theory of crime and delinquency. It includes a new conceptualization of self-control, which emphasizes its role in enabling individuals to adhere to their morality when deliberating about deviant and non-deviant action alternatives. However, existing self-control scales do not directly capture this role of self-control as a guardian of personal morality when externally challenged. To close this gap, we developed and validated the Self-Control Ability Scale (SCAS) to measure an individual’s self-perceived ability to withstand temptation, provocation, or social pressure when they conflict with their personal morality. We present the results of four studies that provide evidence for the three-dimensional structure of the SCAS, the reliability of its measures, its validity, and its measurement invariance across age, gender, and language. The SCAS promises more informative tests of SAT and new insights into individuals’ ability to adhere to their morality when challenged.

Effective Connection between Criminal Law and Administrative Law Protection in Environmental Crimes

With the increasing emphasis on ecological environment protection, it has become a consensus of the whole society to use the strictest system and the most rigorous rule of law to protect the ecological environment. Due to its unique severity and deterrence, criminal law is becoming a trend to construct and improve protection for environmental crimes through criminal law. Many countries in the world have environmental crimes in their criminal codes or subsidiary criminal laws, and China is no exception. However, criminal law always relies on administrative law in regulating environmental crimes, and seeking a balance between the application of criminal law and administrative law in order to maximize the environmental protection and punishment functions of criminal law is an urgent problem that needs to be solved. The article analyzes and studies the basic theory of environmental crime and its administrative attributes, pointing out the appropriate mechanism for criminal law intervention in environmental protection, in order to achieve effective connection between administrative law and criminal law in environmental protection issues.

Criminalisation theory as a theory of pro tanto criminal proscription

ABSTRACT Criminalisation theorists who try to explain when substantive criminal law may appropriately be deployed to shrink the scope of our presumptive initial liberty, often take their project as requiring them to identify the sorts of conduct for which may the state criminally convict. I argue that this is a mistake. While such theories of ‘convictability’ have their place, they do not completely explain the use of substantive criminal law to limit our presumptive initial liberty. Convictions ensue only after pleas of justification and excuse fail, but the substantive criminal law coercively limits liberty well before conviction, when it creates a pro tanto criminal proscription. Even those who can escape conviction by pleading a justificatory or excusatory defence were, in fact, subject to authoritative criminal law guidance proscribing (or sometimes, requiring) specified conduct. Although that guidance is sometimes trumped by the additional guidance contained in defences, it is not null and void, and it continues to have a liberty-limiting effect. In other words, substantive criminal law already shrinks our initial liberty by pro tanto criminally proscribing some conduct. Therefore, I argue that we also need a theory of criminalisation that addresses the appropriate domain of pro tanto criminal proscriptions.

Fa'avae: A Samoan Theory of Crime from the ‘South’ Pacific

This article presents an interdisciplinary theory on the causes of crime in Samoa. The theory utilises a cultural practice of building the foundation - fa’avae - of a Samoan house, to explain the causes of crime and to articulate a crime prevention strategy from the nuances of the word fa’avae. The interdisciplinary nature of this theory considers two main aspects of the Samoan life of God and family (aiga) to describe both the causes of crime in Samoa, and a way forward to restore aiga and community fractured by crime. The theory calls upon the church through church ministers – faifeau – to become active in the public sphere. This entails speaking out about the causes of crime and working in collaboration with other stakeholders in devising culturally appropriate crime prevention approaches for Samoa, likely to also be familiar to other ‘South’ Pacific nations.

Are the geographic disparities in U.S. violent crime rising?

Inequality in economic and social outcomes across U.S. regions has grown in recent decades. The economic theory of crime predicts that this increased variability would raise geographic disparities in violent crime. Instead, I find that geographic disparities in homicide rates decreased. Moreover, these same decades saw decreases in the geographic disparities in policing, incarceration, and the share of the population that is African American. Thus, changes in policing, incarcerations, and racial composition could have led to a decrease in inequality in homicide rates. Moreover, the joint provision of law enforcement by local, state, and federal authorities may have reduced the impact of economic distress on violent crime.

Online Harassment: The Mediating and Moderating Role of Thoughtfully Reflective Decision-Making

The current study employs a construct from the criminological literature, thoughtfully reflective decision-making (TRDM), to understand cyber offenders’ decision-making and offer relevant insights to prevent online harassment. Using a sample of Iranian high school students ( N = 366), we employ OLS and SEM to test whether and how TRDM, perceived deterrence, and prior victimization influence the most common forms of online harassment: cyberbullying and cyberstalking. Findings demonstrate cyberbullying and cyberstalking victimization increase engagement in offending behavior while participants’ fear of sanction reduces engagement in both cyberbullying and cyberstalking perpetration. Notably, results demonstrate that TRDM has a direct, mediating, and moderating effect on both forms of offending. TRDM also has an indirect effect on cyberbullying and cyberstalking perpetration through victimization and participants’ perceptions of sanction. Unlike contemporary, pre-dispositional theories of crime, TRDM is dynamic and can be improved via educational programming. We posit that current cyber hygiene campaigns should include elements aimed to improve individuals’ cognitive decision-making capabilities. Guided by theory, and based on the results of the current study, this translational approach could prevent victimization while simultaneously improving other elements of the participants’ life.

Analisis Yuridis Terhadap Penentuan Status Barang Bukti Pada Putusan Perkara Pidana Pengangkutan Mineral Tanpa Izin di Pengadilan Negeri Marisa

This study aims to review and analyze the judge's considerations in determining the status of evidence in the criminal case concerning the transportation of minerals without permission, as outlined in Decision Number 4/Pid.Sus/2023/PN Mar. Additionally, it seeks to examine the correlation between these judicial considerations and the application of criminal sanctions imposed on perpetrators of the crime of unauthorized mineral transportation in the same court decision. The research employs a normative juridical method. The findings indicate that the judge's considerations in determining the status of evidence in this case are consistent with the application of Law Enforcement Theory, Justice Theory, Criminal Responsibility Theory, Legal Certainty Theory, and Criminal Theory, and are based on the theories of punishment and criminal liability. The analysis demonstrates a close correlation between the judge's considerations regarding evidence and the application of criminal sanctions on the offenders, in alignment with Court Decision Number 4/Pid.Sus/2023/PN Mar.

Sociology of crime in Latin America

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The Influence of the Theory of Behavior Crime, Dangerous Crime, Consequential Crime and Purpose Crime on the False Issuance of Special VAT Invoices.

The Influence of the Theory of Behavior Crime, Dangerous Crime, Consequential Crime and Purpose Crime on the False Issuance of Special VAT Invoices.

What Might Considering the Criminalization of Emotional Abuse Teach Us About Defining It?

Although the issue has been discussed for decades, the field of intimate partner violence struggles with the lack of a consensus definition for emotional abuse. In this article, it is suggested that differences in definition are caused by everyday variation in value judgment among researchers. To address this, it is argued that investigating emotional abuse should be acknowledged as an exercise in moral thought as much as it is in scientific rigor. Looking at the philosophy of criminalization, such as the work of Joel Feinberg or Douglas Husak, it is proposed that criminalization theory may serve to guide research on emotional abuse, reduce or overcome the definitional issue, and reveal problematic gaps in understanding. This article will present a general description of the philosophical and legal questions involved in the hypothetical criminalization of emotional abuse, evaluate existing research from that perspective, and propose a minimalist rather than comprehensive approach to definition, an approach involving either focusing only on those behaviors judged to meet the standards for potential criminalization or conceptualizing the range of emotionally abusive behaviors as distinct phenomena to be studied independently.

Short-term mindsets show co-development with adolescent delinquency, but not with adolescent cannabis use.

Guided by General Theory of Crime and Psychosocial Maturity Hypothesis, we investigated co-development between short-term mindsets (impulsivity and future orientation) and risk behaviors (cannabis use and delinquency). Parallel process latent growth modeling on three-wave data from ethnically diverse Swiss adolescents (N = 1365; Mage 13.67 years, 48.6% female), showed baseline-level associations between short-term mindsets and risk behaviors, and between the two risk behaviors. Additionally, correlated change (co-development) existed between short-term mindsets-particularly impulsivity-and delinquency, but not between short-term mindsets and cannabis use. These results support the above-mentioned theories and emphasize the importance of investigating the correlates of change in delinquency and cannabis use separately, as divergent findings might emerge. These divergent findings could partially stem from Switzerland's liberal views on cannabis use.

'Hard AI Crime': The Deterrence Turn.

Machines powered by artificial intelligence (AI) are increasingly taking over tasks previously performed by humans alone. In accomplishing such tasks, they may intentionally commit 'AI crimes', ie engage in behaviour which would be considered a crime if it were accomplished by humans. For instance, an advanced AI trading agent may-despite its designer's best efforts-autonomously manipulate markets while lacking the properties for being held criminally responsible. In such cases (hard AI crimes) a criminal responsibility gap emerges since no agent (human or artificial) can be legitimately punished for this outcome. We aim to shift the 'hard AI crime' discussion from blame to deterrence and design an 'AI deterrence paradigm', separate from criminal law and inspired by the economic theory of crime. The homo economicus has come to life as a machina economica, which, even if cannot be meaningfully blamed, can nevertheless be effectively deterred since it internalises criminal sanctions as costs.

New directions in theories of criminalization

New directions in theories of criminalization

Intimate Partner Violence, Femicide, and General Theories: Issues for Research and Policy From the View of Modern Control Theory

Intimate partner violence (IPV), including intimate partner homicide (IPH) and femicide, raises issues for general theories of crime, such as control and opportunity theories, that see close relationships among friends and family as barriers to interpersonal crimes. Crime-specific studies of both correlates and trends in IPV, including recent interrupted trend studies that examine the effects of COVID restrictions, often test opportunity theories absent considerations of theoretically driven images of actors. Review of empirical research on IPV and IPH reveals strong compatibility between the predictions of modern control theory and consistent findings from trend data. Barriers to understanding of the explanatory power of general theories of crime (including, for example, control theories and feminist perspectives) in contemporary research include use of poor definitions of intimacy, misspecification of age effects, failure to consider the versatility of offending behavior, neglecting the importance of trends in analogous behaviors, neglecting the role of situational factors in violence, and the limitations in the measurement of repetitive victimization. Theories such as routine activity and situational crime prevention that fail to explicitly include characteristics of actors can go only a limited way in providing meaningful policy. Research supports the potential policy effects of investments in early childhood and attention to situational barriers (including limitations on alcohol use and firearm availability) to reduce IPV. Although modern control theory is used to illustrate these issues, other general theories, like feminist theories, can make similar arguments.

An empirical investigation of emotion and the criminal law: towards a “criminalization bias”?

This interdisciplinary study, coupling philosophy of law with empirical cognitive science, presents preliminary insight into the role of emotion in criminalization decisions, for both laypeople and legal professionals. While the traditional approach in criminalization theory emphasizes the role of deliberative and reasoned argumentation, this study hypothesizes that affective and emotional processes (i.e., disgust, as indexed by a dispositional proneness to experience disgust) are also associated with the decision to criminalize behavior, in particular virtual child pornography. To test this empirically, an online study (N = 1402) was conducted in which laypeople and legal professionals provided criminalization ratings on four vignettes adapted from criminal law, in which harmfulness and disgustingness were varied orthogonally. They also completed the 25-item Disgust Scale-Revised (DS-R-NL). In line with the hypothesis, (a) the virtual child pornography vignette (characterized as low in harm, high in disgust) was criminalized more readily than the financial harm vignette (high in harm, low in disgust), and (b) disgust sensitivity was associated with the decision to criminalize behavior, especially virtual child pornography, among both lay participants and legal professionals. These findings suggest that emotion can be relevant in shaping criminalization decisions. Exploring this theoretically, the results could serve as a stepping stone towards a new perspective on criminalization, including a “criminalization bias”. Study limitations and implications for legal theory and policymaking are discussed.

Child maltreatment, low self-control, and delinquent behaviour of early-aged adolescents

Until now, there has been limited research on the specific relationship between exposure to child maltreatment, the development of low self-control and subsequent delinquency among non-western samples from a general theory of crime perspective. To address this research gap, this study explores the role of low self-control as a mediator between exposure to child maltreatment and delinquent behaviour of South Korean children. By using longitudinal data from South Korean children, structural equation modeling was employed to examine this relationship. The results of the analysis indicated that child maltreatment significantly influenced the development of low self-control in children. Also, the findings revealed that low self-control mediated the relationship between child maltreatment and delinquent behaviour. In other words, consistent with the proposition of the general theory of crime, children’s low self-control played a mediating role in the impact of exposure to child maltreatment on their engagement in delinquent behaviour. Based on these findings, the importance of early interventions to prevent child maltreatment and foster the self-control level of children is suggested.