Violent Crime Research Articles

The heart of the matter: neighborhood violent crime and deprivation, cardiometabolic disease, and the racial invariance thesis

ABSTRACT Studies have observed a tight spatial coupling of elevated violent crime rates, structural deprivation, and cardiometabolic disease prevalence across geographic areas. Conceptual perspectives in the health sciences provide a framework to explain this geographic concentration of poor health and crime, which differs from perspectives derived from macro-level criminology. Drawing on these different conceptual approaches, the current study uses administrative and survey data aggregated to Census tracts to examine whether violent crime and structural deprivation are factors for cardiometabolic disease prevalence. Drawing on the racial invariance thesis, the study also tests whether these patterns are invariant across neighborhoods of different racial and ethnic compositions. Multivariate results reveal that cardiometabolic disease varies directly with levels of violent crime but not structural deprivation. Furthermore, the results do not provide consistent support for the racial and ethnic invariance hypothesis. We discuss the implications of the findings for prevention models focused on modifiable risk factors of poor health in local geographic areas.

A Study on the Contemporary Meaning of Social Disorganization Factors: Focusing on Violent Crimes in Seoul

A Study on the Contemporary Meaning of Social Disorganization Factors: Focusing on Violent Crimes in Seoul

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.

The urgency of victim witness testimony as valid evidence from persons with disabilities is associated with Law Number 12 of 2022 concerning the Crime of Sexual Violence

The urgency of victim witness testimony as valid evidence from persons with disabilities is associated with Law Number 12 of 2022 concerning the Crime of Sexual Violence

Applying a Racial Lens to the "Cycle of Violence".

One overlooked result in a 1989 Science paper on the "cycle of violence" was a race-specific increase in risk for arrest for violence among Black maltreated children, but not White maltreated children. We examine whether race differences in the cycle of violence are explained by risk factors traditionally associated with violence. Using a prospective design, maltreated and non-maltreated children were matched on age, sex, race, and approximate family social class and interviewed at mean age 28.7years (N = 1196). Arrest histories were obtained through age 50.5. Regression analyses included maltreatment, race, self-reported violent behavior, and risk factors (e.g., family, school, neighborhood variables). For arrests for violent crime, race was a significant predictor, whereas childhood maltreatment was not significant. For violent arrests, there was a significant race × maltreatment interaction when the total number of risk factors were included controlling for self-reported violent behaviors. For self-reported violent behaviors, childhood maltreatment remained significant for some risk factors. However, race did not predict self-reported violent behaviors. Offending behavior and traditional risk factors did not explain the disproportionate arrests among Black maltreated children. This disparity in the cycle of violence may reflect complex processes influenced by racial bias or structural racism.

Self-induced extreme intoxication akin to automatism: A psycholegal tug of war.

Self-induced extreme intoxication akin to automatism (SIEA) is a complicated and controversial legal concept resistant to jurisdictional consensus. In the United States, SIEA has, at times, been considered under the concept of "settled insanity.". In the United Kingdom, the defense may be allowed for specific intent crimes, though the defendant's awareness of the foreseeability of risk is addressed at trial. In Canada, recent jurisprudence has led to legal and practice landscape changes related to self-induced extreme intoxication. Here, we provide an overview of automatism and an update on the Canadian perspective with a review of the facts and an analysis of the Supreme Court of Canada's landmark decision in R v. Brown, where the court permitted the SIEA defense to be utilized for general intent crimes and acquitted Matthew Winston Brown, a 26-year-old male with no history of mental illness, with respect to two counts of "break and enter" and one count of "aggravated assault." We review the social and legislative response to the changing case law as well as related implications for expert testimony, which may be provided by forensic mental health professionals. Given the judicial and legal implications of the recent changes for both perpetrators and victims of violent crime and given the dynamic international landscape on extreme intoxication in criminal law, the review is thought to be of interest to a broad category of stakeholders including policymakers and those working in forensic psychiatry and law.

Economic Inequality, Life Expectancy, and Interpersonal Violence in London Neighborhoods.

Positive associations between levels of socioeconomic inequality and homicide rates have been reported at various geographical levels (e.g., between countries, states, cities, and neighborhoods within a city). However, the extent to which inequality predicts levels of non-lethal violence has been less frequently studied. The present study was conducted to investigate the association between socioeconomic inequality and levels of non-lethal interpersonal violence across neighborhoods of London during the period 2010 to 2012, using two independent data sources: Metropolitan Police service recorded violent crime and London Ambulance Service recorded assaults. Mean income per person and local life expectancy were included as additional predictors. Following exclusions due to census boundary changes, across 533 London wards, there were positive bivariate associations between both violence measures and a measure of inequality between neighborhoods (census lower layer super output areas [LSOAs]) within a ward. Moreover, there were negative bivariate associations between violence rates and both ward mean income and life expectancy measures for males and females. However, in a regression analysis only inequality and male life expectancy were consistent predictors of rates of interpersonal violence across outcome measures. The results of the present study provide further evidence of an association between levels of economic inequality and rates of interpersonal violence. The findings, for variation in rates of non-lethal violence across small geographical areas (neighborhoods), build on previous research that has mostly focused on rates of lethal violence and has tended to use aggregate measures across larger geographical areas.

Optimisation and validation of cost-effective water-based solutions of acid fuchsin for detecting fingermarks in blood

Fingermark impressions in blood are commonly encountered at violent crime scenes and represent a critical trace that can link an individual to the scene. A range of techniques are available for detecting and enhancing bloody impressions; however, many chemical methods involve using hazardous solvents or require alternative light sources to visualise fluorescence. This is particularly challenging for bloody impressions on dark substrates. An alternative treatment is the protein dye known as acid fuchsin (commonly known as ‘Hungarian Red’), which can be visualised under both white light and fluorescence lighting. However, there is limited research available on this method, especially concerning its use in detecting bloody fingermarks on dark surfaces and its fluorescence qualities. To address these knowledge gaps, this study broadly aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of acid fuchsin for enhancing bloody fingermarks on a range of common substrates, along with comparing the performance of a formulation made from base components against a commercially-available Hungarian Red reagent. Through a multi-phased experimental approach, results supported an all-in-one treatment that contained 2 % SSA, 0.2 % acid fuchsin, and deionised water as the most effective. This formulation performed as well or better than commercial Hungarian Red, amido black and acid yellow in the validation trial. Enhanced impressions could be visualised under white light on light and dark surfaces, whilst 530 nm excitation provided improved detection via both fluorescence and absorption modes depending on substrate background interference. Moreover, the reagent was applied by spraying directly onto substrates placed at near-vertical angles, with no evidence of any fingermarks being affected by running or inadequate fixing. The ability to enhance and visualise bloody impressions on light and dark surfaces, under white light or excitation, using a single, water-based treatment is highly advantageous to operational crime scene examiners and forensic scientists.

Utilizing Social Media to Combat Sexual Violence: A Study of the Speak Up Movement on Instagram

This study aims to uncover the motivations and reasons behind victims' decisions to speak out on Instagram and evaluate the impact and responses to the speak-up movement against sexual violence. The research employs a qualitative method with data collection techniques including online observation, specifically through the social media platform Instagram, focusing on sexual violence survivors who courageously share their cases on this platform. The findings indicate that the speak-up movement on social media plays a crucial role in empowering victims, raising public awareness, and accelerating the enactment of the Sexual Violence Crime Law (UU TPKS). However, the study also identifies shortcomings in the responsiveness of authorities to the disclosed cases. The contribution of this research lies in providing new insights into Instagram's role in legal and social advocacy, as well as in the online observation methodology used to assess the impact of the speak-up movement and the direct experiences of survivors.

Does gambling expenditure have any effect on crime?

Australians spend more per capita on gambling than any other country in the world. Electronic gaming machines (EGM) expenditure accounts for almost 90% of this expenditure. No study to date has conducted a rigorous longitudinal analysis of the relationship between gambling expenditure and crime. This study aimed to estimate the short-and long-run relationship between gambling expenditure and crime. Longitudinal analysis using panel autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) modelling. Recorded property and violent crimes committed in New South Wales (NSW), Australia,between 28 December 2015 and 5 January 2020. Monthly gross EGM expenditure profit, broken down by Local Government Area (LGA). Monthly recorded rates of assault, break enter and steal (dwelling), break enter and steal (non-dwelling), break enter and steal (total), motor vehicle theft, stealing from a motor vehicle, stealing from a retail store, stealing from the person, stealing (total) and fraud. Each 10% increase in gambling expenditure in NSW is associated with annual: 7.4% increase in assaults, 10.5% increase in break and enter (dwelling) offences; 10.3% increase in break and enter (non-dwelling) offences; 11% increase in motor vehicle theft offences; 8.2% increase in stealing from motor vehicle offences; and 7.4% increase in fraud offences. Electronic gaming expenditure appears to be positively associated with property and violent crime in New South Wales, Australia.

Examining the effect of permit-less carry laws on violent crime rates in Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, and Wyoming

In recent years, many states have loosened regulations regarding carrying a concealed firearm. Permit-less carry laws allow citizens who are legally allowed to own firearms to carry a concealed firearm in public without obtaining a permit. This trend is an evolution of right-to-carry legislation that swept the United States beginning in the late 1980s. Research tends to find that right-to-carry laws increase violent crime. This study examines the effect of permit-less carry laws, independent of right-to-carry laws, on violent crime rates in Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, and Wyoming, the first states to adopt permit-less carry legislation, using a 50 state panel data set from years 1995 to 2019. The synthetic control method was employed to find that permit-less carry laws were associated with an increase in aggravated assault in Alaska but generally not associated with variations in violent crime rates in the other states. In sum, moving from right-to-carry to permit-less carry was not found to cause an additional increase in violence on top of existing right-to-carry laws.

The Judge's Paradigm In Deciding Criminal Cases Of Sexual Violence From A Victimological Perspective

Criminal acts of sexual violence are widespread in society, and the aim of the research is to study and analyze a decision. The research methods used by researchers are normative juridical with case, statutory, and philosophical approaches. The primary legal material is the Sexual Violence Crime Law and Decision Number 72/Pid.Sus/2023/PN.Bau. while secondary materials: books, journals, etc., the interpretation used is grammatical and systematic interpretation. The results of the research show that the paradigm used by the Panel of Judges does not have a victimology perspective, as evidenced by the statement expressed by the victim witness who explained that the defendant was not the perpetrator of a crime of sexual violence, while the actual perpetrator had been appointed by the victim witness based on the photo submitted by the Counselor. The law and the perpetrator are still at large, while the defendant was legally and convincingly found guilty of committing the crime of sexual immorality. Therefore, the Panel of Judges ignored the facts of the trial. Apart from that, the panel of judges did not interpret the victim's witness statement as a standalone piece of evidence as regulated in the Sexual Violence Crime Law. So the author's suggestion is that it is important for the judge to have the victim's perspective, in this case, what the victim said is information that must be acknowledged at trial and It is necessary to evaluate the panel that examined and decided the case.

Passing the Sexual Violence Crime Law in Indonesia: Reflection of a Gender-Sensitive Parliament?

After a decade of deliberation, the draft sexual violence eradication bill was finally passed by the Indonesian parliament on 12 April 2022, enacted as the Sexual Violence Crime Law (<em>Undang-Undang Tindak Pidana Kekerasan Seksual</em>). The draft, which was first initiated by the National Commission on Violence Against Women (<em>Komnas Perempuan</em>) and later adopted as a parliamentary initiative, sparked controversy both inside and outside parliament. This article aims to describe the law-making process and identify the critical actors and acts as well as institutional responses that led to the passing of the law. It considers whether the experience can be interpreted as a reflection of a gender-sensitive parliament. Using a qualitative research approach, we identified critical actors and various responses from the parliament as an institution in responding to the dynamics of resistance and encouragement for the draft law to be passed. Our research material consists of interviews, news articles, and official document data. We found that critical actors and actions are key in the law-making process along with strong political will and collaboration between lawmakers, government representatives, civil society organizations, and the media, but the passage of this legislation alone does not fulfill the full requirement of a gender-sensitive parliament.

Carjacking and homicide in Minneapolis after the police killing of George Floyd: Evidence from an interrupted time series analysis

There is abundant research showing the disproportionate impacts of violence on health in disadvantaged neighborhoods, making an understanding of recent violent crime trends essential for promoting health equity. Carjackings have been of particular interest in the media, although little research has been undertaken on this violent crime. We use interrupted time series models to examine the impact of the police killing of George Floyd on the spatiotemporal patterns of carjacking in Minneapolis in relation to neighborhood disadvantage. To provide grounding, we compare our results to the well-studied patterns of homicides. Results indicate that carjackings both increased and dispersed spatially after the murder of George Floyd and subsequent social unrest, more so than homicides. Socially disadvantaged neighborhoods experienced the greatest absolute increase while more advantaged neighborhoods saw a greater relative increase. The challenge ahead is to identify policy responses that will effectively curb such violence without resorting to harsh and inequitable policing and sentencing practices.

Exposure to Childhood Adversity and Intimate Partner Violence in a Sample of Incarcerated Women in Australia.

Women who use violence represent one of the fastest growing groups within the Australian prisoner population, including Aboriginal women who are more likely to be incarcerated than non-Aboriginal women for violent crimes. Many incarcerated women report histories of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and intimate partner violence. This exploratory study examines baseline data from a sample of 167 women in 3 Western Australia women's prisons enrolled in a gender-specific violent behavior program. It describes their exposure to intimate partner violence, head injury, and childhood adversities. Overall, 94% of women had experienced at least one childhood adversity (median 6), and 94% reported being a victim of physical violence by a current or former intimate partner. Aboriginal women were more likely than non-Aboriginal women to report that a family member was incarcerated as a child (p = .001). There was an association between an increased number of ACEs and head injury with a loss of consciousness (p = .008). Overall, these results present a harrowing picture of childhood exposure to adversity and violence in adulthood. Successful rehabilitation of women incarcerated for violent crimes should be cognizant of the histories of extreme violence endured by most of these women.

Understanding the role of mobility in the recorded levels of violent crimes during COVID-19 pandemic: a case study of Tamil Nadu, India

Purpose/GoalThis research investigates the potential link between mobility and violent crimes in Tamil Nadu, India, using an empirical study centred on the COVID-19 pandemic waves (2020–2022). The goal is to understand how these events influenced crime, employing a counterfactual approach.MethodsThe study employs the XGBoost algorithm to forecast counterfactual events across different timeframes with varying levels of mobility. The mobility data sources include historical bus and passenger records spanning a decade, along with Google Community Mobility Reports added during the pandemic phases. The foundation for crime analysis is built upon the univariate time series of violent crimes reported as First Information Reports from 2010 to 2022.FindingsResults indicate a significant correlation between mobility and violent crimes when mobility drops below a specific threshold. However, no such correlation is observed when mobility is above this threshold during the non-pandemic periods. The COVID-19 pandemic had a major impact on people’s and vehicular mobility, especially during the complete lockdown periods of the first two waves, and also affected crime rates.ConclusionsThe decrease in recorded incidents could also be attributed to fewer criminal opportunities. Additionally, this could be due to unfavourable situational factors, such as victims’ limited access to appropriate health and law enforcement agencies to report crimes. Furthermore, frontline services were busy with pandemic-related commitments, which could have contributed to a lack of crime registration even when crimes were committed.

PROSPECTS OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE METHOD OF NONVIOLENT COMMUNICATION IN SOCIAL WORK IN UKRAINE DURING THE WAR AND POST-WAR RECOVERY

The team of authors conducted systematic work on the analysis of the use of the method of nonviolent communication in various areas of social work in Ukraine and other countries of the world. During the research, the team of authors relied on a comprehensive approach, comparative analysis, and a focus group study was conducted, which revealed the need to transform the social service system in this area. The purpose of the research work is to analyze the prospects for the effective implementation of the nonviolent communication method in social work in Ukraine during the war and post-war reconstruction. We drew attention to the increase in various manifestations of violence in Ukraine during the war, which was reflected in the actualization of the issue of bullying in educational institutions, cases of violence in the family, and in the increase in violent crimes in society as a whole. In our opinion, the method of nonviolent communication is useful for a social worker in working with an aggressor and a victim, as it contains a powerful ethical and pedagogical component. As a result, we concluded that Ukraine needs a restructuring of the social service system, which contributed to solving the problems of the population in the country. The basis for the optimization of social services should be a review of standards in the field of education and pedagogy, a non-violent rethinking of the relationship «social worker - recipient of social services», as well as the restart of the judicial and social service. Based on the conducted research, we conclude that the implementation of the method of nonviolent communication in social work in Ukraine has many obstacles of a military-political, socio-state and organizational nature, but changes in the social sphere in Ukraine are needed now. In fact, this is the need for radical changes in social work with manifestations of violence, as well as the need for partnership work to restore a humanistic and non-violent space in Ukraine, starting with the family. Here the family acts as a basis for post-war social recovery.

Reimagining the Relationship Between Hate Crime and Terrorism: A Case Study of New Zealand

ABSTRACT The relationship between hate crimes and terrorism remains a significant policy and academic concern. We provide the first empirical exploration of this relationship in New Zealand, drawing upon an original dataset of right-wing violent extremist (RWVE) incidents between 1997 and 2022. Employing analytical models of escalation and reaction we find evidence of connectivity between hate crime and terrorism, indicating that the links between them have significance for threat assessments of RWVE. We argue that the “either/or” implications of the “close cousins-distant relatives” dichotomy in existing literature on hate crime-terrorism linkages is misleading and identify new dynamics relevant for examining this relationship and monitoring the potential for violent hate crime acting as a barometer for more extreme activity, including terrorism.

Group Violence in Crime: Analyzing Crime Severity, Group Size, and Juvenile Involvement Through Police Statistics and Newspaper Articles in Japan

This study investigated the social psychological characteristics of group violence in crime using Japanese data. Two main hypotheses were examined: (1) crimes committed by groups, particularly larger groups, are more violent than those committed by individuals and (2) juvenile violent crimes are more likely to involve groups than adult violent crimes. Study 1 analyzed police agency crime statistical data and found that group crimes were more violent than individual crimes, with the level of violence increasing with group size. Additionally, juvenile crimes involved larger group sizes on average than adult crimes. Study 2 involved a quantitative text analysis of Japanese newspaper articles and revealed that articles containing group-related words frequently included terms associated with death and brutality, indicating a higher likelihood of fatal outcomes from group violence. Furthermore, co-occurrence analysis indicated a correlation between juvenile delinquency and group crimes. These findings support both hypotheses, providing evidence from non-Western data for research on group violence that predominantly relies on Western data.

A review of the impacts of Business Improvement Districts on crime and disorder

Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) are an initiative adopted by some local governments, businesses, and residents to address concerns around crime and disorder in commercial areas, especially open street town centres. BIDs have become popular in the USA since the 1970s; however, no comprehensive review of evaluations has occurred to date. This paper systematically reviewed the academic literature to find 13 BID evaluations. These studies were examined in terms of their impacts on crime and disorder, displacement, and cost-effectiveness. Of the nine studies that quantitatively examined BID impacts on crime rates, eight (88%) found a reduction in one or more crime types. Six studies explored BID impacts on property crime, with all finding BIDs had a significant negative association with at least one type of property crime, with BIDs particularly effective at targeting vehicle-related offences. BIDs were also found to have a positive impact on reducing disorder and public nuisance type offences, however, had mixed evidence on violent crime, with three out of seven studies on violent crime finding BIDs can help to prevent robbery. Displacement of crime to surrounding areas was found to be rare, and the three studies that examined costs of operating BIDs all concluded they are cost-effective. The challenges of implementing BIDs are discussed, along with the implications for ongoing policy and practice development in the reduction of crime and disorder in commercial areas.