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Stratified school systems select children into different educational tracks according to ability, in some countries as early as age 10. Tracks substantially determine future education and career opportunities. Comprehensive school system have no such selection before age 15. Children with a migrant background are often overrepresented in lower tracks, and possible negative consequences may affect them more than native-born children. We use data from the third wave of the International Self-Report Delinquency study (ISRD3) to examine direct and indirect influences of school system on self-reported life-time offending of native and migrant students in eight countries, four countries with comprehensive and four with stratified school systems. We find that migrant students are indeed overrepresented in lower tracks and report higher levels of offending across all tracks than native students. No such differences exist for comprehensive systems. Our analysis also shows a stronger (direct) relationship between lower-track enrolment and offending for migrant than for native students, while (indirect) protective influences in the school system are reduced and risk influences are magnified for migrant students.

The "war on terror" became a popular slogan in the United States after the 9/11 attacks. The reaction against "Islamist terrorism" has profoundly influenced not only American politics, both nationally and internationally, but also European policies. Since then the struggle against the terrorist threat has often been used by Western governments to pass legislations that, according to many observers, have reduced the freedom of citizens in the name of security. Today, however, the world scenario has changed again and completely. The economic crisis begun in 2007 has dramatically influenced the priorities of governments, the perception of citizens and has been the driver of geopolitical shifts in North Africa. The killing of Bin Laden in Pakistan (May 1, 2011) appropriately marked the end of an era. What is the legacy of these ten years? 9/11 has placed emphasis on four major trends in Europe. Historically, the Islamist terrorist has favored the rise of a common idea of who is a terrorist. Politically, the fight against terrorism turned out to be one of the most advanced models of EU cooperation. Philosophically, the necessity of preventing terrorist attacks has paved the way to the concept of threat and risk, which have compressed criminal justice in favor of a much discretionary “crime prevention”. Technologically, the risk management calls for new technologies to be effective. Coherently, since 9/11, the EU has allocated resources to combat terrorism that have been spent mainly to develop technologies for the control and prevention of attacks. This essay deals with each of those trends in order to take stock of the European experience and to imagine future developments.

This report presents the findings of research on anti-social behaviour (henceforth ASB) in London. The research explored the impact of ASB on the lives of Londoners and examined how agencies are responding to problems of ASB across London. The overall aim of the research was to inform, and set the context for, the development of the London Anti-Social Behaviour Strategy. The strategy is being produced by 11 cross-London agencies with shared responsibilities for tackling ASB, and establishes a regional framework for action on ASB.

This study has examined street crime in London, focusing on the causes of the ‘epidemic’ of 2000 and 2001 and its decrease from November 2001. It has examined the impact of the early stages of the Street Crime Initiative (SCI) and other policing initiatives in one of the ten SCI areas, testing for geographical, functional and tactical displacement. The study was commissioned in response to concerns from local authorities and police about crime displacement occurring in areas outside the SCI. It was largely conducted over a six-month period from October 2002, examining the available statistics in detail. Displacement was assessed mainly by comparing street crime trends over time and place and by examining changes in the length of ‘journeys to work’ made by street offenders. This analysis was supplemented by 121 interviews. Of these 73 were conducted with street offenders who were asked about their patterns of offending, and their awareness of, and responses to, the SCI. Finally, police and other professionals involved in implementing the SCI in London were interviewed.

Over the past decade the Government has attached great importance to tackling anti-social behaviour (ASB) and has introduced a range of new measures to deal with it. For example, the Housing Act 1996 facilitated actions by social landlords against anti-social tenants, the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 introduced the Anti-Social Behaviour Order, or ASBO, and the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003 has introduced further provisions relating to, for example, parenting contracts and orders, dispersal orders, and new powers for tackling environmental problems such as noise, graffiti and waste. And in January 2004, the Home Office launched its national TOGETHER campaign, which was designed to, “ensure local agencies do more to respond to communities’ concerns [about ASB], to support the decent law-abiding majority and take action against the minority of perpetrators”.

In recognition of the existing gaps in understanding of ASB we initiated this study in order to look at one aspect, namely the rationales of current work on ASB. On the face of it, it seems wholly sensible to tackle ASB simply because ASB is ‘a bad thing’; but what are policy-makers and practitioners seeking to achieve by tackling ASB? This key question raises in turn a number of supplementary questions about rationales for ASB work, including: - To what extent is work on ASB (at national and local levels) underpinned by explicit rationales? - Are there different rationales, and to what extent do they conflict with or complement each other? - Do different rationales for action on ASB imply different forms of action? - Are the aims and expectations associated with work on ASB realistic? - To what extent are rationales for work on ASB informed by relevant research?

This report summarises findings about the impact of Reducing Burglary Initiative projects covered by the Southern Consortium. It considers what worked in reducing domestic burglary and aims to explain the factors underlying this success. The issues of whether interventions were theoretically robust, and how intensively they needed to be implemented in practice to achieve any impact are examined. Projects tended to be more successful if the underlying theory of interventions was clearly thought through so that they complemented rather than contradicted each other. If this was the case, so-called ‘packages’ of interventions were most effective when designed to be relevant to the local area in terms of the local community, local offending and to management experience. The ‘dosage’ of an intervention needed to be considered so as to maximise effect, taking into account financial and personnel restrictions. Combinations of short- and long-term interventions were found to have a more sustainable impact on offending. Other internal and extraneous factors are considered that may have acted to the benefit or detriment of implementation. These may have masked the impact of successful projects from the evaluators, or given the spurious impression of success. The projects could be undermined by changing operational and community priorities. Despite the wide range of problems that projects had with implementation, the Southern Consortium SDPs proved that successful projects were possible.

This study addresses one of the central problems facing contemporary penal policy. The prison population in England and Wales has been rising steeply and progressively. Prisons are overcrowded, budgets are stretched to the limit. Despite this, there has been remarkably little debate about the reasons for this increase, and whether ways can be found of putting a stop to it. This study is intended to go some way to filling the gap.

The prison population in England and Wales has been rising steeply. Prisons are overcrowded, budgets are stretched to the limit. Despite this, there has been remarkably little debate about the reasons for this increase, and about ways of putting a stop to it. We have just finished a study designed to go some way to filling the gap.

This study addresses one of the central problems facing contemporary penal policy.The prison population in England and Wales has been rising steeply and progressively. Prisons are overcrowded, budgets are stretched to the limit. Despite this, there has been remarkably little debate about the reasons for this increase, and whether ways can be found of putting a stop to it. This study is intended to go some way to filling the gap.

The government has introduced new powers for tackling anti-social behaviour, such as Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs). This study examines how these powers are being used and what people think of them. The study draws on a national survey with in-depth fieldwork in three neighbourhoods experiencing high levels of ASB. Based on this work, the authors develop principles for responding effectively to problems of anti-social behaviour. The researchers conclude that: Both national and local ASB strategies should aim for a balance between enforcement and prevention; Government policy should be more precise in defining ASB; Clearer limits are needed for the use of civil remedies such as ASBOs.

The Government has attached great importance to tackling anti-social behaviour (ASB), and has introduced a range of new measures to deal with it. This study, by King’s College London, looked at public attitudes towards ASB nationally and examined the problems and solutions in three case-study neighbourhoods with high levels of ASB.

This article draws together findings from two related studies of sentencing in England and Wales, and Scotland. It examines how sentencers in the two jurisdictions differ in their sentencing decision making, with a focus on cases on the borderline between prison and a community penalty. The article suggests that, despite differences in legal systems and criminal justice structures, sentencers' decision making in the two jurisdictions was remarkably similar. In both jurisdictions they took account of a wide range of factors in reaching their decisions, among which the legal category of the offence under sentence was often subsidiary to other considerations. The main difference between the two jurisdictions was the much more dramatic rate of increase in the adult prison population in England and Wales than in Scotland. Several possible explanations are offered for this, including the literal and metaphorical distance of Scotland from Westminster and the greater impact of sentencing guidance south of the border—which has probably had a largely unintended inflationary effect on the prison population.

The prison population in England and Wales has been rising steeply. Prisons are overcrowded, budgets are stretched to the limit. Despite this, there has been remarkably little debate about the reasons for this increase, and about ways of putting a stop to it. We have just finished a study designed to go some way to filling the gap.

This report summarises findings about the impact of Reducing Burglary Initiative projects covered by the Southern Consortium. It considers what worked in reducing domestic burglary and aims to explain the factors underlying this success. The issues of whether interventions were theoretically robust, and how intensively they needed to be implemented in practice to achieve any impact are examined. Projects tended to be more successful if the underlying theory of interventions was clearly thought through so that they complemented rather than contradicted each other. If this was the case, so-called ‘packages’ of interventions were most effective when designed to be relevant to the local area in terms of the local community, local offending and to management experience. The ‘dosage’ of an intervention needed to be considered so as to maximise effect, taking into account financial and personnel restrictions. Combinations of short- and long-term interventions were found to have a more sustainable impact on offending. Other internal and extraneous factors are considered that may have acted to the benefit or detriment of implementation. These may have masked the impact of successful projects from the evaluators, or given the spurious impression of success. The projects could be undermined by changing operational and community priorities. Despite the wide range of problems that projects had with implementation, the Southern Consortium SDPs proved that successful projects were possible.

This study has examined street crime in London, focusing on the causes of the ‘epidemic’ of 2000 and 2001 and its decrease from November 2001.3 It has examined the impact of the early stages of the Street Crime Initiative (SCI) and other policing initiatives in one of the ten SCI areas, testing for geographical, functional and tactical displacement. The study was commissioned in response to concerns from local authorities and police about crime displacement occurring in areas outside the SCI. It was largely conducted over a six-month period from October 2002, examining the available statistics in detail. Displacement was assessed mainly by comparing street crime trends over time and place and by examining changes in the length of ‘journeys to work’ made by street offenders. This analysis was supplemented by 121 interviews. Of these 73 were conducted with street offenders who were asked about their patterns of offending, and their awareness of, and responses to, the SCI. Finally, police and other professionals involved in implementing the SCI in London were interviewed.4 3 This study used the MPS definition of ‘street crime’ (robbery of personal property and snatch theft). 4. After this work was completed, the SCI continued to operate for a further two years in each of the ten SCI areas and a number of evaluations of different aspects of the initiative have been conducted (See Tilley et. al, 2004 and Machin and Marie forthcoming).

This report presents the findings of research on anti-social behaviour (henceforth ASB) in London. The research explored the impact of ASB on the lives of Londoners and examined how agencies are responding to problems of ASB across London. The overall aim of the research was to inform, and set the context for, the development of the London Anti-Social Behaviour Strategy. The strategy is being produced by 11 cross-London agencies with shared responsibilities for tackling ASB, and establishes a regional framework for action on ASB.

This study addresses one of the central problems facing contemporary penal policy. The prison population in England and Wales has been rising steeply and progressively. Prisons are overcrowded, budgets are stretched to the limit. Despite this, there has been remarkably little debate about the reasons for this increase, and whether ways can be found of putting a stop to it. This study is intended to go some way to filling the gap.

A key goal of the Fiducia project is to extend procedural justice theory in three new directions. The first relates to public perceptions of new forms of criminal behaviour. The second concerns the applicability of procedural justice theory to these new forms of behaviour. The third considers the notion that legitimacy crosses national borders. In this Fiducia report we motivate and outline core theory, concepts and measures. We also present the questionnaire to be fielded in seven European countries.

FIDUCIA (New European Crimes and Trust-based Policy) seeks to shed light on a number of distinctively ‘new European’ criminal behaviours which have emerged in the last decade as a consequence of both technology developments and the increased mobility of populations across Europe. A key objective of FIDUCIA is to propose and proof a ‘trust-based’ policy model in relation to emerging forms of criminality – to explore the idea that public trust and institutional legitimacy are important for the social regulation of the trafficking of human beings, the trafficking of goods, the criminalisation of migration and ethnic minorities, and cybercrimes. In this paper we detail levels of trust and legitimacy in the 26 countries, drawing on data from Round 5 of the European Social Survey. We also conduct a sensitivity analysis that investigates the effect of a lack of measurement equivalence on national estimates.

This is the first of the country-specific European Social Survey topline results reports. Focusing on UK data from the Round 5 module entitled ‘trust in justice,' we link people’s perceptions of police legitimacy to their compliance with the law and their willingness to cooperate with the police and criminal courts. We also extend the existing literature by addressing wider forms of trust and people’s attachment to order and security. Framing the findings in the context of a long and rich history of policing by consent, we show the value of the European Social Survey in shaping public policy, practice and debate.

This article summarises ‘procedural justice’ approaches to policing, contrasting these to the more politically dominant discourse about policing as crime control. It argues that public trust in policing is needed partly because this may result in public cooperation with justice, but more importantly because public trust in justice builds institutional legitimacy and thus public compliance with the law, and commitment to, the rule of law. We define police legitimacy as obligation to obey and moral alignment. We link police legitimacy to legal legitimacy/cynicism, and both to compliance with the law. Some recent survey findings are presented in support of this perspective.

This paper summarising ‘procedural justice’ approaches to policing, contrasting these to the more politically dominant discourse about policing as crime control. It argues that public trust in policing is needed partly because this may result in public cooperation with justice, but more importantly because public trust in justice builds institutional legitimacy and thus public compliance with the law, and commitment to, the rule of law. Some recent survey findings are presented in support of this perspective.