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Empirical research conducted in the USA, UK, Australia, New Zealand and parts of Europe has accumulated over the last 50 years and has identified links between mainstream crime (e.g. violence and acquisitive crime) and driving offences (e.g. dangerous driving, drink driving, driving while disqualified). Put simply, international evidence reveals that a driver's willingness to commit driving offences tends to be associated with a willingness to commit other types of offence. Unlike the Anglophone countries and Europe, no peer-reviewed published research in Greater China has considered this matter empirically. Our article uses data from a data set (n = 368) of those convicted of causing death by dangerous driving over a 4-year period (2014 − 2018) in Taipei City, capital of Taiwan, to examine associations with prior criminal history and criminal versatility in this sample of convicted drivers. Our analysis indicates the following results: the Taiwanese sample of serious driving offenders had a somewhat low prevalence of prior conviction – over 70% had no prior conviction record. None of the measures used provides evidence for any significant 'versatility' on the part of drivers convicted of serious driving offences. Further studies in Taiwan scrutinizing patterns in driving and mainstream criminal offences are needed, as are more nuanced analyses of the versatility of offending. Our article makes recommendations for further research in Taiwan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and aims: Ketamine has become a new recreational drug of choice among young people in parts of Asia. Using national databases in Taiwan, this study aimed to (1) examine the yearly trend in the ketamine offence rate over time; (2) estimate the 3‐year risk of drug‐related re‐offence and its correlates among the first‐time offenders; and (3) estimate the 3‐year standardized mortality ratio (SMR) among the first‐time offenders. Design, Setting and Participants: Retrospective cohort studies of offenders for recreational ketamine use in a penalty system initiated in 2009. Offenders for recreational ketamine use were identified from the Administrative Penalty System for Schedule III/IV Substances database from 2009 to 2017, and the re‐offence rate and mortality among first‐time offenders were assessed via record‐linkage within the database as well as with both the criminal drug offence database and the national mortality database. The cohort from 2009 to 2016 (n = 39 178) was used for the recidivism analysis and the cohort from 2009 to 2013 (n = 25 357) was used for the 3‐year SMR analysis. Measurements Recidivism was estimated using survival analysis of the event as re‐arrest for using ketamine, more serious illicit drugs (Schedules I/II), or any illicit drugs (ketamine or Schedules I/II). SMRs were estimated for overall and cause‐specific death within 3 years after the first offence for ketamine use. Findings The age‐standardized rates for both prevalent (1.38 per 1000) and first‐time offenders (0.65 per 1000) peaked in 2013 and then decreased steadily. The 3‐year risk of re‐offence was 33.85% [95% confidence interval (CI) = 33.23–34.47%) for ketamine use and 39.52% (95% CI = 39.00–40.04%) for any illicit drug use. These first‐time offenders had an SMR of 4.9 (95% CI = 4.3–5.4) for overall mortality, 2.1 (95% CI = 1.6–2.7) for natural deaths and 7.6 (95% CI = 6.7–8.6) for unnatural deaths. Conclusions: Recreational ketamine use in Taiwan appears to lead not only to high risk for drug‐related re‐offence but also to excess mortality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides findings from a review of the published English-language literature of criminological research in and on Taiwan - over the period 2000-2010, and sets the findings against other Asian comparators. The article identifies tropes and trends in purpose, method, theory, and collaborative networks of criminological research on Taiwan. The findings and analysis, hold, as it were, a mirror up to the criminological communities in both Taiwan and other parts of the English-speaking world. We conclude with a consideration of these issues in the broader context of the "internationalization" of criminology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]