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Research on assisted desistance has not considered the influence of criminal-involvement factors on the receptivity to assistance. Although most crimes committed are motivated by the prospect of gain, current knowledge on desistance from lucrative offending is still rudimentary. The purpose of this study was to examine the assistance in the desistance process of 27 individuals having committed profit-driven crimes. First, based on life story narratives, the acknowledgment of assistance was explored. Then, how and when this assistance arose in participants' lives was studied. Results demonstrate the value of the assisted desistance framework in understanding desistance. Other findings include the fact that assistance may take many forms and may arise at various phases in the process of desistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mass incarceration and high rates of recidivism in the United States have long been discussed in the scientific literature. A punitive culture has fostered harsh punishments and incarceration without considerable effects on recidivism rates. At the same time, research has indicated that rehabilitative measures and treatment programs for offenders have positive effects on their reintegration into society and help to reduce recidivism rates. In the present study, the discourse surrounding recidivism in the New York Times and the New York Post is investigated with a corpus of 666,290 words. The analyses indicate that the New York Times encourages a discussion of rehabilitative measures and adopts a view of recidivism that highlights recidivists' potential for change. The New York Post, on the other hand, takes a more conservative approach and adopts a more dire view of recidivists, considering recidivism as a character trait rather than an indicator for the relative success of rehabilitation programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is well-known that experiences of out-of-home care (OHC; foster-family care and residential care) are linked to criminal behavior. Less is known how criminal activity in the OHC population develops over the life course and to what extent such development is characterized by desistance or persistence. Using population-based longitudinal register data for more than 740,000 Swedish men and women, of which around 2.5% have experience of OHC, followed until age 40, results from group-based trajectory modelling and multinomial regression suggest that OHC-experienced individuals with various timing and duration of placement, especially men first placed as teenagers, have substantially elevated likelihood for persistent offending compared to peers without OHC experience. However, most OHC-experienced followed pathways characterized by desistance. Our findings have implications for understanding the dynamics of offending in OHC populations and underscores the necessity for interventions that can prevent the onset of criminal careers, as well as disrupt or modify the ongoing paths of offending within this disadvantaged group of individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Overloading of heavy vehicles reduces pavement life and increases pavement life cycle costs. As part of Namibia's strategy to control heavy vehicle overloading on the road network, weighbridge facilities have been constructed at strategic locations on primary routes (trunk roads). The study analysed the extent of heavy vehicle overloading on Namibian trunk roads, as well as the effectiveness of existing overloading mitigation measures. The dataset comprised heavy vehicle loading information from the year 2015 to 2019, from ten static weighbridge facilities. The parameters investigated include overloading magnitude, the effect of overloading on road pavement life, and the effectiveness of current overload mitigation measures. The results showed that 13.3% of the vehicles weighed were overloaded, with a compounded decrease in overloading of approximately 0.5% per annum. Despite the overloading decrease, the study found that the estimated road service life was reduced by as much as nine years over the study period. High levels of weighbridge avoidance and poor stakeholder coordination in mitigating overloading were identified. The study recommends deploying high-speed weighin-motion systems, an increase in fines charged for overloading offenses, and developing a demerit point-based system for habitual offenders to strengthen mitigation measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper the role of a sociologist/criminologist as a mitigation expert in a case of double murder is examined. The defendant was a young black male defendant. The victims were his 8-month pregnant girlfriend and their unborn child. The defendant was born into terrible social circumstances; including five generations of violence; sexual abuse; incarcerated; and neglect. The circumstances of his tragic life leading up to the murder is presented as mitigation. The author of this paper has worked as a sociologist/ mitigation expert for almost 30 years in over 300 sentencing hearings/penalty phases most of which were capital murder but have also included manslaughter, habitual offenders, Miller cases; and other cases of violent crimes where the sentence is plastic. The utility of sociology in criminal cases in general is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research, using data from the Community Criminal Courts where a majority of elderly offenders are tried and sentenced, investigates the socio-economic profile of elderly offenders and the factors influencing their criminal motivation in Singapore. It revisits conceptualizations of offending in older age which until now has received scant attention even in Asian societies where ties to conventional institutions are thought to be "protective." The majority of elderly offenders in this study were "revolving door prisoners" and were never in possession of any efficacious social capital that would have prevented them from committing a crime or enabled their re-entry process, a problem compounded by the study's findings that almost 70% of the sampled offenders had experienced mental health issues. This would have spelled adverse consequences for their desistance and, conversely, their recidivist behavior, a finding that was consistent with many other studies that had examined the association between psychosis and crime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To examine the associations between Culturally and Linguistically Diverse backgrounds (vs non-Culturally and Linguistically Diverse) and in-hospital death due to self-harm, repeat self-harm and mental health service use after self-harm. Method: A retrospective study of 42,127 self-harm hospital inpatients aged 15+ years in Victoria, Australia, from July 2008 to June 2019. Linked hospital and mental health service data were used to assess in-hospital death, repeat self-harm and mental health service use in the 12 months following index self-harm hospital admission. Logistic regression and zero-inflated negative binomial regression models were used to estimate associations between cultural background and outcomes. Results: Culturally and Linguistically Diverse people accounted for 13.3% of self-harm hospital inpatients. In-hospital death (0.8% of all patients) was negatively associated with Culturally and Linguistically Diverse background. Within 12 months, 12.9% of patients had self-harm readmission and 20.1% presented to emergency department with self-harm. Logistic regression components of zero-inflated negative binomial regression models showed no differences in the odds of (hospital-treated) self-harm reoccurrence between Culturally and Linguistically Diverse and non- Culturally and Linguistically Diverse self-harm inpatients. However, count components of models show that among those with repeat self-harm, Culturally and Linguistically Diverse people (e.g. born in Southern and Central Asia) made fewer additional hospital revisits than non-Culturally and Linguistically Diverse people. Clinical mental health service contacts following self-harm were made in 63.6% of patients, with Culturally and Linguistically Diverse people (Asian backgrounds 43.7%) less likely to make contact than the non-Culturally and Linguistically Diverse group (65.1%). Conclusions: Culturally and Linguistically Diverse and non-Culturally and Linguistically Diverse people did not differ in the likelihood of hospital-treated repeat self-harm, but among those with self-harm repetition Culturally and Linguistically Diverse people had fewer recurrences than non-Culturally and Linguistically Diverse people and utilised mental health services less following self-harm admissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The need to educate criminal justice professionals about best practices to cross-examine complainants of child sexual abuse is widely acknowledged. Yet, a dearth of empirical information about their perceptions has hindered development of targeted professional education programmes. The present study compared perceptions of the quality of cross-examination of a child and an adolescent complainant between judges, prosecutors, defence lawyers, police officers and witness support staff. Questioning type (appropriate/inappropriate) and judicial intervention (present/absent) were varied. Results of two-parameter Item Response Theory modelling showed that defence lawyers perceived significantly less unfairness to the complainant than the other professional groups. Judges' views of unfairness were driven by the potential for confusion more than the age-inappropriate questioning. Police officers and witness support staff more likely rated the cross-examination as deleterious to the credibility and reliability of the complainant. Topics to include in professional development programmes around eliciting best evidence from vulnerable witnesses are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This study examines the role of law enforcement procedures for environmental offenses. We test whether reaching the statute of limitations is associated with the recidivism of offenses against the flora in Brazil. Methods: We analyze the universe of infractions issued by Brazil's Federal Environmental Agency from 2000 to 2010 using survival analysis and reweighting methods. Results: Findings indicate that reaching the statute of limitations in administrative procedures increases the risk of recidivism for individuals by 188% and firms by 34%. Conclusion: Ineffective sentencing practices stimulate repeated offenses against the environment and have significant consequences for environmental degradation in Brazil, a country that is central for actions to mitigate global environmental change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of the literature on white-collar crime that combines the perspectives of criminology and management sciences research. Design/methodology/approach: Based on a systematic review of white-collar crime recidivism, this paper defines crime and the white-collar criminal from a different perspective. The literature review was conducted using a multidisciplinary approach. Findings: This paper offers an insightful discussion of white-collar recidivism. In particular, it highlights the interesting use of "Post Conviction Risk Assessment," a tool used in criminology literature, and aims to show that the probability of recidivism in white-collar crime can be effectively measured and evaluated. This tool is commonly used by American professionals in combatting criminal recidivism. Originality/value: This study provides interesting insights into white-collar crime recidivism. It has a number of implications for probation officers and criminologists evaluating the recidivism risk of white-collar criminals for reintegration purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We use a comprehensive longitudinal dataset on criminal acts over 6 years in a European country to study specialization in criminal careers. We present a method to cluster crime categories by their relative co-occurrence within criminal careers, deriving a natural, data-based taxonomy of criminal specialization. Defining specialists as active criminals who stay within one category of offending behavior, we study their socio-demographic attributes, geographic range, and positions in their collaboration networks relative to their generalist counterparts. Compared to generalists, specialists tend to be older, are more likely to be women, operate within a smaller geographic range, and collaborate in smaller, more tightly-knit local networks. We observe that specialists are more intensely embedded in criminal networks, suggesting a potential source of self-reinforcing dynamics in criminal careers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Though the 2011 'riots' attracted a huge amount of political, media and academic attention, the state's punitive reaction to the unrest received far less analysis, despite being characterised by exceptionally harsh practices at every stage from arrest to sentencing. Drawing on interviews with criminal justice professionals who were at the heart of this response, and focusing in particular on the Crown Prosecution Service's unusually punitive approach, this article examines the imaginations, assumptions and claims that allowed professionals to variously justify and problematise this vindictive backlash. The article shows how an imagination of the disturbances as an apolitical and unprecedented outbreak of violence was central to many professionals' accounts. Yet this imagination, I contend, requires significant erasure and elision. Forgetting England's long history of unrest, and ignoring or dismissing the police killing of Mark Duggan that immediately precipitated the disturbances, were vitally important in allowing professionals to ignore the vital connections between the unrest and entrenched structural racism that has consistently underpinned post-war urban unrest – and to position the harsh law and order response as reasonable, proportionate, necessary and adequate. In doing so, the article makes a significant contribution to scholarship on the unrest, and on the importance of amnesia and ignorance - conceived as active, collective and inherently political processes - in normalising punitive and discriminatory state practices, both in the wake of the riots and in their longer aftermath. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Juvenile Military Court (JMC), established in 2009 in the West Bank, handles offenses perpetrated by Palestinian minors, consisting mostly of security-related violations. With the establishment of the JMC, and a subsequent three-stage legal reform in handling juvenile offenders, Palestinian minor suspects and defendants have been accorded various procedural rights. This study addresses the impact of these rights on the criminal careers of Palestinian minors appearing in the JMC. It first reviews the demographic profile of 8,301 minors handled by the JMC between 2000 and 2018, describes their offenses, and offense transition between their initial and second arrest. Using trend analysis, the study compares minors' reoffending level in the years before and after the reform. The findings suggest significant differences in minors' reoffending level between the years preceding and following the legal reform. Possible explanations for the findings are offered, and the article concludes with policy implications and directions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Demerit points systems (DPS) have been used in many countries as a means for improving road safety, by monitoring traffic law violations of drivers and applying corrective measures to repeat offenders, while knowledge on their safety impacts is yet incomplete. This study examined the DPS impacts on committing traffic offenses and accident involvement of drivers, in Israel, based on files of the national Licensing Authority and complementary accident files. Models were developed to evaluate changes in violation and accident rates of drivers, who underwent the DPS corrective measures, in after the treatment related to the before period, and accounting for changes observed in the matched comparison-groups. The findings showed that during the three-year period after the measures' implementation, the decrease in committing violations was of 70%, and simultaneously, there was a decrease in drivers' accident involvement, on average, of 1% in severe accidents and of 11% in total injury accidents. The effects were consistent across various groups of drivers by the corrective measures applied and the type of license. The study results support the continued use of the DPS, to improve drivers' behaviors and road safety. To increase its impacts at the national level, the DPS implementation should be supported by stable police enforcement and publicity efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the recidivism rate at the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology – National Capital Region (BJMP-NCR), Philippines, from 2020 to 2022 based on predictive variables and antecedents of recidivism. The results revealed that young individuals; males; married; Person Deprived of Liberty (PDL) with drug cases, leading to death or intending to cause death, and acts involving fraud and deception; and those having shorter stays in prison tend to recidivate more. Likewise, the pattern of recidivism in the Metro Manila District Jail (MMDJ) from 2020 to 2022 was affected by the existence of the COVID-19 pandemic. In conclusion, both predictive variables and antecedents of recidivism show no significant association with the pattern of recidivism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite growing evidence about heterogeneous pathways leading individuals into organized crime, there is limited knowledge about the differences in the criminal career between individuals who entered criminal organizations in their youth and those who joined at an older age. This study assesses the differences between early and late recruits in the Italian mafias through logistic regressions considering several criminal career parameters computed on the period prior to recruitment. Results show that recruitment in the mafias is far from a homogenous process. Early recruits report an early criminal onset, lower educational attainment, more serious offenses within a shorter time-span, and more frequent violent co-offending; late recruits show a later onset, more prolific and versatile—but less serious—offending. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The extent to which firms can be deterred from offending has received significant attention. Despite this, the evidence for such deterrence remains inconclusive. This article suggests that instead of focusing on the deterrence aimed at companies, we should instead begin with a less contentious observation; that companies are frequently recidivists, and that an emphasis on the factors associated with company recidivism would be a useful starting point for thinking about offending by firms. The article explores this through an investigation of companies pursued by the UK's Environment Agency in England between 2000 and 2016. The logistic regression analysis suggests that being a utilities company, a large enterprise or a new company were all predictive of repeat offending. Conversely, whether a company was fined after its initial offense was not predictive of whether it would re-offend. The implications of these findings for regulatory work and future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Retractions of peer-reviewed biomedical journal articles with Indian authorship have been on the rise for many years. Our study aimed to investigate the reason behind these retractions, namely plagiarism, falsification, fabrication, duplicate publication, author conflicts, ethical issues, fake peer-reviews, and data-related issues, besides providing year-wise trends regarding retraction, authorship, impact factor, and citations. We retrieved retracted publications with Indian affiliations indexed in MEDLINE between 1 January 1990 to 31 December 2021. During this period a total of 619 papers from 372 different journals with median values (interquartile range) pertaining to impact factor [3.2 (1.5, 5.2)], retraction time [24 (10, 51)] months, pre-retraction citations [4 (1, 12)], and post-retraction citations [4 (2, 12)] were retracted. While retractions still account for a small fraction of all publications (0.1%), the overall rate of retractions, that is, the number of retractions relative to the number of newly published journal articles in a given year, has been increasing. The reasons for retractions included plagiarism (27%), falsification and fabrication (26%), duplicate publication (21%), erroneous data (12%), authorship issues (4%), fake-peer reviews (3%), and ethical and funding issues (2%). We have analysed these reasons separately and compared them with each other. Besides a spurt in retraction due to plagiarism, instances of falsification have been escalating over the past decade. Half of the papers retracted on grounds of falsification were published by repeat offender authors in high-impact journals. Furthermore, 82% of retracted papers continued to accumulate citations even after the release of the journal retraction notices. The increase in retractions raises concerns over research quality as well as the wastage of scientific resources, which is especially pressing considering the present environment of scarce funding. The problem of retractions due to reasons such as plagiarism, duplicate publication, authorship issues, and, ethical issues as well as post-retraction citations can be mitigated by educating and raising awareness on publication ethics and responsible research conduct of researchers and journal publishers. Retractions due to fabrication, falsification, and fake peer reviews are more challenging to difficult to address and require further research for the identification of effective solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pervasiveness of law enforcement schemes that prescribe harsher penalties for repeat offenders continues to challenge scholars who seek an economic explanation for criminal justice policies. The current paper formalizes an explanation suggested by Dana, D. (2001. Rethinking the puzzle of escalating penalties for repeat offenders. Yale Law J. 110: 733–783), which is based on the role of the law in educating people about wrongful behavior—the so-called "expressive function" of law. The analysis shows that an escalating structure that imposes a lenient sanction on all first-timers and a harsh sanction on repeaters represents a compromise solution that is (second best) optimal if the fraction of unknowing offenders in the population of potential offenders (as opposed to rational calculators) is sufficiently large. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to illustrate by means of a case study how HKT-R Spider reference profiles of recidivists and non-recidivists may be supportive in leave decisions. Design/methodology/approach: The authors describe what is known for recidivists and non-recidivists about changes in risk factors during treatment. The HKT-R Spider is introduced. By comparing a case study to group profiles, the authors illustrate how discussions about leave may be rationalised. From a study among 278 patients to explore the profiles, the authors report the inter agreement, and differences between recidivists and non-recidivists of the clinical HKT-R factors. Intra correlation coefficients, Wilcoxon signed ranks test and independent and paired t-tests are applied. To explore which combination of factors are discriminating between both groups, the authors also performed logistic regression analyses at six treatment stages. Findings: The inter agreement reliability and internal consistency of the clinical HKT-R scale were acceptable to good in all six stages studied. The HKT-R Spider and profiles can be used to assist in evidence-informed decision-making about leave. Practical implications: Globally recidivists had somewhat higher levels of clinical risk factors at all six decision moments, but the interpretation of HKT-R Spiders profiles should always be adapted to the individual's context. Originality/value: Applying the HKT-R Spider reference profiles on individual cases may structure and rationalize discussions lead to decisions based on clinical facts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crime is a social phenomenon in almost every country. The increasing of crime incidents now and then could instigate the recurrence of crimes. The integration of prison inmates into society after release is a challenging phase to start with a new life outside the prison. Therefore, this study aims to explore recidivism perspectives on the Human Rehabilitation Program (PPI) toward career goals and recidivism factors. The design of this study is a narrative design using a qualitative approach where a semi-structured interview protocol was used to facilitate the data collection processes. A total of five recidivists from a prison in the southern zone were selected as study participants. The interview data obtained from a one-to-one interview session were analysed using thematic analysis. The results of this study found that four factors might influence the repetitive entrance of recidivists to prison namely, difficulty in finding a job, unwillingness to change, family and community stigma, and the relaxation of conditions for participating in the PPI programs. In conclusion, apart from these difficulties, securing employment is another reason which has caused recidivism to occur. Therefore, this study suggests that an intervention should be made to the PPI programs provided by the prison to ensure its relevance in line with the needs of recidivists in terms of physical, personality, skills, and societal integrations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study reports offender, victim and offence characteristics of the entire population of known serial homicide offenders identified in Italy between 1848 and 2019 (59 offenders, 244 victims, of whom 50.4% were men, and 21.7% were sex workers). We found that most of the offenders (72.4%) had a personality disorder. The offenders' age during their series was 35.1 (SD = 11.3) years, on average. Sexual elements were found in 28.4% of the crime scenes. The median time interval between homicides was 2.8 months. Also, we investigated the consistency of the offence characteristics over the series and found significant correlations between the offence characteristics between a previous and the subsequent homicide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many theories emphasize how employment is protective against criminal recidivism, yet a criminal record is a major barrier for getting hired. We asked 591 managers to make hypothetical hiring decisions between two applicants whose key difference was the presence or absence of a criminal conviction. In addition, we randomly manipulated the education, references, wage, or experience of the applicant with the criminal record to identify which manipulations can offset the cost of the record on an applicant's probability of being selected. We found that, when credentials were the same, the applicant with a criminal record was unlikely to be hired. That applicant, however, could become likely to be hired (i.e., the likelihood crossed 50 percent) by having at least 1 year of relevant experience, a GED or a college degree, or references from a former employer or a professor. Incomplete degrees, references from criminal justice professionals, or wage discounts did not make the applicant with the record likely to be hired. Findings confirm that a criminal record carries a high employability cost but also indicate that this cost can be superseded by specific credentials that signal an applicant's reliability, which can be provided by existing programs and institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Low empathy is an important psychological construct for understanding persistent criminal and antisocial behavior. In this study the affective empathy (the capacity to experience the emotions of others) and cognitive empathy (the capacity to understand the emotions of others) of 100 young male offenders (aged 16-17) in Buenos Aires was assessed using the Basic Empathy Scale. The level of empathy of young offenders who were repeat offenders (N=49) was then compared to one-time offenders (N=51). In addition, data on family criminality, school achievement and socioeconomic status was also obtained for both groups. The results showed that repeat offenders had significantly lower affective and cognitive empathy, and that these relationships held independently of the other related factors. These findings suggest that low empathy may be an important explanatory factor for repeat offending of juveniles in Argentina, and therefore may be a useful target for interventions designed to reduce repeat offending [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of psychopathy in Asian samples has not been well reported. This study tests the ability of the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) to predict sexual recidivists compared to nonsexual recidivists. A total of 451 Korean male high-risk offenders were assessed by the PCL-R in 2005, and 445 offenders recidivated by 2016. Factor 1 (interpersonal-affective) and facet 2 (affective) showed the highest effect size of 0.53 in a comparison between sexual recidivists (n = 201) and nonsexual recidivists (n = 244). We further tested four facets for different forms of recidivism using one-way multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). Sexual recidivists scored significantly higher in facet 2 than misdemeanors (n = 59, d = 0.79), robbers (n = 31, d = 0.58), burglars (n = 33, d = 0.57), and murderers (n = 65, d = 0.54). The highest effect sizes were found in facet 2 (d = 0.79) to separate sex offenders from misdemeanors, followed by Factor 1 (d = 0.75) and facet 1 (d = 0.73) to separate sex offenders from burglars. Finally, hierarchical binary logistic regression revealed that only facet 2 (27.3%) predicted sexual recidivism, indicating the importance of personality traits over behavioral traits in predicting sexual violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Survivors of sexual abuse and their families seek help from criminal law enforcement agencies and health professionals to obtain justice and health care. Many communities have implemented multi-professional collaborative models so that the victim's well-being is assured and the truth is established. However, there is a general lack of evidence on how to best articulate these teams with the healthcare professionals caring for the survivors. Therefore, this Scoping Review was conducted in order to analyze and to map the barriers and facilitators of the relationship between health professionals and the criminal investigation team in the care of survivors of sexual abuse. The methodology proposed by the Joanna Briggs Institute for Scoping Reviews was used, and the Bronstein five dimension model of interprofessional collaboration served as the basis for the analysis of barriers and facilitators. Quantitative, qualitative and mixed studies, primary and secondary sources, text and opinion documents were included. Content analysis was performed on the main findings of the collected studies. Twelve articles were identified and analyzed. Collaboration, communication, hierarchy, skills, confidentiality, and leadership emerged as key themes. Multidisciplinary Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) and Sexual Assault Response Teams (SARTs) were implemented to coordinate care, but conflicting goals and values among professionals posed challenges. Communication failures and inadequate information sharing hindered collaboration. Neutral leaders who coordinate teams, minimize groupthink, and improve decision-making were found to be valuable. Engaging across disciplinary boundaries and addressing power dynamics were challenging but could be addressed through facilitation and conflict resolution. This review highlights the importance of effective collaboration and interaction within teams and with other professionals in the care of sexual abuse survivors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Criminological theories and widespread assumptions about crime suggest that the modus operandi involved in sexual crimes should have changed over time given various contextual changes, such as better criminological knowledge (e.g., forensic awareness) as well as improved investigative techniques (e.g., forensic evidence analysis). The aim of this study was to test whether the modus operandi patterns of individuals having committed a sexual assault against female strangers have changed over time during the period of 2003–2017. More specifically, the study has identified changes in the trends of monthly counts and (relative) participations for sexual assaults during the study period in France. The measure of participations – a concept borrowed from the field of criminal career – was used to overcome the inherent limitations associated with this type of data. Results show that despite some significant changes in the modus operandi involved in sexual crimes, overall the modus operandi patterns appear to be fairly stable over time. The findings are discussed in light of their theoretical and practical implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholars of penal change have established a rich theoretical understanding of the macro- and meso- level processes that explain the emergence, diffusion, and success of penal developments. Similarly enthusiastic examinations of the agentic aspects of professional commitment to criminal justice institutions are necessary to better understand the relationship between micro-level individual processes and the endurance and success of penal projects. The present study builds on existing analyses of cause lawyering and indigent criminal defense to examine the personal narratives of penitentiary defenders, lawyers working for the Unit of Penitentiary Defense, a novel Chilean public agency that offers legal assistance and enables convicted prisoners to file grievances and report rights violations before criminal courts. By drawing on 45 in-depth semi-structured interviews, I analyze the ways in which these attorneys incorporate biographical experiences and life events into coherent stories that both support and construct their professional identity as legal aid lawyers despite adverse working conditions. Four narratives are prevalent in their accounts: identification, privilege, calling, and admiration. These narratives demonstrate that criminal justice professionals engage in meaning-making processes through the creation of biographical accounts that tie personal and professional self-understandings together. The contribution of the article is thus twofold: it situates the role of individual agency in the development of penal projects and provides a novel explanation as to how legal aid lawyers become personally and professionally invested in indigent defense. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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We analyze optimal sentence length for recurring crimes in the face of adjudication errors. We develop an infinite-horizon model where offenders are habitual—they repeat crimes whenever free. If apprehended, criminals may be wrongfully acquitted. Similarly, innocent people may be apprehended and wrongfully convicted. The key result shows how the risks of wrongful convictions and wrongful acquittals affect optimal sentencing. For reasonable ranges of parameter values, the two types of adjudication errors have the same qualitative effect on optimal sentencing: a greater risk of any of the two adjudication errors leads to a decrease in optimal sentencing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the early twentieth century, European criminal justice systems started to discuss new security measures for dealing with persistent habitual criminals and mentally disordered offenders. New preventive institutions were established in the Nordics in the shift of the 1920–1930s. Indeterminate confinement came to cover both persistent property offenders, and repeat serious violent and sexual offenders. The success of these measures and the effectiveness of institutional treatment more generally, came to be questioned in the Nordic countries in the 1960s and 1970s. Disappointment about treatment effectiveness, combined with increased stress on legal safeguards, predictability and proportionality in the administration of criminal justice, undermined professional support for indeterminate sanctions and compulsory care. The use of preventive detention was either restricted, as in Denmark and Norway, or abolished altogether, as in Finland and Sweden. However, there were other arrangements in the latter countries, which partly served the same purpose. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An outlaw pursued by the sheriff of Nottingham, Robin sought shelter in Sherwood Forest where he, along with his band of trusted followers, robbed the rich and gave to the poor. I Robin Hood: Legend and Reality i makes an important contribution to the ongoing scholarly debate on the origins of this most famous of outlaws. Crook makes his case that Wetherby was the most likely proto-Robin, his offences being so notorious that a posse had been specially hired "to seek, take and behead Robert" (p. 232). [Extracted from the article]

It is widely acknowledged that factors such as previous offending and unemployment increase the risk of offending, but it remains unclear to what extent this also holds true for terrorist suspects. Using register-data on individuals suspected of a terrorist offense in the Netherlands, the present study takes on a life-course criminological approach to study the background and criminal career of terrorist suspects. Moreover, we compare their background to that of general criminal suspects and members of the general population. Our findings support the idea of a "new" crime-terror nexus at the individual level and show similarities between terrorist suspects and regular suspects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This feasibility study examined the aggression management training (AMT) interventions on self‐esteem, impulsivity, and aggressive behavior among adolescents residing in delinquent or observation homes. Methods: A quantitative research approach with the quasi‐experimental nonequivalent control group (comparison) pretest and Posttest design was adopted. A total of 32 male adolescents (16 each in experimental and comparison groups) residing in two different observation homes in the state of Bihar, India were selected by convenience sampling technique. The study evaluated the following outcome measures: self‐esteem, impulsivity, and aggressive behavior for both groups at baseline and 1 month. AMT was administered to the experimental group bi‐weekly for 4 weeks covering four components in 8 sessions. Results: We analysed the data with independent and paired t‐tests for between and within the group differences, and Pearson correlation for a relationship. AMT intervention improved self‐esteem and reduced aggressive behavior and impulsivity among adolescents residing in delinquent homes. A correlation was found between aggression and impulsivity, and between self‐esteem and impulsivity. Psychiatric nursing Implications: The study had provided initial evidence for practice that can help psychiatric nurses significantly implement these types of interventions among significant, vulnerable, and ignored groups of adolescents detained in observation homes to prevent the occurrence of repeat offenses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Professionals working in the criminal justice sector are vulnerable to sources of indirect trauma such as the interactions with perpetrators of crime who themselves may be traumatised and exposure to distressing events or graphic material. This systematic review aims to examine the prevalence of this secondary traumatization and related resilience and risk factors among criminal justice professions. After identifying 158 relevant studies within PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, PsycINFO, and Cochrane, 52 studies were included in this review. Low to moderate levels of secondary traumatization was reported in criminal justice professions. The low prevalence of secondary traumatization may be explained by social desirability and the stigma of mental health issues in these professions. Risk factors (i.e. history of mental illness, work-related trauma, negative coping strategies) predicted secondary traumatization. Support strategies and interventions were moderately effective, however further research and a consensual definition of secondary traumatization is needed, so that organisations may benefit from trauma-informed approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: To explore whether receipt of either of two patron banning provisions currently used in Western Australia—in response to alcohol‐related disorderly and anti‐social behaviour—is associated with changes to subsequent offending. Method: Western Australia Police de‐identified the offender records and associated data for 3440 individuals who had received one or more police‐imposed barring notice/s between 2011 and 2020, and 319 individuals who had received one or more prohibition orders between 2013 and 2020. The number of offences recorded for each recipient before and after the first notice/order were examined to understand the potential effect of both provisions upon subsequent offending. Results: The low number of repeat barring notices (5% of the total) and prohibition orders (1% of the total) points to their general success. Analysis of offending records before and after receipt/expiry of either provision indicates that both have a generally positive effect on subsequent behaviours. For all barring notice recipients, 52% recorded no further offences and for all prohibition order recipients, 58% recorded no further offences. There was a less positive effect for the sub‐set of multiple ban recipients and prolific offenders. Discussion and Conclusions: Barring notices and prohibition orders appear to have a generally positive effect on subsequent behaviours for the majority of recipients. More targeted interventions are recommended for repeat offenders, for whom patron banning provisions have a more limited effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigative interviews (e.g., interrogations) are a critical component of criminal, military, and civil investigations. However, how levels of alertness (vs. sleepiness) of the interviewer impact outcomes of actual interviews is unknown. To this end, the current study tracked daily fluctuations in alertness among professional criminal investigators to predict their daily experiences with actual field interviews. Fifty law-enforcement investigators wore a sleep-activity tracker for two weeks while keeping a daily-diary of investigative interviews conducted in the field. For each interview, the investigators indicated how well they established rapport with the subject, how much resistance they encountered, how well they maintained their own focus and composure, and the overall utility of intelligence obtained. Daily alertness was biomathematically modeled from actigraphic sleep duration and continuity estimates and used to predict interview characteristics. Investigators consistently reported more difficulties maintaining their focus and composure as well as encountering more subject resistance during interviews on days with lower alertness. Better interview outcomes were also reported on days with subjectively better sleep, while findings were generally robust to inclusion of covariates. The findings implicate adequate sleep as a modifiable fitness factor for collectors of human intelligence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides the characteristic of a female recidivist through a qualitative empirical analysis of socio-demographic, criminal-legal, and criminal-executive features of convicted women serving their sentences in the Chernihiv Correctional Institution No. 44 by conducting an anonymous survey of 123 female recidivists. The characteristic features inherent to female recidivists have been identified and generalized and, on this basis, a typical characteristic of such persons has been worked out based on the analysis of results of the survey of convicted women. This category is mostly represented by middle-aged people from 36 to 48 years. This person has a secondary or secondary special, vocational education, is unmarried, without stable socially useful ties, and the existing family ties have deteriorated after being sentenced to imprisonment, and by occupation she has a predominantly working specialty. She is serving a sentence of imprisonment for a term mainly from 2 to 5 years for middle grave crimes, has 3 to 4 convictions, which indicates her extensive criminal experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the perception of stress and strain among police officers when working with juvenile repeat offenders and high-intensity offenders. A qualitative study shows that while the interviewed police officers do not explicitly report any strain, they do exhibit clear symptoms of stress, indicating psychological strain. Both police officers and social pedagogical professionals are exposed to above-average levels of strain. Working with juvenile repeat offenders and high-intensity offenders poses a challenge for both the police and social work. Individuals in high-risk professions such as police officers and social workers are at a higher risk of enduring stress and potential strain. The study was conducted with six police officers who have extensive experience working with juvenile repeat offenders and high-intensity offenders. The collaboration between the police and social work is also addressed, with barriers and mistrust between the two professional groups being mentioned. The police officers have various resources for coping with stress, such as psychosocial support teams and peer counseling. [Extracted from the article]

• Alcohol use problem is a risk factor for re-offense of DUI. • Alcohol treatment reduces risk of DUI recidivism during intervention. • We examined the lasting effect of alcohol treatment on DUI recidivism. • Two-year recidivism rate remained lower after 12-month treatment. Alcohol use problems are prevalent among recidivists of driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI). This 2-year postintervention follow-up study explored the preventive effects of 12- or 6-month alcohol treatment in relation to reoffense among repeat DUI offenders who participated in a community-based joint legal–medical intervention program. A total of 259 repeat DUI offenders with alcohol use problems were referred from a Prosecutors' Office to a psychiatric hospital to receive alcohol treatment. We divided these participants into two groups on the basis of treatment duration (6- and 12-month groups) and collected their official DUI offense records for 2 years after the intervention. A Cox proportional hazards model was used to examine the hazard ratio of each treatment duration in relation to reoffense. The reoffense rates were compared with a group of DUI offenders (n = 4097) who did not participate in the intervention program (i.e., a nonintervention group). The baseline characteristics were similar between the two treatment groups. The 2-year reoffense rates for the 12-month treatment, 6-month treatment, and nonintervention groups were 12%, 19%, and 21%, respectively. The hazard ratio for reoffense was lower for the 12-month group than for the 6-month group (hazard ratio: 0.45; 95% confidence interval: 0.21–0.96). Survival analysis revealed that compared with the non-intervention group, reoffense was significantly reduced in the 12-month group but not in the 6-month group. The 12-month joint legal–medical intervention program for alcohol treatment yielded superior outcomes to the corresponding 6-month program in terms of preventing DUI reoffense for 2 years postintervention. This research is, however, subject to the limitation that we lacked the information of factors that might affect the reoffense risk, such as motivation level, readiness to change, personality traits, and familial support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Desistance from criminal careers among guerrilla women in Colombia is a little-studied reality to date. The present study was undertaken to address this gap in the research, particularly in light of the high rates of post-disarmament recidivism. Specifically, a qualitative model was developed to identify desistance in a group of women linked to the guerrillas and currently in prison, close to having served out their alternative post-disarmament sentences under Law 975/2005. The model analyzed psychological and subjective factors in these women indicative of desistance, such as: the initiation of new projects, social ties, and feelings of remorse, self-efficacy, and self-control. These factors theoretically explain the women's interest in staying away from criminal careers, as well as the risk of reoffending. The model was tested by conducting in-depth interviews with 20 women. As a general result, factors conducive to desistance from criminal careers were found to exist for 60% of the interviewed women, while 40% of the cases were at risk of recidivism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While at least 1900 Dutch prisoners are imprisoned abroad annually, existing knowledge on this group of prisoners is often limited to descriptions about detention conditions. The current study explores latent classes of criminal careers before entrance in foreign prisons and whether reoffending behavior differed between the distinct typologies of Dutch prisoners. Using registration and reconviction data, the results show four typologies: (a) high persistent offenders, (b) low-rate offenders, (c) sporadic offenders, and (d) long-term incarcerated offenders. Furthermore, the results indicate that high persistent offenders are more likely to get reconvicted after release from foreign prisons than other typologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Addressing mass incarceration in the United States will require criminal legal professionals to shift away from carceral punishment and toward alternative approaches to justice. Education on the physiological, social, and behavioral impacts of traumatic events (i.e., trauma education), especially when enhanced with messaging about the malleability of behavior (i.e., growth mindset intervention), may help promote this shift. We assessed the impact of trauma education alone and enhanced with a growth mindset intervention on 344 U.S.-based criminal legal professionals' attitudes about the criminal legal system and perceptions of trauma-informed judicial practice, and assessed whether profession type moderated intervention impact. Compared with trauma education alone, mindset-enhanced trauma education led to increased perceived appropriateness of considering trauma in judicial decision-making (main effect) and greater support of alternative sentencing for nonviolent crimes among lawyers and judges (moderation effect). Although effects were small, findings support the enhancement of trauma education with growth mindset interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Spatial analysis has long been a valuable tool within the criminal investigation process. The aim of the present research is to analyze three dispersion distribution strategies and to build a geographic profile model on the base of set theory that can determine a reference area where the search for the anchor point of a serial homicide offender (SHO) can begin. In the present study, models of circular profiles with variable distance and ellipticals generated for 84 SHOs were tested. In general, the present study found that the elliptical model performed better than the circular models, most likely due to the larger area of the ellipses. When considering police utility purposes, circular models may perform more efficiently. The implications and directions for future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]