Defenders at Law: Assessing the performance of legal defense on Drug Trafficking cases in Brazil
AbstractFew studies have assessed defense performance in criminal cases in the Latin American context. The current research investigated whether defense type affects the odds of conviction and incarceration length for drug trafficking cases in the Brazilian city of Belo Horizonte. We used a Binary Logistic and a Linear regression model, controlling the results for defendants and case characteristics. From that, we found no difference in the performance of public defenders compared to private and assigned lawyers. Criminal history, firearms seized, and being the only defendant in the process increased incarceration length. ...
Source: Crime, Law and Social Change - July 8, 2022 Category: Criminology Source Type: research
Gangs, violence, and fear: punitive Darwinism in El Salvador
This article evaluates the factors impacting support for tough on crime policies in El Salvador. Examining theoretical and empirical scholarly work, we look at how fear, together with social and political contexts drive public appetite for punitive policies towards criminals. We show that President Nayib Bukele is responding to public opinion and has implemented tough on crime policies at the expense of human rights violations and democratic institutions. Society favors candidates who are the “toughest” against criminal actors. Political candidates from all sides of the ideological spectrum tap into the fear of the pop...
Source: Crime, Law and Social Change - July 4, 2022 Category: Criminology Source Type: research
Speaking of terrorist behaviour
AbstractUsing prospect theory as our core descriptive model of the decision-making process, we explore how behavioural economics can be used to expand what can be said about terrorist behaviour and align the inferences about terrorist behaviour that have been drawn from a diverse collection of disciplines. Prospect theory played a key role in the emergence of behavioural economics and provided many leads that were followed up by subsequent generations of researchers to reveal and explain various interesting quirks and anomalies in human decision-making, especially under conditions of risk and uncertainty. The decision-make...
Source: Crime, Law and Social Change - July 1, 2022 Category: Criminology Source Type: research
The degrowth movement and crime prevention
AbstractCritics of market economies are found among academics, social movements and alliances involving both. One such alliance is constituted by what is known as the degrowth movement, whose analyses of the dysfunctional effects of prevalent economic arrangements and principles relate (implicitly or explicitly) to crime prevention strategies. After briefly examining the concerns of classical theorists such as Karl Marx and Max Weber about infinite growth and its environmental impact, this paper tries to uncover the criminological implications of degrowth and to hypothesize how its strategies can contribute to the reductio...
Source: Crime, Law and Social Change - July 1, 2022 Category: Criminology Source Type: research
Foreign-born arrestees and recidivism: a multilevel analysis of arrest data from a Florida county Sheriff ’s office
AbstractUsing approximately 30,000 arrest records from the Pinellas County Sheriff ’s Office in Florida and neighborhood characteristics from the U.S. Census American Community Survey, this study examines the relationship between foreign-born status and recidivism. In addition, we investigate whether any plausible relationship between foreign-born status and recidivism is condit ioned by neighborhood characteristics. The results from hierarchical logistic regression analyses reveal that foreign-born offenders are less likely to recidivate than native offenders. Furthermore, the negative effect on recidivism for foreign-b...
Source: Crime, Law and Social Change - July 1, 2022 Category: Criminology Source Type: research
Understanding contextual heterogeneity in the outcomes of large-scale security policies: evidence from Italy (2007 –12)
AbstractWe develop a theoretically informed quantitative evaluation of the large-scale policy of security pacts (SPs) in Italy (2007 –2012). In particular, we show how Matland’s theoretical model of policy implementation (1995) may help clarify the contextual heterogeneity present in the outcomes of security policies. We build and use a macro-panel dataset in which we exploit variations in the temporal and geographic adoption of SPs to develop a dynamic analysis of the contextual factors that influence the probability of adopting a large-scale security policy at the sub-national government level. We apply a rigorous co...
Source: Crime, Law and Social Change - July 1, 2022 Category: Criminology Source Type: research
A continuum of hate: delimiting the field of hate studies
AbstractA relatively nascent discipline, the field of hate studies has been explored and theorised from a multiplicity of disciplinary contexts. However, the field is ill-defined, and the relationship between hate crime and other related concepts unexplored. Here, we consider the range of phenomena which might fall within or without the field of hate studies, initiating a discussion of the boundaries of the field. We signal both the continuities and discontinuities among and between an array of strategies intended to sort and maintain hierarchical relationships, with the purpose of provoking scholars in the field of hate s...
Source: Crime, Law and Social Change - July 1, 2022 Category: Criminology Source Type: research
Correction to: Border crossings from Mexico to the U.S. and the role of border homicides
(Source: Crime, Law and Social Change)
Source: Crime, Law and Social Change - June 29, 2022 Category: Criminology Source Type: research
The unintended consequences of anti-corruption measures: Regulating judicial conduct in Ghana
AbstractThere are endless possibilities of court users seeking to influence judges' decisions on cases in many countries. As a result, authorities often seek to reduce corruption opportunities by regulating judicial conduct and limiting access to judges. Using interview data from 15 judges drawn from a larger study of justice and anti-corruption officials in Ghana, this paper presents judges' interpretation and observation of rules around judicial conduct and the impact on corruption opportunities. The results suggest that judges interpret their obligations under these regulations broadly, including isolating themselves fr...
Source: Crime, Law and Social Change - June 21, 2022 Category: Criminology Source Type: research
Criminal liability for correctional officer excessive use of force
This study expands our knowledge of individual, situational, and organizational characteristics that might contribute to excessive force in corrections settings. Our study shows that correctional agencies can reduce excessive force levels by implementing simulation-based training, administering psychological tests, and creating mandatory reporting laws. (Source: Crime, Law and Social Change)
Source: Crime, Law and Social Change - June 15, 2022 Category: Criminology Source Type: research
Carceral Experiences of White-Collar Offenders: Qualitative Research Design Utilising the Offender-Based Definition and Pierre Bourdieu ’s Capital Theory
This study attempts to advance the current state of research by utilising Bourdieu ’s capital theory in the description and explanation of the prison experience of a sample of 13 politicians, businesspersons, and lawyers serving prison terms for corruption and embezzlement in Poland. Deductive analysis of semi-structured interviews reveals how participants used social, cultural, and symbolic capital to secure an advantageous position whilst in prison. Due to varied assets such as their non-criminal identity, interpersonal skills and legal knowledge, the incarcerated elites studied were able to curry favour with guards, w...
Source: Crime, Law and Social Change - June 15, 2022 Category: Criminology Source Type: research
Criminal liability for correctional officer excessive use of force
This study expands our knowledge of individual, situational, and organizational characteristics that might contribute to excessive force in corrections settings. Our study shows that correctional agencies can reduce excessive force levels by implementing simulation-based training, administering psychological tests, and creating mandatory reporting laws. (Source: Crime, Law and Social Change)
Source: Crime, Law and Social Change - June 15, 2022 Category: Criminology Source Type: research
