Territorial features,disorder and fear of crime in residential neighbourhoods in Malaysia: testing for multigroup invariance

This research examined the relationships between territoriality, disorder, crime, perceived risk and fear of crime and determined whether these relationships are constant between neighbourhoods. Questionnaire surveys and on-site observations were conducted on a sample of 320 residents from two neighbourhoods in Malaysia. Tests for invariance were conducted to determine whether coefficients differed across neighbourhoods. Confirmatory factor analytic models of the constructs exhibited adequate fit following multiple criteria within each and across samples. Results from these analyses suggested that the relationships between disorder and perceived risk, victimisation, and fear of crime were significant in both samples. Although high territoriality was associated with low-crime experiences in the low-crime area, no significant relationship was observed in the high-crime area. The findings illustrated the importance of examining territoriality and perceptions of disorder within the neighbourhood contexts.     

The Camorra closely observed

An article that discusses how information and communications technology (computer systems and data transmission) are used as ‘cyber weapons’ for criminal purposes. It canvasses a number of legislative policy options for controlling their misuse. The paper concludes with the view that implementing some form of cyber weapons laws – in the same vein as firearms legislation – would not only help ensure society's domestic well-being, but would also aid national security.     

Trafficking in Nuclear Materials: Criminals and Terrorists

The essay examines the networks that facilitate the transport of nuclear materials from the source to their possible purchasers. Analyzing the role of prisons in criminal operations, the interaction of criminals and terrorists, and the character of new organized crime groups, the author concludes that some of the most serious nuclear smuggling is not random or opportunistic. Rather, the most serious trafficking is rarely detected because it is run by professionals whose well established smuggling networks, facilitated by corruption, have the capacity to move significant quantities of diverse contraband without apprehension. Technical solutions to address this problem are not sufficient because detectors cannot identify well guarded HEU. Rather, much more attention needs to be paid to the crime and terror networks that can facilitate this trade.     

Are there Emerging West African Criminal Networks? The Case of Ghana

This paper situates discussions about emerging African Criminal Networks (ACN) within Ghana specifically, and West Africa generally, and seeks to present the initial results of an empirically based study on the activities of transnational organised criminal (TOCs) groups in Ghana. The paper argues that the nature of state and statehood in Africa and its inability to establish effective regulatory mechanisms contributes to the rise of these particular types of criminal groups. It begins by conceptualising the place of Ghanaian and West African criminal groups within the framework of international crime. Furthermore, it undertakes an in-depth analysis of three types of crimes; namely computer and internet crime, drug trafficking and (artisanal) small arms manufacture and smuggling in Ghana. By applying a set of standard variables and criteria, the paper evaluates the growth of TNCs in these three issue-areas and how such activities potentially undermine public institutions like the Ghana Police Service (GPS), customs, excise and preventive services (CEPS), judiciary, banking and political parties and political institutions in Ghana. Finally, it seeks to offer an explanatory framework for the growth and acceptance by local communities of the activities of organised crime in Ghana by situating this within a cultural ethos and the social welfare roles played by those involved in such crimes.     

The Secret History of Japanese Cinema: The Yakuza movies

This article explores the interplay among economic imperatives within the entertainment business, the mafia's role in the creation of its own media image, and the production of gangster films. Taking Japan as a case study, the paper shows that, when given the chance to influence the content of gangster movies, crime bosses have portrayed themselves as benevolent patriarchs and a positive force in society, rather the anti-heroes of classic American gangster movies. In Japan, such a choice had, however, the unintended consequence of a decline in audience interest and eventually led to the demise of studio yakuza movies. Ultimately, the paper shows that the mafia control over art can lead to the death of art—something that is bad for the mafia as well.     

The ‘good’, the ‘bad’ and the ‘Charlie’: the business of cocaine smuggling in Greece

This article examines the social organisation of cocaine smuggling in Greece. Emphasis is placed on the involvement of professionals from the shipping industry and actors from the ‘upper society echelons’ who play a pivotal role in the transportation and importation of cocaine to Western Europe and Greece. After considering empirical evidence from a variety of sources, our findings indicate that the cocaine market in Greece is ‘organised’ by a system of collaborative relationships between state, business and civil society actors. It is suggested that to better understand the nature of this illegal market, further research is required to take a closer look into the economic, socio-cultural and political incentives of these actors.     

Criminal constitutions

Why do criminals use constitutions? This article argues that constitutions perform three functions in criminal organisations. First, criminal constitutions promote consensus by creating common knowledge among criminals about what the organisation expects of them and what they can expect of the organisation's other members. Second, criminal constitutions regulate behaviours that are privately beneficially to individual criminals but costly to their organisation as a whole. Third, criminal constitutions generate information about member misconduct and coordinate the enforcement of rules that prohibit such behaviour. By performing these functions, constitutions facilitate criminal cooperation and enhance criminals' profit. To examine our hypothesis we examine the constitutions of two criminal organisations: eighteenth-century Caribbean pirates and the contemporary Californian prison gang, La Nuestra Familia.     

How organised is organised cybercrime?

To some writers and commentators, fully fledged organised cybercrime is currently emerging. Law enforcement spokesmen and Internet security firms have even made comparisons between the structure of cybercriminal enterprises and organisations like La Cosa Nostra. But, in reality, conventional criminal labels applied to cybercrime are themselves often poorly understood by those who employ them. The purpose of this research note is to apply scholarly rigor to the question of whether profit-driven cybercrime can fit underneath formal definitions of organised crime and mafias. It proceeds in three sections: the first section outlines academic definitions of organised crime, mafias and cybercrime; the second section assesses whether online cybercriminal trading forums, perhaps the most visible and documented examples of cybercriminal organisation, might constitute mafias as some contend; the third section briefly discusses some other less documented examples of ‘organised’ cybercrime and assesses the broader possibility of online groups being classified as organised crime groups.     

北京市新生代农民工城市融人意愿研究

根据国家人口与计划生育委员会2011年和2012年"流动人口动态监测项目"北京地区调查数据和北京市人口与计划生育委员会2012年"北京市流动人口的生存状况与未来预期"项目数据,目前北京的新生代农民工已占农民工整体的一半以上,受教育程度有所提高,面临较大的婚育压力。在城市融入意愿方面,大多数新生代农民工积极评价北京的变化,具有强烈的融入意愿;制约新生代农民工城市融入的主要障碍,有户籍制度等制度性因素,市场能力等经济性因素,以及社会参与不足、人际交往狭窄、居住空间隔离等社会和心理因素。为解决以上问题,需要正确认识与处理控制北京市人口规模与促进新生代农民工的城市融入的关系;创新社区管理体制,调动新生代农民工参与社区服务、社区活动的积极性与主动性,推动新生代农民工实现社区融入;加强对新生代农民工的职业培训,逐步实行城乡统一的劳动力市场就业制度;营造一个有利于新生代农民工融入城市的和谐宽容的社会心理环境。     

海洋刑法学的提出与国际海上犯罪的立法规制

随着人类社会对海洋资源的开发与利用,涉海领域的犯罪将愈演愈烈,直接危及作为海洋大国的中国的经济健康发展,加之我国刑事立法与刑事法学的严重滞后,迫切需要加强海洋刑法学的研究;海洋刑法学的研究对象是国际海上犯罪,其重点在于"国际"、"海上"犯罪,较之一般犯罪在法律适用、行为方式、行为时空等方面存在明显区隔;对于国际条约中所涉及的国际海上犯罪在国内的适用应采取转化的操作模式,可考虑在刑法典中独立设置章节对其进行规定。