Stage model for female criminals: business school students’ perceptions of white-collar offenders

We know that half of the population in Norway is female, and we know that females represent 6% of the white-collar crime prison population. In the stage model overview, we derive percentages from the literature into the gender model to explain stepwise reduction from 50% to 6%. In our empirical research, we asked two groups of business school students to come up with their own estimates for the stages in the model for female criminals. While estimates from executive students resulted in 3% women in prison, bachelor students’ estimates resulted in 10% women in prison. The most obvious discrepancy between the research literature and our two survey groups is related to relative convictions. Based on the literature, we suggested that female defendants receive more serious convictions because they may perceive and feel more guilt for a crime, for example in terms of regret, shame and depression. Thus women may have a tendency to confess more easily. Both executive students and bachelor students disagree with this estimate of 140%, as they suggest 62% and 69% respectively. One reason for their suggestion of less serious convictions for female white-collar criminals – sometimes labelled pink-collar criminals – might be that family situation and other elements are taken into account before a verdict is passed on a woman. Another substantial discrepancy is related to detection risk. The literature suggests a low detection risk for women, but may be not as low as we estimated at 30%. Both executive and bachelor students believe that the gender difference in detection likelihood is not that formidable, as they suggest 75% and 65% respectively.     

Are bribe payments in Tanzania “grease” or “grit”?

This article uses empirical evidence from Tanzania to show that bribes there are not “greasing” but instead encumber economic transactions. The evidence suggests that bribe payments promote contacts with service providers, result in lower satisfaction with public service delivery, and result in less efficient public services. Further evidence against bribes as ‘facilitators’ is presented in the form of opinion polls and actions taken to reduce bribe payments. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Sharp Force Homicide in Denmark 1992–2016

Sharp force trauma is a common homicide method. The weapon is typically a knife, which is easily accessible and does not require special skills. We have analyzed all 471 sharp force homicides in Denmark during 1992–2016 with special focus on aspects that are relevant to forensic pathologists, including the distribution of wounds and organ injuries. Most homicides were committed inside with a kitchen knife. The front left thorax was the most common area to be affected by sharp force trauma. In 18.9% of the victims, there was only one sharp injury, the majority on the thorax. The most common trajectory for stab wounds was directly posterior with no deviation to the sides or up/down followed by directly anterior. The heart (including pericardium) and lungs (including hemo- and pneumothorax) had injuries in more than 75% of the victims. 67% of victims were males. Female victims had more sharp force injuries and defense wounds than male victims. Most females were killed in domestic homicides (73.7%), most commonly in partner killings (56.4%). In contrast, many male victims were killed in a setting of nightlife/intoxication (34.0%) most by a friend/acquaintance delivering a few stab wounds. The results clearly show strong sex differences in both victims and offenders. This could be useful for shaping policies and public opinion, and as a route for understanding the developments in interpersonal violence. In the narrow setting of death investigation, our results will provide an evidence-based approach to understanding the injury patterns in sharp force homicide.     

Assessing the relevance of self-reported ADHD symptoms and cognitive functioning for psychopathy using the PCL-R and the TriPM

Psychopathy and ADHD are highly comorbid disorders, possibly linked to the underlying trait of impulsivity. It is therefore likely that ADHD symptoms are also of importance when studying cognitive functioning linked to psychopathy. Few studies of psychopathy and cognitive functioning have taken ADHD symptoms into account. In this cross-sectional study, male offenders (n = 201 of whom 105 were neuropsychologically tested) were recruited from all high security correctional facilities in Sweden. The aim of the study was to investigate if self-reported ADHD symptoms and cognitive functioning could predict specific subcomponents of psychopathy in offenders. Results showed that self-rated ADHD symptoms (ASRS) and psychopathy were highly correlated. Furthermore, the associations of ASRS and PCL-R Facet 3, as well as TriPM Disinhibition, were remarkably high. As expected, ASRS was not related to either Facet 1 or 2 of the PCL-R, or to TriPM Boldness. Cognitive functioning did not contribute in predicting psychopathy beyond the effect of ASRS. The high overlap in reported symptoms highlights the importance of thorough clinical assessments to be able to distinguish psychopathic personality traits from ADHD and lessen the risk of misdiagnosis. Further, it points to the need of finding discriminative measures possibly linked to etiological underpinnings.     

The Impact of a High-Tech Spy

Air Force colonel Stig Wennerström was the most dangerous spy to Sweden in the Cold War era. His espionage was found to have been especially crippling to the Swedish air defence and its high-tech systems. That is where repair work was seen to be most urgent. As the politicians turned down appeals for extra funding, it was up to the military system itself to handle the situation. In spite of this, the Supreme Commander appears not to have pressed for Air Force priority to repair resources. The service's proportion of the defence budget did not increase, and other quantitative and qualitative evidence points to a similar lack of Air Force priority. Three theoretical approaches are used to explain how this failure to act could have come about. A rationality model is discussed and compared to an organizational competition approach and to an approach based on the character of key individuals.     

Ideologies of Jihad in Europe

The article explores ideological fault lines among Sunni Muslim militants (jihadists) in Europe since the mid-1990s. It argues there have been disputes among the militants about whether to prioritize local struggles or Al Qaeda's global war, and about the legitimacy of launching terrorist attacks in European states offering political asylum to Muslims. It concludes that Europe's militants have become more ideologically unified in conjunction with the invasions of Afghanistan, Iraq, and the Mohammed drawings, seeing European countries as legitimate and prioritized targets, and identifying with Al Qaeda.     

Strategic Knowledge Networks: The Case of IT Support for Eurojuris Law Firms in Norway

Law firms are knowledge intensive, and the use of advanced technology may well transform these organizations in the future. To examine knowledge management in Norwegian law firms, a study involving four phases of data collection and analysis was designed. The third phase comprised a survey of Norwegian law firms on the use of information technology to support inter-organizational knowledge management. Two predictors, firm co-operation and knowledge co-operation, were significant. The fourth phase was a survey of Norwegian law firms belonging to the Eurojuris network. The Eurojuris law firms had significantly higher IT use, firm co-operation and knowledge co-operation than the other law firms. There was no significant difference in inter-organizational trust, both Eurojuris firms and non-network firms reported that they trusted other law firms.