Economic Conditions, Deterrence and Juvenile Crime: Evidence from Micro Data

This article investigates the determinants of criminal activityamong juveniles in the United States. It uses a survey of U.S.high school students conducted in 1995, which provides detailedinformation on offenses; personal, family, and neighborhoodcharacteristics; as well as deterrence measures. The determinantsof selling drugs and committing assault, robbery, burglary,and theft are analyzed separately for males and females. Theresults provide some evidence that juveniles respond to incentivesand sanctions. Employment opportunities and policies designedto increase the probability of arrest may be effective toolsfor reducing juvenile crime.     

Juvenile Arrest and Later Economic Attainment: Strength and Mechanisms of the Relationship

Journal of Quantitative Criminology - We tested the impact of juvenile arrest on asset accumulation, debt accumulation, and net worth from ages 20–30. We also examined whether indicators of...     

Serious and Violent Juvenile Crime: A Comprehensive Strategy

Abstract OJJDP is actively involved in the Department of Justice's “Pulling America's Communities Together” (PACT) program. Developed at the direction of Attorney General Janet Reno, this initiative is designed to provide training, technical assistance and program development resources to participating jurisdictions address violence in their communities. Four jurisdictions have been selected to date: Denver, Omaha, Atlanta, and the District of Columbia. In addition to making its wide range of training and technical assistance resources available to these jurisdictions, OJJDP is helping the sites assess their juvenile justice systems and develop plans to implement the Comprehensive Strategy. To help jurisdictions begin assessing their systems and existing youth violence problems, OJJDP is preparing a juvenile violence fact book, called “The State of Juvenile Justice.” In addition to presenting statistical data on the nature and scope of the problem across America, the fact book will encapsule program and policy positions of major juvenile justice professional associations regarding youth violence. Such knowledge will assist local jurisdictions in developing their own positions, strategies and programs. In addition to NCJFCJ, other groups such as the American Probation and Parole Association, the National Juvenile Detention Association, the American Correctional Association, and the Coalition of Juvenile Justice State Advisory Groups have been invited to participate in development of The State of Juvenile Justice document.     

Juvenile firesetters: Crime scene actions and offender characteristics

Purpose. To investigate whether and to what extent the thematic structure of crime scene actions in arsons identified in Canter and Fritzon (1998) is replicated for juvenile firesetters and to explore whether any associations between the crime scene action themes and offender characteristics would be evident. Methods. The crime scene actions and offender characteristics of 61 male and 5 female juvenile firesetters (aged 6‐17 years) were examined. The data were drawn from a larger database originally collected and content analysed in Fritzon (1998). In total, 43 dichotomous crime scene actions, 17 offender background characteristics and offender criminal record variables had been coded. Smallest space analysis was employed to examine the configuration of crime scene action and offender characteristic variables. The associations between the crime scene actions and offender characteristics, as well as the criminal record variables, were analysed using the correlation. Results. Distinct structural themes for crime scene actions were found in juvenile firesetting, similar to those identified in Canter and Fritzon (1998). Contrary to Canter and Fritzon, only two groups of background characteristics were identified, depressed and delinquent, the latter being more common and related to an instrumental form of firesetting. The expressive form of firesetting was associated with offenders' psychopathology and female gender. The presence of a crime scene action theme was associated with the offender's age. Conclusions. The structural themes of firesetting behaviour appear to transpire early. The background characteristics of juvenile firesetters indicate that juvenile firesetting is often associated with antisocial behaviour and psychopathology, deserving, therefore, disparate prevention, intervention and investigation programmes.     

Self-Reported Delinquency and Alienation: A Study of Juvenile Crime

Based on a probability sample of 7542 from the seventh, ninth, 11th grade students of the Toledo metropolitan area, this study, using self-reported delinquency, investigated the relationship between alienation and deviant behavior. A positive association between alienation (normlessness and societal estrangement) and self-reported delinquency were observed. The degree of association and the direction still maintained when controlled for the age and sex of the students.     

Young People and Prostitution: Perpetrators in Our Midst

Involvement of young people in prostitution has been an increasingly familiar phenomenon in recent years. This article explores some of the matters related to it during those years. First, it reviews what has been happening during the 1990s. Second, it demonstrates, via a recent case study, some of the issues, debates and controversies that are related to youth prostitution. Third, it examines the latest developments in the United Kingdom before considering some of the international developments and implications for those involved in youth prostitution. Finally, some of the effects of 'new technologies' are considered while contemplating what remains to be done about the battle to combat youth prostitution.     

The Role of Legitimizing Ideologies as Predictors of Ambivalent Sexism in Young People: Evidence from Italy and the USA

The studies presented here focus on the relationship between legitimizing ideologies and ambivalent sexism. 544 Italian students (Study 1) and 297 US students (Study 2) completed several scales: social dominance orientation (SDO), system justification (SJ), political orientation, religiosity, and the Glick and Fiske (J Pers Soc Psychol 70(3):491–512, 1996) Ambivalent Sexism Inventory. Zero-order correlations revealed all facets of ideological attitudes to be positively related to each other and correlated with ambivalent sexism. In particular, the SDO was related to both ideology components of SJ and political orientation and to ambivalent sexism (hostile and benevolent). Moderated regressions revealed that SDO has a positive impact on hostile sexism for men only, while SJ has a positive impact on hostile sexism for women only. While the first result was stable across the two studies, the last moderated effect has been detected only in Study 1. We discuss the results with respect to different facets of social ideologies and cultural differences between the two countries.     

青少年犯罪的极性心理和行为演变机制

当研究者以旁观者的姿态来看待凸显的青少年犯罪问题,试着以规则对抗、矛盾学说建立极性心理和行为机制来处理同样具有极性特征的犯罪问题时,青少年在犯罪问题上的易感性,在社会化过程中的弱势地位也许就开始清晰化了。     

触目惊心的计算机犯罪

据瑞典互联网市场研究公司Royal Pingdom发布的研究报告显示,2012年全球网民人数的总量已突破22亿,较2007年的11.5亿人增加了将近100%。从这一仍在不断攀升的数据中我们不难发现,计算机及网络科学技术已与人们的日常生活密切相关。在对于此类技术高度依赖的同时,涉及计算机及网络的科学技术也悄然出现在犯罪活动中。作为现代科技的产物,计算机在一定程度上也成了犯罪手段、犯罪方式、犯罪工具、犯罪目标、犯罪证据以及储存有关犯罪行为的信息库。     

刑罚对青少年犯罪预防价值的调查与分析——以天津市为背景的研究

刑罚无疑具有预防犯罪的价值,这种价值体现在犯罪人作案前对刑罚风险的主观估计,而犯罪人自身对刑罚认知上的偏差,会影响刑罚预防价值的发挥.传统上,青少年犯罪常被认为是一种"不计后果"的犯罪,其实犯罪青少年对刑罚风险的感知、判断并不弱于其他犯罪人,刑罚对青少年犯罪仍有重要的预防作用,只不过其作用的大小因犯罪青少年的年龄、性别、文化程度等有所差异.另外,一些相关因素,也造成了刑罚对部分犯罪青少年预防作用的"缺失".     

辩护人伪造证据、妨害作证罪的三个问题——以李庄案为例

李庄案不但涉及辩护人伪造证据、妨害作证罪的司法认定，而且还涉及一系列基础的犯罪论问题。李庄“利用会见龚刚模之机，向龚刚模宣读同案人供述，教唆龚刚模编造被公安机关刑讯逼供的供述”的行为，不能毫无例外地简单地认定为辩护人帮助伪造证据的行为；同时，不能将一般的“引诱”证人违背事实改变证言或者作伪证的行为认定为犯罪，而应明确限制为“以暴力、威胁、贿买等方法”指使证人违背事实改变证言或者作伪证的行为才能构成犯罪。辩护人伪造证据、妨害作证罪同时兼备行为犯与结果犯的双重特征，以辩护人伪造证据、妨害作证罪是结果犯，作为李庄无罪辩护的实体法理论依据本身缺乏充分的刑法规范依据和刑法理论支撑。我国应采取明确限缩犯罪成立最低规格的立法政策和立法技术，重新构建中国犯罪构成理论体系，在中国犯罪构成论体系内将标准的犯罪构成、修正的犯罪构成与犯罪成立最低规格标准等犯罪论关系范畴进行周延的逻辑梳理，实现中国犯罪构成论体系的逻辑自洽。     

Controlling School Crime: An Examination of Interorganizational Relations of School and Juvenile Justice Professionals

Abstract Crime in and around schools creates a climate of fear among students and teachers, and disrupts the learning environment. Effective control of school crime demands the cooperative efforts of school and juvenile justice officials. This paper examines the interorganizational relations between school principals, teachers, and juvenile probation officers by comparing survey results from three cities. Findings reveal significant differences onmethods for controlling school crime; and on due process and sharing of school and court records. School and court officials do cooperate in working with students who are under probation supervision; but the extent of their interaction is characterized by a low level of interorganizational relations.