Perspectives on Ethno-National Conflict Among Kurdish Families With Members in the PKK

This article reports the findings of an ethnographic study of families with members involved in the armed struggle for Kurdish nationalism led by the Kurdistan Workers' Party. Based on in-depth, semi-structured interviews and observations with a theoretical sample of six families in the area of Yüksekova, detailed discussions were held with twelve members of families with children, partners, or siblings involved in the conflict. Ethno-national exceptionalism plays a significant role in determining the motivations of political violence among groups, but with the additional background of the perceptions and realities of systematic racialization, de-territorialization, disenfranchisement, and cultural exclusion that affect certain Kurdish groups. The findings in this article offer critical sociological and anthropological accounts of the localized drivers of ethno-nationalism, and the motivations for and the experiences of conflict among families with members involved in the armed conflict and the “Kurdish question” in Turkey.     

When Protection Collapses: Post-Demobilization Trajectories of Violence

The implementation of peacebuilding activities, including the demobilization of non-state illegal actors, does not necessarily bring about a reduction in violence. While there are several theories that address the causes of persistent violence, there are few that adequately explain why rates of violence can rapidly increase in a post-demobilization context. Using the method of process tracing, this article explores the case of Córdoba Department, Colombia, where rates of violence have increased after the demobilization of paramilitary groups (Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia [AUC]) in 2005. We argue that the AUC created and maintained a monopolistic illegal protection system during its years of operation, and this type of local order was able to contain violence. After demobilization, the protection system was disrupted and as a consequence, new competition between post-demobilization criminal organizations for existing illegal rents developed, petty crime became pervasive, and revenge killings spiked, thus contributing to increased rates of violence in the post-demobilization period. Our theory about the breakdown of protection finds support in other AUC-dominated regions of Colombia.     

When Clients Throw Punches and Chairs: How Mediators Respond to Violence

Much is known about screening family law mediation cases for potential violence, but little is known about violence that occurs within or immediately after mediation. In this article, we present the findings of a survey of U.S. mediators who reported their experiences of violence across a variety of mediation case types. These mediators described how and when violence arose and also reported the techniques and interventions that they used to de‐escalate tensions and to respond to violence. Our goal is to better equip mediators to prevent violence when possible, and to respond effectively if violence does arise in mediation.     

Does the sequence of land reform and political reform matter? Evidence from state-building in Afghanistan

Property insecurity is associated with terrorism, insurgency and economic underdevelopment. For this reason, land reform is often implemented alongside political reform in post-conflict settings. In contrast, this article argues that political reform should be sequenced prior to land reform during state-building. Evidence from Afghanistan shows how land redistribution, legal titling, decentralisation of state-owned land and provision of legal services to resolve land disputes are unlikely to alleviate political violence or facilitate economic development without establishing or substantially improving political capacity, political constraints and inclusive political institutions at the local level. These findings suggest the importance of sequence in the process of land reform and political reform. More generally, political reform is a prerequisite for land reform to reduce violence and improve development prospects in post-conflict settings.     

VIOLENT OFFENDING AND VICTIMIZATION IN ADOLESCENCE: SOCIAL NETWORK MECHANISMS AND HOMOPHILY*

Although violent offending and victimization share many features, they can affect adolescent social relationships in distinct ways. To understand these differences, we take a network approach to examine the mechanisms responsible for similarities (i.e., homophily) in violent offending and violent victimization among friends. Our goal is to determine whether the social network mechanisms that produce homophily for violent offending are similar to or different from those that produce homophily for violent victimization. By using stochastic actor‐oriented modeling and two waves of friendship network data for 1,948 respondents from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, we examine homophily mechanisms of preference for similarity, avoidance, and influence with respect to youth violence and victimization. The results demonstrate that homophily observed for violent offending primarily reflects selection of similar others, whereas homophily observed for victimization reflects the tendency among alters to avoid victimized youth. These findings have important implications for future research and suggest that, among adolescents, violent offending and victimization homophily are the result of unique social processes.     

Inscribing the victor’s land: nationalistic authorship in Sri Lanka’s post-war Northeast

This article examines the nationalistic authorship of space in Sri Lanka’s post-conflict Northeast as part of the state’s nation-building strategy and as a continuation of a post-colonial process of Sinhala-Buddhist nationalistic revival. Exploring issues of historiography, conflict resolution, physical vehicles of ideology and collective memory, the article demonstrates how land policies, development and the tourism industry in a post-conflict context can go hand-in-hand with dispossession, militarisation and the humiliation of a ‘defeated’ minority community.     

Dating hot spot to fraud hot spot: Targeting the social characteristics of romance fraud victims in England and Wales

Research Summary

We found that romance fraud was rising year-on-year across every region in England and Wales, increasing 55% during the 3 years between October 2018 and October 2021. Fifty percent of all the romance fraud victims in the period resided in 17% of the places where romance fraud had occurred. A total of 439 locations (outward postcode areas) were identified as the “power few” in the first year of the data set. Of these 439 locations, 162 of them recurred in both of the following years, becoming chronic “hot spot” locations containing more than one in six of all reported romance fraud victims. The demography of victims in repeat locations differed considerably, but hot spots were more frequently predominantly populated by less affluent populations.

Policy Implications

We conclude that the current national one-size-fits-all fraud prevention approach may not be the most efficient or effective way to reach those victims who most require crime prevention advice. The National Fraud Intelligence Bureau, based in the City of London Police, could adopt a tailored approach to providing preventative information to local police forces based on the year-to-year patterns in crime and the associated intelligence provided by sociodemographic data sources such as Acorn.     

失地农民群体性事件防控对策研究

在工业化、城市化的进程中,农民失地问题是目前及今后相当一个时期我国所面临的一个具有高度综合性的复杂问题,众多失地农民的生存和发展问题也必将成为我国政府要着力解决的一个重要问题。农民因失地问题引发的群体性事件在各地具有一定的普遍性,也具有较大的社会危害性。失去土地是引发农民群体性事件的主因,其触发点大都是农民的合法权益受到来自各方面的不法侵害,农民奋起维权,而地方政府处置不当。尽管失地农民群体性事件的发生在触发机制上有其偶然性,但在根源上却有其必然性。失地农民群体性事件的总根源在于：失地农民在丧失生产资料之后生产力的萎缩和生活力的下降。有鉴于此,失地农民群体性事件的防控对策就应把着力点放在恢复、提高失地农民的生产力和生活力上．     

城市化进程中农村犯罪预防的博弈诠释

在推进城市化进程中,社会发展资源的有限和共享的矛盾,与犯罪现象的发展变化有着直接的内在联系,尤其在农村,物质文化需要同落后的社会生产力之间的矛盾日趋突出,甚至已经影响到社会的和谐及农村经济的发展。如何提高城市化进程中农村犯罪风险、犯罪成本,进而有效地遏制城市化进程中的农村犯罪,是解决城市化进程中农村犯罪的首要问题。     

试论“公共厕所”抢劫案件的侦防对策

近年来在公共厕所实施抢劫的案件有增多趋势。通过剖析此类案件的特点,制定相应的系统侦防对策,有效打击此类犯罪,有利于保障人民群众生命和财产的安全。具体而言,应充分利用媒体的作用,及时发布发案信息提醒公众注意防范;应加强侦查快速反映机制,及时串并案件,并加强证据意识;应加强公众自我防范意识教育,以掌握应对方法。