The Dynamics of Gang Criminality and Corruption in Nigeria Universities: A Time Series Analysis

This study contributes to the understanding of the causal relationship between gang culture, criminality and corruption in Nigeria universities where both criminality and corruption are very high complementary variables. Writers on gang culture in Nigeria universities have largely omitted the empirical evaluation of the causal relationship between gang criminality and corruption. This study adopts the time-series models of Granger (1969) to investigate and explain the causality relationship of the variables. Using five years data (2005-2009) from 37 Universities across 36 States of Nigeria and Abuja, the federal capital territory; the results suggest that there is existence of reciprocal relationship between university gang culture, criminality and corruption. The results suggest that there is bi-directional causality relationship flowing between gang criminality and corruption in the universities.Gang, Corruption, University, Nigeria, Education, Time Series, Criminality, Granger, Unit root, Causal link.

Narcotics and Criminality

"Livet efter gymnasiesärskolan" är en intervjuundersökning med två årgångar elever som tagit studenten 2012 och 2013 från något av de fem erbjudna nationella programmen på gymnasiesärskolan inom Jämtlands gymnasieförbund (JGY). Syftet med studien var att närmare undersöka hur boendesituation, sysselsättning och ekonomiska villkor ser ut efter avslutade gymnasiestudier för avsedd målgrupp. Intervjusvaren visar faktisk fördelning av sysselsättningsform, könstraditionella yrkesval och samstämmighet mellan sysselsättning och genomgångna gymnasieprogram. Studien omfattar frågor och svar om boende, nuvarande sysselsättning och om eventuell anställningsform samt förslag till eventuella förändringar av nuvarande livssituation. Studien tar sin utgångspunkt i semi- strukturerade intervjuer med fyrtiofem avgångselever från något nationellt gymnasiesärskoleprogram inom upptagningsområdet för JGY. Samtliga intervjuer utfördes en och en via personliga möten och i vissa fall, då intervjupersonen önskat så, via telefon. Resultatet visar att informanterna förutom de sju som vid tidpunkten för studien var arbetslösa trivdes med sin nuvarande sysselsättning. Noterbart är att det är färre arbetslösa bland informanterna i föreliggande studie än för övriga ungdomar i Jämtland/Härjedalen. Överensstämmelse mellan sysselsättning och utbildning har 66 procent av populationen. Studien indikerar att det finns könsbundna yrkesval inom undersökningsgruppen. Den vanligaste boendeformen var LSS-boende vilket tjugo informanter hade vid tidpunkten för studiens genomförande. Tolv informanter hade eget boende och ytterligare tolv bodde i föräldrahemmet. Tjugoåtta informanter angav att de inte önskar någon förändring av nuvarande livssituation. De förslag till förändringar som emellertid framkommer i studien handlade främst om möjligheten till arbete och eget boende

INEQUALITY AND CRIMINALITY REVISITED: FURTHER EVIDENCE FROM BRAZIL

The objective of this study is to shed light on the determinants of criminality in Brazil. In order to undertake it we performed an econometric model based in panel data analysis for Brazilian states: Among the major conclusions we have an important result that income inequality plays an important role in criminality. Results also showed that unemployment and urbanization are positively related to crime factors. Based in panel data GMM methodology we found the existence of "inertial effect" on criminality. Panel data GMM estimator was also used to control the existence of endogeneity related to the variable public security. In this case, the results showed that public security spending is effective to diminishes criminality. Contrary to the common wisdom, we cannot found evidence that poverty increases violent crime. Finally considering the results from the Granger causality tests, it was possible to show that inequality causes crime in fact and not the contrary, what supports that the income inequality in an inequivocous determinant of criminality.

A triangle model of criminality

This paper is concerned with a quantitative model describing the interaction of three sociological species, termed as owners, criminals and security guards, and denoted by X, Y and Z respectively. In our model, Y is a predator of the species X, and so is Z with respect to Y . Moreover, Z can also be thought of as a predator of X, since this last population is required to bear the costs of maintaining Z. We propose a system of three ordinary differential equations to account for the time evolution of X(t), Y (t) and Z(t) according to our previous assumptions. Out of the various parameters that appear in that system, we select two of them, denoted by H, and h, which are related with the efficiency of the security forces as a control parameter in our discussion. To begin with, we consider the case of large and constant owners population, which allows us to reduce (3)–(5) to a bidimensional system for Y (t) and Z(t). As a preliminary step, this situation is first discussed under the additional assumption that Y (t) + Z(t) is constant. A bifurcation study is then performed in terms of H and h, which shows the key role played by the rate of casualties in Y and Z, that results particularly in a possible onset of bistability. When the previous restriction is dropped, we observe the appearance of oscillatory behaviours in the full two-dimensional system. We finally provide a exploratory study of the complete model (3)–(5), where a number of bifurcations appear as parameter H changes, and the corresponding solutions behaviours are described

Inferences on Criminality Based on Appearance

In our research study, we tested whether people can tell if someone is a criminal or not based on a photograph of their face. The importance of the subject lies in the fact that many people are unfairly judged as criminals based on stereotypes such as race. In this study, we wished to eliminate race and see if any purely facial characteristics are stereotypically defined as criminal or if a person’s initial judgment is an accurate predictor of someone’s character. Extensive research has been dedicated to finding if people have facial features that portray some characteristic about them and this study will focus on criminality. Through the use of a face modulating program, neutral faced photographs were shown to participants with a question that asked if the person in the photograph is a criminal or not. The data gathered will be beneficial in either identifying facial features that are associated with criminals or that show the interesting phenomena of gut instinct

At the Nexus of Neoliberalism, Mass Incarceration, and Scientific Racism: the Conflation of Blackness with Risk in the 21st century

This paper examines how the systems of power of neoliberalism, scientific racism, and mass incarceration intersect to construct and uphold the image of “black criminality” and “blackness as a risk” to society. Risk assessments used to determine prison sentencing exemplify this phenomenon. Histories of deliberate associations between blackness and criminality--through science, media, political rhetoric, and economic systems--create a field in which risk assessment is widely regarded as a useful and scientifically neutral tool in mass incarceration. Particular scientific, economic, and carceral circumstances culminating in the 21st century collude to elevate risk assessments into one aspect of a big data apparatus endowed with the capacity to predict and control future behaviors. The paper suggests future directions for scientific research to promote racial justice in the context of mass incarceration

A predictive model of criminality in civil psychiatric populations

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop a predictive model of criminal risk in civil psychiatric populations, by determining the relative impacts of psychopathy, drug use, impulsivity and intelligence on levels of criminality. Design/methodology/approach The sample consisted of 871 civil psychiatric patients, selected from the MacArthur Violence Risk Assessment Study, who had been diagnosed with a mental illness or personality disorder, and hospitalised less than 21 days. Each participant was administered the Hare Psychopathy Checklist Screening Version (PCL:SV), Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11) and the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS-R). In addition, information on background demographics, drug use and criminality was obtained via a self-report questionnaire. Findings Pearson correlations identified significant positive relationships between past arrests, psychopathy, impulsivity and drug use. Intelligence was negatively related to past arrests. Multiple regressions identified a significant main effect for Factor 2 psychopathy on past arrests when controlling for all covariates, but not for Factor 1 psychopathy, intelligence or impulsivity. Drug use and gender had small univariate effects. Research limitations/implications It is suggested that future research investigates the influence of specific mental disorders on different types of offending. Originality/value By investigating predictors of criminal behaviour in civil psychiatric patients, the present study makes valuable contributions to the research literature, enhancing our theoretical understanding of the relationships between psychopathy and criminality/recidivism. It also has notable implications in applied practice, for example in the development and refinement of risk assessment methods

Dress Behind Bars: Prison Clothing as Criminality

Research for this sole-authored book was undertaken during AHRC-funded Research Leave (2007). It represents Ash’s expertise as a dress historian and interest in the history and current organisation of prisons, which evolved from her teaching experience in Holloway women’s prison and Wakefield top security men’s prison in the 1970s. Crossing the disciplines of dress history, social history and film studies, this is the first book to examine the history of prisoners' clothing. Focusing on UK, American and European prison clothing, this history analyses waves of reform, sandwiched between regimes of punishing clothing restraints. Prison clothing, as Ash demonstrates, raises issues of regional, colonial, post-colonial, gender, fashion and class variations, contested by collective, political and individual tactics devised by inmates to survive and subvert cultures of punishment. This book is based on research into penal history, dress history in relation to uniforms and corporeal identity, criminological debates, oral histories, and 19th- and 20th-century prison art and literature. Material from correspondence and interviews with prisoners, prison reform groups, those who work as designers in prisons, and curators of prison photography and dress informed the study. To demonstrate the value of the clothes themselves to researchers, Ash also wrote an article for the Journal of Design History on ‘The prison uniforms collection at the galleries of Justice Museum, Nottingham, UK’ (2011). The book was reviewed by journals including Journal of Design History (2011), British Journal of Criminology (2011), Textile History (2011), Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology (2010) and Crime Media Culture (2010). Related talks included ‘Prison clothing as political resistance’ at NCAD Dublin (2010). BBC Radio 4 made the book the focus of an episode of Thinking Allowed (2009), and Ash was interviewed about women prisoners' attitudes to uniforms and prison clothing for ABC Radio National (Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 2013)

Educational Backgrounds and Youth Criminality in Nigeria

Mismanagement and recurring strikes in the Nigerian educational sector have institutionalized a legacy of intellectual poverty and criminality among youth. Unchecked persistent strikes have led to progressive deterioration in infrastructure and academic quality, leading to criminal activities among the youth. This study utilizes the concept of alternative educational backgrounds to interpret the density of crimes among youth in Nigeria. The research draws empirical evidence from Nigeria Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and supports it with a field survey. The collated data were subjected to both descriptive and regression analyses. The statistical results show that neglect of education is significantly correlated with criminal and mendicant (area-boyism) behavior among youth. This paper recommends that for the nation’s education to have an impact in reducing crime there is a need to inject vibrancy into the educational system in order to encourage and enhance educational quality/quantity