Gov-aargh-nance - "even criminals need law and order"

We present a theoretical model postulating that the relationship between crime and governance is "hump-shaped" rather than linearly decreasing. State failure, anarchy and a lack of infrastructure are not conducive for the establishment of any business. This includes illegal businesses, as criminals need protection and markets to convert loot into consumables. At the bottom end of the spectrum, therefore, both legal business and criminal gangs benefit from improved governance, especially when this is delivered informally. With significant improvements in formal governance criminal activities decline. We use data from the International Maritime Bureau to create a new dataset on piracy and find strong and consistent support for this non-linear relationship. The occurrence, persistence and intensity of small-scale maritime crime are well approximated by a quadratic relationship with governance quality. Organised crime benefits from corrupt yet effective bureaucrats, and informally governed areas within countries.

Gov-aargh-nance: "Even Criminals Need Law and Order"

We present a theoretical model postulating that the relationship between crime and governance is "hump-shaped" rather than linearly decreasing. State failure, anarchy and a lack of infrastructure are not conducive for the establishment of any business. This includes illegal businesses, as criminals need protection and markets to convert loot into consumables. At the bottom end of the spectrum, therefore, both legal business and criminal gangs benefit from improved governance, especially when this is delivered informally. With significant improvements in formal governance criminal activities decline. We use data from the International Maritime Bureau to create a new dataset on piracy and find strong and consistent support for this non-linear relationship. The occurrence, persistence and intensity of small-scale maritime crime are well approximated by a quadratic relationship with governance quality. Organised crime benefits from corrupt yet effective bureaucrats, and informally governed areas within countries.Governance, Crime, Piracy, Informal Institutions, Law enforcement

Developing Measures of Severity and Frequency of Reconviction

This report examines the scope for focusing on the seriousness and frequency of recidivism and presents methodology for determining how to measure offence seriousness, and how to measure frequency of offending. It also discusses the advantages and disadvantages of combining these two measures into a combined seriousness/frequency score. However, one needs to recognise that the task of providing alternative measures of recidivism is not simply a technical exercise, for there are both philosophical and practical issues to confront. Hence, while the main body of the report focuses largely on the feasibility of producing the alternative measures and provides some solid evidence of developing these approaches (sections 3-5), the philosophical issues – which embrace definitional, conceptual and moral concerns – are not overlooked (see section 2). Furthermore, some of the practical issues of introducing these measures are recognised in the final section (section 6). First, however, what are the stated aims and objectives of the work

Targeting the profits of illicit drug trafficking through proceeds of crime action

This study sought to identify the disruptive effect of proceeds of crime action on criminal activity, and to identify factors associated with successful proceeds of crime action. Executive summary Illicit drug trafficking is a source of funds for further trafficking and for supporting the lifestyles of criminals. Drug trafficking has been closely linked with organised crime and with social harms. This project had two main aims: • To identify the disruptive effect of proceeds of crime action on criminal activity. The project attempted to measure the disruptive effect by developing an economic model that estimated the multiplier impact of the reinvestment of the profits of drug trafficking. • The project also attempted to identify factors associated with successful proceeds of crime action. There are two main audiences for the findings of this study. Senior police, police intelligence, policymakers and researchers will be interested primarily in measuring the disruptive effect of proceeds of crime action. Police responsible for managing proceeds of crime investigations and senior investigators will be interested in the practical applications of findings relating to success factors in financial investigations. The results of the project should improve agencies’ ability to target trafficking and increase the seizure of proceeds of crime. The proposed index of the disruptive effect of proceeds of crime action—the Proceeds of Crime Drug Disruption Index (POCDDI)—will also allow agencies to provide both the Government and the community with a more accurate assessment of the value of their proceeds of crime initiatives

GOV-AARGH-NANCE – “EVEN CRIMINALS NEED LAW AND ORDER”

We present a theoretical model postulating that the relationship between crime and governance is “hump-shaped”, rather than linearly decreasing, when criminals need access to markets. State collapse, violent conflict and a lack of infrastructure are not conducive for the establishment of any business, legal or illegal. At the bottom end of the spectrum, therefore, criminal gangs benefit from improved governance, especially when this is delivered informally. With significant improvements in formal governance criminal activities decline. We use data from the International Maritime Bureau to create a new dataset on piracy and find strong and consistent support for this non-linear relationship.Governance; Crime; Piracy; Informal governance; Law enforcement

Criminal neighbourhoods: does the density of prior offenders encourage others to commit crime?

Using crime data over a period of a decade for Glasgow, this paper explores whether the density of prior offenders in a neighbourhoods has an influence on the propensity of others to (re)commence offending. The study shows that the number of ‘newly active’ offenders in a neighbourhood in the current quarter is positively associated with the density of prior offenders for both violent and property crime from the previous two years. In the case of ‘newly active’ property offenders, the relationship with active prior offenders is only apparent when prior offender counts exceed the median. The paper postulates that intraneighbourhood social mechanisms may be at work to create these effects. The results suggest that policies which concentrate offenders in particular neighbourhoods may increase the number of ‘newly active’ offenders, and point to evidence of a threshold at which these effects take place

Support and Services for Parents:A Review of the Literature in Engaging and Supporting Parents

This literature review aims to draw together existing knowledge on assessing and evaluating parenting interventions. In conducting the literature review, the research team was interested in re-examining the historical policy context to locate the rationale for the introduction of Parenting Orders and the apparent under use of the provisions; to re-examine the evidence of risk and protective factors and the interrelated issues of antisocial behaviour and child care; alongside effective approaches to family service provision. These themes set the context and framework for examining the evidence on the practice of engagement with clients and the use of compulsion