In Their Own Hands: Young People and Self-Justice Retaliation in Germany

Strong and viable modern states have limited the use of private force to narrowly-defined situations of self-defense. Yet, evidence from crime surveys shows that a significant proportion of violent and property crimes is not reported to police. Instead of calling the police, people either take no action or employ a variety of mechanisms, including retaliation, to settle disputes. Drawing on data from a survey of 2,921 young people in two German cities, we investigate the propensity of adolescents to resort to self-justice retaliation. The results show widespread propensity to engage in retaliatory actions, particularly among adolescent males of low socio-economic status. Further, attitudes to the police, unsupervised routine activities, and delinquency-related variables were the most influential correlates of propensity to engage in retaliatory actions. </jats:p

Postopkovna pravičnost, legitimnost policijske dejavnosti in pripravljenost mladih ljudi za sodelovanje s policijo v Sloveniji

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to test various research hypotheses derived from the process-based model of policing. More specifically, the effect of procedural justice judgments on perceived police legitimacy is empirically scrutinized. The influence of police legitimacy on a variety of forms of public cooperation with police is also adjudicated. Design/Methods/Approach: This study tests process-based model hypotheses using cross-sectional data from pencil-and-paper surveys administered to 683 individuals 18 years and older who were enrolled in 6 high schools located in Maribor and Ljubljana, Slovenia. A series of linear regression equations are estimated for purposes of hypothesis testing. Findings: The regression analyses show that procedural justice is a strong correlate of police legitimacy, and that the latter influences public cooperation, net of police effectiveness. However, when the public cooperation scale is disaggregated, the effect of police legitimacy varies across different cooperation outcomes. When the police legitimacy scale is disaggregated into its component parts, only the effect of trust in police is statistically significant. The impact of obligation to obey on public cooperation with police is effectively zero. Research Limitations/Implications: Future process-based model research should not only assess the effects of the different dimensions of police legitimacy (i.e., obligation to obey and trust in police), but also test the impact of police legitimacy on disaggregated public cooperation with police measures. Doing otherwise increases the risk of masking differential effects. Practical Implications: Results from this study underscore the utility of process-based policing practices. Police officials in Slovenia and elsewhere should seriously consider seeking out and/or developing training curricula that teach and promote fair and just practices. Originality/Value: This study extends prior research in two important ways. First, this study contributes to a small but growing body of literature that tests process-based model hypotheses in research settings outside the United States. Second, this study evaluates the effect of police legitimacy on different forms of public cooperation with police and ideas for further research.Namen prispevka: Namen te študije je preverjanje raziskovalnih hipotez, ki izhajajo iz modela postopkovne pravičnosti policijskega dela. Gre za empirično preverjanje učinka mnenj o postopkovni pravičnosti na zaznano legitimnost policijskega dela. Študija obravnava tudi vpliv zaznave legitimnosti policijskega dela na različne oblike sodelovanja javnosti s policijo. Metode: Na podlagi podatkov, ki smo jih zbrali jeseni 2011 z metodo anketiranja na vzorcu 683 dijakov četrtih letnikov s šestih slovenskih srednjih šol v Ljubljani in Mariboru, starih 18 let in več, smo z linearnimi regresijskimi izračuni preverjali hipoteze v zvezi s postopkovno pravičnostjo. Ugotovitve: Rezultati regresijske analize kažejo, da je postopkovna pravičnost v močni korelaciji z legitimnostjo policijskega dela, pri čemer je najpomembnejša ugotovitev, da zaznava legitimnosti policijske dejavnosti vpliva na sodelovanje z javnostjo in prepričanje o učinkovitosti policijske dejavnosti. Ko faktor sodelovanje z javnostjo razčlenimo, učinek legitimnosti policijskega dela variira glede na različne oblike sodelovanja. Razčlenjen faktor legitimnosti policijskega dela pokaže, da je statistično pomemben edino učinek zaupanja v policijo. Vpliv prepričanja o dolžnosti ljudi za upoštevanje pravil (zakonov) na sodelovanje javnosti s policijo ne obstaja. Omejitve/uporabnost raziskave: V prihodnje bi bilo potrebno v raziskavah o postopkovni pravičnosti policijske dejavnosti, poleg ocenjevanja učinkov različnih dimenzij legitimnosti policijskega dela (npr. dolžnost upoštevanja in zaupanje v policijo), preverjati tudi vpliv legitimnosti policijskega dela na sodelovanje z javnostjo skupaj s policijskimi ukrepi. Praktična uporabnost: Rezultati te študije poudarjajo pomembnost policijskih postopkov na oblikovanje stališč ljudi do policije in pripravljenost za sodelovanje s policijo pri preiskovanju kaznivih dejanj ter podporo pri drugih policijskih dejavnostih. Rezultati raziskave kažejo na pomembnost vključevanja vsebin s področja postopkovne pravičnosti in legitimnosti v programe usposabljanj in izobraževanja policistov. Izvirnost/pomembnost prispevka: Študija razširja predhodno raziskovalno delo na dva pomembna načina. Prvič, prispeva k manjšemu, a naraščajočemu obsegu raziskav o preverjanju hipotez modela postopkovne pravičnosti v raziskovalnih okoljih zunaj Združenih držav Amerike. Drugič, ocenjuje vpliv legitimnosti policijskega dela na različne oblike sodelovanja javnosti s policijo v Sloveniji in ponuja izhodišča za novo raziskovanje

Tracking Kidnappings in London: Offenders, Victims and Motives

Funder: University of CambridgeAbstract: Research Question: What was the nature of kidnappings in London during a fairly recent 5-year period in the kinds of victims, offenders, motives, types of violence used and levels of injury? Data: We analyse 924 reports of kidnap crimes recorded by the Metropolitan Police Service between 1 April 2006 and 31 March 2011. These data included free text information drawn from case notes. Methods: We establish mutually exclusive categories of kidnappings by codifying all crime records, after examining case notes and populated fields from the Metropolitan Police’s crime recording system. Descriptive statistics are used to portray the patterns and nature of these crimes. Findings: The application of a typology of mutually exclusive categories for these kidnappings shows that gangland/criminal/drugs-related cases comprised 40.5% of all kidnappings. Another 21% of all kidnaps were domestic or familial, including honour killings. Just over 10% were incidental to ‘acquisitive’ crimes such as car-jacking, whilst 8% were sexually motivated. Only 6% were categorised as traditional ransom kidnappings. About 4% were categorised into a purely violent category, whilst 3% were categorised as international/political. Conclusions: The investigative and preventive implications of these many social worlds mapped out by this typology are substantial. Each social context may require investigators to possess expertise in the specific social world of kidnapping, as distinct from what might be called expertise in ‘kidnaps’ per se. Investigations and prevention might be re-engineered around targeted intelligence from these diverse social contexts

A multidimensional model of police legitimacy: A cross-cultural assessment.

This study used survey data from cross-sectional, university-based samples of young adults in different cultural settings (i.e., the United States and Ghana) to accomplish 2 main objectives: (1) to construct a 4-dimensional police legitimacy scale, and (2) to assess the relationship that police legitimacy and feelings of obligation to obey the police have with 2 outcome measures. The fit statistics for the second-order confirmatory factor models indicated that the 4-dimensional police legitimacy model is reasonably consistent with the data in both samples. Results from the linear regression analyses showed that the police legitimacy scale is related to cooperation with the police, and that the observed association is attenuated when the obligation to obey scale is included in the model specification in both the United States and Ghana data. A similar pattern emerged in the U.S. sample when estimating compliance with the law models. However, although police legitimacy was associated with compliance in the Ghana sample, this relationship along with the test statistic for the sense of obligation to obey estimate were both null in the fully saturated equation. The findings provide support for the Bottoms and Tankebe's (2012) argument that legitimacy is multidimensional, comprising police lawfulness, distributive fairness, procedural fairness, and effectiveness. However, the link between police legitimacy and social order appears to be culturally variable.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from APA via http://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/lhb000015

Public opinion on the death penalty in Ghana

This publication reports findings from the first empirical study on public opinion on the death penalty in Ghana. The research was inspired by the work of the Constitutional Review Commission, which recommended in its final report to Government the abolition of the death penalty. The Commission advanced four main arguments for its recommendation: the current de facto abolition position does not adequately punish death penalty convicts; the lack of justification for the state arrogating to itself the right to take life; current international trends towards abolition; and belief in utilitarian principles which emphasise reformation as the fundamental aim of the justice system. As can be seen, none of these reasons makes reference to public sentiments about the death penalty. The Commission’s work involved a ‘public’ consultation, but opinion leaders and key stakeholders such as professional bodies and local advocacy groups dominated the process. For various reasons – for example, the structure of the process, lack of awareness of the consultative meetings, and the structure of people’s routine activities – a large section of Ghanaians was unable to participate in the Commission’s work. Yet, a wider public engagement would seem important given the peculiar history of the death penalty in Ghana and concerns about backlash effects in the form of vigilante violence. Moreover, Articles 3(3) and 13(1), which concern the death penalty, are entrenched provisions in the Ghanaian constitution. Therefore, notwithstanding Government’s acceptance of the Commission’s recommendations, a referendum is required to decide whether or not the death penalty should be abolished. Research evidence on the nature of public opinion on the death penalty will contribute to debate preceding the referendum. The research began following a presentation by the authors at the invitation of the European Union Delegation in Ghana and the French Embassy on the 11th World viii Day Against the Death Penalty in 2013. The research was funded by the Smuts Memorial Fund and the Cambridge-Africa Alborada Research Fund, University of Cambridge. The Centre of Criminology and Criminal Justice (Ghana) carried out the study based on a face-to-face survey of 2460 people randomly selected from four communities in Accra. The selected communities reflect the varying socio-economic and ethnic compositions of the capital city and country. The fieldwork was conducted in April and May 2014, and covered a broad range of issues in relation to the death penalty. The results showed that views about the death penalty do not appear to be polarized. The majority of Ghanaian respondents (48.3%) expressed strong opposition to the death penalty. Only 8.6% indicated strong endorsement of this form of punishment. Almost 6 out of every 10 respondents supported abolition of the death penalty in cases of murder. Among those opposed to abolition, 7 in 10 would support a discretionary death penalty in place of the current mandatory death penalty. The most preferred replacement for the death penalty was life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Approximately, 71% of people interviewed chose life imprisonment without the possibility of parole as the alternative to the death penalty. This is consistent with the recommendations of the Constitutional Review Commission. Popular commentary on the death penalty suggests that Ghanaians support retention of the death penalty for reasons of deterrence. The evidence from this study revealed a tripod of reasons: deterrence; retribution; and justice for victims’ families. Among proponents of abolition, sanctity of life and the possibility of executing innocent people were the two prominent reasons. The data show very little evidence of potential backlash in the form of support for vigilante violence or lynching; 26% said they would take the law into their own hands if the death penalty was abolished. The ix findings from a detailed analysis showed that traditional religious beliefs about supernatural punishments were a powerful force shaping attitudes to the death penalty. People who believed in these punishments were more likely to endorse the death penalty and to resist abolition for murder. This is novel finding in the academic literature on the death penalty. However, more research is required to establish more fully the mechanisms that link these beliefs to anti-abolition attitudes. There is evidence of hotspots of death penalty views from this study. Residents of high-class neighbourhoods were likely to oppose the death penalty and to support its abolition for murder. Support for the death penalty was concentrated in low-class migrant areas. An interesting finding emerged that low-class indigenous areas were more opposed to the death penalty than middle-class areas. Finally, a key issue in death penalty research concerns the role of scientific evidence, especially evidence on deterrence effects and wrongful conviction. The findings show that evidence has both transformative and reinforcement effects. While scientific evidence does not lead to a complete rejection of the death penalty, the findings showed that some anti-abolitionists are open to a reasoned debate, and will reconsider their views in the face of scientific evidence. Taken together, the findings from this public opinion survey show a weak public support for the death penalty in Ghana. On the issue of abolishing the death penalty and possible backlash effect, the evidence suggests this is unlikely to be the case. Importantly, the survey reveals the complexity of public opinion on the death penalty and the need for evidence-based approach to understanding the roots of public concerns in order to prevent any possible backlash effects that might lead to pressure to reinstate the death penalty

Criminal record and employability in Ghana: A vignette experimental study

Using an experimental vignette design, the study investigates the effects of criminal records on the hiring decisions of a convenience sample of 221 human resource (HR) managers in Ghana. The HR managers were randomly assigned to read one of four vignettes depicting job seekers of different genders and criminal records: male with and without criminal record, female with and without criminal record. The evidence shows that a criminal record reduces employment opportunities for female offenders but not for their male counterparts. Additionally, HR managers are willing to offer interviews to job applicants, irrespective of their criminal records, if they expect other managers to hire ex-convicts. The implications of these findings are discussed

Racial stratification and multiple outcomes in police stops and searches

© 2016 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. The present study explores ethnic differences in stop-and-search outcomes. It uses data from 53,858 stop-and-search incidents recorded by a United Kingdom police force. Prior studies often focused on single outcomes – notably, arrests – and based on a binary majority-versus-minority categorisation of ethnicity/race. Our analysis departs from this approach by examining multiple outcomes across different ethnic groups. Focusing first on the binary categorisation, we found that stops-and-searches involving minorities were more likely to lead to arrests or to informal advice by officers than Whites, but less likely to receive formal warnings. No differences emerged in terms of encounters that resulted in ‘no further action’. However, there was no consistent pattern across any of the outcomes once the minority group was disaggregated into specific ethnic groups, despite having sufficient statistical power. Furthermore, a multivariate analysis shows that while ethnicity predicts stop-and-search outcomes, its effect is subsidiary to gender, criminal history, whether the encounter happened in a crime hotspot or not, and whether property was found during the encounter. Implications for future research are discussed