Attitudes to the police and policing in contemporary Cyprus with particular reference to the dark figure of crime

Cyprus suffered lanomiel on a grand scale more than twenty years ago, on account of the Turkish invasion of 1974. The effects on the social structure of Cypriot society were devastating. Most of the collective conscience which was responsible for the social order was disrupted. Inevitably, the traditional means of social control which depended primarily on informal social networks and the creation of a collective order were replaced by formal policing. This thesis attempts to offer an empirical account of the above social changes and the resultant changes in the modes of policing; and how Cypriot-society has replaced the lost collective conscience with alternative but complementary means of social control. High police density, strong social associations and the strength of kinship have contributed to the acceptance of the police and policing methods. Simultaneously, the public, through the social development of new social norms and moral codes, have determined the form and role of the police in Cypriot society. The partial destruction of the existing social contract and the inevitable development of anomie have introduced new parameters in deviancy and the process of social control in Cyprus. The new cultural and socioeconomic characteristics of Cyprus reflect the patterns and distribution of criminality. By and large, Cypriots do not report crimes and victimization to the authorities because they view cases as not just 'trivial' but also as something which could implicate them socially and personally. That is to say, despite the upheaval and social change which followed the 1974 invasion, there is still a very strong norm (which binds people together) about respect and self-esteem. By reporting, they fear that they will be stigmatized for life. They will 'cover-up, crimes rather than expose themselves as victims. In essence, triviality' acts as a defence mechanism which neutralizes police involvement in affairs relating to the issue of social order. Police rejection is mostly observed when victimization refers to crimes against the person. Society tolerates certain forms of criminality for the sake of conformity to certain social norms and moral codes. As a consequence, the dark figure of crime is much higher for offences against the person. Because society sanctions tolerance towards certain forms of crime, victims are prevented from reporting because they consider the police as part of the control apparatus which contributes to the perpetuation of stigmatization. The Cypriot's perception of the amount and patterns of criminality is distorted on account of the influence of the media and rumour. Fear of crime evolves from the wrong perception of criminality rather than experience. Because fear is unjustifiable, the public feels insecure and redefines the structure of the social contract. In effect, this threatens further the collective conscience and the traditional methods of social control

Planar resonant periodic orbits in Kuiper belt dynamics

In the framework of the planar restricted three body problem we study a considerable number of resonances associated to the Kuiper Belt dynamics and located between 30 and 48 a.u. Our study is based on the computation of resonant periodic orbits and their stability. Stable periodic orbits are surrounded by regular librations in phase space and in such domains the capture of trans-Neptunian object is possible. All the periodic orbits found are symmetric and there is evidence for the existence of asymmetric ones only in few cases. In the present work first, second and third order resonances are under consideration. In the planar circular case we found that most of the periodic orbits are stable. The families of periodic orbits are temporarily interrupted by collisions but they continue up to relatively large values of the Jacobi constant and highly eccentric regular motion exists for all cases. In the elliptic problem and for a particular eccentricity value of the primary bodies the periodic orbits are isolated. The corresponding families, where they belong to, bifurcate from specific periodic orbits of the circular problem and seem to continue up to the rectilinear problem. Both stable and unstable orbits are obtained for each case. In the elliptic problem the unstable orbits found are associated with narrow chaotic domains in phase space. The evolution of the orbits, which are located in such chaotic domains, seems to be practically regular and bounded for long time intervals.Comment: preprint, 20 pages, 10 figure

The 1:1 resonance in Extrasolar Systems: Migration from planetary to satellite orbits

We present families of symmetric and asymmetric periodic orbits at the 1/1 resonance, for a planetary system consisting of a star and two small bodies, in comparison to the star, moving in the same plane under their mutual gravitational attraction. The stable 1/1 resonant periodic orbits belong to a family which has a planetary branch, with the two planets moving in nearly Keplerian orbits with non zero eccentricities and a satellite branch, where the gravitational interaction between the two planets dominates the attraction from the star and the two planets form a close binary which revolves around the star. The stability regions around periodic orbits along the family are studied. Next, we study the dynamical evolution in time of a planetary system with two planets which is initially trapped in a stable 1/1 resonant periodic motion, when a drag force is included in the system. We prove that if we start with a 1/1 resonant planetary system with large eccentricities, the system migrates, due to the drag force, {\it along the family of periodic orbits} and is finally trapped in a satellite orbit. This, in principle, provides a mechanism for the generation of a satellite system: we start with a planetary system and the final stage is a system where the two small bodies form a close binary whose center of mass revolves around the star.Comment: to appear in Cel.Mech.Dyn.Ast

Resonant planetary dynamics: Periodic orbits and long-term stability

Many exo-solar systems discovered in the last decade consist of planets orbiting in resonant configurations and consequently, their evolution should show long-term stability. However, due to the mutual planetary interactions a multi-planet system shows complicated dynamics with mostly chaotic trajectories. We can determine possible stable configurations by computing resonant periodic trajectories of the general planar three body problem, which can be used for modeling a two-planet system. In this work, we review our model for both the planar and the spatial case. We present families of symmetric periodic trajectories in various resonances and study their linear horizontal and vertical stability. We show that around stable periodic orbits there exist regimes in phase space where regular evolution takes place. Unstable periodic orbits are associated with the existence of chaos and planetary destabilization.Comment: Proceedings of 10th HSTAM International Congress on Mechanics, Chania, Crete, Greece, 25-27 May, 201

Multi-Planet Destabilisation and Escape in Post-Main Sequence Systems

Discoveries of exoplanets orbiting evolved stars motivate critical examinations of the dynamics of $N$-body systems with mass loss. Multi-planet evolved systems are particularly complex because of the mutual interactions between the planets. Here, we study the underlying dynamical mechanisms which can incite planetary escape in two-planet post-main sequence systems. Stellar mass loss alone is unlikely to be rapid and high enough to eject planets at typically-observed separations. However, the combination of mass loss and planet-planet interactions can prompt a shift from stable to chaotic regions of phase space. Consequently, when mass loss ceases, the unstable configuration may cause escape. By assuming a constant stellar mass loss rate, we utilize maps of dynamical stability to illustrate the distribution of regular and chaotic trajectories in phase space. We show that chaos can drive the planets to undergo close encounters, leading to the ejection of one planet. Stellar mass loss can trigger the transition of a planetary system from a stable to chaotic configuration, subsequently causing escape. We find that mass loss non-adiabatically affects planet-planet interaction for the most massive progenitor stars which avoid the supernova stage. For these cases, we present specific examples of planetary escape.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS (2013

On the dynamics of Extrasolar Planetary Systems under dissipation. Migration of planets

We study the dynamics of planetary systems with two planets moving in the same plane, when frictional forces act on the two planets, in addition to the gravitational forces. The model of the general three-body problem is used. Different laws of friction are considered. The topology of the phase space is essential in understanding the evolution of the system. The topology is determined by the families of stable and unstable periodic orbits, both symmetric and non symmetric. It is along the stable families, or close to them, that the planets migrate when dissipative forces act. At the critical points where the stability along the family changes, there is a bifurcation of a new family of stable periodic orbits and the migration process changes route and follows the new stable family up to large eccentricities or to a chaotic region. We consider both resonant and non resonant planetary systems. The 2/1, 3/1 and 3/2 resonances are studied. The migration to larger or smaller eccentricities depends on the particular law of friction. Also, in some cases the semimajor axes increase and in other cases they are stabilized. For particular laws of friction and for special values of the parameters of the frictional forces, it is possible to have partially stationary solutions, where the eccentricities and the semimajor axes are fixed.Comment: Accepted in Celestial Mechanics and Dynamical Astronom