SpringerBriefs in Criminology – serie

This brief addresses the urgent global challenge of politically, religiously, ethnically, and other ideologically motivated extremism and violent radicalization. It critically examines the effectiveness of existing psychosocial prevention strategies and provides insights into resilience against extremism. Drawing on research from 31 countries and the evaluation of l prevention programs, the book offers a comprehensive look at how psychosocial programs can reduce radicalization. The volume delves into key concepts, theoretical explanations, methodological challenges, and developmental risks Its own empirical research includes a unique survey of practical prevention projects and a systematic review and meta-analysis of outcome evaluations. The volume highlights positive outcomes, especially in primary prevention for youth and tertiary interventions for exiting radical trajectories. However, it also underscores the need for more methodologically sound, controlled evaluations of long-term behavioral changes. By offering empirical evidence on diverse approaches, this book provides a robust foundation for a more informed and less divisive societal discussion on extremism. It is an essential resource for policymakers, practitioners, and researchers engaged in counter-extremism, social work, and criminology.

This second edition book advances knowledge about criminal careers throughout life. It presents new results from the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development (CSDD), which is a unique longitudinal study of the development of offending from age 10 to age 61. Previous results obtained in the CSDD are reviewed, and then new findings from official criminal records up to age 61 are presented: on offending at different ages, continuity in offending, ages of onset, and criminal career duration. The number of offenders and offenses between ages 50 and 61 is noteworthy. The book then presents results on self-reported offending in different age ranges up to 48: on prevalence, frequency, continuity, and comparisons with official records that suggest that official records only capture the tip of the iceberg of offending. It then analyzes different trajectories of official offending up to age 61 and shows to what extent they could be predicted by childhood risk factors. New results from the CSDD in the last 10 years are then presented, followed by a discussion of the relevance of all the findings for criminological theories and public policies such as early intervention. This book should be of great interest not only to academics but also to policy makers and practitioners who are concerned with crime.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .

In the past ten years, much has changed in terms of youth justice policies in Canada as well as in the way Canadian society has evolved.Canada has a new Act governing youth crime, and there are indications that the Act will be revised again to make it "tougher" on youth in conflict with the law, a development reflecting what many scholars are calling the "punitive turn" in youth justice policies in Canada and elsewhere. At the same time, Canadian child poverty rates (which are strongly correlated with criminality) have remained high, despite a commitment, made by governments in 1989 to eradicate the problem by the year 2000. Immigration patterns have changed, and unemployment rates for young Canadians remain almost twice as high as those for adults. In this volume, Youth Criminal Justice Policy in Canada: A Critical Introduction, the author addresses these and other developments in relation to youth crime in Canada from a  critical criminological perspective.

In contrast to the pattern of long-standing occidental street gangs modelled in the North American paradigm, new-age gangs have appeared as loosely organized, with a high degree of interchangeability of their membership. Associated with this structural fluidity is an equally significant geographic mobility, which paradoxically does not appear to diminish the intensity of personal bonds formed within and between ‘new-age’ gangs. The dimensions of fluidity of gang membership and geographic mobility across police jurisdictions is increasingly seen as the organizational pattern of emerging gangs, in large part shaped by worldwide patterns of human migration and globalization. While the structure of new-age gangs appears as loose-knit, what must be emphasized is that this characteristic is reflective of a criminal network of economic commodity-based ‘turf’ as opposed to a close-knit geographically anchored ‘turf’ that has characterized the prevailing North American (occidental) gang model. This volume illuminates the structure and organization of increasingly emergent, fluid and mobile, new-age gangs within the context of transnational networks. The implications for law enforcement agencies is two-fold: i) the fluidity of new-age gang players challenges investigative techniques that remain predicated on suspect recognition through modus operandi repetition by those involved, and; ii) the movement of new-age gang players across police jurisdictions challenges the sharing of police information. This innovative work will be of interest to researchers in Criminology and Criminal Justice, as well as related disciplines including Sociology and Anthropology studying gangs and group-organization. It has strong implications for practitioners and professionals working in law enforcement, public policy, or with at-risk youth/young adults.

​​Political transitions often create new law enforcement challenges. This Brief provides an examination of such special law enforcement challenges in the Northern Caucasas, both due to the unique structure of the crime groups that are active in the region, and to the unique social and political environment in which they operate.  In 2002, Russian President Vladamir Putin declared the end of the war in Chechnya.  In 2006, he announced the insurgency was defeated.  Yet today, Russia maintains a significant Internal Police  presence in the Northern Caucasus to contain approximately 700 insurgents at a cost estimated to be more than the equivalent of $1 billion per year. Russian law enforcement, armed forces, and their local proxies are fighting irregular forces that operate in a manner akin to organized crime groups or terrorist cells.  These groups have formed flexible networks which can sustain heavy losses, including the “decapitation” of their leaders, only to reconstitute themselves ready to fight another day. Beginning with a historical overview of the police and military structures in the region, this Brief provides a case study into the origins, structures, and unique strategies for counter-terrorism policing in these complex conditions.  It also provides recommendations for the future, and a framework for understanding similar cases of terrorist operations in areas of political unrest, an increasing global threat.​

This brief focuses on translational criminology practices as they relate to counter-terrorism and homeland security.   The work provides a detailed and practical examination of how global threats (such as, terrorism and cybercrime) are managed through local response. It covers emerging strategies in data collection procedures, inter-agency cooperation, and new analytical techniques including risk-terrain modeling. In addition, it presents a common methodology, including steps in risk assessment, risk management, and decision-making, that can be used to frame and analyze global and local threats. The authors examine these issues using examples of how law enforcement responded to specific security threats including the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings, the 2003 terrorist attack in Istanbul, Turkey, and the 2010 Stuxnet attack on the Natanz nuclear facility in Iran. This work expands on existing literature covering the impact that globalization has on cross national threats, drawing on disciplines related to criminology, such as international relations and political science.

This Brief takes a provocative look at existing socio-legal literature with a comparative study of terrorism control orders, focusing on how the concept of pre-emption fits within a traditional criminological framework.  This timely work examines how such measures might be conceived and interpreted within a situational crime prevention approach. Over the past decade, socio-legal scholars have identified a rise in pre-emptive control mechanisms to respond to terrorism and other threats in the post-9/11 world. Many have argued that this pre-emptive rationale has been used to justify the introduction of measures that transcend established legal and risk frameworks, to deal with individuals or groups thought to pose a threat to the state or its citizens.  ​Preventing Terrorism and Controlling Risk: A Comparative Analysis of Control Orders in the UK and Australia will be of interest to researchers in Criminology and Criminal Justice, particularly with a focus on terrorism, risk assessment, and human rights.​

Over the past 15 years, evidence-based practice in juvenile justice has moved from a concept to a full blown practice in a number of states. They have used research based principles and programs to: - completely reorganize their system for treating juveniles -reduce crime and recidivism -and saved money in the process. Evidence-Based Practice in Juvenile Justice describes the major players in this transformative process, the particular role they play in moving research to practice, and provides recommendations for applying this research in other locations. It will be of key interest to researchers in Criminology and Criminal Justice with a focus on Juvenile Justice or Juvenile Delinquency, or related fields such as Public Policy and Social Work, as well as policy-makers, and practitioners working in the juvenile justice system. ​

Police pursuits, often receiving a lot of media attention, have become a topic of concern and priority for both law enforcement and the communities they serve. They often come with high risks for the well-being of community members and for both the police officers involved in the chase as well as for the fleeing suspects. In this brief, we summarize what is known about police pursuits, from both legal decisions and criminological research. We then discuss the impact of this research on police pursuit policy, court decisions, and media reports. We offer suggestions about the need for more development and use of research, and the challenges for research to be integrated into police policies, training, supervision and accountability systems.

This Brief discusses methods to develop and maintain police – researcher partnerships.  First, the authors provide information that will be useful to police managers and researchers who are interested in creating and maintaining partnerships to conduct research, work together to improve policing and help others understand the linkages between the two groups.  Then, more specifically, they describe how police managers consider and utilize research in policing and criminal justice and its findings from a management perspective in both the United States and Australia.  While both countries experience similar issues of trust, acceptance, utility, and accountability between researchers and practitioners, the experiences in the countries differ.  In the United States with 17,000 agencies, the use of research findings by police agencies requires understanding, diffusion and acceptance.  In Australia with a small number of larger agencies, the problems of research-practitioner partnerships have different translational issues, including acceptance and application.  As long as police practitioners and academic researchers hold distinct and different impressions of each other, the likelihood of positive, cooperative, and sustainable agreements between them will suffer.

This brief examines the interaction and synergy between the philosophical concepts embedded in the ideas of Community Oriented Policing (C.O. P.) and urban security aided by technological innovations. While the philosophy of C.O.P. stresses the importance of collaboration between members of the public and its police forces technology that is becoming rapidly integrated in various police tactics creates new legal challenges and operational hurdles. This approach, coined as “Next Generation Community Policing”, is discussed through the chapters of the brief and illustrated with examples from a number of different countries and their approaches to this topic.This Brief will be of interest to researchers in criminology and criminal justice, particularly in police studies, as well as related fields such as urban security planning and sociology.

This Brief explores the problem of creating organizational change and a culture of lawfulness within police organizations in the developing world. In many countries where police are charged with responding to crime, they are themselves entrenched in histories of corruption, human rights abuses, inefficiency as well as a lack of public trust. While police corruption can happen anywhere, areas of political transition tend to have a more entrenched cultural history of corruption. However, the author argues that even in the most challenged forces, there remains hope for organizational change. This brief demonstrates how understanding the local socio-political context, and applying evidence-based best practices for police integrity training can bring about change. The brief summarizes the current state of knowledge on police integrity training, strategies for rethinking corruption and community policing, as well as two case studies in Bangladesh and Mexico with applications forother regions. This work will be of interest to students and researchers in criminology and criminal justice, particularly with an interest in police studies and corruption, as well as related fields such as political science, international studies and human rights.

​This Brief examines the “militarization” of law enforcement in the United States through the lens of the stakeholders primarily responsible for implementing, funding, and enacting the practice. Largely a result of policies such as the war on drugs, war on terror, and the 1033 program, there has been a gradual but dramatic rise in the use of military-grade weapons, equipment, and tactics used by police agencies across the United States. This Brief examines the level of support for various aspects of police militarization by lawmakers, police executives, and local police officers, and how their opinions may differ based upon their current position or demographic features using a series of analyses and propensity score matching techniques.This Brief also provides an overview of some of the key policy changes responsible for police militarization, and provides insights into the views held by policymakers and law enforcement on various aspects of the practice. The results indicate that while many responsible for this shift are in favor of paramilitary procurement programs, there are differing opinions on key issues such as oversight and use of military-grade weapons, equipment and paramilitary tactics.This work will be of interest to researchers in criminology and criminal justice, particularly those with an interest in policing studies, as well as related fields such as public policy, public administration, emergency management, and sociology.

Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs) have received increased attention in light of international corruption scandals, high-profile leaks about extensive tax abuse schemes, and the continued fight against terrorism financing and organized crime. Reducing IFFs is now a key target of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, renewing debates about both how to operationally define IFF and the methodologies that are used to estimate their extent.This book addresses these key issues, by investigating and schematizing the concept of illicit financial flows and critically evaluating the current models used to estimate them. It book proposes an original flow-network approach through which to produce longitudinal and country-specific estimates of IFFs and the gross value added related to transnational trafficking. It advocates for a reformulation of the current definition of IFFs to one that is more specific and operational, allowing scholars and policy-makers to better clarify the relationship between IFFs, the sources of capital and the channels that are used to move capital abroad.  This brief will be an indispensable guide for students of criminology and organized crime, and for the researchers and practitioners working to understand and combat these crimes.

This brief explores wildlife crime and its international and culture-specific combat in South Africa from a green psychology perspective, focusing on a specific method of forensic trace recovery by analysing and evaluating the use of gelatine lifters.It provides theoretical and applied insight into visualising and sequential processing of finger-, shoe- and footprints, and environmental traces. It allows the reader in-depth insight into effective methods of international wildlife crime combat, based on the South African perspective. This brief gives theoretical and applied recommendations for international, regional and local actors for successful cooperation on wildlife protection.As global and local programs, actions and law enforcement strategies to combat wildlife crime are gaining strength, forensic trace evidence is a useful method for investigative and preventive success. This brief will be useful for students and researchers in forensic science, wildlife crime, green criminology, as well as for law enforcement and international actors combating wildlife crime practically on both international and local levels.

This unique volume addresses the financial mechanisms that enable human trafficking - its actors, structures, and logistics.  Viewing each stage of the market, human traffickers may need significant financial resources for recruitment, transportation, and exploitation.  Drawing upon cross-disciplinary research expertise in criminology, sociology, law and economics, this book offers insights from law enforcement officers, policy makers, NGOs, and traffickers and their victims.  Using three European countries - Bulgaria, Italy and the United Kingdom - it provides an account on the sources of capital for initiating and sustaining a human trafficking scheme, discussing the involvement of criminal structures, legitimate businesses, financial institutions, and information and communication technologies in the running of these enterprises. It also addresses the ways in which entrepreneurs and customers settle payments, the costs of conducting business in human trafficking, and how profits from the business are spent and invested.This important contribution to the transnational organized crime knowledge base will be of interest to researchers and academics, as well as law enforcement, regulatory agencies, and policy makers combating human trafficking.

This brief analyzes the social, historical and societal circumstances influencing the emergence of Islamist extremism in Kosovo and countries of the region.  It discusses the creation of propagandist infrastructure by foreign organizations to spread radical ideology and instigate inter-religious conflicts in order to establish an Islamist extremist movement, and highlights the camouflaged activities of humanitarian organizations funding terrorism. This brief focuses particularly on examining the development and concrete manifestation of Islamism and the latent risks posed by Islamist extremism not just for the national security of Kosovo but also for the peace and safety of the entire region.Examining the development, effects and latent risks posed by Islamist extremism in the Balkans, Islamist Extremism in Kosovo and the Countries of the Region will be useful to scholars, policy-makers, and law enforcement practitioners working in counter-terrorism, as well as those interested in the unique sociopolitical climate of the Balkans.

This brief summarizes the existing body of knowledge about the links between mental illness and violence, recommends improved methods to deal with potentially violent individuals with mental illness, and identifies pressing implementation and research needs.  In public perception and media reports, mental illness and violence - particularly gun violence - are unquestionably linked.  However, empirical research presents a more nuanced and complex view of this relationship.Taking into account differences between youth and adults, as well as gender and racial difference, this innovative volume will be useful to policy-makers, legislators, researchers and students interested in addressing the growing public concern about mentally ill individuals at risk for violence.

This volume addresses the impact of the September 11th terror attacks on funded programs in policing. Comparing New York City's policing, community policing, and homeland security programs, this brief examines twenty-four years of federal grants to identify shifts in policy. Using focusing events and moral panic theories, it posits that 9/11 served as a catalyst to change public policy, moving policing programs in the direction of homeland security. With a before-after-study design, this volume empirically assesses policy shifts to better understand the influence of events and of funding on policing models. This brief will be useful to researchers of policing, law enforcement officials, and policymakers.

This book explores the dual nature of legitimacy in prison. It examines the inter-connectivity between audience perception of legitimacy (the prisoners’ perception) and the power-holders’ perception of legitimacy (the prison staff perception). It defines legitimacy in this scenario as the ability of prison workers to implement their authority in an honest, lawful, and just manner, while prisoners acknowledge their status as eligible power-holders who deserve to be obeyed and comply with their decisions.Using mixed methods of qualitative and quantitative research, data were collected in all Slovenian prisons as well as a correctional home. The volume discusses the various factors influencing prisoner's perspective of legitimacy, and recommends avenues for further research.This work will be of interest to researchers in criminology and criminal justice, particularly with an interest in prison and incarceration, or with an interest in Eastern Europe. It will alsobe of interest to those studying legitimacy within the criminal justice system more generally, and related fields such as sociology, law enforcement, and organizational psychology.Utilizing an in–depth and longitudinal study of legitimacy in Slovenian prisons, Hacin and Meško shed light on legitimacy’s dual nature with an exquisite research design that removes any ambiguity about its essential nature in achieving prison order and correctional environments more conducive to rehabilitation. […] Overall, the book is an excellent contribution to penological theory, research, and practice. A monograph and case study of a post-modern and post-socialist prison system, it offers a lens for re–examining the mass incarceration models of western prisons for cross–cultural comparisons of prison legitimacy.-Rosemary L. Gido, Professor Emerita, Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, USA This book studies legitimacy in prisoners and among prison staff through the lens of procedural justice theory, focusing on the context of Slovenia. The book is a must–read for scholars who are theoretically and methodologically interested in testing and applying procedural justice theory. Rarely, both prison staff and prisoners are studied in the same inquiry. This is the added value. The results have value for prison policy. This book will be of interest to scholars in criminology and criminal justice, as well as political science and public policy.- Lieven Pauwels, Professor, Department of Criminology, Criminal Law and Social Law, Ghent University, Belgium The now global epistemic community for the study of criminal justice and criminology requires that scholars everywhere be in frequent communication, and that they engage in the testing of concepts that are of potential universal application in democratic countries seeking to build just and efficacious public institutions. The time is here for comparative criminal justice research of high quality to be undertaken, and this book represents exemplary scholarship in this regard.For those scholars from around the world interested in determining the potential and limitations of the theory of procedural justice as applied in the corrections setting, this book represents a “must read” for you. It presents findings from a comprehensive, mixed–methods study of how the core concepts of the theory of procedural justice can be insightfully explored within correctional institutions. The study done in the progressive, highly regarded setting of the Slovenian prison system – carried out with inmates, prison staff (corrections officers and rehabilitation services personnel) and administrators – serves as an excellent template for replication in other countries. The interpretation of findings made by two scholars of remarkable experience and profound knowledge add greatlyto the value of this book. For scholars doing worthwhile research into the challenges of building and maintaining just and capable criminal justice systems in democratic countries, this book will inform and inspire you.- Nicholas Lovrich, Research Professor Emeritus, Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology, Washington State University, Pullman, USA

This brief sheds light on evolving drug markets and the county lines phenomenon in the British context. Drawing upon empirical research gathered in the field between 2012-2019 across two sites, Scotland’s West Coast and Merseyside in England, this book adopts a grounded approach to the drug supply model, detailing how drugs are purchased, sold and distributed at every level of the supply chain at both sites. The authors conducted interviews with practitioners, offenders, ex-offenders and those members of the general public most effected by organised crime. The research explores how drug markets have continued to evolve, accumulating in the phenomenon that is county lines. It explores how such behavior has gradually become ever more intertwined with other forms of organised criminal activity.Useful for researchers, policy makers, and law enforcement officials, this brief recommends a rethinking of current reactive policing strategies.

This brief uses California’s CURES (Controlled Substance Utilization Review and Evaluation System) 2.0 data to analyze county-level opioid prescribing rates in California from 2012 to 2017 from multiple perspectives. The book summarizes California’s county-level opioid prescribing trends, examines potential correlates of opioid prescribing rates, and assesses the association of opioid prescribing on both criminal justice and public health outcomes. Finally, the authors discuss their principal findings and the implications for policy and practice, including the significant and lasting consequences of the opioid crisis on the criminal justice system and the importance of a multi-disciplinary approach to effectively address the crisis.

This brief offers a unique and innovative account of the role of internet and digital technologies in human smuggling and trafficking.  It explores new illegal paths through the web by analyzing how traffickers and smugglers use the visible and dark web during different phases of the process, including recruitment, transportation, and exploitation. Featuring case studies from two European countries, Italy and the United Kingdom, it outlines the types of websites used in these processes, how they are used, and common behavior patterns. With a view of transnational criminal activities involving actors from individual criminal entrepreneurs to organized crime groups and fluid large criminal networks, this brief will be of use to law enforcement, researchers of trafficking and organized crime, and policy makers.

This brief presents a study addressing the impact of a college degree upon officer use of force. The average American municipal police academy only requires 26 weeks of training, despite previous studies showing overwhelming support that college educated police officers apply more discretion in their use of force than officers without a college degree. Taking into account contemporary public/police conflicts and how American perceptions of police are based largely on officer use of force, this study offers a more current perspective on the profession’s changing dynamic over the past decade.  With data gathered from over 400 officers from 143 distinct municipal police agencies in 6 American states, the study examines the association between a college education and the level of force used to gain compliance during arrest situations, and notes discrepancies between previously studied factors and contextual variables. This brief will be useful for researchers of policingand for those involved with police training.

In response to misconceptions and sub-optimal assessment of situational interaction in the criminological literature, this volume is a comprehensive resource for researchers of person-environment interaction in human behavioural outcomes, with a focus on acts of crime. It provides a bridge between strong complex theory about causal situational interaction in crime and the appropriate methods for empirically testing proposed situational mechanisms. It is underwritten by the principle that research should be driven by theory and served by method.This volume clarifies the key concepts of interaction and situation within the framework of Situational Action Theory (SAT). It details the implications of these conceptual issues for an appropriate integrative analytical approach to data collection and analysis that places situational interaction at the heart of research into the causes of behaviour (such as acts of crime). Using existing examples of attempts to analyse person-environment interaction, the volume distinguishes and showcases different methods and evaluates their appropriateness for the study of situational interaction in behaviour. Appropriate for researchers in criminology and the behavioural sciences more generally, Studying Situational Interaction is essential for those studying the individual and environmental causes of human actions such as crime.

This brief extends studies on how corporations respond to scandals by examining the evolution of the accounts that corporate agents develop after a scandal becomes public. Guided by the theory of accounts and a recently developed perspective on crisis management, its examines how the accounts developed by thirteen corporations caught up in highly publicized scandals changed from the time of initial exposure to the issuance of an investigative report. This brief continues the discussion of the broader managerial and social implications of the analysis of accounts, and analyses their effect on our understanding of the ability of corporations to weather serious scandals. It includes four case studies; from Switzerland, Moldova, Denmark, and Norway respectively.

Using data from the Uniform Crime Reporting Hate Crime Statistics Program and the National Crime Victimization Survey, this brief highlights the uniqueness of hate or bias crime victimization. It compares these to non-bias crimes and delineates the situational circumstances that distinguish bias from non-bias offending. The nuances of under-reporting shed light on bias-group and victim reasons for not reporting. By examining measurement issues associated with data collection systems, this brief helps explain why eighty-nine percent of participating law enforcement agencies report zero hate crimes each year.  It describes patterns and trends in reporting the volume of general bias motivations and specific bias types, as the most prevalent hate crime offense types and most likely victims and offenders.With recommendations to address issues in measurement and under-reporting, including an action plan by the Enhance the Response to Hate Crimes Advisory Committee and the International Association of Chiefs of Police, a best practice model by the Oak Creek Police Department, and other promising law enforcement reporting models, this brief provides an increasingly critical resource for law enforcement practitioners and researchers dealing with hate crimes.

This book evaluates the impact of situational crime prevention measures implemented by social media platforms to identifying, blocking, and removing content linked to illegal traded medicines. It discusses the extent of social media usage in trafficking of medicines; the ease of access; visibility of the content; language of posts; products most traded; and types of posts. Research results support the hypothesis of the limited impact of these measures, due not to a lack of effectiveness but to asymmetrical implementation.This volume will be of interest to researchers, law enforcement, policy makers, social media groups, public health practitioners.

This brief comparatively reviews the security and safety features of hotels and home sharing services. It reviews crime data, laws, and applicable theories – such as defensible space, rational choice, and routine activity theories - to determine how responsibility for crime control and accident prevention in these industries is allotted.This analysis identifies key policy questions about the role of the home sharing hosts and guests in ensuring their own safety and security, which will be of interest to policy makers, researchers and practitioners in criminal justice and law enforcement, as well as those involved in the home sharing and hotel industries.