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Crime

Entrapment And Denial Of The Crime:a Defense Of The Inconsistency Rule

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Although litigants in civil proceedings are permitted to argue inconsistent positions,' most federal courts have not allowed inconsistent defenses in criminal cases. Concern over this so-called "inconsistency rule" in criminal cases most frequently arises with respect to the entrapment defense. Currently, the federal courts of appeals are split on the question whether a criminal defendant who wants to plead entrapment may also assert other defenses. The Supreme Court has declined to resolve the issue. After a brief discussion of the development of the entrapment defense, this note outlines the four approaches that the federal courts of appeals have taken in addressing whether a criminal defendant may assert inconsistent defenses in an entrapment case. The note advocates adherence to the inconsistency rule, but suggests that courts adopt a more precise definition of "inconsistency" in this context. The proposed rule would prohibit a defendant from denying a crime and asserting entrapment. It would not, however, require a defendant to admit the crime...

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Study of the Relationship Between Intelligence and Crime, A

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The question of delinquency, which has ever constituted a grave social problem, is arousing a constantly increasing interest as a result of the recent application of scientific methods to the study of crime in all its varied phases. Indeed, before a truly scientific interest could be developed, it was necessary that there be a development of those sciences which throw light on human conduct and behavior such as biology, psychology, sociology, and psychiatry, and particularly so this last-named science. However, the great significance of the problem is scarcely appreciated as yet, and the field of study, so wide and fertile, is relatively untouched, although significant progress has been made in some directions. Possibly, the most notable of advances made has been the beginning recognition of delinquency as a problem belonging almost entirely to the field of psychiatry rather than to the legal realm or to sociology, that field of normal human relationships.......

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Psychological Trauma of Crime Victimization

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Psychological Trauma of Crime Victimization

[This paper is drawn from Chapter One of Marlene A. Young, Victim Assistance: Frontiers and Fundamentals, a publication of the National Organization for Victim Assistance. Permission to reprint this paper is granted so long as its source is properly attributed.]

Crime victimization leaves victims, families, and friends—even the community around them—in a state of turmoil. There is often significant financial loss and physical injury connected with victimization. But the most devastating part for most victims is the emotional pain caused by crime and the aftermath. The psychological trauma of victimization can be separated into two phases: the initial crisis reaction to the violation, and the long-term stress reactions it sometimes causes, with the second of these often exacerbated by additional “assaults” by society and its institutions.

I. The Crisis Reaction A. Individuals exist in normal state of equilibrium...

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Theories of Organized Criminal Behavior

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In 1993, Medellin cartel founder Pablo Escobar was gunned down by police on the rooftop of his hideout in Medellin, Colombia. At the time of his death, Escobar was thought to be worth an estimated $2 billion, which he purportedly earned during more than a decade of illicit cocaine trafficking. His wealth afforded him a luxurious mansion, expensive cars, and worldwide recognition as a cunning, calculating, and ruthless criminal mastermind. The rise of Escobar to power is like that of many other violent criminals before him. Indeed, as history has shown, major organized crime figures such as Meyer Lansky and Lucky Luciano, the El Rukinses, Jeff Fort, and Abimael Guzman, leader of Peru’s notorious Shining Path, were all aggressive criminals who built large criminal enterprises during their lives

The existence of these criminals and many others like them poses many unanswered questions about the cause and development of criminal behavior. Why are some criminals but not others involved with organized...

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The Dynamics of Murder Kill or Be Killed

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In recent years, there has been a surge in school shootings, workplace homicides, hate violence, and deadly terrorist attacks in the United States. This has resulted in a greater focus on homicidal behavior, its antecedents, ways to recognize warning signs of at-risk victims and offenders, and preventive measures. It has also led to increased efforts by lawmakers to create and pass tough crime legislation as well as improved federal, state, and local law enforcement response to murder and other violent crimes. The Dynamics of Murder: Kill or Be Killed is a multifaceted probe of murder offenses, offenders, victims, and characteristics of homicide in American society.

This book breaks new ground in homicide studies by examining issues generally ignored or neglected among researchers. Topics include murders occurring in the workplace and in schools, those perpetrated by gangs and terrorists, those incited by bias, and intimate and intrafamilial murders. The book discusses sexual killers, serial and mass murderers, and suicide. It also examines psychological and sociological theories on murder and violence, as well as the increasing role the Internet plays in these crimes.

Case studies of actual murderers are included, including serial killers Gerald and Charlene Gallego, mass murderer Byran Koji Uyesugi, the murder/suicide case of Sahel Kazemi, and the intrafamilial murders committed by Charles

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Evaluating Multi-Agency Anti-Crime Partnerships Theory Design And Measurement Issues

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Abstract: Inter-organizational partnerships are widely praised as a vehicle for planning and implementing complex, comprehensive community interventions. This article explores conceptual, design, and measurement issues relevant to the evaluation of coalitions, with particular reference to anti-crime initiatives. A general theory of partnerships is outlined that goes beyond organizational models to focus on the complexity of intervention strategies: domains of influence, causal mechanisms, intervention targets, and partnership services. To fill a large gap in our knowledge of coalition effectiveness, impact evaluations should include a mixture of strong research designs with counterfactuals, a theory (or multiple theories) of change, a blend of quantitative and qualitative methods, measurement and analysis at multiple levels, and multiple case studies for understanding the dynamics and external relationships of each partnership. The primary substantive issue for public safety partnerships is the failure to be inclusive, thus undermining their greatest strength. Finding the proper role for "the community" has been a continuous challenge as law enforcement agencies and strategies tend to be over represented...

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Distribution of Crime

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Why Does Aging Out Occur?

• Despite the debate over variance and invariance, “aging out of crime” is a general pattern.
• Explanations: Young people are risk-takers and thrill-seekers, whereas aging individuals become more concerned with ties to conventional society, families, and long-term rewards.“Aging out” and Three Strikes Laws
• Three strikes laws create longer mandatory prison sentences for second and third time offenders. • By the time an individual has received their second and third strike offense, they may be “aging out” of their criminality.

Part III. Gender

• Official police data and surveys suggest that males are much more likely to be offenders. For example, victim studies show that 80% of offenders are males. URC arrest ratio is about 3 male offenders to every one female, and 6 to 1 for violent crimes.
• Self-report data show smaller differences. Is this because of different types of crime?

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Crime, Media, Culture

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Abstract

An unresolved research question regarding crime and justice policy is the relationship between an individual’s media consumption and their support for punitive and preventive criminal justice policies. The relationship between media, crime, and justice is under-examined in countries other than the United States and Britain and the relationship between media and criminal justice policy support remains less than fully understood in all locales. In response, an examination of a media policy relationship in a Western democracy not previously studied was conducted. Based on data from an October 2005 national telephone survey of Trinidad and Tobago residents, this study measured support for punitive and preventive criminal justice policies in association with crime and justice media consumption and worldviews. Multivariate analysis showed that, for Trinidadians, support for punitive policies was significantly related to perceiving television crime dramas as realistic and crime news as accurate. For preventive policy support, the same media factors plus the level of exposure to crime dramas on television were significant. Overall, media were found...

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Home Invasion Homicide Offenders: An Analysis of Subsequent Prison Rule Violations

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This study adds to the small body of research on home invasion by describing the circumstances surrounding home invasions that resulted in the death of a resident. The 2 most common types of home invasion homicides (HIHs) involved "drug ripoffs" and robberies of older adults for money and property. The study also examined subsequent rule-violating behavior of 132 HIH inmates while incarcerated. The rate of rule violations among HIH inmates was similar to a broader cohort of incarcerated homicide offenders. A logistic regression model identified variation in assaultive prison behavior based on some routine predictors (age, education, race, and prior imprisonment) and 2 associated with the crime (method of killing and age by gender of victims).

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Media Consumption And Public Attitudes Toward Crime And Justice: The Relationship Between Fear Of Crime, Punitive Attitudes, And Perceived Police Effectiveness

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ABSTRACT

Public knowledge of crime and justice is largely derived from the media. This paper examines the influence of media consumption on fear of crime, punitive attitudes and perceived police effectiveness. This research contributes to the literature by expanding knowledge on the relationship between fear of crime and media consumption. This study also contributes to limited research on the media’s influence on punitive attitudes, while providing a much-needed analysis of the relationship between media consumption and satisfaction with the police. Employing OLS regression, the results indicate that respondents who are regular viewers of crime drama are more likely to fear crime. However, the relationship is weak. Furthermore, the results indicate that gender, education, income, age, perceived neighborhood problems and police effectiveness are statistically related to fear of crime. In addition, fear of crime, income, marital status, race, and education are statistically related to punitive attitudes. Finally, age, fear of crime, race, and perceived neighborhood problems are statistically related to perceived police effectiveness....

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PARTNERS IN CRIME A Comparison of Individual and Multi-Perpetrator Homicides

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Homicide is a heterogeneous crime associated with diverse contexts, motives, offender– victim relationships, and offender characteristics. Although cleared at a higher rate than that of other violent crimes likely because of the resources channeled into such investigations (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2007) homicide remains poorly understood, and stranger homicides in particular can be challenging for investigators (Dauvergne & Li, 2006). In 2006, the United States experienced an estimated 17,034 homicides, only 60% of which were cleared by police investigation and, most typically, the arrest of at least one person (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2007). In Canada, 70% of solved homicides between 1991 and 2005 were cleared within 1 week of the incident, with the likelihood of success dropping drastically after that time. Given the urgency associated with a homicide investigation and the temporal constraints associated with a positive outcome, a valuable asset to investigators would be the ability to predict perpetrator characteristics based on the crime scene and the victim left behind. If specific

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Classifying Crimes by Severity: From Aggravators to Depravity

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Crime classification, indeed this manual, underlines the oft-overlooked reality that each murder, rape, arson, and other criminal act distinguishes itself. Contract killing is quite obviously different from sexual homicide, for example. Crime-solving considerations force investigators to appreciate the differences between offenses according to the perpetrator’s background, crime scene evidence, victimology, and forensic findings. Distinguishing subtypes of crime enables various organs of law enforcement to effect justice. “Justice.” What does that word truly signify? To be involved in the justice system is to be humbled by one’s discrete role in a process that extends well beyond a suspect’s arrest. Is justice served merely when a suspect is taken into custody? What if a manslaughter is charged as a murder? What if a cold-blooded killer is prosecuted as a battered woman? Is that justice? Obviously not. Nor is it “justice” to presume that even within all subtypes of offenders, each is as blameworthy as the next. Each of us who impart our experiences in this text viscerally

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Exploring the Drugs-Crime Connection within the Electronic Dance Music and Hip-Hop Nightclub Scenes

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ABSTRACT

This report explores how the cultural ethos, behavioral norms, activities, and individual and group identities (subcultural phenomena), inherent to the electronic dance music (EDMtrance, house, and techno music) and the hip hop/rap (HH) nightclub scenes in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania impact the relationship between alcohol, drugs, and crime, with additional attention to victimization (the ADC+V relationship). These two music scenes provide a major source of leisure and entertainment activity for many young adults today, yet the subcultures surrounding them are disparate and have been linked to diverse social problems, including alcohol and illegal drug abuse, criminal activity and victimization. This understudied, but increasingly popular social phenomenon has the potential to expand the scope of the drugs - crime debate to settings and populations not previously studied, and also to account for increasingly salient issues in contemporary society. We also elaborate on how the ADC+V relationship varies by two dimensions: the demographic make-up of...

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Targets Of Predators

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When the novel The Silence of the Lambs was published, it became a best-seller. When the movie was made, it packed the theaters and received numerous Academy Awards. People flocked to the cinema to see the riveting performances of Sir Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster. The character of Dr. Hannibal Lecter was suddenly known everywhere, parodied on television comedy programs and the talk of the town. Hannibal Lecter, as portrayed by Hopkins, captured the public’s imagination. Why? Americans, Brits, and Russians, along with nearly all of the rest of the world, have made heroes out of not only fictional serial killers but the real serial killers among us. While their numerous victims lie in their graves, serial killers can still send the press into high gear. They are still remembered years after their crimes. Books, articles, and the press continue to produce copious amounts of ink, hanging on every word these killers say,

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Victimology

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THE DEVELOPMENT OF VICTIMOLOGY

The second half of the twentieth century saw the development of social concern, protest, activism, intervention, legal, political, and social services reform, research, and teaching about victims of crime. In some countries, the victim movement became an important separate political force leading to substantial reforms in many fields. It is particularly in the Anglo-Saxon world that the movement began and flourished, expanding eventually to other parts of the world. In the United States, the victim movement began in the 1970s. The women’s movement, inspired by the civil rights movement, was one of its primary moving forces. Another was the social concern about the dramatic increase in crime rates in the United States. Conservatives and right-of-center activists and politicians pointed out that the system of constitutional protections in the United States favored the suspect and the convicted criminal while it trampled on the needs of...

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An Analysis Of Spatial Patterns In Serial Rape, Arson, And Burglary: The Utility Of The Circle Theory Of Environmental Range For Psychological Profiling

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Abstract

D Canter and P. Larkin's (1993) Circle Theory of Environmental Range was designed as a means of using the geographical locations of an individual offender's known offences to predict the approximate site of the offender's residential base. Canter and Larkin obtained support for their theory from an investigation of spatial patterns in serial rapists' offences in a few British cities. The present study sought to assess the generality of Circle Theory by examining spatial patterns of serial offences in three crime modalities in the Australian environment Data on 24 serial rapists, 22 serial arsonists, and 27 serial burglars were extracted from the NSW Police Service's files of criminal records. For each case the positions of offences and the domestic base were plotted on a scaled street map. Using a technique defined by Canter and Larkin a circle was constructed to represent the offender's hypothetical criminal range. In most cases of serial rape...

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