International Journal of Criminology and Sociology

Naxal Insurgency in India: Managing Conflict through Empowerment

Dalbir Ahlawat — 2024-01-26

The election of an indigenous (Adivasi) lady as the President of India added a new dynamic to the centuries-old Naxal insurgency in India. Not receiving a fair deal after India’s independence, the Naxals adopted Maoist ideology. By 2010 the insurgency engulfed one-third of India and posed a serious security challenge. Since then, the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) governments have adopted different strategies to curtail the insurgency, but it still persists. Against this backdrop, this article briefly discusses the historical antecedents; delineates in detail the operational strategies adopted by the Naxals, the counter-insurgency strategies adopted by the Congress and BJP governments; developmental challenges faced by the Adivasis; and suggests recommendations for how the President of India, an Adivasi herself, can be instrumental in containing the Naxal insurgency threats through empowerment.

Disentangling the Contexts of Adolescent Substance Use: An Examination of Gender Differences

Sampson Lee Blair — 2024-02-12

Previous studies of adolescent substance use have noted how adolescent substance use is influenced by both protective and risk factors. Additionally, researchers have also noted the gradual convergence of female and male substance use, resulting in similar substance use patterns across the two. Using data from a nationally representative sample of high school seniors, this study examines the distinct effects of contextual factors upon the substance use by adolescent females and males. While both girls and boys do report similar patterns of substance use, the analyses demonstrate that peer, family, school, and work contexts affect females’ and males’ substance use in different manners. While peers readily affect drinking behaviors of each sex, peer influence yields significant associations with females’ vaping, but not males’. Among males, family contextual factors are associated with both vaping and marijuana use, while females’ vaping and marijuana use are more substantially affected by school and work contexts. The findings of this study, along with the implications thereof, are framed within the ecodevelopmental perspective.

The Role of Social Systems in Absorption of Immigrants in Israel

Vered Tamir — 2024-02-12

Immigrants from the Former Soviet Union (FSU) are the largest ethnic unit to have arrived in Israel and, as such, have had a major impact on Israeli society in cultural, social and demographic terms. The manner in which the immigrants were absorbed in social institutions influenced the adaptation strategies they adopted, which changed over time.

The research is aimed at examining the extent to which the immigrants have, according to their perception, adapted to the social frameworks, based on their experiences in connecting with the local population through the educational system and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). The research is a qualitative one, in the framework of which interviews were conducted with 28 immigrants who had immigrated to Israel as children and adolescents.

The immigrants developed adaptation strategies which changed as they transitioned from the educational system to the military framework, and subsequently settled into civilian life.

The New Neighborhood Watch: An Exploratory Study of the Nextdoor App and Crime Narratives

Megan Parker — 2024-03-18

Community members use the Nextdoor App to prevent crime and circulate information when suspicious activity or criminal misconduct is afoot. The Nextdoor App operates like other popular social media platforms, but unlike Facebook and Twitter, it connects citizens based on geography instead of areas of interest. One unique aspect of the app is posting events and perceptions of suspicious behavior and criminal acts. User posts can provide narratives on feelings, incidents, and perceptions of crime in designated neighborhoods. This exploratory study focuses on how community members in an urban Colorado area use the app as a high-tech Neighborhood Watch. A qualitative research approach with a thematic analysis is implemented to examine neighbors’ perceptions of crime events and community safety. The findings depict that citizens engaged in Nextdoor communications are frustrated with petty community incivilities, property crimes, and law enforcement actions. In addition, the results show that lessons in being a capable guardian, possible increases in fear levels, and surveillance activities are important aspects of understanding social media and crime.

Customary Deprivation: Perceptions of Legatee in Igbo land and Female Property Crimes amongst Enugu Urban Inhabitants

Amadi Aroh — 2024-03-18

This study aims to garner perceptions of Enugu inhabitants on the customary practice of property transfer to inheritors and its nexus to female property crimes (FPCs). Inheritance is an age-old practice which tends to favour male folks. Women have often been relegated to the kitchen. This practice is embedded in most African cultures where the birth of a male is valued over the birth of a female child. Denial of female rights of inheritance, denial of ownership of landed property, and female marginalization in almost all social institutions seem to stem from patriarchy which in turn tend to predispose women to property crimes. This study anchored on Relative Deprivation theory. Mixed method approach was adopted. Sampling of participant was based on multi-stage sampling procedure and purposive sampling. The sample size is 1015 for the quantitative part of the study and nine key informants for the qualitative aspect. This study found that the customary practice of legatee in Igbo land is embedded in patriarchy and this holds adverse economic effects for women, culminating in FPCs which involve women of youthful age who are mostly in full blown exposure of the existing privileges and cover offered to women in patriarchal societies especially when married. This study concludes that patriarchy understood as domination of vital social and political positions by men and exclusion of women from inheriting family lands and properties is implicit to FPCs.

Gender Differences in Facebook Addiction as a Coping Response to Social Stressors and Poor Self-Confidence

Pamela Black — 2024-03-29

The Threat Appraisal and Coping Theory suggests that when individuals perceive social stressors from important interpersonal relationships (family, friends, romance), and when they have poor self-confidence, they may display the coping behavior of seeking social support, including that provided by social media platforms such as Facebook. However, individuals who perceive intense social stressors and have poor self-confidence may use Facebook to the extent that it interferes with other areas of their lives. The present study examined this cognitive sequence that could lead to such Facebook addiction: SOCIAL STRESSORS à POOR SELF-CONFIDENCE à EXCESSIVE FACEBOOK. Because of past research showing gender differences in each of these variables, we hypothesized that women would be more likely to show the proposed cognitive sequence leading to Facebook addiction. Participants were 243 women and 209 men from a paid online Survey Monkey sample who reported demographics, three social stressors (family, friends, romance), self-confidence with Rosenberg’s Self-Esteem Scale, and excessive Facebook use with the Bergen Facebook Addiction Scale. Unlike our hypothesized results, moderated mediational analyses with 5000 bootstrapped samples found significantly higher indirect effect sizes for the three-variable sequence in men than in women, specifically when the social stressor was from family or romantic partners. One interpretation would be that when conflicts occur in intimate personal relationships (family, romance), women may have a wider network of real-life relationships in which they share their emotional concerns, whereas men are more likely to rely on online social media to vent concerns about intimate relationships.

The Political Economy of Contemporary Insecurity in Nigeria: Theoretical Issues and Explanations

Ogundiya Ilufoye Sarafa — 2024-03-29

This paper examined the nature of contemporary insecurity in Nigeria. The paper adopts a qualitative methodology, and the data were gathered using documentary sources. It anchors on political economy approach using game theoretic modeling as theoretical framework. The paper argued that Nigerian state is currently facing internal security threats from separatist demands and ethnic militias to terrorism, cattle rustling, kidnapping for ransom, armed banditry, and armed robbery among others. It further stressed that Nigeria's frighteningly high level of insecurity makes its citizens live in constant fear. That Nigeria's socio-economic development has been badly impacted by this insecurity, which also has an influence on the credibility of Nigeria's international image. In order to address Nigeria's worries about insecurity, this paper concluded with policy recommendations, primarily for the National Assembly that corrupt practices must be addressed in order to restore peace in Nigeria. Also, to facilitate effective governance, which is necessary for upholding peace and stability in the country, the National Assembly must use the power of the legislative power derived from the constitution to improve responsiveness, transparency and accountability.

A Meta-Data Analysis on the Primary and Secondary Health Care Needs to Prevent Obesity among the High School Students in the United States

Jessica Evangelin Emmanuel-Janagan — 2024-04-13

Obesity in schools has grown to become one of the most dramatic features of the global obesity epidemic, with long-term consequences. It has become a public health challenge globally. This study is a meta data analysis of recently published articles in the refereed journals. Fifteen articles were purposively selected based on the criteria of obesity among the high school students and were analyzed to find the recent changing trends of obesity in schools. The analysis of studies demonstrates that school-aged children in the United States have a high prevalence of obesity. The findings provide evidence for prevention intervention strategies to reduce obesity in school-age children. The finding shows that there is a need for more greater awareness of the issues of obesity in schools and the author recommends the ways and means to reduce the obesity in schools in the United States. It is recommended that a healthy lifestyle during high school age is a must for teenagers to avoid obesity.

Modernization Theory Revised: Testing the Relationship between Inward Foreign Direct Investment and Homicide

Philip J. Levchak — 2024-04-22

Purpose: Modernization theory suggests that economic development is temporarily disruptive to social life and can lead to crimes of violence such as homicide. However, few studies have considered how the modernization process works. Specifically, they neglected the role of globalization. Previous research has suggested that certain measures of globalization may be theoretically linked to homicide. This study examines how inward Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), a key component of globalization and economic development, is associated with cross-national homicide rates.

Methods: Data from 101 countries were collected and analyzed to examine the relationship between inward FDI and homicide. Indirect effects of inward FDI on homicide through urbanization and economic growth were also examined.

Results: The results show that inward foreign direct investment increases cross-national homicide rates, both directly and indirectly through increased urbanization.

Conclusion: While economic development benefits society, the concomitant, deleterious effects should be considered by policymakers, especially those seeking inward foreign direct investment in their countries. Future researchers will want to consider examining other measures of globalization.

Evaluating the Impact of Collaborative Art, Therapy and Training on Police Legitimacy: The Perceptions Held by Individuals with Substance Abuse Disorder and Police Officers

Frederick A. Williams Jr. — 2024-05-04

This qualitative pilot study was funded by a federal micro-grant to seek to fill a void in the literature on police legitimacy. The focus of this pilot study was to determine if collaborative art therapy and training can change the perceptions of police legitimacy held by individuals with substance use disorder (SUD) or the perceptions of the police toward individuals with SUD. Besides the collaborative activities, individuals with SUD and police officers were provided with therapy and/or training sessions during the period of collaboration.

The methodology for this study included the use of electronic survey instruments to evaluate any changes in perception. These instruments were administered anonymously before and after all therapy, training, and collaboration activities occurred. Each instrument contained open-ended questions relating to Police Legitimacy Scale (PLS) (Tankebe et al., 2016) categories, as well as additional measures. Analysis included qualitative methods to provide context and identify themes for content analysis. Findings did not confirm change overall however, positive responses support police legitimacy, perceptual changes and relationship building. Recommendations are made for relationship building through increased interaction, excluding enforcement activities between individuals with SUD and the police using collaborative projects such as art therapy.

A Multi-Perspective Analysis of School Bullying in China: An Empirical Study Based on Recent News Reports

Leilei Zhang — 2024-05-15

Bullying is a kind of anti-social behavior, which causes physical and mental harm to the victims, and even death in severe cases. Many countries have adopted a "zero tolerance" approach to it and have developed countermeasures early on. In contrast, China's campus bullying incidents are worsening, involving severe and harmful behaviors, the governance has been ineffective, and the whole society has condemned them, and there is limited academic research on the subject. This study analyzes 15 typical incidents reported by news media between 2015 and 2023 using a combination of multiple case studies and literature research. It explores the main characteristics of bullying behavior, the deficiencies in education and laws concerning bullying, etc. The paper proposes intervention measures from four perspectives: governance policy community, family and school education, bystander participation, and laws and regulations. This paper uses many cases to prove that Chinese education needs to learn more from international education experience when dealing with bullying cases, and this is an imperative reform.

The Nexus between Criminology and the Corporate Sector: A Critical Overview

Bhavna Mahadew — 2024-06-20

The intricate interaction between criminology, company operations, and the regional and historical differences in criminal laws is examined in this study using a qualitative research methodology. This study compares how the criminal justice system handles corporate malfeasance to how it handles crimes committed by individuals in order to investigate the effectiveness and challenges of applying criminal law to enterprises. The majority of the data collected comes from secondary sources. The results show that managing corporate misconduct is different from managing individual transgressions, which creates challenges for enforcement and punishment. The results of the study show that the criminalisation of particular behaviors is significantly influenced by legal frameworks and social norms. The researchers came to the conclusion that improving corporate governance, strengthening enforcement protocols, passing laws protecting whistleblowers, and launching community education-based public awareness campaigns could all potentially increase the effectiveness of the criminal justice system in combating corporate crime.

Application of the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP) to Evaluate Bias Related to Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) within Child Welfare

Michelle Sereno — 2024-07-12

Problematic bias evidenced by child welfare professionals in relation to Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) victimization can negatively impact outcomes for children and families in the foster care system. The literature supports malleability of IPV-related bias in response to training interventions. These studies rely heavily on self-report measures. Self-report tools capture extended responses (explicit bias). These measures are less likely to reflect immediate responses (implicit bias). Combining explicit and implicit measures may inform a more comprehensive understanding.

Purpose of Study: We employed a multi-method protocol to measure bias evidenced by dependency professionals in relation to IPV victimization. Method: Participants completed the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure - Intimate Partner Violence (IRAP-IPV), an explicit analog of the IRAP-IV, and a gender-neutral version of the Domestic Violence Myth Acceptance Scale (GN-DVMAS).

Principle Results: Results show expected divergence between explicit and implicit measures, with stronger positive valuation reflected on the explicit tools. We compared IRAP-IPV scores across in person and virtual groups. While statistical analyses indicate no significant between-group differences, divergence is evident upon visual inspection.

Conclusion: This study supports the importance of multi-method measurement when evaluating IPV-related bias. We discuss results in terms of social and contextual factors within child welfare that may influence how dependency professionals respond to IPV. We offer recommendations for promoting a more equitable child welfare experience for victim-survivors, their families, and the professionals who serve them.

Truth about Rape Myths: Understanding the Effects of Sexual Violence and Date Rape Attitudes on Rape Myths Acceptance in Ghana

Francis Danso Boateng — 2024-07-15

Purpose: Rape myths acceptance is a global phenomenon with dire consequences on how sexual assault victims are perceived and treated. People who hold strong sexual violence beliefs tend to blame the victims for their victimizations while praising the offenders. It has widely been acknowledged that such attitudes hinder crime reporting while promoting violence in society. The main purpose of the current study was to examine the factors that influence rape myths acceptance among students in Ghana.

Method: Data for the study was collected from students attending one of the largest universities in the country between 2021 and 2022.

Results: Our results revealed that sexual violence experience, college date rape attitudes, age, degree program, and ethnicity influenced rape myths acceptance among students.

Conclusion: Based on the findings, we recommend that colleges should create a conducive environment for victims of sexual violence whereby educating students about the harmful effects of rape myths acceptance.

Attitudes on Policy and Punishment: Opposition to Inequality-Based Government Aid Predicts Support for Capital Punishment

Adam Trahan — 2024-07-22

Objective: There exists a well-developed body of research on the attitudinal correlates of support for capital punishment. Among the most robust of these is racism and racial attributions. The study presented here was designed to explore whether policy prescriptions reflective of racial attitudes can predict support for capital punishment.

Method: Data come from the 2018 iteration of the NORC General Social Survey. The dependent variable is a dichotomous measure of support for the death penalty for people convicted of murder. The independent variable is a 5-level Likert-type item of support for government aid to Blacks to help overcome discrimination. Binary logistic regression was used to analyze the relationship between variables net of standard controls.

Results: Over 63 percent of the total sample supported the death penalty. Support among those strongly favored government aid to Blacks was 41 percent. Support among those who strongly rejected aid to Blacks was 78 percent. Results of the regression analysis showed each decrease in the level of support for government aid to Blacks was associated with an 18.6 percent increase in the likelihood of supporting the death penalty.

Conclusion: Capital punishment support is not simply a function of abstract, hypothetical racial attitudes. The findings reported here suggest support for the death penalty is associated with concrete policy prescriptions that maintain racial inequalities. Given that capital punishment continues in large part due to public support, it should be recognized that this support is based on a desire to maintain racial inequalities through government action.

The Evolution of Domestic Abuse as a Process (DAP) Model: An Initial Statement

Jessica L. Burke — 2024-07-31

A new model of intimate partner violence, the Domestic Abuse Process (DAP) model, is presented to address how domestic abuse emerges, evolves, and escalates in a romantic relationship over time. A review of the relevant literature on intimate partner violence, including studies examining the role of resources, relationship goals and means for achieving these goals, and relationship stressors is conducted. Important theories such as symbolic interactionism, strain, intergenerational transmission of violence, and the process model of family violence are also reviewed and discussed within the context of domestic abuse. A short discussion of how the proposed model could be empirically tested using a survey instrument containing numerous items that are administered to respondent couples is provided. Follow-up interviews with respondent couples would be used to clarify survey responses and to obtain more detailed insights into how abuse entered and intensified in respondent relationships. Both quantitative and qualitative analyses would be performed on the subsequent data to glean important factors and patterns empirically involved in the process. The model provides additional insights into intimate partner violence and abuse that could inform treatment practices and policy.

Metropolitan Policing in Crisis

Matt Clement — 2024-08-01

Ever since the killing of George Floyd in May 2020, there has been a growth in social movements resisting aspects of policing in the US and the UK. In the UK it has evolved in particular directions in response to various controversies in policing and a growing mood to resist increasingly authoritarian legislation emerging from government, in part to repress the very movements they are bringing forth. This paper was delivered as part of an ESRC-funded ‘Festival of Social Science’ run at Royal Holloway University of London in November 2023 under the theme ‘Is it a crime to protest?’ and reflects on these trends as well as reviewing the need for a more critical turn in Criminology and Sociology.

Overcrowding, Drugs Abuse and Violence vs. Rehabilitation Interviews and Perceptions of a Sample of Prisoners

Luisa Ravagnani — 2024-09-09

Based on the interviews collected and conducted during the data gathering process for the documentary "11 days: within the prison walls”, some inmates from the prison of Nerio Fischione based in Brescia (Italy) decide to share their stories to a microphone and storytellers. The voices provide a sincere look, suitable for investigating the subjective perceptions that inmates have regarding the prison environment, exploring the complexities of their experiences. What emerges from the stories is a place that is far away from the rehabilitation purpose that it should have. The enormous issue of overcrowding, drug pills treatment abuse, and, above all, the pervasive violence within the corridors of the facility.

The punitive function seems to prevail and is doubly enacted: firstly, through the nature of the prison itself, and secondly, through the prison conditions that prevent from any possibility to start a positive path. This article aims to contribute to the existing academic debate providing an insight from the prisoners’ perception about their personal experience, focusing on the issues that most frequently emerge from their testimonies: the lack of significance that they experience on a daily basis.

Cybercrime and Strain Theory: An Examination of Online Crime and Gender

Katalin Parti — 2024-09-11

Purpose: Historically, cybercrime has been seen as a near exclusively male activity. We were interested to learn whether the relationship between strain and crime holds for both males and females.

Methods: We utilized an online survey instrument to collect data from a national sample of individuals (n=2,121) representing the US population by age, gender, race and ethnicity. We asked offending related questions regarding various cybercrimes. In the current study, we use data from 390 individuals who reported a cybercrime activity within the past 12 months.

Results: We find strong support for prior strains correlating with both specific (e.g., illegal uploading) and general cyber-offending. We further examine whether gender interacts with strain. While general strain theory (GST) correlates with cyber-offending for both males and females, we did find a few important differences. Except for lack of trust in others and receiving unsatisfactory evaluation at school or work, there are different variables responsible for online offending for men and women. Parents’ divorcing, anonymity, and online video gaming increase cybercrime offending in women, whereas falling victim to a crime, breaking up with a significant other, and darkweb activity are correlated with cyber-offending for men.

Conclusion: Although GST functions differently by gender when it comes to engaging in cyber-offending, the theory is indeed gender-specific, as different strain variables are responsible for engaging in cyber-offending in women and men. Components of general strain responsible for cyber-offending need to be further studied concerning gender. According to our results, GST is gender-specific, and these variables need to be further studied.

A Decade of Liberal Cosmopolitanism in the United States: The Effects of Gender, Race, and Income

Liqun Cao — 2024-10-08

This study investigates correlates of cosmopolitan sentiments in the United States over a decade, contributing to the literature in two ways. First, it tests the “group status thesis” in the U.S., which suggests that marginalized and disadvantaged groups are more likely to exhibit cosmopolitan attitudes. Second, it examines the interaction between socioeconomic factors and the waves of the World Values Survey conducted between 2006 and 2017. The findings support the main hypotheses of the group status thesis: women, non-Whites, and lower-income individuals tend to be more cosmopolitan in their outlook. Over the 11-year period, the gap in liberal cosmopolitanism between genders and income levels widened. The study concludes that liberal cosmopolitanism is rooted in specific structural locations, with marginalized groups being more inclined to embrace it. Notably, support for cosmopolitanism remained relatively strong before and during the early years of the Trump administration in 2017.

The Challenges and Rewards of Carrying Out Qualitative Research on the Police in the African American Community

Daniel K. Pryce — 2024-10-17

In this paper, we discuss the challenges and rewards of carrying out qualitative research on the police in the African American¹ community. Using data drawn from interviews with seventy-seven African American adults in Durham, NC, we found that community member hostility toward research(ers) and fear of both neighbors and the police lowered African Americans’ willingness to be interviewed about their perceptions of and experiences with U.S. police. These findings were observed primarily in public housing and middle-income communities. On a positive note, we found that greater awareness of policing issues increased African Americans’ willingness to participate in research about the police. This finding was more common among upper-middle-income African Americans. The implications of our findings for future research and improved policing in the African American community are discussed.