International Journal of Law Crime and Justice最新文献

Given the exceptional situation occasioned by an unprecedented health crisis, countries adopted extraordinary measures to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. The enforcement of these measures has significantly resulted in human rights violations of various forms. This study draws from the Nigerian case to explore incidents of arbitrary arrests and detention of those adjudged by the police to have violated the lockdown rules. Using a victim-centered approach, 32 interviews with people arrested and detained by the police for contravening COVID-19 lockdown rules were conducted, and a thematic analysis of the narratives was carried out. Findings indicated that participants were arrested and detained in police cells for breaking stay-at-home rules largely for extortive purposes. In the process of arrests and detention, they endured physical and psychological abuses, were exposed to the risk of contracting COVID-19, and suffered economic extortions. Practical and policy implications were provided to enhance police legitimacy.

Since the September 11 attacks, prevention and countering violent extremism (P/CVE) programs have rapidly increased worldwide, garnering significant interest among researchers. This paper is a systematic review focusing on the evaluations of primary, secondary and tertiary prevention programs from 2001 until 2020. The review identified 74 program evaluations that included satisfactory measures and metrics. Only 32% of the studies deemed the intervention successful, 55% described limited success, and 8% deemed the program had failed. Many of the programs evaluated failed to reach their objectives; some generated negative outcomes such as community disdain and an increase in the likelihood of alienation and stigma. Success was largely a self-assessed measure by the facilitators or stakeholders of the programs or the evaluators of the study. Success indicators can be operationalized as the degree of enhanced sense of belonging (connectedness to the community, social connection), trust and willingness to engage in programs, development of critical thinking skills (integrative complexity theory), and a strong sense of worth (quest for significance). Without a generally accepted set of metrics and no cohesive framework for conducting evaluations, this review offers an important addition to the field on the evidence suitable for program evaluations. An important aim of this systematic review was to identify what makes an effective and successful countering violent extremism program. The key findings indicate that enhancing belonging, identity, trust and community engagement, acknowledging perceptions of injustice, religious mentoring, and the promotion of critical thinking/self-reflection are associated with successful programs. The findings press upon policymakers, funders, and researchers the need to consider and support high-quality evaluations of programs.

Little research has examined the “powder keg” theory (that escapes are inherently violent), which has been used in U.S. courts to apply sentencing enhancements to people convicted of escaping. We examine open-source data on 610 escapees from jails and prisons to understand the prevalence and scope of escape-related violence, and the relationship between theoretically relevant covariates and these outcomes. Though our data is not representative of all U.S. escapes, we found that 19.2% of the incidents in our sample resulted in violence, with more violence occurring at the breakout (10.9%) than in the community (8.4%) or during recapture (5.7%). Escapees were more likely to use violence when they were in secure custody or outside the facility, if they fled during morning or evening hours, or if they were incarcerated in a jail rather than a lower security prison. These findings yield numerous implications for theory, policy, and practice.

With the growing importance of penal sector volunteers, it is necessary to provide effective information for potential volunteers and clarify the factors related to the willingness to serve. This study aimed to determine factors influencing the willingness of penal sector volunteers in Japan. We administered an online survey of 800 people to determine their willingness to volunteer in ten different types of rehabilitation activities, both formal and informal, targeted at criminal justice-involved people of all ages. A multiple-regression analysis showed the importance of examining the psychological and demographic factors to explain volunteer willingness. Structural equation modelling revealed that the most important factor is the perception of personal benefits offered by penal sector volunteers; therefore, providing information about the personal benefits of volunteering may improve volunteer willingness. This study identifies important implications regarding volunteer psychological factors which can be used to design interventions to change public attitudes.

Public participation in criminal justice is a major topic in criminological research. Recently, an empirical study in Japan coined the term “criminal justice participation” and provided preliminary results for this concept. The present study aimed to identify the correlates of criminal justice participation using data collected from 846 Japanese adults. Our findings show that, among the three groups of correlates, internal efficacy was a consistent predictor of experience and intention to participate in criminal justice. In addition to its relationship with internal efficacy, experience was related to low external court efficacy, stronger support for harsher punishment, and intention to participate. Intention to participate was related to support for rehabilitation and fear of crime. Based on the finding regarding support for harsher punishment and rehabilitation, we discuss the risk that the opinions of those who are more supportive of harsher punishment are overrepresented in society due to their active participation.

This study focuses on identifying factors that, from the perspective of prisoners, contribute to positive perceptions of rehabilitation (correction) in prison. A survey was conducted of 645 soon-to-be-released inmates (530 males and 115 females) in five institutions, with questions covering demographics, incarceration details, access to social services, and personal values. The research revealed that male inmates tended to hold more positive views on penitentiary rehabilitation than female inmates. However, it was observed that the rigidity of the prison regime and the existence of chronic illnesses among inmates negatively influenced these positive perceptions towards rehabilitation. Furthermore, the implementation of diverse rehabilitation-focused initiatives by non-governmental organisations (NGOs), coupled with an awareness of rights and responsibilities and the presence of strong family values, has been linked to fostering positive perceptions of rehabilitation. These findings highlight the critical need for enhanced cooperation between non-governmental organisations and prison facilities, as well as the introduction of social work practices within Kazakhstan's prison system. Policymakers should consider these factors when designing evidence-based rehabilitation strategies, emphasising the utilization of social work technologies.

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic which first broke out in Wuhan, China in December 2019 undoubtedly created a novel health challenge for countries around the world. The federal and some state governments in Nigeria in a bid to contain the spread of the virus and manage a looming health emergency pronounced lockdown measures at different times in 2020. The lockdown which affected the routine activities of citizens forced families and friends to stay indoors while it lasted. This was in compliance with the movement restriction order of the government which empowered law enforcement agencies to prosecute violators. While health authorities and other stakeholders made concerted efforts to control the coronavirus disease, some deviants and criminals exploited the situation to commit heinous crimes. The Nigerian media reported several cases of child and adolescent sexual abuse; including incest during the lockdown. This study used narrative review to examine the patterns of child and adolescent sexual abuse (CASA) during the COVID-19 lockdown in Nigeria. It found that CASA is often hidden, and can occurred online. It also revealed that CASA is perpetrated often by males as well as close relatives and have mainly females as victims. Furthermore, it found that perpetrators used manipulation, coercion and threats to facilitate the abuse. The study recommends strategies that may assist in forestalling the sexual exploitation of minors and young people during lockdowns and how to assist victims who may suffer post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among other pains.

After years of feminist struggle, international conventions, and the #MeToo movement, consent-based rape laws have rapidly been replacing coercion-based laws across Europe since 2017. In May 2023, we identified 20 European consent-based rape laws, and more were in progress. This article analyses the emergence and convergence of these laws, drawing on the theory of institutional isomorphism. The analysis is based on a collection of criminal codes, draft laws, news articles, previous research, and input from national experts. We map a timeline of consent-based rape laws in Europe and describe their key elements, identifying patterns such as international pressure, influential countries, civil society impact, and cases of sexual violence triggering national debates preceding legislative changes.

The crime of endangering rare and endangered wild animals has gradually become frequent crimes in China, but the legal cognitive error in such cases has not been resolved. In this crime, the scope of the objects, wild animals, depends on prepositive laws such as “the List of Wild Animals under the State Key Protection Plan”, which leads to the separation between the social meaning of “rare and endangered” and the legal meaning of “under the State Key Protection Plan”. Since the structure of basic facts and normative values has been broken, the perpetrator's understanding of the precondition laws should be regarded as pure legal cognition. Considering the specific cognitive difficulty of administrative laws, the level of this mens rea should be raised to clear awareness. This paper examines judicial and prosecutorial cases in China from 2021 to 2022, aimed at determining whether the lack of illegal perception can serve as a defence and what type of evidence is required to prove it. The empirical findings indicate that the clarity of legal cognition differs significantly between cases of guilt and innocence, and that the most crucial proof relies on the perpetrator's comprehension of the scope of protected wildlife, which is a purely legal matter instead of a social one.

In-prison offending and victimization threaten the safety of incarcerated individuals and staff, which makes it an important topic for correctional research. Prior research has generated substantial knowledge about individual and environmental characteristics that heighten the risk of in-prison offending and victimization. The victim-offender overlap and the situational dynamics of incidents, however, are still under-researched. This essay proposes that the study of in-prison offending and victimization would benefit from adoption of an incident-level approach. This recognizes that incidents can escalate and de-escalate depending on persons involved and their (re)actions, and that victimization and offending are often linked. It is discussed how criminological theories and methods on crime and victimization outside prisons can be adapted for this purpose.