Corruption is an age-old issue. Although various mitigation measures have been developed over time, it persistently exists and transforms with the dynamic business environment. The development of corruption is linked to the skills of criminals to cover their tracks. Control mechanisms and other lines of defense are insignificant when persons of power override, bully or collaborate to carry out corruption. Since humans are perceived to be rational, educating individuals on the evils of corruption with its apparent negative connotations would have been a logical approach to disrupting corruption. However, the growing trend of corruption reflects otherwise. Human behavior is subjective and based on a person–situation complexity, relationships and associations around human life. This pilot study assesses the decisions of individuals based on various corruption scenarios, using 20 questions modeled around Corruption Dimensions and Prisoner’s Dilemma. Of the respondents, 92% had formal exposure to anti-corruption-related studies. Most respondents responded negatively to corruption-related scenarios in the Corruption Dimensions, with noted bias in their criticism when it involved a politician as compared with a businessman. Similarly, the Prisoner’s Dilemma questions also reflected selective reasoning when comparing those with personal relationships as compared with acquaintances. The strength of the evidence, the independence of the judiciary, the ability to escape, the reluctance to self-incriminate and the personal benefits affect the judgment of the respondents. However, in situations involving environmental issues, respondents selected to confess regardless of the situation stating that it was the right thing to do. Education creates awareness on individual rights, options and, to a certain extent, the moral and legal obligations. However, the subjectivity of the person’s associations and lifelong experience also plays a major role in the decision-making process.

Fear of crime has always been a major topic in the popular media and for public policy. Consequences of fear of crime are salient for citizens' and the community's quality of life. Since the late 1970s, there has been a much scholarly attention paid to the role of disorder in producing fear of crime and further producing adverse community consequences. Particularly influential works were Wilson and Kelling's paper (1982) and Skogan's work (1990); these works greatly influenced public policy in the late 1980s and early 1990s (Greene and Taylor 1988; Ferraro 1994). The salient feature of this research is its emphasis on the role of community context, analyzing how disorder generates fear of crime and leads to community decline at the street block and neighborhood level. The impact of fear of crime extends beyond the victims of the crimes, and indicates the salience of the social aspect of fear of crime. Therefore, neighborhood effects are highly relevant to the understanding of fear of crime. Scholars have recognized that individuals' fear is better understood within a neighborhood or community context. The purpose of the present study is to build upon prior work to address critical questions of neighborhood effects on fear of crime under context of contemporary urban China. Using multilevel analyses of data from Tianjing, China, this paper found that neighborhood context variables have effect on fear of crime independent of individual characteristics.

The present study investigated the differences in patterns of social information processing (SIP) among adolescents with two trajectories of offending: group 1 (G1) composed of adolescents with a trajectory of major persistent offenses, which includes illegal acts considered violent; group 2 (G2) composed of individuals with a trajectory of minor persistent offenses, in which there is no escalation of the gravity of the offenses; and a comparison group (G3) with adolescents without involvement in offenses. SIP is one of the theoretical models most widely evoked to study and explain violent behavior in children/adolescents, in regarding the psychological processes that underlie behavior, specifically the cognitive nature. The participants answered a self-report delinquency interview and a SIP measure protocol. The results showed differences between the groups of offenders (G1 and G2) and the comparison group (G3) on the SIP pattern related to the competent responses. G1 and G2 revealed a SIP pattern poorly associated with socially competent behavior. However, G1 presented an SIP pattern more associated with the emission of aggressive behaviors. This pattern, although also present in G2, is more evident for those adolescents who reported committing crimes with the use of violence against people.

The COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown pushed several groups of traders to rely on cryptocurrency as one of the chosen tools for commercial transactions. India is no exception. Because of its notorious misuses by criminal gangs, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) declared cryptocurrency as derecognized. Consequently, the Indian parliament also created a draft bill titled Banning of Cryptocurrency & Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2019 (the Bill), which not only derecognizes the currency or the use of it for any commercial purposes, it also makes the investors, exchanges and agencies dealing with cryptocurrency criminally liable. Later, the Supreme Court of India in 2020 set aside the above-mentioned RBI guidelines banning cryptocurrency. But this has not nullified or suggested any amendment for the Bill. This article argues that due to this legal confusion, cryptocurrency investors, traders, exchanges and agencies, etc. have become guardian-less victims who may not be eligible to claim basic rights of victims as has been established by the United Nations Declaration of Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power. In such a legal tangle, it is necessary to analyse the issues from cyber-victimological perspectives for providing functional suggestions for restitution of justice.

This research sought to study how women cope with incarceration by exploring the pseudo-family phenomenon in female correctional centres, specifically in Kgoši Mampuru II and Johannesburg in the Gauteng Province of South Africa. The study employed a qualitative research approach to investigate the phenomenon. The research participants were selected through non-probability sampling, namely purposive, convenience and snowball methods. At the Kgoši Mampuru II centre, 21 offenders and seven officials were interviewed, while 15 offenders and six officials were interviewed at Johannesburg. In total, 36 offenders and 13 officials, including the two heads, were interviewed from both centres. The researchers chose theories on the sociology of corrections, specifically the deprivation and importation models, due to their suitability to explain the phenomenon under investigation. This study found that: (1) pseudo-families are structures or relationships that resemble families in general society; and (2) female offenders are motivated to join pseudo-families due to the need for protection, the need for belonging and comfort, and for smuggling contraband.

Emergencies, such as natural disasters, wars and terrorist attacks, are known to have important effects on police–community relations and, specifically, on public attitudes toward the police. At the same time, little is known about what happens to public sentiments over time in prolonged emergencies. Similarly, it is unclear if different types of attitudes follow a similar trajectory or if they “behave” differently. The present study examines general and pandemic-specific attitudes toward the police over the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic in Israel, using data from a community panel survey (n = 535) carried out in its first three peaks. We found a statistically significant deterioration in all types of attitudes in the first six months of the study, followed by stabilization in general attitudes. Interestingly, some emergency-specific attitudes followed a different path and demonstrated consistent deterioration throughout the study period. These findings contribute to our theoretical understanding of police–community relations in emergencies and bear practical implications for policing emergencies.

In Ghana, the economic costs of violent conflicts (loss of jobs and revenue, drop in gross domestic product, and disruption of production chain) have been well documented. However, there is little scholarly work on such conflicts’ human security costs, a critical element in contemporary security management arrangements. This study examines the costs of violent conflicts from a human security perspective using the farmer–herder conflict in the Agogo community in the Ashanti region of Ghana as a case study. A total of 400 participants were randomly and purposely selected. A χ2 test was employed to determine the association of rape, armed robbery, arson and murder with the farmer–herder conflict. The study found that at a 5% margin of error, the p value for armed robbery was 0.01, rape was 0.01, arson was 0.03 and murder was 0.00, indicating a close association between these variables and the conflict.

Fear of crime has been the focus of fruitful criminological investigation for the last 50 years. Simultaneously, the literature related to intimate partner violence has also been developing. Empirical studies have neglected the association between fear of crime and violence committed in private spaces, so this research seeks to provide an integrated approach to these concepts. Using the data from the first Brazilian National Victimization Survey, this research aims to explore how fear of violence in intimate relationships is associated with both individual and macro-contextual variables, in an ecological framework as proposed by Heise. Statistical analyses were conducted by aggregating data, and the analytical model integrated both individual- and macro-level variables and took the fear of intimate partner violence as the outcome variable. The results demonstrate a strong association between the fear of intimate partner violence and the individual-level predictors tested, especially previous victimization as well as social inequality (Gini coefficient). This way, results indicate that fear of crime manifests its predictors far beyond what the dyad “victim–aggressor” may suggest.

This study provides data on substance use patterns, including medications, among female inmates in Canadian federal prisons. The participants were interviewed regarding their substance use and their psychological condition before and during incarceration. Their medication cards were also analyzed. The results show that a large proportion (66.9 %) of these incarcerated women reported substance abuse prior to incarceration and exhibited psychological disorders. In prison, if the illicit substance use remained low, most subjects had prescriptions for more than one medication. Furthermore, women with psychotropic medication prescriptions in their file had, on average, prescriptions for two different psychotropic medications. Significant relationships were found between substance misuse before incarceration and illicit substance use or and psychotropic medication use during incarceration. These results support the need to develop integrated services for both addiction and mental health for female offenders during incarceration.

International society has recently witnessed the emergence of two interrelated trends: on the one hand, the significant rise in transnational crimes, which constitute a serious challenge to States’ traditional security capabilities, and the noticeable increase in the number of international instruments put in place to bring that challenge to acceptable levels, on the other hand. The great emphasis the international community has put on the principle “aut dedere aut judicare” to strengthen the universal legal regime against serious crimes and to deny safe haven to their perpetrators is challenged not only by political, legislative and practical considerations pertaining to the lack of ratification and incorporation of international conventions and the wide disparity between States as to their implementation capacity, but also by the inherent differences between States’ differing legal systems. This is an area that, despite its relevance to international cooperation and human rights, has long been ignored by criminal justice comparative studies. Based on actual cases such as the Ramda and El Guerbouzi cases, this article examines and assesses the impact of the differences between civil law and common law systems on the effectiveness of international cooperation and human rights. It argues that, unless these differences are acknowledged and properly dealt with, perpetrators of serious crime will continue to constitute a serious threat to our peace and security.

In this paper, Moroccan female migration to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is explored within the overall framework of Moroccan counter-terrorism policy. According to available data, Moroccans are considered as one of the main suppliers of fighters to ISIS. However, as it will be highlighted in this research, there is a scarcity of data related to Moroccan female migration to ISIS, to their sociodemographic profile, methods of their recruitment and programs of their reintegration once they come back home. This article focuses on Moroccan counter-terrorism policy and analyzes the extent to which it provides an exemplary precedent in effectively fighting terrorism. This policy includes, as will be examined, repressive and “soft” counter-radicalization and de-mobilization measures.

Indonesia has the largest financial technology (FinTech) industry in Southeast Asia: 167 FinTech companies offer payment, lending, personal finance, crypto and blockchain, crowdfunding, Insurtech and point-of-sale (POS) services. Two entities regulate the FinTech industry: Bank Indonesia and Otoritas Jasa Keuangan (OJK). The Indonesian FinTech ecosystem encompasses savings and investments, money transfer and payments, POS, lending and borrowing, accounting, comparison, financial planning, crowdfunding and cryptocurrency. Money transfer and payments take up the highest percentage, currently at 50%, in all FinTech ecosystems with the most digitally active customers. Peer-to-peer lending dominates the Indonesian market. The FinTech subsectors offer financial management, crowdfunding and insurance services. The abuse of this technology in facilitating terrorist financing, the weaknesses of the laws and policies, and the need for reform and remedies are discussed.

Terrorism, while not new in the history of humanity, has become a major issue and challenge for contemporary society worldwide. Recently it has become embodied and symbolized by the “Islamic State in Iraq and Syria” (ISIS) in its many permutations in the Middle East, the focus of massive military intervention on the part of major world powers and of study, analysis, strategy and planning. One aspect that has distinguished ISIS from previous terrorist movements is a major migration of women, especially but not limited to Western Europe, joining the jihad proclaimed by the religious leaders of ISIS. This introduction to the special issue on Female Migration to ISIS surveys and identifies the known possible roots of the phenomenon and related issues, summarizes major known points relative to it, and outlines the future agenda of work, not only academic but also practical and strategic, to be followed. Balanced recommendations on how to build a promising intervention strategy not only based on military force are put forth for consideration and discussion. While based on research, this article should be considered more of an editorial, generally introducing the field, summarizing existing work, especially the content of this special issue, and pointing out work needed in the future.

The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, or NDPS Act, was enacted to control addictive drugs and prohibit their possession, dispersion, sale, import, and trade in India. Psychotropic agents have the potential to change an individual’s consciousness, while narcotic drugs relieve anxiety. The Indian Parliament passed the NDPS Act on November 14, 1985. Nonetheless, these types of drugs are important in the practice of medicine. Consequently, the Act contains provisions for the cultivation of cannabis, poppy, and coca seeds and the production of certain psychotropic medicines used for medical purposes. The Act’s primary objective is to regulate the manufacturing, ownership, selling, and transportation of narcotics and psychotropic drugs. The Act forbids the selling of nearly 200 psychotropic medications, resulting in these drugs being inaccessible over the counter to the general public. These medications are only available for use with a prescription. Violations of this law can result in a sentence of incarceration or a fine, or both, depending on the offense’s severity, which is determined by the severity of the situation at hand. If the drugs are being used for personal benefit, the penalty can be minimized. Furthermore, the legislation has been revised several times since its inception.

Intimate partner homicides are often described as “passionate crimes”. While most sentencing studies focus on the analysis of the impact of specific characteristics of the offender, victim or the crime in sentencing, this study aims to analyse how “passionate crimes” are described in the Portuguese Supreme Court of Justice outcomes. From a qualitative analysis of 24 sentences, it is possible to conclude that passion is often related to jealousy, describing out-of-control offenders, arguments about cold-minded actions versus premeditated actions, and when describing prevention needs involved in sentencing these crimes. The defence often raises arguments minimising the gravity of the homicide due to strong “passion” emotion, but the Supreme Court of Justice has been declining most of them. The fact that most of these crimes are premeditated and actions happen with a “cold mind” also inhibits the “hot-blooded” “passionate” excuse for the crime. Results suggest that the Supreme Court of Justice is increasingly concerned about the necessity of preventing intimate partner homicides given its gravity and social impact.

Many eldercides in African societies are motivated by witchcraft beliefs. Yet, witchcraft-related eldercide remains an understudied criminological subject. The present study explores the scale, features and socio-cultural and economic contexts of witchcraft-related elder homicide in Kenya. A total of 94 media articles reporting the witchcraft-related killings of 136 older people in Kenya between January 2012 and December 2021 were perused. Key information about the victims and perpetrators and the circumstances surrounding each event/eldercide was collected and critically analysed. The data suggest that approximately 75% of witchcraft-related homicide victims in Kenya are 60 years old and above. Most victims were females (mainly widows) of low socio-economic backgrounds. All the cases occurred in rural communities, and the perpetrators were largely young adult males. Arson, slashing with a machete and clubbing/beating were the dominant methods used to kill alleged witches. Most killings were motivated by the belief that the victims caused misfortunes/calamities by witchcraft. However, witchcraft allegations and concomitant killings were sometimes weaponized to obtain the victims’ property/land. Because witchcraft beliefs are deeply entrenched in the culture and philosophy of the Kenyan people, the use of a multifaceted approach may be the most appropriate way of curtailing the problem.

Numerous studies find that sexual jealousy is a motivating factor in many intimate partner femicides. Given the paucity of scholarship in non-Western societies, the current article sought to extend empirical knowledge on the subject by focusing on sexual jealousy homicides in Fiji. A total of 30 male sexual jealousy homicides and attempted homicides in that society during 2010–2020 were identified through a thorough search of official court documents and local media sources. An in-depth criminological analysis of each case focused on victim and perpetrator attributes and offense features. The article finds that each homicide became a high-profile case, judging by the amount of media coverage afforded the incident and the degree of public interest demonstrated in the case. In 24 out of the 25 homicide cases, an aggrieved husband slew a supposed adulterous wife; the assailant killed his wife’s new consort in the remaining case. The mean age differential between perpetrators and victims was 7.9 years, and the mean length of the marital relationship was more than five years. Stabbing with kitchen knives, slashing with machetes, and manual asphyxiation were the dominant modes of offense perpetration. Nearly all cases evinced the following triple features of male sexual jealousy homicides: jealous rage, premeditation, and excessive violence. Summaries of all 30 cases are proffered in the article to reveal their essential features.

South African cash-in-transit (CIT) robberies appear to be in a state of flux. According to the Minister of Police, Mr Bheki Cele, the incidence of these crimes has steadily decreased due to rapid response by the police in arresting more than 200 suspects between June and November 2018. Given the rhizomatic, eclectic nature of this crime type – and possible mechanical linkages and/or linear causality within the genesis of the crime – it is debatable whether arrests and incarceration offer a long-term solution. CIT robbers interviewed for this study reported that they were career criminals, less likely to be rehabilitated and that incarceration was only an interruption to their career. These findings were backed by life-course theories. This article contends that if the South African Criminal Justice System wants to curb CIT robberies, an investigation into proactive methods for combating the crime should be developed and risk reduction strategies crafted. After investigating possible causes of CIT robberies, this research made recommendations based on holistic measures involving the public, family, and various government and non-governmental departments. The research was conducted for a Master of Arts degree in Criminology. A mixed-method approach was followed and 40 incarcerated offenders who committed robbery with aggravating circumstances participated in the study.