ijcs
Editor’s Choice : Community Policing, Workplace Structure and Attitudes Toward Lesbians and Gay Men and their Civil Liberties
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Abstract: While criminal justice workplaces, such as the police and prisons, are noted for reproducing both gender inequality and inequality based on sexuality or sexual orientation, this paper examines whether reorganizing the workplace can alter those interactions and reduce inequality. We draw on survey data from a police department to theorize the likely impact of the move toward community policing and rehabilitative models of justice on the attitudes of heterosexual sworn officers and civilian employees toward lesbians and gay men and their civil rights. Our analysis shows that sworn officers and civilian employees’ attitudes toward community policing and rehabilitation significantly affect their views on lesbians and gay men and their civil liberties both directly and indirectly. We conclude by suggesting the policy implications of our findings and avenues for future research. Keywords: Sexual Orientation and Policing, Gender, Workplace Inequality, Lesbians and Gay Men in Policing.Download Full Article |
Editor’s Choice : Gambling Addiction Defence on Trial: Canadian Expert Witness Perspectives
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Abstract: The American Psychiatric Association’s evolving recognition of pathological gambling as a behavioral addiction (DSM-III, 1980; DSM-V, 2013) has occasioned increased use of the gambling addiction defence in criminal trials. Reflecting upon our experiences as expert witnesses in criminal and civil liability proceedings where gambling addiction was a significant factor, we a) describe the expert witness role; b) examine the links among frequent and intense EGM play, gambling addiction, and financially-based crimes; c) review how revisions to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual influenced the Canadian judicial system response to such crime; and d) explore prospects for reducing criminal activity by addicted EGM players. We discuss how and why gambling addiction has become generally accepted as a mitigating factor in Canadian criminal trials. In this commentary we also analyze how the plight of addicted gamblers who resort to criminal behavior might be remediated by a) gambling-specific consumer protection measures; b) tighter regulatory control over the addictive elements of EGM play; c) the implementation of gambling courts; and d) a legislated duty of care owed by gambling providers to EGM players. Keywords: Gambling addiction, expert witness, diminished capacity, rehabilitative sentences.Download Full Article |
Editor’s Choice : Mafia Women: A Study on Language and Mental Representations of Women Engaged with Mafia Members
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Abstract: For a long time, women in the Mafia were considered victims who were unaware of the activities of the men in their families. However, it has recently been demonstrated that these women may play an important role in the organisation, particularly in the transmission of Mafia values. In this study, we explored the representations of self, relationships, and the Mafia world in women engaged with Mafia members. This was done by means of in-depth interviews and computer-assisted text analysis. A cluster analysis was applied to words used by the women in the interviews. Three clusters emerged that accounted for 85% of the principal contents of the interviews. These were interpreted as “representations of family”, “representations of social relationships”, and “ideals and values”. The analysis of words included in each cluster suggested that Mafia women are deeply involved in the transmission of traditional Sicilian values to their offspring. These ideals and beliefs are deeply rooted in the Mafia organisation and they involve attributing a central role to family, religion, and honor within the Mafia culture. Findings of the study could be positively used for developing appropriate preventative and social measures that may help these women change their ideals and beliefs related to the Mafia world, thus breaking the transmission of Mafia values. Keywords: Mafia, criminal organisations, women, mental representations, qualitative analysis.Download Full Article |
Editor’s Choice : Micro-Place Disorder, Subjective Powerlessness and Violent Youth Group Involvement: Testing an Integrative Control Theory
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Abstract: In this study we test an integrative theory that seeks to explain why youth that live in disordered micro-places have an increase likelihood of becoming involved in a violent youth group. The emerging integrative theory is based on the principle of conceptual end-to-end integration and is the result of an attempt to integrate (1) a contemporary version of subjective powerlessness theory with (2) an integrative control framework of violent youth group involvement. We submit the thesis that the both aforementioned models are highly suitable for conceptual integration as micro-place disorder is a common antecedent. In addition, both models share an intervening mechanism in the observed micro-place disorder- violent youth group involvement relationship: the concept of normlessness. An integrative model allows for the study of multiple pathways through which micro-place disorder and subjective powerlessness affect the likelihood of becoming involved in a violent youth group. Using path analyses for continuous and dichotomous outcomes we test key propositions of our theoretical elaboration. Our research is based on a large sample of youths in early adolescence (N=2,486) in the urban context of Antwerp, the second largest city of Belgium. The results indicate that micro-place disorder increases decreases parental monitoring and increases feelings of subjective powerlessness. Normlessness and low self-control are important mediators in the “causal chain” between micro-place disorder, subjective powerlessness and violent youth group involvement. Low self-control and lifestyle risk further mediate the effects of subjective powerlessness, normlessness and micro-place disorder. The implications of these findings for future studies of violent youth group involvement are discussed. Keywords: Subjective powerlessness, violent youth group involvement, integrative theory, micro-place disorder, low self-control, lifestyle risk.Download Full Article |
