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1 – 10 of 779Sally-Ann Ashton and Anna Bussu
The purpose of this paper is to explore how young people who offend with others define delinquent and criminal groups and consider the social risk factors associated with gang…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore how young people who offend with others define delinquent and criminal groups and consider the social risk factors associated with gang membership and criminal exploitation.
Design/methodology/approach
The sample consisted of 15 young people who were purposively sampled from a group of 14- to 17-year-old males who had been identified as at risk of gang involvement and referred to a community-based programme. Using a social identity framework, a thematic analysis was undertaken to investigate how the participants viewed their role in offending as part of a group.
Findings
The participants identified peer groups, street gangs and the involvement of adult criminals as distinct categories of offending groups. Unlike prior models for gang involvement, some members of the sample were involved in multiple groups to perform different categories of crime. Importantly, participants displayed an awareness of exploitation and described successful exit strategies from criminal groups.
Research limitations/implications
Understanding how young people who are involved in delinquent behaviour and offending define gang and group offending.
Practical implications
The implications for gang and group offending prevention and intervention programmes are discussed.
Originality/value
The literature on child criminal exploitation and UK drug markets is in its infancy. This paper offers further evidence for the processes of joining and leaving delinquent and criminal groups.
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Juvenile delinquency research has identified two vital (and related) concepts to this area of study: age of onset and escalation. In this investigation, escalation is examined as…
Abstract
Juvenile delinquency research has identified two vital (and related) concepts to this area of study: age of onset and escalation. In this investigation, escalation is examined as a function of early drinking. Added to this are the influences of deviant peers and the social control effects of family and church. My analysis shows that consuming alcohol at a young age is correlated with illegal drug use, committing a greater number of illegal acts, committing more serious offences, and being confronted by police for delinquent behavior. Moreover, I show that peer influence has a greater impact on individual behavior than do other social control mechanisms. In conclusion, I offer a critique of current policies aimed at teenage drinking and argue in favor of preventative, rather than prohibitive strategies.
Purpose – Child abuse is widely accepted as having a negative effect on children's academic achievement. It is less clear why this relationship exists. Current explanations of the…
Abstract
Purpose – Child abuse is widely accepted as having a negative effect on children's academic achievement. It is less clear why this relationship exists. Current explanations of the abuse-academic achievement connection rely on psychological theories that overlook the impact the abuse has on children's developmentally relevant social circumstances.
Methodology/approach – Using data from the National Survey of Adolescents (NSA), a nationally representative sample of youth between the ages of 12 and 17 years old, a social capital perspective is implemented to show how abuse impacts academic achievement.
Findings – Children victimized by physical or sexual abuse are more likely to join deviant peer groups, which in turn leads to increased levels of delinquent behavior by the individual. Both the “negative” social capital of the peer group and the deviant individual behaviors explain away much of the disparity in performance between abused and non-abused children and contribute to the overall understanding of the mechanisms responsible for the effects of abuse.
Originality/value of chapter – These findings provide evidence of the impact abuse can have on children's well-being and outlines social mechanisms that connect abuse victimization to children's outcomes.
Marie Ouellet and Sadaf Hashimi
Purpose – Criminal groups have long been central to explanations of crime and deviance. Yet, challenges in measuring their dynamic and transient nature meant that group-level…
Abstract
Purpose – Criminal groups have long been central to explanations of crime and deviance. Yet, challenges in measuring their dynamic and transient nature meant that group-level explanations were often displaced in favor of individual-level ones. This chapter outlines how network methods provide a powerful tool for modeling the dynamic nature of criminal groups.
Approach – The chapter starts by providing a brief introduction to social network analysis, including key concepts and terminology. The chapter then focuses on the types of relational data available to study criminal groups, and how network methods can be used to delineate group boundaries. The chapter concludes by presenting a framework for understanding group dynamics from a network perspective, describing the contributions of network analysis to theories of group processes.
Findings – Network methods have provided meaningful advances to the study of group dynamics, leading scholars to revisit assumptions about the impact of group’ structure on delinquent behavior. Network studies of group dynamics have primarily focused on the cohesion–delinquency link (within-group structure) and the social contagion of conflict (between-group structure), highlighting important opportunities for the intersection of these two inquiries.
Value – Network methods provide a means to revisit and extend theories of crime and delinquency with a focus on social structure. The unique affinity between group dynamics and network methods highlights immense opportunities for expanding the knowledge of collective trajectories.
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Dzhansarayeva Rima, Alimkulov Yerbol, Baissalov Ali, Bissengali Liliya and Kevin Beaver
Fraudulent behaviors have a significant influence on society, impact millions of citizens and result in billions of dollars in losses. Consequently, it is essential to understand…
Abstract
Purpose
Fraudulent behaviors have a significant influence on society, impact millions of citizens and result in billions of dollars in losses. Consequently, it is essential to understand the potential correlates and causes of financial fraud offending. To date, however, there has not been much research examining the developmental origins to financial fraud offending. The purpose of this study is to address this gap in the literature.
Design/methodology/approach
Longitudinal data drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health were analyzed. The measures of socialization and individual differences were assessed in adolescence, and then examined to determine whether they predicted the odds of credit card and check frauds in adulthood.
Findings
The results revealed that the measures of parental socialization were unrelated to later-life financial fraud. Associating with delinquent peers was associated with financial fraud in some of the models as was low self-control and nonviolent propensities.
Practical implications
In this study, the authors discuss the implications of the current study and offer suggestions for future research.
Originality/value
To the best of authors’ knowledge, this is one of the first studies to examine the developmental unfolding of fraud offending in a nationally representative sample.
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Multisystemic therapy (MST) is described and contrasted with practice in traditional services for young people who have committed crime, behaved anti‐socially, abused substances…
Abstract
Multisystemic therapy (MST) is described and contrasted with practice in traditional services for young people who have committed crime, behaved anti‐socially, abused substances or suffered family conflict. The challenges to traditional services posed by MST are examined, including consideration of the process of engagement in therapy, the intensive individualised therapy delivered in the young person's own home or local community, and the quality assurance systems.
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Kyle J. Thomas and Terrance J. Taylor
The purpose of this paper is to consider the utility of school-based research for studying gangs and gang members. Police–researcher collaborations have led to considerable…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to consider the utility of school-based research for studying gangs and gang members. Police–researcher collaborations have led to considerable advancements in the understanding of gang involvement and its consequences. But the current social environment should encourage scholars to take stock of alternative methodologies to examine gang-related questions.
Design/methodology/approach
In this paper, the authors reflect on the advantages of school-based research designs for studying gang affiliated youth, primarily contrasting the data derived from school-based designs to official data from police.
Findings
xSpecifically, the authors discuss the key advantages of school-based survey research, identify concerns that can arise from such designs and offer recommendations as to how to mitigate such concerns.
Originality/value
This paper provides a discussion on the utility of gang-related research and guidance on addressing potential limitations.
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Prathiba Chitsabesan, Sue Bailey, Richard Williams, Leo Kroll, Cassandra Kenning and Louise Talbot
This article is based on a study that was commissioned by the Youth Justice Board for England and Wales. We report on the learning profiles and education needs of a cohort of…
Abstract
This article is based on a study that was commissioned by the Youth Justice Board for England and Wales. We report on the learning profiles and education needs of a cohort of young offenders who were recruited for the study. The research was a national cross‐sectional survey of 301 young offenders who were resident in custodial settings or attending youth offending teams in the community. The young people were assessed using the WASI and the WORD measures to obtain psychometric information (IQ scores and reading/reading comprehension ages). One in five (20%) young people met the ICD‐10 criteria for mental retardation (IQ<70), while problems with reading (52%) and reading comprehension (61%) were common. Verbal IQ scores were found to be significantly lower than performance IQ scores, particularly in male offenders. It is clear from these results that a large proportion of juvenile offenders have a learning disability, as characterised by an IQ<70 and significantly low reading and reading comprehension ages. The underlying aetiology of this association is less clear and may be a consequence of both an increased prevalence of neurocognitive deficits and the impact of poor schooling. There is some evidence that developmental pathways may be different for boys compared with girls.
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This article examines research on the socio‐economic changes that have generated new offending patterns in the United States and a proliferation of the ‘gang’ phenomenon in that…
Abstract
This article examines research on the socio‐economic changes that have generated new offending patterns in the United States and a proliferation of the ‘gang’ phenomenon in that country. Evidence is presented that there have been analogous socioeconomic changes in the UK and these may have outcomes that produce similar, if culturally distinct, manifestations of youth criminality.
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