Violence, Crime, and Violent Crime

I propose a dual conceptualization of violent crime. Since violent crime is both violence and crime, theories of aggression and deviance are required to understand it. I argue that both harm-doing and rule breaking are instrumental behaviors and that a bounded rational choice approach can account for both behaviors. However, while some of the causes of harm-doing and deviance (and violent and nonviolent crime) are the same, some are different. Theories of crime and deviance cannot explain why one only observes individual and group differences in violent crime and theories of aggression and violence cannot explain why one observes differences in all types of crimes. Such theories are “barking up the wrong tree.”

Accident or homicide - virtual crime scene reconstruction using 3D methods

The analysis and reconstruction of forensically relevant events, such as traffic accidents, criminal assaults and homicides are based on external and internal morphological findings of the injured or deceased person. For this approach high-tech methods are gaining increasing importance in forensic investigations. The non-contact optical 3D digitising system GOM ATOS is applied as a suitable tool for whole body surface and wound documentation and analysis in order to identify injury-causing instruments and to reconstruct the course of event. In addition to the surface documentation, cross-sectional imaging methods deliver medical internal findings of the body. These 3D data are fused into a whole body model of the deceased. Additional to the findings of the bodies, the injury inflicting instruments and incident scene is documented in 3D. The 3D data of the incident scene, generated by 3D laser scanning and photogrammetry, is also included into the reconstruction. Two cases illustrate the methods. In the fist case a man was shot in his bedroom and the main question was, if the offender shot the man intentionally or accidentally, as he declared. In the second case a woman was hit by a car, driving backwards into a garage. It was unclear if the driver drove backwards once or twice, which would indicate that he willingly injured and killed the woman. With this work, we demonstrate how 3D documentation, data merging and animation enable to answer reconstructive questions regarding the dynamic development of patterned injuries, and how this leads to a real data based reconstruction of the course of event.

Addressing Obesity: Fear of Crime, Perceptions of Disorder and Disaparities in Child and Adolescent Use of Public Parks

Abstract The objectives of this study were: 1) To determine factors which inhibit and facilitate child and adolescent use of outdoor spaces for healthy physical activity by race and ethnicity in four Houston communities and 2) To propose guidelines for encouraging and maintaining child and adolescent outdoor physical activity. Using local health data and Houston Police Department crime statistics, four communities were identified for the study that had the highest concentration of crime and the racial/ ethnic groups of interest. The researchers then identified public parks in the communities. At least two parks were observed in each of the four communities from 2010 to 2011 during spring, summer, fall and winter. The parks were observed for use by children and adolescents and to describe the condition of the park spaces. The communities were Alief (Asian), Sunnyside (Black), Eldridge- West Oaks (White) and Northside- Northline (Hispanic). Observations were made at varying hours of both day and night, weekdays and weekends. Photographs were taken and the condition of the spaces noted in detail. One hundred and twenty persons, 18 years and over, using the spaces or otherwise in these communities were conveniently sampled and interviewed about their health and the extent to which they, or any children or adolescents under their care, used the outdoor spaces of interest. Data were analyzed qualitatively and with basic descriptive statistics. The photographs, journal notes and observation notes of all investigators and key personnel were analyzed. Interview data were also coded to identify patterns and themes in the responses. The findings indicate disparities in the quality and quantity of park equipment and the maintenance of the areas. Where perceptions of disorder were described, there was often visible evidence to support the perceptions. In many cases, residents' perceptions of crime were corroborated by police data. While interview reports did not seem to support the expectation that the condition of the parks was a significant deterrent to their use by children and adolescents, the condition of the parks might be said to limit the extent of that use. Specific reports of disorder that inhibited use included hearing gunfire, seeing drug dependent homeless persons and/or suspected prostitutes in an area.

Le genre comme ressource politique en Suisse. La perception de l'élite politique

Traditionnellement un monde d’homme, la politique fonctionne encore aujourd’hui selon des règles faites par et pour les hommes. Malgré cet univers hostile à la gente féminine, les femmes sont entrées en politique dès que les pays leurs ont accordés les droits politiques. Toujours minoritaire, les femmes se sont aujourd’hui faites une place dans les parlements et gouvernements du monde. L’augmentation de la proportion de femmes dans les instances politiques laisse supposer qu’être une femme ne constitue pas obligatoirement un handicap en politique. Ce livre s’intéresse à ce changement de signification du genre féminin en politique et montre, à l’exemple de la Suisse, comment les membres de l’élite politique perçoivent le rôle du genre dans les affaires publiques. Cette étude s’adresse à toute personne intéressée par les rapports de genre dans le monde du pouvoir.

Le crime rituel chez les juifs

par Albert Monniot. Préf. d'Edouard Drumont

Genre et protection sociale

L'histoire du genre, en pleine explosion, permet elle aussi de repenser la protection sociale, bien au-delà de la maternité, de la famille et du travail féminin

Disclosure attitudes and social acknowledgement as predictors of posttraumatic stress disorder symptom severity in Chinese and German crime victims

Objective: Only rare data exist comparing cross-cultural aspects of civilian traumatization. We compared prevalence rates of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in German and Chinese crime victims, and investigated the cross-cultural effect of 2 interpersonal predictors. Method: German (n = 151) and Chinese (n = 144) adult crime victims were assessed several months postcrime. The parallel questionnaire set assessed PTSD symptom severity, disclosure attitudes, social acknowledgement, and demographic and crime characteristics. Results: German and Chinese participants differed significantly in their PTSD symptom severity. However, in both samples, disclosure attitudes and social acknowledgement predicted PTSD symptom severity with a similar strength, in addition to the effects of other PTSD predictors. Conclusions: The results suggest that interpersonal variables are predictors of PTSD symptom severity in both cultures and should be included in etiologic models of PTSD.