Análisis de las formas anticipadas de terminación de los procesos y procedimientos alternativos, en relación con adolescentes infractores en el Ecuador

El presente tema de investigación, se centra en analizar las formas anticipadas para la terminación de procesos en todo lo referente a adolescentes infractores, sin embargo, previo a ello, hedesarrollado concepciones generales sobre los mismos, su reseña histórica y un análisis de las legislaciones de Brasil, Colombia y Chile; así mismo tomando en consideración que el adolescente es sumamente protegido a nivel internacional, he analizado los Tratados Internacionales de los que elEcuador es suscriptor. Considerando que el juzgamiento de los Adolescentes Infractores tiene cierto carácter especial, que le diferencia del juzgamiento de los adultos, en el Capítulo I también se ha abordado todo lo referente al proceso penal en relación directa a los adolescentes infractores y sus garantías, así como también he desarrollado cada una de las Etapas Procesales para el Juzgamiento de los mismos. Así mismo he realizado un análisis de cada una de las medidas socioeducativas que puedan aplicarse a un adolescente infractor una vez que se ha determinado su responsabilidad en el cometimiento de una infracción, considerándolas como una forma de reeducar al adolescente teniendo como fin su desarrollo.

Pelas mãos do socioeducativo : práticas disciplinares na medida socioeducativa de internação

Dissertação (mestrado)—Universidade de Brasília, Instituto de Ciências Humanas, Departamento de Serviço Social, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Política Social, 2016.

Étude sur la sécurité dynamique : le cas de Cité-des-Prairies

Travail dirigé présenté à la Faculté des études supérieures en vue de l’obtention du grade de maître ès sciences (M.Sc.) en criminologie option sécurité intérieure

Étude sur la sécurité dynamique : le cas de Cité-des-Prairies

Travail dirigé présenté à la Faculté des études supérieures en vue de l’obtention du grade de maître ès sciences (M.Sc.) en criminologie option sécurité intérieure

Too young to drink but old enough to drive under the influence : a study of underage offenders as seen in substance abuse treatment in Texas

Driving under the influence (DUI) is a major road safety problem. Historically, alcohol has been assumed to play a larger role in crashes and DUI education programs have reflected this assumption, although recent evidence suggests that younger drivers are becoming more likely to drive drugged than to drive drunk. This is a study of 7096 Texas clients under age 21 who were admitted to state-funded treatment programs between 1997 and 2007 with a past-year DUI arrest, DUI probation, or DUI referral. Data were obtained from the State’s administrative dataset. Multivariate logistic regressions models were used to understand the differences between those minors entering treatment as a DUI as compared to a non-DUI as well as the risks for completing treatment and for being abstinent in the month prior to follow-up. A major finding was that over time, the primary problem for underage DUI drivers changed from alcohol to marijuana. Being abstinent in the month prior to discharge, having a primary problem with alcohol rather than another drug, and having more family involved were the strongest predictors of treatment completion. Living in a household where the client was exposed to alcohol abuse or drug use, having been in residential treatment, and having more drug and alcohol and family problems were the strongest predictors of not being abstinent at follow-up. As a result, there is a need to direct more attention towards meeting the needs of the young DUI population through programs that address drug as well as alcohol consumption problems.

Exploring how parents and peers influence the behaviour of young drivers

Despite ongoing enhancements to graduated licensing systems, young drivers continue to have a high risk of being killed or injured in car crashes. This study investigated the influence of parents and peers on the risky behaviour of young drivers, utilising Akers’ social learning theory. The specific factors examined related to parent and peer norms perceived by the young driver, and the rewards and punishments anticipated by the young driver from their parents and peers. A questionnaire was completed by 165 young drivers. Regression analysis revealed that these factors explained 54% of the variance in risky driving. The strongest predictor was anticipated parent rewards, followed by peer norms, and anticipated peer rewards. Exploratory analyses however revealed the profile of predictors varied for male and female participants, and for self-reported offenders and non-offenders. The results highlight the role of psychosocial factors in the risky behaviour of young drivers and the need for road safety policies and programs to consider the influence of both parents and peers upon this behaviour.

Enhancing road safety for young drivers : how Graduate Driver Licensing initiatives can complement "anti-hooning" legislation

Street racing and associated (hooning) behaviours have attracted increasing concern in recent years. While New Zealand and all Australian jurisdictions have introduced “antihooning” legislation and allocated significant police resources to managing the problem, there is limited evidence of the road safety implications of hooning. However, international and Australian data suggests that drivers charged with a hooning offence tend to be young males who are accompanied by one or more peers, and hooning-related crashes tend to occur at night. In this regard, there is considerable evidence that drivers under the age of 25 are over-represented in crash statistics, and are particularly vulnerable soon after obtaining a Provisional licence, when driving at night, and when carrying peer-aged passengers. The similarity between the nature of hooning offenders, offences and crashes, and road safety risks for young drivers in general, suggests that hooning is an issue that may be viewed as part of the broader young driver problem. Many jurisdictions have recently implemented a range of evidence-based strategies to address young driver road safety, and this paper will present Queensland crash and offence data to highlight the potential benefit of Graduated Driver Licensing initiatives, such as night driving restrictions and peer-aged passenger restrictions, to related road safety issues, including hooning. An understanding of potential flow-on effects is important for evaluations of anti-hooning legislation and Graduated Driver Licensing programs, and may have implications for future law enforcement resource allocation and policy development.

Risky driving or risky drivers? Exploring driving and crash histories of illegal street racing offenders

Illegal street racing has received increased attention in recent years from road safety professionals and the media as jurisdictions in Australia, Canada, and the United States have implemented laws to address the problem, which primarily involves young male drivers. Although some evidence suggests that the prevalence of illegal street racing is increasing, obtaining accurate estimates of the crash risk of this behavior is difficult because of limitations in official data sources. Although crash risk can be explored by examining the proportion of incidents of street racing that result in crashes, or the proportion of all crashes that involve street racing, this paper reports on the findings of a study that explored the riskiness of involved drivers. The driving histories of 183 male drivers with an illegal street racing conviction in Queensland, Australia, were compared with a random sample of 183 male Queensland drivers with the same age distribution. The offender group was found to have significantly more traffic infringements, license sanctions, and crashes than the comparison group. Drivers in the offender group were more likely than the comparison group to have committed infringements related to street racing, such as speeding, "hooning," and offenses related to vehicle defects or illegal modifications. Insufficient statistical capacity prevented full exploration of group differences in the type and nature of earlier crashes. It was concluded, however, that street racing offenders generally can be considered risky drivers who warrant attention and whose risky behavior cannot be explained by their youth alone.

What makes juvenile offenders different from adult offenders?

Historically, children in criminal justice proceedings were treated much the same as adults and subject to the same criminal justice processes as adults. Until the early twentieth century, children in Australia were even subjected to the same penalties as adults, including hard labour and corporal and capital punishment (Carrington & Pereira 2009). Until the mid-nineteenth century, there was no separate category of ’juvenile offender’ in Western legal systems and children as young as six years of age were incarcerated in Australian prisons (Cunneen & White 2007). It is widely acknowledged today, however, both in Australia and internationally, that juveniles should be subject to a system of criminal justice that is separate from the adult system and that recognises their inexperience and immaturity. As such, juveniles are typically dealt with separately from adults and treated less harshly than their adult counterparts. The United Nations’ (1985: 2) Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice (the ‘Beijing Rules’) stress the importance of nations establishing a set of laws, rules and provisions specifically applicable to juvenile offenders and institutions and bodies entrusted with the functions of the administration of juvenile justice and designed to meet the varying needs of juvenile offenders, while protecting their basic rights. In each Australian jurisdiction, except Queensland, a juvenile is defined as a person aged between 10 and 17 years of age, inclusive. In Queensland, a juvenile is defined as a person aged between 10 and 16 years, inclusive. In all jurisdictions, the minimum age of criminal responsibility is 10 years. That is, children under 10 years of age cannot be held legally responsible for their actions.

Explanations for child sexual abuse given by convicted offenders in Malawi:no evidence for "HIV cleansing"

OBJECTIVE: A commonly cited, but unproven reason given for the rise in reported cases of child sexual abuse in Sub-Saharan Africa is the "HIV cleansing myth"-the belief that an HIV infected individual can be cured by having sex with a child virgin. The purpose of this study was to explore in Malawi the reasons given by convicted sex offenders for child sexual abuse and to determine if a desire to cure HIV infection motivated their offence.

METHODS: Offenders convicted of sexual crimes against victims under the age of 18 were interviewed in confidence in Malawi's two largest prisons. During the interview the circumstances of the crime were explored and the offenders were asked what had influenced them to commit it. Each participant was asked the closed question "Did you think that having sex with your victim would cure or cleanse you from HIV?"

RESULTS: 58 offenders agreed to participate. The median (range) age of offenders and victims was 30 (16-66) years and 14 (2-17) years, respectively. Twenty one respondents (36.2%) denied that an offence had occurred. Twenty seven (46.6%) admitted that they were motivated by a desire to satisfy their sexual desires. Six (10.3%) stated they committed the crime only because they were under the influence of drugs or alcohol. None of the participants said that a desire to cure or avoid HIV infection motivated the abuse.

CONCLUSION: This study suggests that offenders convicted of a sexual crime against children in Malawi were not motivated by a desire to be cured or "cleansed" from HIV infection. A need to fulfil their sexual urges or the disinhibiting effect of drugs or alcohol was offered by the majority of participants as excuses for their behaviour.

Substance abuse by offenders with mild intellectual disability

This study compared the rate of self-reported alcohol and other drug use in a sample of 30 young adults with mild intellectual disability whose offending behaviour had resulted in involvement in the criminal justice system, with a matched comparison group of 30 non-offenders. Performance on an alcohol and other drug knowledge test was also compared. The results indicated that many individuals with mild intellectual disability regularly consumed alcohol and used illicit drugs. Furthermore, the data suggest a possible link between substance abuse and offending behaviour in this population. Individuals who had offended reported greater use of both legal and illicit drugs than their non-offending counterparts and many reported that they had been under the influence of alcohol or illicit drugs at the time of committing the offence that had resulted in their current placement within the criminal justice system. Although deficits in knowledge were apparent in both groups, the offenders demonstrated greater overall knowledge about alcohol and other drugs.

The status of child offenders under international criminal justice: lessons from Sierra Leone

This article analyses the status of child offenders under international criminal justice. International criminal proceedings, especially those in the African continent, have recently highlighted the significance of children and young people as perpetrators of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. It has been suggested by one commentator that there exist international prohibitions on the prosecution of children for international crimes. It will be argued here that this claim is not substantiated in respect either of customary or treaty-based international obligations.

Current trends in the rehabilitation of juvenile offenders

The Australian Institute of Criminology's recent work on adult male offenders has found that the most serious and persistent adult offenders had been detained as a juvenile. In terms of crime reduction, interventions that focus on reducing the likelihood of juveniles escalating to adult offenders will have significant benefits for the whole of the Australian community. Research conducted in juvenile justice settings around the world consistently shows that young people who come to the attention of criminal justice agencies have multiple problems and experience high levels of need across all areas of functioning. In meeting these needs, correctional agencies have been increasingly influenced by the model of rehabilitation known as the 'what works' approach. This paper outlines a case management framework for rehabilitating juvenile offenders that includes three of the most important 'what works' principles, namely the risk principle, the needs principle and the responsivity principle. In the longer term, the implementation of the framework will need to be evaluated to determine what works and what doesn't with rehabilitating juveniles.

First-time offender, productive offender, offender with dependents: why the profile of offenders (sometimes) matters in sentencing

Should a single mother of four young children who commits theft be sentenced to a lesser sanction than a woman who commits the same crime but has no dependents? Should a billionaire philanthropist be sentenced to a lesser penalty than the average citizen for assaulting a random bystander? Should a first-time thief receive a lighter sanction than a career thief for the same theft? The relevance of an offender’s profile to sentencing is unclear and is one of the most under-researched and least coherent areas of sentencing law. Intuitively, there is some appeal in treating offenders without a criminal record, those who have made a positive contribution to society, or who have dependents more leniently than other offenders. However, to allow these considerations to mitigate penalty potentially licenses offenders to commit crime and decouples the sanction from the severity of the offense, thereby undermining the proportionality principle. This article analyzes the relevance that an offender’s profile should have in sentencing. We conclude that a lack of prior convictions should generally reduce penalty because the empirical data shows that, in relation to most offenses, first-time offenders are less likely to reoffend than recidivist offenders. The situation is more complex in relation to offenders who have made worthy social contributions. They should not be given sentencing credit for past achievements given that past good acts have no relevance to the proper objectives of sentencing and it is normally not tenable, even in a crude sense, to make an informed assessment of an individual’s overall societal contribution. However, offenders should be accorded a sentencing reduction if they have financial or physical dependents and if imprisoning them is likely to cause harm to their dependents. Conferring asentencing discount to first-time offenders and those withdependents does not license them to commit crime or unjustifiablyencroach on the proportionality principle. Rather, it recognizes thedifferent layers of the legal system and the reality that sentencinglaw should not reflexively overwhelm broader maxims of justice,including the principle that innocent people should not suffer. Thisarticle argues that fundamental legislative reform is necessary toproperly reflect the role that the profile of offenders should have inthe sentencing regime.