By Richard J. Stringer a and Scott R. Maggard

Public opinion concerning marijuana legalization has varied greatly over time. While prior research suggests presidential drug rhetoric is related to public opinions on drugs, the relationship between the sitting president and attitudes specifically toward marijuana has not been explored. This study utilized data from the General Social Survey and the American Presidency Project to examine the relationship between the president and Americans’ attitudes toward marijuana legalization from 1975 through 2016. Findings indicate that confidence in the executive branch, fear of crime, and presidential drug rhetoric predict attitudes toward legalization despite controls for other factors such as estimated levels of marijuana use and arrests. These findings are discussed in the context of prior research that suggests presidential rhetoric, drug enforcement, and fear of crime may be related to American attitudes toward marijuana legalization.

2019, Deviant Behavior

By the United States Sentencing Commission -  Kristin M. Tennyson,  Melissa K. Reimer,  Tessa Guiton,  Charles S. Ray

This report examines trends in the prevalence of federal methamphetamine trafficking sentences, and the purity levels of methamphetamine trafficked in the United States. The Commission analyzed 20 years of sentencing data and conducted a special data collection project examining the purity of methamphetamine trafficked and offense conduct of individuals sentenced for trafficking methamphetamine in fiscal year 2022. This report is the Commission's first comprehensive analysis of federal methamphetamine trafficking offenses in nearly 25 years.

Washington, DC: USSC, 2024. 66p.

By Fintel Alliance,  Australian Federal Police, Australian Border Force

Criminal networks seek to exploit vulnerable members of the community. They target and recruit them as money mules to launder their proceeds of crime and reintegrate the funds back into the economy. This creates distance between the networks and the crime, and helps to avoid detection by law enforcement.

Criminal networks primarily target international students and non-permanent residents through face-to-face contact or online platforms. They use a variety of means to recruit them as money mules, offering them a way to make money while living in Australia. Criminal networks can also use these methods to recruit others outside of the student cohort.

This guide has been developed to assist government agencies and financial service providers, including remittance service providers and digital currency exchanges, to understand and identify signs of criminal networks exploiting vulnerable members of the community as money mules.

Sydney: AUSTRAC, 2024. 19.

The Young Advocates project is a youth-led project that places the voices and experiences of children and young people affected by the justice system at the heart of decision-making.

The project is delivered in partnership by the Alliance for Youth Justice (AYJ) and Leaders Unlocked and is led by children and young people who have lived experience of the youth justice system. The current report presents findings from conversations with 90 children and young people with experience of the youth justice system.

Peer research

The report is based on group workshops and an online survey and focuses on three priorities:

1.    Criminalisation: A process whereby acts become seen and treated as criminal, through public perception, legislation and law enforcement.

2.    Policing: The first contact most children have with the justice system and law enforcement.

3.    Intervention and Diversion: Things that can help young people avoid the justice system.

Criminalisation

The key finding is that young people are put under suspicion due to their age, associations and ‘the group’ and most targeted due to race and nationality. Intersectionality significantly impacts targeting and treatment.

Negative stereotype-driven, long-term labelling continues to be a trust-eroding issue across many of the services that young people access. Common aspects of childhood and adolescence – travelling to and from school, being with friends or family, and changes in appearance or style – are perceived as suspicious and often amplified by the specific demographic characteristics of those involved. This is reportedly felt regarding treatment by schools, policing, social and mental health services, as well as extending to portrayals of youth in mainstream media.

Young people repeatedly suggested race, nationality, and perceived age as reasons for unequal treatment. This makes experiences of labelling, targeting and criminalisation feel indistinguishable from each other, and has a cumulative impact. However, children and young people’s age, associations and groups were most frequently mentioned as being penalised and punished in their day to day lives. These broad categories allow for even more opportunities to be labelled for children and young people who are also racialised or otherwise marginalised.

Young people felt that targeting of their social lives is partly related to perceptions of young people and why they are viewed this way. There is a sense that ‘good news doesn’t sell’ and stories from and about social media show inaccurate portrayals of youth culture, allowing for a generation to be generalised

Policing

Young people generally felt that the police have too much power, and not enough accountability. Some young people could acknowledge that they had experienced fewer negative interactions with police officers than others they know. There is increasing cultural significance in the numerous cases of police sexual misconduct and brutality in the news, and a heightened sense of fear and frustration that no consequences have been seen for officers involved.

Survey respondents disagreed strongly with the idea that police in schools would increase feelings of safety, and strongly agreed that the presence of police changes where they go. This raises a worrying question about where children at risk of violence, exploitation or exposure to criminal behaviour can go
to feel truly safe.

Description

The UNiTE by 2030 to End Violence against Women campaign of the Secretary General of the United Nations, which has been underway since 2008, aims to prevent and eliminate gender-based violence against women and girls worldwide. The World Health Organization (WHO, 2021) estimates that 31% of women aged 15–49 have experienced violence at the hands of an intimate partner and sexual violence inflicted by others. This multi-stakeholder campaign is part of the United Nations system’s efforts to support Latin American and Caribbean States in fulfilling their due diligence obligation to prevent, investigate, and punish gender-based violence against women (CEDAW, 2010), as well as to ensure “restitution, reparations, or other just and effective remedies” (OAS, 1994).

Table of contents

A. The obligation of States to prevent femicidal violence continues to be a challenge in the region .-- B. In most Latin American countries femicide rates have varied little in recent years .-- C. Femicides, feminicides or gender-related killings of women in Latin America .-- D. Numbers and rates of femicide, feminicide or gender-related killings of women in the Caribbean .-- E. Production and management of data on feminicide, femicide or killings of women in Latin America .-- F. Notable practices in the production of official femicide data .-- G. Femicidal violence can be prevented with robust and forceful state responses .-- H. Moving towards a care society requires transforming discriminatory, violent and patriarchal cultural patterns.

by  Deborah Butler (Inspection Team Leader) and Alice Oddy (Inspector). HM Chief Inspector of Prisons  

‘Prisons in England and Wales are almost full, with men and women serving increasingly long sentences often in overcrowded and squalid conditions. Reoffending rates remain high, and levels of assaults and self-harm are rising. Drugs too are an increasing problem in many jails, despite the use of technology designed to prevent their incursion.

‘Against this backdrop, it is more important than ever that prison leaders find ways to develop cultures that support prisoners to behave well. If we want to see less reoffending and fewer victims of crime, prisons must deliver on their purpose to protect the public by working with prisoners to help them prepare for their return to society. But we know how difficult it is for staff to do their job when they are spending too much of their time managing disruptive behaviour. We often report on prisons where behaviour is unacceptable, rules are not clear or enforced, staff lack confidence and do not feel supported by leaders, sanctions are not followed up and there is no effective system in place to motivate prisoners to behave.

‘Yet we know that some prisons have bucked this trend, creating cultures that encourage men and women to engage constructively with staff and make better use of their time in custody.

‘In this thematic report, we identify the features of these prisons in the expectation that others will learn from the example, innovation and insight that they offer. We visited eight jails during our research, as well as holding discussion groups with ex-prisoners, governors and academics.’

By  U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

The National Firearms Commerce and Trafficking Assessment is a comprehensive report on firearms commerce and trafficking. This volume presents and analyzes data collected by ATF and other federal agencies related to the manufacture, exportation, and importation of firearms.

As part ofan administration-wide strategy to combat the rise in violent crime, in April 2021 , President Biden and Attorney General Garland directed the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to issue a comprehensive report on firearms commerce and trafficking. To execute this directive, ATF has assembled a team of subject experts from within the Bureau and experts from academic and related fields to produce the National Firearms in Commerce and Trafficking Assessment (NFCT A), a comprehensive examination of commerce in firearms and the diversion of firearms to illegal markets. Although A TF issues a variety ofpublic and law enforcement reports and bulletins regarding firearm commerce, trafficking, and related issues every year, it has not undertaken a joint academic study on the scale of the NFCT A in more than 20 years. Recognizing that effective approaches to reducing gun violence are data-driven, grounded in research, and informed by multi-disciplinary input, the NFCTA will issue its initial assessment in a series of four separate reports. To ensure NFCT A reports remain timely, ATF will be updating key findings annually. A critical part of ATF's mission is to regulate the lawful commerce in firearms to help prevent diversion of these firearms from the legal to the illegal market. Understanding the firearm marketplace from the perspective of the general public, firearm owners, and the regulated firearm industry is essential to this mission. That is why Volume I of the NFCT A report, issued today, is a broad overview of firearms commerce in the United States. This volume covers the period from 2000 to 2020; much of the analysis, however, focuses on the period for which the most comprehensive data is available, 2016 to 2020 (2020 is the most recent calendar year for which information was available at the time of the assessment). This volume presents and analyzes data collected by A TF and other federal agencies related to the manufacture, exportation, and importation of firearms. Between 2000 and 2020, the number of Gun Control Act (GCA) firearms and National Firearms Act (NF A) weapons that were domestically manufactured, exported by U.S. manufacturers, or imported into the U.S. increased by 187%, 240% and 350% respectively. This data illustrates the flow of new firearms into the domestic market over time which can help document trends and patterns in commerce. Trends in firearm commerce highlighted by this report include the pistol becoming the dominant firearm type manufactured and imported into the U.S. over the last decade, and an increase of24,080% in annual manufacturing of short-barreled rifles in the period from 2000 to 2020. This volume analyzes technological developments that have occurred in the past 20 years. One of the most significant developments affecting lawful firearm commerce and law enforcement's ability to reduce illegal access to guns in this period has been the proliferation of privately made firearms (PMFs). Since the early 2000s, advances in firearm manufacturing and design, combined with the readily online availability ofparts and information necessary to assemble PMFs have made it easier for unlicensed persons to make a firearm at home without any records or a background check. These PMFs lack identifying markings or recordkeeping requirements making it difficult for law enforcement to completely know how many are being made and distributed into commerce. The data available, however, makes it clear that criminals are actively making, using, and distributing PMFs both domestically and internationally. Indeed, the number of suspected PMFs recovered by law enforcement and subsequently traced by ATF increased 1,000% between 2016 and 2021. As is detailed in the report, to address the challenges posed by the proliferation of PMFs, the Department of Justice and ATF have recently updated the regulatory definitions applicable to the federal firearm laws..

Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, 2022. 301p.

Edited by Benjamin Nickl & Mark Rolfe  

This volume explores the concept of humour and its relationship with human behaviour. The interdisciplinary essays in this book cover a wide range of time, from the sixteenth century to the present day. They delve into various cultural contexts, challenging social norms and prompting readers to reflect on the ethical implications of humour. The collection highlights the varied metaphors of heroes and monsters in each case study, which are crucial to understanding the moral spectrum of human existence. These metaphors represent aspirational ideals and darker aspects of what it means to be human. The book encourages readers to critically analyse the complexity of humorous objects and social practices in contexts like digital culture, mythical folklore, entertainment technology, or politics, recognising their interconnectedness with societal issues and emphasising that different settings might call for different interpretations.

Tampere, Finland: Tampere University Press, 2024. 234p.

By Matthew B Robinson

The book provides a thorough summary of the relationships between race, ethnicity, crime, and justice practice and discusses the existence of disparities in criminal and juvenile justice practices and highlights the impact of race and ethnicity on the law, policing, courts, and corrections.It addresses the issue of institutionalized discrimination against different racial and ethnic groups in American institutions, including the criminal law and mainstream media.

Carolina Academic Press, 2021, 317 pages

By Jonathan Gu

AIM To estimate the association between judge-alone trials and the probability of acquittal, trial length, and sentence severity. METHOD We compared 5,064 jury and 805 judge-alone criminal trials finalised in the NSW District Court and Supreme Court between January 2011 and December 2019, excluding cases where the defendant entered a guilty plea to their principal offence or had a special verdict of “not guilty by reason of mental illness” (under s. 25 of the Mental Health (Forensic Provisions) Act 1990 (NSW)). Entropy balancing was used to match judge-alone cases with jury cases on available covariates. We then estimated the association between trial type (judge-alone vs jury) and four criminal justice outcomes, adjusting for relevant observable factors. The analysis was repeated for two subsets of offences: violent offences and offences with a higher likelihood of having prejudicial elements or complex evidence (prejudicial and complex offences). We also interviewed 12 legal practitioners, including District and Supreme Court judges, prosecutors, and defence lawyers, to identify factors motivating judge-alone applications that may be correlated with the outcomes of interest. RESULTS We estimated that compared to jury trials, judge-alone trials are associated on average with a statistically significant nine percentage point increase in the probability of acquittal and a shorter prison sentence by 7.6 months. Within prejudicial and complex offences, we found that judge-alone trials were associated with a statistically significant decrease in average trial days. Judge-alone trials were also associated with a statistically significant decrease in prison sentence length for the violent offences subgroup. Interviewees suggested that increased use of written submissions may influence both shorter trial length in judgealone matters and reduced prison sentences (i.e., via discounts from efficiencies resulting from pre-trial cooperation or time saved by submitting tendered evidence). Interviewees stated that judge-alone applications in NSW are mostly made in cases with prejudicial elements (e.g., evidence that cannot be separated from prior proven offending) or complex evidence (e.g., cases with substantial scientific or financial evidence). CONCLUSION Judge-alone trials are associated with an increased probability of acquittal, shorter trials, and a shorter prison sentence. However, we cannot determine whether these differences are driven by confounding factors (such as strength of the prosecution’s case) and/or causal factors.

Sydney: NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, 2024. 49p.

By Julie Marie Baldwin, John M. Eassey, and Erika J. Brooke

This paper reviews the distinct nature of the COVID-19 pandemic and examines the resultant court responses and recommendations disseminated by various entities that support courts. Specifically, we contextualize the current environment the present pandemic has created by considering how it compares to the most-recent previous pandemics. We then review guidelines disseminated to the courts and the modifications and innovations implemented by the courts in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Additional challenges related to these recommendations and modifications are identified and discussed.

American Journal of Criminal Justice, 2020. 16p.

By Yue Yuan; Edward Cohen; Chris Melde

The research study presented in this final report examined the nature and extent of criminal victimization experiences across immigrant groups and immigrant generations. The author describes the quantitative survey, which involved dissemination of more than 25,000 invitations to San José residents in December 2020 and April 2021 to participate in an online survey. The final sample size was 3,756 people who resided in 82 of the 212 census tracts, with a final response rate of 16.98 percent. For the qualitative component, the author describes recruiting respondents through a variety of non-probability methods, conducting individual interviews with San José residents, and conducting of additional interviews. The description of the qualitative data analysis for individual interviews includes discussion of the following topics: crimes experienced; safety and trauma; law enforcement reporting; services for victims of crime; qualitative data analysis for professional and focus group interviews; factors in crime trends; domestic violence; factors in reporting; and response and services. The author also presents conclusions based on the study’s major findings and policy implications.

San Jose, CA: San Jose State University, 2023. 37p.

By  Elizabeth A. Mumford; Bruce G. Taylor; Weiwei Liu; Jeremy Barnum

This document reports on the Officer Safety and Wellness (OSAW) Initiative, created in 2017, and aims to perform a longitudinal study, assessing a variety of safety and health concerns of law enforcement officers in the United States, with an overarching goal of supporting researchers, agency leaders, and policymakers as they address the risk factors for law enforcement and correctional officers’ wellness and safety. The report describes the OSAW sample, which was based on the 2017 National Database on Law Enforcement Agencies (NDLEA), OSAW instrument development, data collection, data analysis, and findings. Risk factors examined included Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy, Patient Health Questionnaire-15 (PHQ-15), coping styles, stress, job satisfaction and job performance, effects of occupational status on health, sleep, social support and suicidality, sexual harassment, binge drinking, resilience, occupational prestige, and correctional officer health profiles. The report also discusses implications of the study’s outcomes regarding the importance of agency environment and climate for supporting officer well-being.

Chicago: NORC at the University of Chicago, 2023. 24p.

By Anja Emilie Kruse and May-Len Skilbrei 

The contemporary normative climate regarding sexual violence affects how perpetrators of such violence relate to their harmful acts. In this article, we analyze how men convicted of sex offences are affected by how perpetrators of such offences are often represented as monsters and ask what this tells us about what characterizes the Monster as a figure. While people convicted of sexual offences are likened to monsters in many contexts, there is little research that unpacks the characteristics of this figure and how it is contingent on ideas about and the regulation of sex offending. By analyzing data from qualitative interviews with 17 men convicted of sexual offences in Norway, we found that, although they presented themselves and the acts they were convicted of committing differently, they had a common fear of being identified as a monster. In these narratives, a monster was characterized by (1) intentionality—having intentionally harmed others, (2) preference—having a sexual preference for harmful, nonconsensual sex, and (3) authenticity—being authentically violent. We conceive of the narrative processes that the participants engage in as forms of social abjection and discuss the consequences that abjection may have for accountability, rehabilitation, and justice.

Punishment & Society, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/14624745231221933

By Jeffrey P. Aguinaldo and NicoleR.Greenspan

A robust body of research has documented the representational politics of news coverage in their depiction of HIV-positive people charged for HIV non-disclosure. News media representations of HIV-negative sex partners in cases of HIV non-disclosure have received far less scholarly attention. Adopting a social constructionist perspective, this article identifies how “victims” of HIV non-disclosure are constructed in news media. It is based on a dataset consisting of 341 news articles on HIV non-disclosure from 14 English Canadian newspapers across the political spectrum. Victims of HIV non-disclosure were constructed as: (1) suffering horribly, (2) morally pure and virtuous, (3) vengeful and (4) agentic and responsible for their situation. We consider how such constructions are enmeshed within arguments that establish or reject HIV non-disclosure as a social problem. We then discuss the ways these constructions and the assumptions upon which they are based reflect broader discussions on the severity of HIV, the responsibility for HIV risk and exposure, and the contestations over the very nature of the social problem of HIV non-disclosure. Constructions of victims that uphold HIV criminalisation have relied on assumptions of HIV as a deadly disease but de emphasise personal responsibility for HIV risk. By contrast, constructions of victims that, in effect, oppose HIVcriminalisation have tended to minimise the harms of HIV and invoke personal responsibility for HIV risk. We Suggest that both proponents and opponents of HIV criminalisation engage in the “ideology of victimhood” and thus participate in and reinforce what Best (1997) termed, the “victim industry.” 

CanRevSociol. 2024;61:67–84. 

By Stephen H. Jones, Amy Unsworth

Debates about Islamophobia have been blighted by the question of whether the prejudice can be defined as a form of racism or as hostility to religion (or a combination of the two). This paper sheds light on this debate by presenting the findings of a new nationally representative survey, focused on the UK, that contrasts perceptions of Muslims not only with perceptions of other ethnic and religious minorities but also with perceptions of Islam as a religious tradition. We find that prejudice against Muslims is higher than for any other group examined other than Travellers. We also find contrasting demographic drivers of prejudice towards Muslims and towards Islam. Across most prejudice measures we analyse, intolerant views are generally significantly associated with being male, voting Conservative and being older, although not with Anglican identity. We find, however, that class effects vary depending on the question's focus. Anti-immigration sentiment – including support for a ‘Muslim ban’ – is significantly correlated with being working-class. However, prejudice towards Islam as a body of teachings (tested using a question measuring perceptions of religious literalism) is significantly correlated with being middle-class, as is negative sentiment towards Travellers. Using these findings, the paper makes an argument for supplementing recent scholarship on the associations between racism and Islamophobia with analyses focusing on misperceptions of belief.

The British Journal of Sociology, 
Volume75, Issue1

January 2024

Pages 5-22

By Kelsea Perry, Rosemary Ricciardelli and Michael Adorjan 

‘Sexting’ as a form of sexual expression and experimentation has grown increasingly ubiquitous among teens. In addition to fostering intimacy and closeness among selected partners, sexting between minors incurs considerable risks to youth mental, physical, social and emotional wellbeing. Current debates on sexting focus on the conflicting role of pressure and pleasure among youth. We highlight findings from 35 focus groups with Canadian teens examining attitudes and experiences with cyber-risk and sexting. Our results show that youth demarcate boundaries between public and private and an ordered/disordered sense of self as they seek intimacy with others through the exchange of explicit digital material. Drawing on recent conceptual and theoretical work on image-based sexual abuse, we suggest that teens express situated agency when reflecting on sexting, indicating only partial awareness of wider patriarchal contexts mediating and patterning gendered behaviours involved in sexting and its outcomes.

YOUNG, 30(4), 400-418. 2022.

By Faye Mishna, Elizabeth Milne, and Jessica Ringrose

The purpose of this qualitative study was to obtain youth perspectives on consensual and non-consensual sexting. We began this study on young people’s (12–19) sexting practices in a large urban center. Before the study was put on pause due to COVID-19 physical distancing measures, we conducted 12 focus groups with 62 participants (47 girls, 15 boys). A key finding was that many girls had received unsolicited sexts (e.g., “dick pics”) or unwanted requests for sexts. Analysis revealed four interconnected themes: (1) unsolicited sexts; (2) unwanted requests for sexts; (3) complexity associated with saying “no”; and (4) general lack of adult support. Using our findings from before COVID-19, we discuss the potential impact of COVID-19 on teens’ sexting experiences and outline the ways in which social workers and other mental health practitioners can support adolescents and their parents in navigating this new context of sexting during and beyond the global pandemic.

Youth & Society, 55(4), 630-651.

By Kristina Hunehäll Berndtsson

The present article examines teenage boys’ perceptions of the practice of sending unsolicited dick pics and gender dynamics among peers at two lower secondary schools in Sweden. Drawing on focus group interviews as well as individual and pair interviews with ninth-grade students (14–15 years) from a rural working-class area and an urban middle-class area. The study indicates that class habitus has a significant influence on the boys’ perceptions and practices. In the rural working-class school, the boys had a humorous attitude towards the practice of sending unsolicited dick pics and were not aware that unsolicited sexting could be experienced as sexual harassment. In the urban middle-class school, one the other hand, the boys clearly distanced themselves from and expressed their strong disapproval of unsolicited dick pics, mainly due to their fear of girls’ power to portray boys as sexual harassers.

YOUNG, 32(1), 61-77. 2024

By Australian Law Reform Commission

The Australian Law Reform Commission (‘ALRC’) is inquiring into justice responses to sexual violence. The ALRC will consider how to harmonise laws about sexual violence across Australia and how to promote just outcomes for people who have experienced sexual violence. Particular attention will be paid to people in groups that are disproportionately reflected in sexual violence statistics. The recommendations will aim to ensure that people who have experienced sexual violence and their families are properly supported when they seek help, and that the justice response minimises the extent of any re-traumatisation.

The Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) invites stakeholder submissions in relation to the questions raised in this issues paper and welcomes submissions from individuals and organisations from all over Australia. The ALRC is especially interested in hearing from:

• people who have experienced sexual violence;

• state and territory government and law enforcement agencies;

• policy and research organisations;

• community service providers (especially specialist sexual assault service providers and legal assistance service providers) and the broader legal profession (including prosecutors and defence lawyers); and

• people and organisations representing groups that are overrepresented in sexual violence statistics.

  Issues Paper 49  

Victoria: The Commission, 2024. 32p.