Beccaria Portal: Your directory and knowledge network in crime prevention and criminology in Europe and worldwide.
Daily PressTodays crime related press reports collected by Prof. Thomas Görgen, German Police University
Herald Times Reporter, 05.04.2012
U.S. needs 'robust research' on gun violence
Yet another senseless killing spree shocked America this week, as word spread of Monday's tragedy at Oikos University in Oakland, Calif.
Madison Journal, 06.04.2012
High-tech help now available for unsolved sexual assaults
Patricio Martinez
guardian.co.uk, 06.04.2012
Metropolitan police guardian.co.uk 'buried' report in 2004 warning of race scandal
Scotland Yard veterans claim spiralling crisis triggered by recording of racial abuse was 'accident waiting to happen'
Vikram Dodd
Huffington Post, 11.04.2012
Public Housing Demolition Lowered Overall Crime, New Study Says
Chicago's decade-long effort to move people out of its infamous public housing towers and into low-rise neighborhoods has long produced divided reactions. The towers of Cabrini-Green are gone, but until now, nobody really had a good idea whether their former residents currently live in similarly violent environments.
EurekAlert Public, 12.04.2012
Pride and prejudice: Pride impacts racism and homophobia
A new University of British Columbia study finds that the way individuals experience the universal emotion of pride directly impacts how racist and homophobic their attitudes toward other people are.
EurekAlert Public, 12.04.2012
Parolees behaving badly
New study explores how to decrease risky behavior among parolees in the community
Newswise Released, 13.04.2012
Students Must Trust the Source of Emergency Alerts in Order to Act Quickly
In the wake of the deadly shooting this month at Oikos University in Oakland, Calif., experts from the University at Buffalo offer perspectives from their research into ways to encourage students to immediately comply with “alert” messages sent during an on-campus emergency.
Huffington Post, 13.04.2012
U.S. Incarceration Rate Is a National Disgrace
Nake M. Kamrany and Ryan Boyd
The Cutting Edge, 14.04.2012
America on Edge
Big-box Stores Associated with Formation of Hate-Groups
Matt Swayne
Telegraph.co.uk, 16.04.2012
Police 'should be given 20 minutes a week to reflect'
Police should be given 20 minutes a week to reflect on the “tensions and dilemmas” of their job, according to a new study.
John-Paul Ford Rojas
Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, 17.04.2012
Many Employee Assistance Programs Lack a Comprehensive Approach to Addressing Intimate Partner Violence
EurekAlert Public release, 17.04.2012
Racial profiling, killings of arrestees by local police increase
US Department of Justice to step in to curb police misconduct
Huffington Post UK, 17.04.2012
Does the Secret to the Norwegian Massacre Lie in an Online Computer Game?
Dr Raj Persaud and Ramón Spaaij.
Science Daily (press release), 17.04.2012
Violence in Men Caused by Unequal Wealth and Competition, Study Suggests
Violence in men can be explained by traditional theories of sexual selection. In a review of the literature, Professor John Archer from the University of Central Lancashire, a Fellow of the British Psychological Society, points to a range of evidence that suggests that high rates of physical aggression and assaults in men are rooted in inter-male competition.
ScienceDaily, 17.04.2012
Lead Dust Is Linked to Violence, Study Suggests
Childhood exposure to lead dust has been linked to lasting physical and behavioral effects, and now lead dust from vehicles using leaded gasoline has been linked to instances of aggravated assault two decades after exposure, says Tulane toxicologist Howard W. Mielke.
ScienceDaily, 17.04.2012
Paedophiles' Online Chats Become Sexualized Within Two Minutes, Study Shows
Online pedophiles are abandoning the traditional grooming process and moving to highly sexualised conversations with children in chat rooms within two minutes, according to research from Kingston University and NatCen Social Research.
The Advertiser, 18.04.2012
Police warn photos of kids with geo-tagging being used by paedophiles
Miles Kemp
Salon, 18.04.2012
Long time coming: Trayvon’s law
For the first time in a decade, Congress holds a hearing on anti-profiling legislation
Jefferson Morley
Nature.com, 18.04.2012
Science in court: Arrested development
Neuroscience shows that the adolescent brain is still developing. The question is whether that should influence the sentencing of juveniles.
Lizzie Buchen
USA TODAY, 18.04.2012
NRC: Death penalty effect research "fundamentally flawed"
Does the death penalty deter murderers? Criminology offers no answers, despite more than three decades of research, concludes an expert panel, reviewing studies of the deterrence effects of capital punishment
Telegraph.co.uk -, 18.04.2012
Rise in public anger found on Twitter before riots
The summer riots that spread across the country from London last year could have been predicted by an analysis of Twitter, new research has suggested.
Donna Bowater
EurekAlert, 18.04.2012
Victims of online dating scams feel doubly traumatized
University of Leicester scientist presents research findings at British Psychological Society Annual Conference
Vanderbilt University, 18.04.2012
Crime and punishment: the neurobiological roots of modern justice
David Salisbury
Aurora Advocate, 18.04.2012
Wiles apologizes to family before execution
COLUMBUS — Mark Wiles apologized to the family of the Rootstown teen he brutally knifed to death more than 25 years ago and spoke out against the death penalty in his final moments before succumbing to a lethal injection Wednesday.
MARC KOVAC
Newswise, 18.04.2012
Crime and Punishment: The Neurobiological Roots of Modern Justice
A pair of neuroscientists from Vanderbilt and Harvard Universities has proposed the first neurobiological model for third-party punishment. It outlines a collection of potential cognitive and brain processes that evolutionary pressures could have re-purposed to make this behavior possible.
EurekAlert, 18.04.2012
Coming clean: Online survey shows marijuana is smoked more than admitted in national surveys
Le Monde Diplomatiue, 18.04.2012
The far right takes root in Europe
Anders Behring Breivik’s attacks are part of a worrying trend in Europe of the far right’s rise within mainstream politics. From the Netherlands and Germany to Britain and France, immigrant communities are on the defensive.
Mariano Aguirre
EurekAlert, 18.04.2012
Killing in war linked with suicidal thoughts among Vietnam veterans, study finds
The experience of killing in war was strongly associated with thoughts of suicide, in a study of Vietnam-era veterans led by researchers at the San Francisco VA Medical Center (SFVAMC) and the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).
maisonneuve (Canada), 18.04.2012
Getting Plowed
In this exclusive investigative report from Montreal, Maisonneuve exposes the bid-rigging, violence and sabotage at the heart of an unlikely racket: snow removal.
Selena Ross
The Courier-Mail, 19.04.2012
Gun culture on the rise as drug gangs engage in arms race
Kate Kyriacou and Brooke Baskin
News Wales, 19.04.2012
Serious violence continues to fall - says Cardiff University study
Violence injuries requiring casualty treatment fell 4 per cent in England and Wales in 2011, according to the University’s annual study of injury trends
Huffington Post (blog), 19.04.2012
Re-understanding Violence as We Had to Re-Understand Plague..To Cure It
Gary Slutkin, CeaseFire Executive Director
EurekAlert, 19.04.2012
Teen seat belt use is significantly higher in states with stronger laws
Primary seat belt laws mean even high-risk teens stay buckled up into adulthood
msnbc.com, 20.04.2012
EXCLUSIVE: What local cops learn, and carriers earn, from cellphone records
Bob Sullivan
Business Recorder, 20.04.2012
Terrorism and money laundering
This paper was presented at the International Judicial Conference, held in Islamabad from April 13-15 by the Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan.
HUZAIMA BUKHARI AND DR IKRAMUL HAQ
Newswise, 20.04.2012
War Crimes Expert Gives Mixed Grades to Yugoslavian War Crimes Tribunal
The bloody Bosnian civil war started 20 years ago this month, and while the subsequent UN war crimes tribunal has brought many leaders of the slaughter to justice, a UIowa legal expert says it has not met its other goals.
EurekAlert, 20.04.2012
Alcohol use in Bollywood movies impacting alcohol use among Indian adolescents
New study presented at the World Congress of Cardiology organized by the World Heart Federation
guardian.co.uk,, 21.04.2012
Watchdog calls for power to scrutinise privatised police
Independent Police Complaints Commission wants new powers of inquiry to reflect the outsourcing of jobs
Mark Townsend
guardian.co.uk, 21.04.2012
Foreign national prisoners are the new pariahs
The UK's casual attitude to foreign national prisoners committing suicide is shameful – and a new bill will only make things worse
Melanie McFadyean
New York Times, 21.04.2012
The Latest on the Doomsday Virus
We can worry less that a newly created bird flu virus might kill tens or hundreds of millions of people if it escaped from the laboratory. But there is still some residual danger. And we remain appalled at the slipshod way in which this research was authorized despite its potential dangers to public health and national security.
The Observer, 22.04.2012
Vaughan Bell: the truth about lie detectors
'Lie detectors' are highly fallible, yet suspects are more likely to tell the truth when wired up to them. So should we trust this flawed technology?
The Observer, 22.04.2012
Women's alliance lobbies Clarke over legal aid reforms
Groups fear domestic violence victims will be denied vital support if proposed cuts go ahead
Jamie Doward
Futurity: Research News, 23.04.2012
Is ‘zero tolerance’ good for schools?
U. VIRGINIA (US) — Automatic expulsions for students who threaten or commit acts of school violence may be politically popular, but research raises questions about the policy’s effectiveness.
Newswise, 23.04.2012
Tablet Computers: A New Tool to Stop Domestic Violence?
Nursing researchers at Johns Hopkins University and the University of Virginia are studying how technology can help victims of domestic violence
Prevention Action, 23.04.2012
Investing in Children launched
The Social Research Unit has launched the first of a series of cost-benefit reports for children’s services entitled Investing in Children.
U.S. News & World Report, 23.04.2012
Cyberbullying May Call for New Prevention Tactics
Existing anti-bully programs won't get through to online aggressors, researcher says
The New Yorker, 23.04.2012
Battleground America
One nation, under the gun
Every American can be his own policeman; the country has nearly as many guns as it has people. Photograph by Christopher Griffith.
Jill Lepore
guardian.co.uk,, 23.04.2012
Boris Johnson 'has done virtually nothing to tackle youth violence'
Former senior official Ron Belgrave says mayor took cavalier attitude to serious youth violence which he saw as a 'black issue'
Dave Hill
guardian.co.uk, 23.04.2012
Boris Johnson 'has done virtually nothing to tackle youth violence'
Former senior official Ron Belgrave says mayor took cavalier attitude to serious youth violence which he saw as a 'black issue'
Dave Hill
Foreign Policy Magazine, 23.04.2012
Think Again: Al Qaeda
A year after Osama bin Laden's death, the obituaries for his terrorist group are still way too premature. "Al Qaeda Is on the Brink of Defeat."
SETH G. JONES
Foreign Policy Online, 23.04.2012
The Enemy Within
Since the end of the Cold War, America has been on a relentless search for enemies. But the real dangers are at home
DAVID ROTHKOPF
Foreign Policy (USA),, 23.04.2012
Why Do They Hate Us?
The real war on women is in the Middle East.
MONA ELTAHAWY
Radio New Zealand, 24.04.2012
Poverty not linked with crime - study
A long-running study by Christchurch researchers has found that being raised in a poor family does not lead to increased rates of crime or mental health problems in later life.
News-Medical.net, 24.04.2012
Novel strategy to reduce urban youth violence
Briana and Damon could be the kids up the block. Briana does well in school and wants to follow in her sister's footsteps to college. Damon works hard at an after-school job in a local barbershop. They hang out with friends and try to stay out of trouble.
The Yorker, 24.04.2012
Survey probes York residents’ attitudes towards the police
A major new survey will give residents of York the opportunity to express their views on crime, the fear of crime, confidence and their views on policing.
SPIEGEL ONLINE, 24.04.2012
Islamists in Enemy Territory
The Missionary Zeal of Germany's Salafists
Hubert Gude, Souad Mekhennet and Christoph Scheuermann
Scripps Research Institute, 24.04.2012
Scripps Research Scientists Find Anticonvulsant Drug Helps Marijuana Smokers Kick The Habit
Federal Bureau of Investigation (press release), 24.04.2012
Child Forensic Interviewers - Part 2: Training Our Law Enforcement Partners
In a make-shift interview room in Northern Virginia, a girl was asked to describe how she became a crime victim. An older man she met on the Internet lured her into sending him nude pictures. And now an investigator was trying to build a case against the man.
Federal Bureau of Investigation, 24.04.2012
Child Forensic Interviewers - Part 1: Providing Critical Skills on Sensitive Investigations
An 11-year-old who witnessed a murder. A terrified teenager who watched her parent beat and lock her sister in a closet over a period of weeks. A 12-year-old lured by two men on the Internet to a rendezvous where she was raped.
Hard News online, 24.04.2012
My dog Charlie and Corruption
Who makes the law? Politicians. Who enforces the laws? The police. Both are believed to be overwhelmingly corrupt
Mohan Guruswamy
Media Matters for America (blog), 24.04.2012
Why Is NY Times Citing Discredited Gun Researcher John Lott?
Matt Gertz
Los Angeles Times, 25.04.2012
Exposure to violence in children harms DNA, study says
The damage is similar to that seen in aging, Duke researchers report. The study may help explain why people from abusive backgrounds have more risk of disease.
Eryn Brown, Los Angeles Times
Boston.com, 25.04.2012
Granite State shaken by violence
10 bloody deaths in 10 days ‘unprecedented’; AG’s investigations into killings continue
Sarah Schweitzer
Edmonton Journal, 25.04.2012
Confidence in Canadian police down by half in 15 years: poll
Level plunges from 80 per cent in 1997 to 40 per cent last month, fuelled by national lows in B.C.
Peter O'Neil
Montreal Gazette, 25.04.2012
Missing women were considered 'scum of the Earth,' inquiry hears
Vancouver police were racist and sexist, former 911 operator testifies
Suzanne Fournier
Enterprise News, 25.04.2012
Getting smart on crime
I had to cover a lot of ground in my column Sunday on criminal justice reform, and realized later I may not have given enough space to explaining what’s wrong with mandatory minimum sentences in Massaschusetts.
Rick Holmes
The Independent (blog), 25.04.2012
Do Breivik’s claims of honing skills on Call of Duty mean we should worry about video games?
Dr. Cheryl Olson
Christian Science Monitor, 25.04.2012
Building on success: How El Salvador is trying to keep gang violence down
El Salvador has proposed a program to train tens of thousands of former gang members for the workforce. But some are questioning why criminals should get special help, writes a guest blogger.
The Oxford Times, 25.04.2012
Police chief: 'We're winning on burglaries'
Chief Inspector Colin Paine West Oxfordshire’s police chief says the force has won a “decisive battle” against prolific burglars
Tom Jennings
EurekAlert, 25.04.2012
Ophthalmologists urged to be alert for signs of child abuse
Case study in the Journal of AAPOS highlights need for vigilance
Newswise, 26.04.2012
Making Eyewitness Evidence Reliable: Book Examines Research on Eyewitness Identification to Improve Criminal Justice Practice
The Psychology of Eyewitness Identification offers an examination of research on the accuracy and reliability of eyewitness identification as well as a discussion of the implications of the research for social and legal policy.
EurekAlert, 26.04.2012
New study suggests gender gap around homophobic bullying
Research develops new scale to help measure levels of homophobic
Rolling Stone, 26.04.2012
The Rise of the Killer Drones: How America Goes to War in Secret
An inside look at how killing by remote control has changed the way we fight.
Michael Hastings
USA TODAY, 27.04.2012
The intersection of Rodney King and Trayvon Martin
Marisol Bello, Haya El Nasser and William M. Welch,
Sydney Morning Herald, 28.04.2012
Young lives trapped inside the system
Natasha Wallace, Geesche Jacobsen
EurekAlert, 29.04.2012
Fight or flight: Violent teens may be following parents' lead
Prevention programs should involve family members
EurekAlert Public, 29.04.2012
Huge study finds brain networks connected to teen drug abuse
Why do some teenagers start smoking or experimenting with drugs—while others don't?
University of California, Berkeley, 30.04.2012
Highly religious people are less motivated by compassion than are non-believers
Yasmin Anwar
Haaretz, 30.04.2012
Pioneer of global peace studies hints at link between Norway massacre and Mossad
In several anti-Semitic remarks, Norwegian sociologist Johan Galtung also defends 'The Protocols of the Elders of Zion' and says Jewish influence was one of the factors leading to Auschwitz.
Ofer Aderet
Free Speech Debate, 30.04.2012
Why hate speech should not be banned
Restrictions on hate speech are not a means of tackling bigotry but of rebranding often obnoxious ideas or arguments are immoral, argues writer Kenan Malik.
