Sessions will be available to view live on the website www.criminologysymposium.com and will also be available after the symposium, on the website as well as on Brå’s YouTube channel.

All three lectures mentioned below will be live streamed.

Tuesday 2nd July 2019

Nunn Hall, UCL Institute of Education

20 Bedford Way, London WC1H 0AL

18:15 - 20:00

The investigation of rape is especially challenging. Consistently high attrition rates, and low conviction rates, have led to continuous debate. The focus has been on the procedures and training to make improvements, yet there is still a concern that victims of sexual assault have been failed on a systematic basis for far too long. In this seminar leading researchers in the field explore the police response to rape from the perspective of the police. What do those charged with investigating rape think about the process? Is training sufficient to deal with the issues raised by this most difficult of crimes? What are the kinds of difficulties investigators’ face in addressing rape allegations? Ultimately, how can policing response to rape be improved, and how will we know it is getting better?

Free and open to all, for registration and further details please click here

ABSTRACT

This article presents findings from an assessment of the immediate behavioural impact of the ‘Verbal Judo’ de-escalation training program, delivered to officers in a Canadian police service in 2017, and represents the first evaluation of Verbal Judo. The evaluation utilized systematic observations of officers in videotaped simulations, comparing a baseline group of officers to officers trained in Verbal Judo. The study found that five of 15 coded behaviours were impacted at a statistically significant level in the hypothesized direction, and these tended to be simpler behaviours encouraged by the training (such as identifying oneself or providing a reason for contact), while more complex behaviours (such as empathizing with the subject) were not impacted. The evaluation also found that likelihood of utilizing de-escalation skills decreased as an officer’s years of experience increased. The paper closes by outlining the implications of these findings for de-escalation training, and elaborates the main limitations of the study.

Chris Giacomantonio, Stephanie Goodwin & Garland Carmichael (2019) Learning to de-escalate: evaluating the behavioural impact of Verbal Judo training on police constables, Police Practice and Research, DOI: 10.1080/15614263.2019.1589472

A sociological study has shown that conflicts between members of different ethnic groups at secondary schools are rare and that fights occur more often among members of the same group / publication in Social Networks

Physical violence in schools is relatively rare between pupils of different ethnic origins. That is the conclusion of the sociological study ‘Who is fighting with whom? How ethnic origin shapes friendship, dislike, and physical violence relations in German secondary schools’ conducted by Mark Wittek, Clemens Kroneberg and Kathrin Lämmermann at the University of Cologne. The study surveyed over 2,500 seventh-grade pupils at 39 comprehensive, secondary and lower secondary schools in five cities in the Ruhr area between 2013 and 2016. The results have been published in the journal Social Networks.
The study examines the role of ethnic background for friendship, dislike, and violence networks in secondary school. Previous research had found that violence tends to occur more often in schools with ethnically separated friendship networks. Social scientists tended to interpret this as a sign that ethnic groups are likely to quarrel with each other – for example over who dominates the schoolyard – and that a lack of interethnic friendships leads to a stronger animosity towards members of an outgroup. However, the results of the new study show that for the most part violence occurs within groups of friends.
Professor Clemens Kroneberg heads the Project ‘Freundschaft und Gewalt im Jugendalter’ (Friendship and violence in adolescence), which is funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG), and the Project SOCIALBOND, which is funded by the European Research Council. He said: ‘Individual incidents or increases in school violence are often interpreted as a result of ethnic diversity and inter-ethnic tensions. Depending on a person’s political orientation, pupils with a migration background are either suspected of being perpetrators or victims of violence. However, our analysis shows that violence among pupils of different ethnic backgrounds is the exception. Particularly in schools, where ethnic groups tend to remain among themselves, violence is more prevalent within than among these groups.’
An important reason for this is that students who are friends or have common friends spend more free time together. They are therefore more likely to find themselves in situations of provocation, status struggle and physical confrontation.
The results of the study illustrate the so-called ‘integration paradox’ using the example of violence: with progressing integration, arguments also increase. Schools in which physical conflicts between young people of different ethnic origins are particularly rare tend to be characterized by ethnically separated groups of friends and antipathy between young people of different origins.
In general, the closer young people are to each other in the friendship network, the more likely violence becomes. On the other hand, antipathy – not liking a classmate – becomes more probable the further away individual adolescents are from each other in friendship networks.
Violence among friends is rare in absolute terms – it occurs in only six percent of all friendships. But at least 20 percent of all relationships in which physical conflicts sometimes occur are friendships.
In general, physical violence is still relatively widespread in the seventh grades studied: Almost half of the respondents can be described as perpetrators of physical violence. However, almost 40 percent are neither involved as perpetrators nor as victims. In addition, the level of violence decreased continuously up to the tenth grade in the course of the survey’s timeframe.
Media Contact:
Professor Dr Clemens Kroneberg
Chair of Sociology I, DFG Project ‘Friendship and violence in adolescence’, ERC Starting Grant Project SOCIALBOND
Institute for Sociology and Social Psychology (ISS)

Publication:
Mark Wittek, Clemens Kroneberg, Kathrin Lämmermann, 2019: ‘Who is fighting with whom? How ethnic origin shapes friendship, dislike, and physical violence relations in German secondary schools’, Social Networks. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socnet.2019.04.004

Today, Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship Dimitris Avramopoulos and the Director of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) Alexis Goosdeel launched the European Drug Report 2019. Commissioner Avramopoulos said: "Today's report shows the complex nature of Europe's drug phenomenon. Drugs remain a constantly evolving, multi-faceted threat for our societies, affecting the life of millions of citizens around the world. We need a more coordinated approach that tackles both supply and demand. Our efforts are bearing fruit with our new rules to ban psychoactive substances and our enhanced cooperation with international partners. But we also need to look at the role of digitalisation in the drug market. We have no time to spare. We need to be coordinated at the national, European and international levels. Together with our EU drugs agency, we will continue to play a leading role in this effort." The European Drug Report provides a comprehensive analysis of recent drug use and market trends across the EU, Turkey and Norway. The 2019 Report highlights in particular an increase in cocaine availability with seizures at a record high, amounting to 140.4 tonnes, double the quantity seized in 2016 (70.9 tonnes). It also explores the challenges associated with new synthetic opioids, the latest developments in the cannabis market and synthetic drug production in Europe. The report is accompanied by the 2019 Statistical Bulletin and Country Drug Reports presenting summaries of national drug phenomena. A press conference, which took place today at 10:00 am (CET) is available on EbS.

The European Drug Report 2019 and the full press release are available online.

An RCT of dating matters: effects on teen dating violence and relationship behaviours. Niolon P.H, Vivolo-Kantor A.M, Tracy A.J, Latzman N.E, Little T.D, DeGue S, Lang K.M, Estefan L.F, Ghazarian S.R, McIntosh W.L.K, Taylor B, Johnson L.L, Kuoh H, Burton T, Fortson B, Mumford E.A, Nelson S.C, Joseph H, Valle L.A, Tharp A.T. Am. J. Prev. Med. ePub, 2019:

This study examines whether the Dating Matters comprehensive prevention model, compared with a standard of care intervention, prevents negative relationship behaviours and promote positive relationship behaviours. (Source: Safetylit).

INTRODUCTION: Teen dating violence is a serious public health problem with few effective prevention strategies. This study examines whether the Dating Matters comprehensive prevention model, compared with a standard of care intervention, prevented negative relationship behaviors and promoted positive relationship behaviors. STUDY DESIGN: This longitudinal, cluster-RCT compared the effectiveness of Dating Matters with standard of care across middle school. Standard of care was an evidence-based teen dating violence prevention curriculum (Safe Dates) implemented in eighth grade. SETTING/PARTICIPANTS: Forty-six middle schools in high-risk urban neighborhoods in four U.S. cities were randomized. Schools lost to follow-up were replaced with new schools, which were independently randomized (71% school retention). Students were surveyed in fall and spring of sixth, seventh, and eighth grades (2012-2016). The analysis sample includes students from schools implementing Dating Matters or standard of care for >2 years who started sixth grade in the fall of 2012 or 2013 and had dated (N=2,349 students, mean age 12 years, 49% female, and 55% black, non-Hispanic, 28% Hispanic, 17% other). INTERVENTION: Dating Matters is a comprehensive, multicomponent prevention model including classroom-delivered programs for sixth to eighth graders, training for parents of sixth to eighth graders, educator training, a youth communications program, and local health department activities to assess capacity and track teen dating violence-related policy and data. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Self-reported teen dating violence perpetration and victimization, use of negative conflict resolution strategies, and positive relationship skills were examined as outcomes. Imputation and analyses were conducted in 2017.

RESULTS: Latent panel models demonstrated significant program effects for three of four outcomes; Dating Matters students reported 8.43% lower teen dating violence perpetration, 9.78% lower teen dating violence victimization, and 5.52% lower use of negative conflict resolution strategies, on average across time points and cohorts, than standard of care students. There were no significant effects on positive relationship behaviors.

CONCLUSIONS: Dating Matters demonstrates comparative effectiveness, through middle school, for reducing unhealthy relationship behaviors, such as teen dating violence and use of negative conflict resolution strategies, relative to the standard of care intervention. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This study is registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov NCT01672541.

Published by Elsevier Inc.

New rules and guarantees in criminal proceedings now apply across the EU

Brussels, 11 June 2019

Today, the directive on special safeguards for children starts to apply. It is the last in a set of six EU directives guaranteeing procedural rights for people across the EU, completing the full set of rights.

In addition to these new rights for children, the directive guaranteeing access to legal aid started to apply on 5 May. This package of EU rules ensures that EU citizens' fundamental rights of fair and equal treatment are respected in criminal proceedings and that they are applied in a similar way in all Member States.

Frans Timmermans, First-Vice President in charge of the Rule of Law and the Charter of Fundamental Rights, said: "Every year, 9 million people are involved in criminal proceedings in Europe. A well-functioning rule of law must ensure that every European can depend on getting a fair and equal treatment before the law. We need to continue to defend and nourish our rule of law so as to foster unwavering faith in our justice systems and their ability to protect all our citizens and our societies.”

Věra Jourová, Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality, added: “Children deserve special protection in criminal proceedings. With the new rules, we ensure that their privacy is respected or they are detained separately from adults. In addition, everyone in the EU can now be sure to have access to legal aid if they need it. While justice must be done, we must also ensure it is being done in full respect of our fundamental rights and values."

The following rights now apply:

• Special safeguards for children -Every year in the EU, over 1 million children face criminal justice proceedings. Children are vulnerable and need special protection at all stages of the proceedings. With the new rules applying as of today, children should be assisted by a lawyer and detained separately from adults if sent to prison. Privacy must be respected and questioning should be audio-visually recorded or recorded in another appropriate manner.
• The right to legal aid-If suspected or accused, people have the right to legal aid, that is, financial support for example if they do not have the resources to cover the costs of the proceedings.

The EU rules define clear criteria to grant legal aid. Decisions concerning legal aid must be taken timely and diligently, and people must be informed in writing if their application is rejected in full or in part.

These rights complement the other rights that already apply in the EU:

• The right to be presumed innocent and to be present at trial-The concept of presumption of innocence exists in all EU Member States, but the EU rules ensure that this right is applied equally across the EU. The rules clarify that the burden of proof for establishing guilt is on the prosecution, rather than on the person accused to prove that they are not guilty.
• The right to have a lawyer - If suspected or accused, no matter where the person is in the EU, they have the right to be advised by a lawyer. A right of access to a lawyer applies also in European Arrest Warrant proceedings, both in the Member State that executes it and in the Member State where it has been issued.
• The right to information -People must be promptly informed about the criminal act they are suspected or accused of. They also must be promptly informed of their rights in criminal proceedings, either orally or in writing. They must be given access to the materials of the case.
• The right to interpretation and translation - Interpretation must be provided free of charge during any questioning, including by police, all court hearings and any necessary interim hearings, as well as during essential meetings between you and your lawyer.

Next steps

Member States that have not yet implemented the rules must do so as soon as possible. The European Commission will continue to work closely with Member States to ensure the rules are applied correctly for the benefit of citizens. This can be done including through workshops and expert meetings.

Background

Articles 47-49 of the EU Charter of fundamental rights protect the following rights:

• right to an effective remedy and to a fair trial
• presumption of innocence and right of defence
• principles of legality and proportionality of criminal offences and penalties

The European Commission proposed the most recent three of these directives on procedural rights for suspects and accused persons in November 2013.

The two directives on the right to interpretation and translation and on the right to information apply to all Member States, except Denmark. The other four directives (access to lawyer, presumption of innocence, right to legal aid, and safeguards for children) apply to all Member States, except Ireland, the United Kingdom and Denmark.

For More Information                                                       

Factsheet – your rights if accused or suspected of criminal offences in the EU

Report

from Institute for Economics and Peace

Published on 12 Jun 2019 — View Original

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This is the thirteenth edition of the Global Peace Index (GPI), which ranks 163 independent states and territories according to their level of peacefulness.

Produced by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), the GPI is the world’s leading measure of global peacefulness. This report presents the most comprehensive data-driven analysis to date on peace, its economic value, trends, and how to develop peaceful societies.

The GPI covers 99.7 per cent of the world’s population, using 23 qualitative and quantitative indicators from highly respected sources, and measures the state of peace using three thematic domains: the level of Societal Safety and Security; the extent of Ongoing Domestic and International Conflict; and the degree of Militarisation.

In addition to presenting the findings from the 2019 GPI, this year’s report includes analysis of trends in Positive Peace: the attitudes, institutions, and structures that create and sustain peaceful societies. It looks at the relationship between the actual peace of a country, as measured by the GPI, and Positive Peace, and how a deficit of Positive Peace is often a predictor of future increases in violent conflict. It also looks at the dynamic relationship between changes in Positive Peace and changes in the economy.

The results this year show that the average level of global peacefulness improved very slightly in the 2019 GPI. This is the first time the index has improved in five years. The average country score improved by 0.09 per cent, with 86 countries improving, and 76 recording deteriorations. The 2019 GPI reveals a world in which the conflicts and crises that emerged in the past decade have begun to abate, but new tensions within and between nations have emerged.

Iceland remains the most peaceful country in the world, a position it has held since 2008. It is joined at the top of the index by New Zealand, Austria, Portugal, and Denmark. Bhutan has recorded the largest improvement of any country in the top 20, rising 43 places in the last 12 years.

Afghanistan is now the least peaceful country in the world, replacing Syria, which is now the second least peaceful. South Sudan, Yemen, and Iraq comprise the remaining five least peaceful countries. This is the first year since the inception of the index that Yemen has been ranked amongst the five least peaceful countries.

Four of the nine regions in the world became more peaceful over the past year. The greatest increase in peacefulness occurred in the Russia and Eurasia region, followed by the Middle East and North Africa. In both of these regions, the number of deaths from conflict declined, owing to the de-escalation of violence in Ukraine and Syria respectively. The fall in conflict deaths has been mirrored by a fall in deaths from terrorism.

All three regions in the Americas recorded a deterioration in peacefulness in the 2019 GPI, with Central America and the Caribbean showing the largest deteriorations, followed by South America, and then North America. Increasing political instability has been an issue across all three regions, exemplified by the violent unrest seen in Nicaragua and Venezuela, and growing political polarisation in Brazil and the United States.

The trend in peacefulness since 2008 shows that global peacefulness has deteriorated by 3.78 per cent, with 81 GPI countries recording a deterioration, and 81 improving, highlighting that deteriorations in peacefulness are generally larger than improvements. The index has deteriorated for eight of the last twelve years, with the last improvement in peacefulness before 2019 occurring in 2014. Seventeen of the 23 GPI indicators are less peaceful on average in 2019 when compared to 2008.

Two of the three GPI domains deteriorated over the past decade, with Ongoing Conflict deteriorating by 8.69 per cent and Safety and Security deteriorating by 4.02 per cent. Terrorism and internal conflict have been the greatest contributors to the global deterioration in peacefulness. One hundred and four countries recorded increased terrorist activity, while only 38 improved, and the total number of conflict deaths increased by 140 per cent between 2006 and 2017.

However, contrary to public perception, the Militarisation domain has recorded a 2.6 per cent improvement since 2008. The number of armed services personnel per 100,000 people has fallen in 117 countries, and military expenditure as a percentage of GDP fell in 98 countries, with only 63 countries increasing their spending.

Perceptions of peacefulness have increased in some areas but decreased in others. More people across the world now feel that they have more freedom in life, are more satisfied with life, and are treated with more respect than in 2008. Many more people also feel that their countries are better places to live for ethnic and religious minorities. However, daily feelings of sadness, worry, and stress have also increased over the same time period.

There is a strong correlation between perceptions of peacefulness and actual peacefulness as measured by the GPI. Both men and women in more peaceful countries are more likely to report that they feel safe walking alone at night than people in less peaceful countries. There is also a greater level of trust in police in more peaceful societies.

Perceptions of trust in the world’s most powerful countries has fallen since 2008. Confidence in US leadership has fallen more than confidence in Russian, Chinese and German leadership in the past five years, with people on average now having more confidence in Chinese leadership than the US.

Dealing with these negative trends in peacefulness becomes even more crucial when looking at the potential impact of climate change on peace. An estimated 971 million people live in areas with high or very high climate change exposure. Of this number, 400 million (41 per cent) reside in countries which already have low levels of peacefulness.

Climate change can indirectly increase the likelihood of violent conflict through its impacts on resource availability, livelihood, security and migration. In order to address these challenges, there will need to be much greater cooperation both within and between countries. Countries with high levels of Positive Peace are better able to manage climate-induced shocks and tend to have higher environmental performance than those with lower levels of Positive Peace.

The economic impact of violence on the global economy in 2018 was $14.1 trillion in purchasing power parity (PPP) terms. This figure is equivalent to 11.2 per cent of the world’s economic activity (gross world product) or $1,853 for every person. The economic impact of violence improved by 3.3 per cent during 2018. The greatest improvement was in Armed Conflict, which decreased by 29 per cent to $672 billion, owing to a fall in the intensity of conflict in Syria, Colombia and Ukraine. There was also a substantial reduction in the economic impact of terrorism, which fell by 48 per cent from 2017 to 2018.

Violence continues to have a significant impact on economic performance around the globe. In the ten countries most affected by violence, the average economic cost of violence was equivalent to 35 per cent of GDP, compared to just 3.3 per cent in the countries least affected by violence. Syria, Afghanistan and the Central African Republic incurred the largest economic cost of violence in 2018 as a percentage of their GDP, equivalent to 67, 47 and 42 per cent of GDP, respectively.
The economic impact of violence model includes data on suicide for the first time in the 2019 GPI. The report finds that the economic impact of suicide is higher than that of Armed Conflict, amounting to $737 billion in 2018.

The report’s Positive Peace research analyses the relationship between the GPI and Positive Peace. There is a strong correlation between the GPI and Positive Peace. Countries with high levels of both Positive and Negative Peace have achieved a sustainable peace and are unlikely to fall into conflict. Conversely, many of the countries with low levels of both Positive and Negative Peace have fallen into a violence trap, and find it difficult to escape from vicious cycles of conflict.
Some countries score much higher on the GPI than their Positive Peace score would indicate. This is known as a Positive Peace deficit, and research has shown that these countries are more likely to have increased levels of violence in the future, because they lack the necessary attitudes, institutions and structures to prevent violence from breaking out once the country receives a shock.

Some pillars of Positive Peace exhibit tipping points. Small improvements or deteriorations in Positive Peace can trigger large increases or decreases in their GPI scores. This tipping point can be seen when looking at the relationship between corruption, economic growth, inequality, and the GPI’s Safety and Security domain.

The report also finds that Positive Peace is dynamically associated with economic development. There is a strong correlation between changes in the Positive Peace Index and GDP growth between 2005 and 2018. Greater household consumption is a key reason for the link between improvements in Positive Peace and economic performance. Households are particularly helped by improvements in public administration.

On the production side, business activity responds particularly well to improvements in public administration and attempts to curb corruption. Services and construction are particularly responsive to improvements in Positive Peace. Manufacturing and agriculture are less responsive, especially in countries outside of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the Brazil, Russia, India,
China (BRIC) groups.

Recruiting and retaining skilled staff is a long-standing challenge for the early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector. OECD countries are increasingly demanding that ECEC staff be highly skilled and highly qualified, but a combination of low wages, a lack of status and public recognition, poor working conditions, and limited opportunities for professional development mean that recruitment and retention are frequently difficult. What can countries do to build a highly qualified and well-trained ECEC workforce? What is the best route to increasing staff skills without exacerbating staff shortages? How can countries boost pay and working conditions in the context of limited resources? Building on past OECD work on early childhood education and care, and drawing on the experience of OECD countries, this report outlines good practice policy measures for improving jobs in ECEC and for constructing a high-quality workforce.

Recruiting and retaining skilled staff is a long-standing challenge for the early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector. OECD countries are increasingly demanding that ECEC staff be highly skilled and highly qualified, but a combination of low wages, a lack of status and public recognitio...

English Also available in: German

In a world where violence forces thousands of families to flee for their lives each day, the time is now to show that the global public stands with refugees.

2019 Theme: #StepWithRefugees — Take A Step on World Refugee Day

Around the world, communities, schools, businesses, faith groups and people from all walks of life are taking big and small steps in solidarity with refugees. This World Refugee Day, we challenge everyone to join together and take a step with refugees. Join the movement.

Why Do We Mark International Days?

International days are occasions to educate the public on issues of concern, to mobilize political will and resources to address global problems, and to celebrate and reinforce achievements of humanity. The existence of international days predates the establishment of the United Nations, but the UN has embraced them as a powerful advocacy tool. More information available here.

The U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) is seeking proposals from jurisdictions struggling with high levels of youth gang violence to implement one or more components of the OJJDP Comprehensive Gang Model as part of a community- and data-driven desistance/diversion response to gang-related crime and violence.

OJJDP’s gang and youth violence prevention strategy is based on the recognition that preventing and reducing gang crime and violence requires a shared framework of strategic and coordinated delivery of programs, services, and practices across multiple sectors—including substance addiction programming and mental health counseling—that balance community development, prevention, intervention, and targeted suppression and enforcement.

The solicitation provides further details about the program. Applications are due by June 24.

Criminal Justice in a Polarised Society is the topic of this year’s edition of the Criminal Justice Summer Course that CEP organises together with EuroPris and EFRJ. Håkan Järvå is one of the speakers. He is a psychologist and an expert in working with people that were or are still involved in extremist movements. He was in his early twenties when he got involved in a religious cult himself, the Scientology movement. Nowadays he successfully combines his personal experiences with his professional life.  

Read more 

With the number of physical automated teller machine (ATM) attacks and the number of European countries affected increasing, the European Crime Prevention Network (EUCPN) and Europol organised a conference (January 2019) bringing law enforcement together with public and private partners together to look at the prevention of this crime.

This recommendation paper summarises the conclusions of this conference to raise authorities' awareness of physical ATM attacks and preventive measures.

Read the paper

This toolbox describes a number of recent good practices from EU Member States with regard to COP. The objective of this toolbox is to support policymakers and practitioners, in particular police chiefs and senior management within police organisations, in achieving a successful COP strategy. Through an analysis of the current literature and in-depth discussions with experts in the field, we have identified important factors for the successful implementation of COP. We have used scientific insights and experiences in the field to draw up clear and easily understandable guidelines, in the form of 10 key principles.

Read the toolbox

A new report, attached, involving over 2,000 experts in online child sex offending has made strong recommendations on how to better prevent the growing problem of child sexual offending on the internet. It highlights that more public engagement is needed to raise awareness of online sexual offending behaviour, along with closer collaboration between behavioural experts and the online industry, a better balance between punishment and early intervention with potential offenders, and increased primary prevention addressing the underlying causes of offending.

The report was written by the International Working Group for the Prevention of Online Sex Offending (IWG_OSO). The IWG_OSO was set up in 2014 with the support of the International Association for the Treatment of Sexual Offenders. Its members and consultees include experts in online child sexual offending behaviours, from law enforcement, academia, children’s charities, offender support services, therapeutic providers and the online industry.