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THE INTERNET JOURNAL OF CRIMINOLOGY^©

Primary Research Papers

These primary criminology research papers are written by some of the most up and coming criminologists in their fields. It should be noted that although these criminology papers are not anonymously peer reviewed, like those in our articles section of the journal, primary research papers are reviewed and edited by the General Editor and members of the Editorial Board to ensure they meet the high standards of the Internet Journal of Criminology.

To download any of the articles please click on the links below.....

Spinach, Iron and Popeye: Ironic lessons from biochemistry and history on the importance of healthy eating, healthy scepticism and adequate citation
By Dr Mike Sutton, Reader in Criminology, Nottingham Trent University, UK.

To inform knowledge in research methods and dissemination ethics for the natural and social sciences, this article reinforces the importance of citation to support all assertions of fact. New findings are presented for the history of biochemistry, nutrition, psychology, medicine, and the social sciences. Bio-chemistry papers and scientific news reports from the 1930’s seriously undermine a long standing truism that in the 1920s and 30s, bio-chemists, nutrition experts, public health policy makers, and E. Segar the creator of the newspaper comic strip Popeye were misled either by a decimal place error in 19th Century published research, or else by erroneous interpretation of 19th Century scientific findings, to exaggerate the iron content of spinach tenfold. Further, the failure to study original sources is evidenced in a multitude of completely erroneous publications claiming that these apocryphal errors caused Segar to choose spinach for Popeye’s super human strength. In fact, Segar chose and promoted spinach for its vitamin A content alone.
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Relationship between Psycho-demographic Factors and Civil Servants’ Attitudes to Corruption in Osun State, Nigeria
By Adebayo O. Adejumo, Department of Psychology, University of Ibadan, Nigeria and a member of Nigeria’s National Health Research Ethics Committee.

This paper examines the relationship between psycho-demographic factors and attitude to corruption (ATC). The cross-sectional survey included 600 local government civil servants following multi-stage sampling. A 58-item self report validated questionnaire was used for data gathering. There was significant relationship between; personality, fraudulent intent, N-Ach and ATC. Fear of crime had an inverse relationship with ATC, personality was shown to be the most potent predictor of ATC and there was significant relationship between age and ATC. This study provides insight to the role of these psychological factors and age as fundamental to improving public servants’ ATC, especially in Nigeria. Utilisation of these findings could be useful in staff recruitment and reduction of corruption in private and public administration in other settings.
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Male Inmate Perspective on Reducing Recidivism Rates Through Post-Incarceration Resources
By Misty Malott and Ali Fromander, Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Univeristy of Wisconsin, USA.

Most people who are incarcerated come from the community and ultimately will return to the community (Andress, Wildes, Rechtine, and Moritsugu, 2004). What are some unmet needs post-incarceration that could be addressed to reduce their risk of reoffending? This nonrandom pilot study investigates inmate perspectives regarding perceived access to resources post-incarceration that could reduce their recidivism, by surveying 102 male inmates at three Midwestern jails. It was hypothesized that male inmates would agree that accessible resources, treatment, and/or support services, post-incarceration would help reduce their recidivism. Major findings supported the hypothesis. The survey data was statistically analyzed using frequencies, means, and a reliability analysis. Implications for practitioners and future researchers were addressed.
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Crime and gambling: A brief overview of gambling fraud on the Internet
By Dr. Mark Griffiths (BSc, PhD, PGDipHE, CPsychol), Professor of Gambling Studies and Director of the International Gaming Research Unit at Nottingham Trent University, UK.

Although there is an association between crime and gambling there is relatively little information and research on the topic. One area that appears to have become more prevalent over the last five years is that of fraudulent gambling activities on the Internet. This paper briefly outlines how many frauds and scams have moved into technological media such as the Internet and overviews a number of these including: (i) lottery scams, (ii) fake gambling site scams, (iii) betting software scams, (iv) gambling ‘bonus’ scams, (v) ‘twofer’ scams, and (vi) prize scams. It is concluded that gambling fraud on the Internet is a growth area because many gamblers themselves want to get a huge reward from a small outlay (just as the fraudsters do). As long as there are people who are prepared to risk money on chance events, there will be those out there who will want to fraudulently take their money from them. Given the complete lack of empirical data on these fraudulent practices, there is a need for research to be initiated in this newly emerging area of criminological concern.
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A Physicist, a Philosopher and a Politician: What penologists can learn from Einstein, Kant and Churchill
By Dr. Curtis R. Blakely, Assistant Professor in the Justice Systems Department at Truman State University, and Alice Walkley, Justice Systems major at Truman State University, USA.

For the past three decades scholars, politicians and prison officials within the United States have collectively ignored offender rehabilitation as a legitimate penal pursuit. This has stifled the development and use of treatment initiatives. The absence of a treatment objective signifies a state of ideological imbalance. Prison specialization is offered as a potential solution to restore this balance while helping to break the criminogenic cycle. In looking at the feasibility of prison specialization, attention is given to three great thinkers, Albert Einstein, Immanuel Kant, and Winston Churchill. Both Einstein and Kant suggested that creative and innovative thinking can produce immensely rewarding results regardless of the field under consideration. Likewise, Churchill specifically lobbied for the creation of a specialized prison system.
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Bias Motivation in Crime: A Theoretical Examination
By Erica Hutton, Criminal Justice PhD Program, Capella University, USA.

This paper assesses the social problem of racially motivated crime that occurs within our communities. Racially motivated crime is also known as bias motivation and this type of offense is personal in nature, pertaining to one’s race, ethnicity or nationality, religion, disability, or sexual orientation. There are various categories of bias that influence an individual to participate in the execution of a hate crime. The Labeling Perspective and the Constructionist Perspective are examined to assess a theoretical interpretation of this complex social problem. There is substantial controversy in regards to what exactly constitutes a hate crime and how this discrimination of one another effects members of our communities, affecting behavior as well as shaping social norms, violations, and deviant behavior correlated to the occurrence of bias acts of criminal activity.
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Cameras in the Courtroom: A Comprehensive Examination
By Erica Hutton, Criminal Justice PhD Program, Capella University, USA.

This paper will examine the utilization of cameras within the courtroom and will discuss the historical context of broadcasting court proceedings as well as the current legal regulations pertaining to the use of cameras in and outside of the court. The strengths and weaknesses of utilizing cameras in court are explored. A section is devoted to the discussion of the diverse implications associated with utilizing cameras in court proceedings as well as the precarious influences correlating to the members thereof. An assessment of the behavioral and theoretical perspectives will be considered in regards to the sociological, psychological and criminological aspects of the community, citizens, and members of the criminal justice system.
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Pakistan: Far-Right Islamist Militants and a Resurgence in the Illicit Opiates Trade
By James Windle, Midlands Centre for Criminology and Criminal Justice, Loughborough University, UK.

Between the mid-1970s and late-1990s, Pakistan was a major source of illicit opium and heroin to the global market. By 2001, development and law enforcement activities where successful in creating a business environment in which Pakistani opium poppy farmers could not compete with their Afghan counterparts, resulting in Pakistan being declared ‘opium free’ by the UN Office of Drugs and Crime. Since 2003, there has been a gradual increase in illicit opium production in Pakistan, however, the state has been able to eradicate as much as 77 percent of all crops; this was not the case in 2008, mainly due to the redeployment of resources from counter-narcotics to counter-militancy operations. This paper posits that the current high levels of violent conflict between the state and far-right Islamist militants could act as an impetus to an increase in illicit opium production in Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province and Federally Administered Tribal Areas.
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Family Structure and Juvenile Delinquency: Correctional Centre Betamba, Centre Province of Cameroon
By Ilongo Fritz Ngale, Institute of Education, National University of Lesotho, Lesotho-Southern Africa.

The relationship between family structure and juvenile delinquency was explored in a purposive probability sample of 120 adolescents of the Betamba children’s correctional center using a questionnaire. The use of quantitative statistical analysis revealed the following significant relationships: (1) Juvenile delinquents mostly come from homes in which the parents are married; (2) The moral education of juvenile delinquents is undertaken more by others than their biological parents; (3) Most delinquent children come from the lowest socio-economic stratum of society; (4) About two-thirds of the juvenile delinquents come from homes where 7 persons and above live under the same roof; (5) Most parents of our respondents have low paid jobs which keep them for long periods away from their children. A growing number of parents need additional socio-economic support, development of vital skills of responsible parenting, in order to adequately manage periods of rapid social change and simultaneous multidimensional challenges.
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Moral Remediation, Multi-Systemic Therapy and Effective Interventions for Serious Juvenile Offenders
By David Sortino, Sonoma County Probation Department, Director of the Center for Moral Development, Values and Character Education, USA.

Our juvenile hall population is at an all time high, 2.2 million inmates at an average cost of about $35,000 per inmate (OJJDP, 2006). In fact, we lead the world in incarcerated juvenile offenders and the juvenile system is fast becoming a breeding ground for adult prisons. In Washington State alone, 73% of adult inmates served time in a juvenile detention facility (OJJDP, 2005). This paper describes how a “Moral Remediation” program could be employed as an adjunct to the most successful intervention programs as defined by a recent study in the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Bulletin (April, 2000). The Bulletin defined 200 intervention programs and the methods they used to lower the recidivism rates of serious juvenile offenders in non-institutionalized and institutionalized facilities.
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Identity Crisis? Negotiating Blackness in the British Police Service: a Regional Perspective
By Barbara Perry, University of Ontario Institute of Technology, USA and Catherine John-Baptiste, Nottingham Trent University, UK.

Our paper will address preliminary findings from a pilot study in which we will interview a sample of black police personnel from Nottingham, UK. Our goal in this project is to uncover the mechanisms by which police officers as well as other police staff negotiate their black identities in the context of their roles within law enforcement – an entity that clearly been historically characterized by systemic racism.
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How Prolific Thieves Sell Stolen Goods
By Mike Sutton, Nottingham Trent University, UK.

Aiming to reduce acquisitive crimes and associated offending, Nottinghamshire Constabulary is considering adopting the Market Reduction Approach (MRA) to tackle stolen goods markets in order to reduce theft. As a first step, this report provides a review of findings from a study of local stolen goods markets in Nottingham and Mansfield. The study examined the ways that local stolen goods markets operate and their influence upon local theft levels and criminal careers. Funding for the study was provided by Nottinghamshire County Council’s Communities Department. The findings in this report come from in-depth interviews conducted in the summer of 2006 with 20 offenders under supervision by Mansfield and Nottingham’s prolific offender units. Some interviewees admitted that they were active offenders. Others were making a concerted effort to remain out of trouble. Most had recently completed a spell in custody.
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Differences at the Border: Views of Crime, Criminals, Punishment, and Treatment Among Canadian and U.S. College Students
By Eric G. Lambert, Kasey A. Tucker and David N. Baker, University of Toldeo, USA.

Crime is universal; views about crime and how to control it vary widely in different cultural and political climates. This study examined cross-cultural views of crime, criminals, punishment and treatment for offenders. Specifically, this study compared Canadian and U.S. college students and their perceptions of these issues to determine whether cultural differences exist and to what degree. Both the independent t-test and ordered ordinal regression indicated that U.S. students tended to be more punitive than their Canadian counterparts on a majority of the indicators. This attitude may be due to the fact that U.S. students were more likely to perceive a higher crime rate.
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Handling Stolen Goods: Findings from the 2003 Offending Crime and Justice Survey
By By Mike Sutton, Nottingham Trent University, England, Sarah Hodgkinson, Leicester University, England and Mike Levi, Cardiff University, Wales.

This paper presents findings from a systematic analysis of stolen goods markets, based upon scholarly research and criminological theory, with a toolkit for implementing Sutton’s MRA. The MRA has been implemented in several UK police forces including Kent, Thames Valley, The Metropolitan Police. Derbyshire, Manchester and West Mercia. Other forces use MRA techniques, while Nottinghamshire and Cheshire currently seek to build it into routine policing. Independent academic evaluators, commissioned by the Home Office to evaluate the MRA in 3 police force areas: Kent; Greater Manchester and West Mercia, found MRA theory to be sound, referring positively to police using this report as ‘The Sutton Bible’. This Primary Research Paper presents important analysis.
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Counter-Terrorism and Democracy Transition in Russia
By Anna Tabolina, Far Eastern State University, Vladivostok, Russian Federation.

The purpose of this essay is to open up East and West dialogues by critically discussing the measures that Russia is undertaking in order to tackle terrorism and to discuss how this impacts upon the provision of security in a nation recently undergoing such relatively rapid change.
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Targeted Intervention Effects on Antisocial Behaviour
By Dr Boaz Shulruf, Faculty of Education, University of Auckland, New Zealand.

The current study reports on an evaluation of a school-based intervention aimed at altering at-risk primary students’ self-perception and social awareness as an avenue to mainstream citizenship rather than delinquency and criminal activity. Fourteen students participated in a pilot intervention programme operated once weekly over four months. Programme activities were focused on raising awareness of antisocial behaviours and awareness of personal life quality. The evaluation applied a mixed-methods approach using both quantitative and qualitative data. Evidence for improvement in children’s self-perception was identified as well as effective methods facilitating such changes. Implications of the findings for further intervention programmes and evaluations are discussed.
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The relationship between community attitudes and recent racial vilification laws in Victoria Australia: A comparison of a legal and extra-legal classification model.
By Kristine Muraca and Terence P Bartholomew School of Applied Sciences, Forensic Psychology Program, School of Psychology, Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia.

This study assessed the level of consistency between the elements prescribed in Victoria, Australia’s Racial and Religious Tolerance Act (2001) and the criteria utilised by a sample of the general population in that state. A random sample of 197 adult Victorians was asked to provide their opinions about a hypothetical vignette where seemingly racist comments were made. Based on existing research and theory, it was anticipated that participants’ classifications of conduct as racial vilification would be better predicted by factors not included in the legislation, than legislatively-defined considerations. Results indicate that the legal model, which included the elements of ‘incitement’ and ‘basis of race’, was a significant predictor of classifications of racial vilification. However, the proposed ‘extra-legal’ model, which included ‘race of the target’, ‘race of the perpetrator’, ‘intention’, and ‘perceived seriousness’, also emerged as a significant predictor of respondent classifications. Although the legal model did in fact emerge as a more effective predictor, a hybrid model including the legally prescribed elements as well as ‘perceived seriousness’ had the greatest predictive ability. It is concluded that the public, as potential jurors, show a preference for grounded ‘act-based’ factors when determining whether a behaviour constitutes racial vilification or not, and that the tenets of Victoria’s Racial and Religious Tolerance Act (2001) largely reflect these intuitive criteria.
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The Effect of Initial Meeting Context and Video-Mediation on Jury Perceptions of an Eyewitness
By Chris Fullwood, Amy Marie Judd, and Mandy Finn, School of Applied Sciences, University of Wolverhampton, UK.

Video-mediated testimony in the courtroom has become more widespread since introduced as a method to aid vulnerable witnesses. Despite many benefits, research indicates that individuals are perceived more negatively over video links in comparison to face-to-face contact. Studies have also shown that an initial face-to-face meeting can improve subsequent person perceptions across video. The current study compared participant perceptions of an eyewitness in three conditions: face-to-face testimony, video testimony and video testimony with an initial face-to-face introduction. Results suggest that although impressions of the eyewitness were more negative when the testimony was given via video (compared with face-to-face), this did not impact upon the jury’s decision to convict the accused. Furthermore, the initial face-to-face meeting did not significantly improve the jury’s perceptions of the eyewitness. Video-mediated impressions may be more negative due to social distance and the attenuation of visual cues.
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“If They Are Dead, Tell Us!” A Criminological Study of the “Disappearances” in Kashmir
By Teresa Crew, Postgraduate Student, University of Wales, Bangor.

Cradled in the lap of majestic mountains of the Himalayas, Kashmir is one of the most beautiful places on earth. This paradise is now hell for many Kashmiris due to the prolonged war between India and Pakistan since the end of the British Empire and subsequent partition of the Indian Subcontinent. This paper focuses on the enforced disappearances in Kashmir. The aim of this study is to further develop the study into the victims of State harm. In order to do this, Kauzlarich et al's 'Victimology of State Crime' is utilised, and their general propositions of State crime are tested with reference to the disappeared in Kashmir. This study holds with Kauzlarich et al's assertion that State crime victimology is a different phenomenon from that of street crime as victims are doubly victimised by the state - once during the actual harm inflicted and then again by the criminal justice process. Whilst the majority of Kauzlarich's propositions were consistent with the situation in Kashmir, the concept of secondary victimisation was underdeveloped throughout the original Kauzlarich et al paper. This concept, in relation to Kashmir, is developed in this paper.
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The Public Discourse on Corruption in Greece
By Effi Lambropoulou, Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences, Greece.

Perceptions of corruption have significant impact on a country’s awareness of the issue and thereby on the success of any prevention measures. This paper provides a brief overview and summary of preliminary findings from an on-going study funded by the European Commission to examine issues of corruption in 8 EU countries. The study examines the perceptions of political and administrative decision-makers in the various countries, of the representatives of various institutions and authorities, as well as of citizens and media in the European societies. Overall, the project attempts to investigate the difference between institutionalised prevention policies, how they are perceived in daily practice and how effective they are.
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Honour-Related Violence (HRV) in Scotland: A Cross- And Multi-Agency Intervention Involvement Survey.
by Dr. Roxanne Khan, University of Central Lancashire, UK.

This paper documents the results of a small-scale pilot study, which represents the first step towards further research in this overlooked area of violence against women and represents a first step towards responding to widespread calls for multi-disciplinary research to be conducted in this area. ‘Honour’ killings and ‘honour’ related violence is a neglected area in criminology. Such killings and acts of violence are assaults committed against women both by female and male family or community members, for what is considered ‘immoral behaviour,’ that might include women choosing their own marriage partner, allegations of premarital or extramarital sex, being a victim of sexual abuse or rape and even talking innocently with a man who is not a relative. This paper highlights the lack of provision for females facing this specific type of family violence and problems faced by agencies who attempt to help them. This Primary Research Paper provides insights that will remind/inform readers that because this form of violence is shrouded by notions of ‘honour’, there are girls and women living in the UK who are outwardly living calmly in what are effectively dangerous and violent family- and community-governed environments.
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Are Reality TV Crime Shows Continuing to Perpetuate Crime Myths?
by Elizabeth Monk-Turner, Homer Martinez, Jason Holbrook & Nathan Harvey, Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice, Old Dominion University, USA.

This article examines the portrayal of gender and race in the USA reality television program COPS. Fifty one police officers apprehending sixty perpetrators were content analyzed into four categories including race (of both officer and perpetrator), gender (of both officer and perpetrator), US Uniform Crime Report (UCR) type offense (type I or type II), as well as the specific type of crime depicted. The vast majority of police officers shown on COPS were white male (92%) and the majority of offenders were nonwhite males (62%). Black men were most likely to be shown engaging in a crime of burglary or theft or crimes involving drugs. Hispanic men were most likely to be involved in UCR Part I offenses; however, they were in a distinct minority on these episodes. On the other hand, the most likely scenario for white offenders is to be shown committing an alcohol related offense or causing, or being part of, a domestic disturbance. Few white women were included on the show. One was a police officer and among the other five, one was looking for a lost child and the others were picked up for a variety of relatively minor violations (driving under the influence, drug possession, stolen bike, animal disturbance). No minority women were shown on COPS during this period of evaluation - as either an officer or perpetrator of a crime. The authors argue that media images depicted in COPS are at odds with UCR official crime statistics and reinforce stereotypes and myths about the nature of crime in the United States.
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Culture, Violence and Rape Adjudication: Reflections on the Zuma Rape Trial and Judgment
by Sarah H. Krieg, Ph.D. fellow, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany.

This paper offers contextualised reflections on the role of cultural arguments during the rape trial of South Africa's former Deputy President, Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma. In conjunction with an analysis of International and South African Law on violence against women, it establishes and applies a gender and culture sensitive framework with which rape adjudication and other criminal law judgments can be examined.
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Anti-social Behaviour: Concerns of Minority and Marginalised Londoners
by Andrew Millie, Lecturer in Criminology and Social Policy, Loughborough University.

In the UK there is currently a lot of political and media attention on what has become known as anti-social behaviour (ASB). Concerns about ASB appear to be higher in deprived and/or urban areas. In particular, people living in London are more likely to suffer from ASB. There is undoubtedly real ASB in London; however, this article argues that people will have different expectations of urban living and use of public spaces, resulting in contested notions or tolerances of what is acceptable or anti-social behaviour. This has implications for people’s acceptance of difference or ‘otherness’. With this in mind, evidence is drawn from 10 focus groups with minority and marginalised Londoners. The article argues that our beliefs and expectations of urban living need to be challenged as this is what urban living is all about. Similarly, we should take on board the focus group participants’ assertion that all can be anti-social - rather than focusing on certain groups that ‘don’t fit in’ and entrenching their social exclusion.
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Police Administrators in Indiana: A Descriptive Study of Attitudes, Perceptions, and Stressors
by Billy Long, Ph.D., Indiana University Southeast, and Officer Courtney Yerington, Owensboro Police Department.

Surveys were sent to 308 police chiefs and sheriffs in Indiana in the USA - resulting in 229 being returned for a response rate of 74%. The survey device measured six areas of policing: 1) demographics of police executives; 2) departmental characteristics; 3) stressors (external); 4) stressors (internal/work-related); 5) police executive attitudes toward the current use of police resources; and 6) police executive perceptions of the efficacy of current police strategies and tactics. Results showed that Indiana police departments and sheriff’s offices are mostly small departments with little turnover and are rarely accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA). Civilian Review Boards and Early Warning Systems are rarely used to address police misconduct. Indiana departments are overwhelmingly white and male and attempts to increase diversity have failed. Police executive stressors were highest in the area of perceiving courts as too lenient, the criminal justice system as ineffective and media reports about police as overly hostile. Similarly, they indicate significant sources of stress in the areas of financial resources for the department, poor equipment, and dealing with complaints about their officers. Chiefs and sheriffs indicate strong support for the use of police resources for tracking sex offenders and enforcing drug laws. Problem areas were identified in that police executives are not familiar with research on policing. These misunderstandings result in stress on the part of police executives. Areas of misunderstanding include the effectiveness of random patrol and enforcing anti-marijuana laws. Policy implications are discussed.
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Race, Diversity and Criminal Justice in Canada: A view from the UK
by David Denney, Department of Health and Social Care, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK, Tom Ellis, Institute of Criminal Justice Studies, University of Portsmouth, UK, and Ravinder Barn, Department of Health and Social Care, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK.

This article examines the way in which those employed in the Canadian criminal justice system perceive race and diversity, and how such perceptions could affect professional practice. By drawing on research carried out under the Canadian High Commission Institutional Research Program, the paper has a number of purposes. Firstly, to explore the possibility that disparities in the outcomes of courtroom proceedings could be related to the perceptions and practices of those who play a key part in the sentencing process. Secondly, to examine the nature of current anti-racist criminal justice practices in one province of Canada. Thirdly, the paper also makes recommendations for the development of future antiracist training. Finally, the paper discusses the implications of the findings with respect to developments in the British criminal justice system.
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Black and Asian Police Officers and Support Staff: Prejudice, Identity, Agency and Social Cohesion
Mike Sutton, Nottingham Trent University, Barbara Perry, University of Ontario Institute of Technology, Catherine John-Baptiste, Nottingham Trent University and Glen Williams, National Black Police Association.

This primary research paper presents a review of research that finds that the British Government’s new social cohesion agenda does hold promise for racial and ethnic prejudice reduction – but that social cohesion policies and practice must include at their core policies to reduce institutional racism in British police services. Analysis of the literature reveals that considerably more research is required to examine the precise nature and dynamics of institutional racism within the police services. There is a need to understand how racism against Black and minority ethnic (BME) police employees, and police racism against BME communities, influences social cohesion. That this is important, given the British government’s current social cohesion policy agenda, is patently clear. Considerably more research is about to be undertaken in this area by the authors of this paper and the results will be published in the academic press, disseminated at conferences and presented in training programmes.
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ISSUES IN CROSS-CULTURAL CRIMINAL JUSTICE SURVEY RESEARCH: A Case of U.S. and China Collaboration
By Shanhe Jiang, Eric G. Lambert both at University of Toledo and Jin Wang, Wuhan University

There is a need to conduct rigorous cross-cultural criminal justice research. This paper presents and discusses general methodological issues and specific operational techniques found in cross-cultural research, particularly research on criminal justice issues. Collaborative research between nations requires reliable and capable partners in each of the countries. Achieving equivalency of meaning and comparability of responses from different countries is a difficult but essential task. While no data analysis results are presented, our recent study examining attitudes on criminal justice issues between Chinese and U.S. college students is used to illustrate the above and other salient points.
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KILLING AS AN INITIATOR OF SELF-CHANGE: A Symbolic Interactionist Comparison of the Etiology of Dennis Nilsen and Jeffrey Dahmer
By Joseph D. Diaz, Fayetteville State University.

Using the theories proposed within symbolic interactionism, and concentrating on Erving Goffman’s work on the creation and presentation of the “self,” we explore how the killings of Jeffrey Dahmer and Dennis Andrew Nilsen were engaged in as part of a process of the killer seeking to become something or someone else. The killings, which resulted in corpses that each man kept with him for a certain length of time, didn’t just satisfy an immediate blood-lust in the two men, the killings, and the bodies of the dead men, facilitated an imagined personal change from the men being shy and socially awkward to being romantically and sexually accepted by other men (in the form of corpses) in a longer-term relationship.
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Self-perceptions, Masculinity and Female Offenders by Victoria Herrington, Kings College, London and Claire Nee, University of Portsmouth

It is generally accepted that men commit more crime than women; a statistic that has led many to look for an explanation for such disparity between the sexes. One explanation has proposed that masculinity and crime are inherently linked, and apparent increases in female offending in recent years has led some to conclude that this must be the result of women’s increased masculinity. Research aimed at identifying this increase has generally been limited and has failed to yield consistent results. This study utilised a self-perception measure of masculinity and femininity to explore this idea with four groups of women.
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Criminal Arrest Patterns of Client Entering and Exiting Community Substance Abuse Treatment in Lucas County, Ohio, USA by Lois Ventura and Eric Lambert, University of Toledo, USA

Research on drugs and crime typically examines the substance abuse histories of criminal offenders. This study reverses the typical perspective by examining the criminal histories of adult clients served through publicly funded and community based substance abuse treatment agencies. The findings of this study showed that 64% of the clients entering community substance abuse treatment had histories of arrests for violent and/or nonviolent criminal crimes. In the year directly prior to treatment entry 27% of the clients had been arrested. In the 12-months following discharge from treatment 25% of the clients were arrested. While there was not a substantial difference in the percent of clients arrested in the pre and post-treatment periods, there was a difference in the pattern of arrests. The average number of arrests per client was reduced in most arrest categories. These reductions attain statistical significant reduction in the case of drug offenses. A logistic regression analysis showed that income, martial status and arrest in the 12-months prior to treatment significantly affected the likelihood of clients’ arrests in the post-treatment period.
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Blurring Fame & Infamy: A Content Analysis of Cover-Story Trends in People Magazine by Jack Levin, James Alan Fox and James Mazaik, Northeastern University, USA

This article reports the results obtained in two studies of People magazine. Our results suggest that, from 1974 to 1998, the cover themes of issues of People magazine shifted away from celebrity careers to a preoccupation with the stars’ personal problems–illnesses, crime, and family/sex issues. Over the decades, moreover, the basis for People celebrities appearing in a cover story became decidedly more negative. During the early years, most of the stars were on People’s cover because they had accomplished a virtuous objective. More recently, however, the magazine heaped attention–perhaps inordinate attention–on the “accomplishments” of rapists, child abusers, drug addicts, and murderers.
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How Burglars and Shoplifters Sell Stolen Goods in Derby: Describing and Understanding the Local Illicit Markets by Mike Sutton, Nottingham Trent University

Derby Community Safety Partnership commissioned this report. The purpose of the report is to reveal the dynamics of disposing of stolen goods in Derby, to inform the first crackdown stage of a Market Reduction Approach to theft in the city. The report is based upon in depth interviews with 23 prolific thieves currently operating, or ex-offenders having recently operated, in the Derby City area.
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Reasons for Supporting and Opposing Capital Punishment in the USA: A Preliminary Study by Eric G. Lambert, and Alan Clarke (both at Utah Valley State College) and Janet Lambert

The death penalty is a controversial subject in our society. Research has explored why people support or oppose capital punishment. Most the literature to date looks at the reasons provided one at a time. In this study, a multivariate analysis was conducted to see which reasons best explain the observed variation of support and opposition for capital punishment. It was found that emotional retribution, emotional opposition, morality, and law and order, were the only reasons which had statistically significant effects on the degree of death penalty support among college students at a Midwestern university. Other variables, such as fear of crime, religious measures, other punishment ideologies, and personal characteristics (which earlier studies found statistically significant using bivariate analysis) were not statistically significant in this study. The results suggest the need for greater attention to and more study of death penalty attitudes using multivariate analysis.
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Just Deserts: University Students' Inclination to Nullify the Law by Morris Jenkins and Bradene Moore, both at University of Toledo, USA
Professors Jenkins and Moore present findings from a groundbreaking small-scale exploratory study of circumstances that might influence juror’s decisions not to follow the law in their determination of a trial verdict.
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