This paper addresses the question: Have the changes in family structure in the U.S. become a catalyst for juvenile delinquency? For this research, I use existing statistics for my three independent variables: divorce rates, rate of working mothers with children under age 18, percent female-headed households. My dependent variable, juvenile violent crime rates, is measured using data from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. My control variables consist of the following: percent of population aged 15-25, unemployment rate, incarceration rates, drug rates, rates of gun ownership, police employment, percent of those with weekly religious service attendance, percent of persons who have a "great deal" of confidence in the Executive branch of the United States, and percent of people who can trust others. I examine Gottfredson and Hirschi's self-control theory (1990) as a possible theoretical explanation of the correlation between changes in family structure and juvenile delinquency. Previous research has shown with less supervision, monitoring and punishing the child, low self-control results leading to delinquency. My population includes all individuals in these statistics. I use a time series analysis, spanning from 1980 to 2006, to show the changes in rates over time and the correlations between family variables and juvenile delinquency. / Master of Science

Robert Agnew proposed a new version of strain theory in 1992. In this article, Agnew argued that strain is not only a result of the blocked opportunity to achieve goals as Merton had argued, but that strain also results from the removal of positively valued stimuli and the presence of negative stimuli. With such a theory, criminologist had focused on how this may explain juvenile delinquency. Yet very little attention was given to how this may affect adult criminality as well. Similarly, Hirschi (1969) presented social control theory as a means of describing the causes of juvenile delinquency. While these theories have been repeatedly tested and supported with respect to delinquency, they have rarely been used to describe adult criminality. This paper intends to compare the utility of Agnew's general strain theory and Hirschi's control theory in explaining the criminal behavior of fathers. For general strain theory, it is predicted that fathers who have either high contact and low relationship quality or who have low contact and high relationship quality will have significantly higher criminal activity than those who have high contact and relationship quality or low contact and relationship quality. Conversely, social control theory predicts that fathers who have low relationship qualities with their children are more likely to commit criminal acts. This paper aims to ascertain which of these hypotheses is more accurate. / Master of Science

This thesis focuses on legal protection of victims of human trafficking in Sweden. Human trafficking involves the exploitation of often already vulnerable individuals and is a violation of their human rights. Human trafficking is also a threat to state security as a component of transnational organized crime and illegal migration, and has therefore long been a subject of international cooperation.      In this thesis international responses to human trafficking are categorized as being focused on two distinct and separately protected parties, namely the individual and the state. The implementation of these international responses have, in the case of Sweden, mainly led to new criminal regulation relating to human trafficking, and in this thesis international as well as Swedish legal measures against human trafficking are analyzed from a victimological perspective. The overall aim is to investigate and analyze whether victims of trafficking have received an enhanced legal protection through Swedish criminal law.      The thesis shows that human trafficking is not considered a problem in the Swedish legislative context, and that the international measures to protect victims of trafficking have not been regarded to any great extent. Few victims of trafficking in Sweden are even identified as victims, and measures against human trafficking have largely been associated with measures against prostitution. To legally connect human trafficking with prostitution is, however, problematic because these crimes have different primary protective interests and the victims have different roles in the investigation and litigation process. From a victim's perspective, the categorization of the crime is crucial because the status of plaintiff, as is required for the possibility for financial redress and other legal rights, is assessed in Sweden by how the offense is classified. It is therefore important for the victims of human trafficking to be identified and categorized correctly in order to be defined as plaintiffs and obtain protection under criminal law. As a result of all these factors, the intended enhanced legal protection for victims of trafficking in Sweden is lost.

Corporate fine is today the most common sanction for work environment crime. Corporate fine is an economic sanction suffered by the trader when the crime was committed in his economic activity. This thesis aims to provide a better understanding for the application of the corporate fine in work environment crime. Furthermore, the thesis also aims to give a picture of how the use of corporate fine in work environment crime is experienced both from a Prosecutor's perspective and an employers' perspective. In order to fulfil this legal science study it is complemented with an empirical study. A legal and social science method has been used to answer the formulated research questions. The Swedish law has a special prosecution rule that says that the Prosecutor of the less serious crime in the economic activity in the first place has to take action against corporate fine and not take action against individuals. This rule together with requirement that the crime must have been committed in an economic activity means that the fine not equally can be tried out to public activities, which is a sector were most women works. Work environment crimes are usually committed in activities in the construction and manufacturing industries, where more men than women are employed. This means that the corporate fines at work environment crime, to a greater extent is sentenced to maledominated industries rather than female-dominated industries. A conclusion that can be drawn from the empirical study is that the two employers' representatives have not experience that the incentive to create a good working environment has changed from when the corporate fine replaced the individual criminal responsibility. On the other hand, they see a risk where the incentives can be weakened. Because they believe that an individual criminal responsibility in general sharpens the focus of individuals.

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This research study discusses the extent to which transnational organised crime (TOC) has had an impact on Norwegian immigration policy. There has been a public debate in Norway about the involvement of asylum seekers in various forms of organised crime, leading immigration authorities to lament their insufficient resources and means to tackle the problem. Simultaneously, restrictive amendments have been made to the Norwegian Immigration Act, suggesting that immigration law is applied against TOC. The aim of the study is to understand why there has been a change in Norwegian immigration policy, and to discuss the effects and implications of the change. The study is a single-case study using qualitative methods, as the study seeks to provide a detailed description of Norwegian immigration policy and the context in which the changes in the immigration policy have been made. The case of Norway has been chosen because of the increasing focus that TOC has been receiving from Norwegian immigration authorities, accompanied by broad media coverage and restrictive amendments to the Immigration Act. The theories that are applied – criminologies of the self and the other, crimmigration, and securitisation theory – are all chosen because they address different aspects of “us” and “them” thinking. The study argues that the increased focus on transnational organised crime in Norwegian crime statistics reflects the narrative of the criminal other, found in criminologies of the self and the other. Within this narrative the criminal others are distinctly different from ordinary citizens of society and must be excluded for our own security and protection. This contributes to reinforcement of a discourse in which asylum seekers and illegal immigrants become difficult to distinguish from suspicious others and criminals. Accordingly, there is support for the claim that Norwegian immigration policy has been subject to a process of crimmigration. Further, it is found that Norwegian immigration policy has been securitised. It is concluded that although there might be a connection between transnational organised crime and a shift in immigration policy, the change in immigration policy is rather a result of the larger issue of immigration in general. The theoretical framework shows how immigration becomes framed within a security and criminal context, leading to a narrative where the other becomes a potential threat to members of society. This is problematic in a world where inequality is on the rise, and international conventions on human rights are at odds with punitive populism. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie navorsingstudie bespreek tot watter mate transnasionale georganiseerde misdaad ʼn impak gehad het op Noorweë se immigrasiebeleid. ʼn Openbare debat is in Noorweë gevoer oor die betrokkenheid van asielsoekers by verskeie vorme van georganiseerde misdaad, wat daartoe gelei het dat immigrasie-owerhede beswaar gemaak het teen die onvoldoende hulpbronne en middele wat tot hul beskikking is om die probleem aan te spreek. Terselfdertyd is beperkende wysigings in Noorweë se immigrasiewet aangebring wat aandui dat immigrasiereg teen transnasionale georganiseerde misdaad aangewend moet word. Die doel van hierdie studie was om te verstaan waarom ʼn verandering in Noorweë se immigrasiebeleid aangebring is en om die gevolge en implikasies van hierdie verandering te ondersoek. ʼn Enkele gevallestudie is in hierdie studie onderneem en daar is gebruik gemaak van kwalitatiewe metodes om die navorser in staat te stel om ʼn gedetailleerde beskrywing te gee van Noorweë se immigrasiebeleid en die konteks waarbinne die veranderinge in hierdie beleid aangebring is. Noorweë is as gevallestudie gekies as gevolg van die toenemende fokus wat deur Noorweegse immigrasieowerhede op transnasionale georganiseerde misdaad geplaas word, vergesel van omvattende mediadekking, en die beperkende wysigings wat in die immigrasiewet aangebring is. Die teorieë wat in hierdie studie aangewend is – kriminologie oor die “self” en die “ander”, “krimigrasie” (crimmigration) en sekerheidsteorie – is gekies op grond daarvan dat hulle verskillende aspekte van denke oor “ons” (die “self”) en “hulle” (die “ander”) aanspreek. In hierdie studie word daar geargumenteer dat die toenemende fokus op transnasionale georganiseerde misdaad in Noorweegse misdaadstatistiek die narratief van die kriminele “ander” reflekteer, waarna daar in die kriminologie oor die “self” en die “ander” verwys word. In hierdie narratief word ʼn duidelike onderskeid tussen die kriminele “ander” en die “gewone” burgers getref en die kriminele moet ter wille van hierdie burgers se veiligheid en beskerming uitgesluit word van die samelewing. Dit dra by tot die versterking van ʼn diskoers waarin dit moeilik word om asielsoekers en onwettige immigrante van verdagtes en kriminele te onderskei. Dienooreenkomstig daarmee is daar steun vir die bewering dat Noorweë se immigrasiebeleid onderworpe is aan ʼn krimigrasieproses. Verder is daar bevind dat Noorweë se immigrasiebeleid aangepas is deur dit binne ʼn sekerheidsraamwerk te plaas. Daar is tot die gevolgtrekking gekom dat alhoewel daar ʼn verband tussen transnasionale georganiseerde misdaad en ʼn verskuiwing in immigrasiebeleid mag wees, die verandering in immigrasiebeleid eerder ʼn gevolg is van die groter kwessie rondom immigrasie in die algemeen. Die teoretiese raamwerk dui aan hoe immigrasie geskets word in ʼn sekuriteits- en kriminele konteks, wat lei tot ʼn narratief waar die “ander” ʼn potensiële bedreiging vir lede van die samelewing word. Dit is problematies in ʼn wêreld waar ongelykheid toeneem en internasionale konvensies oor menseregte strydig is met strafbare populisme.

The thesis is a study of how Chinese illegal tiger parts trading networks are organized. In particular, this thesis tests in a qualitative manner the causal relationship between three independent variables and the network organizations of these markets. The three independent variables are “ethnicity”, “level of enforcement” and “proximity to the source country”. The thesis also discusses the dynamics of the illegal transactions of tiger parts products. Legitimate meditators or dispute resolutions mechanisms are lacking in the underworld so the risks, which the parties undertake during trading, are far higher. This thesis explores how illegal transactions are enforced, carried out and honored in this trade. In order to map the organization of the tiger trade, I conducted fieldwork in three trading hubs across China: Lhasa. Kunming and Xining. I discovered five tiger parts trading networks, three of which specialized in the trading of tiger skins and two in tiger bones. Within these networks, the level of perceived but not the actual level of risk influences the decisions of the actors in the network. Entry into the network is easy when the perceived level of enforcement is low. In these settings, there is no ethnic restriction for entering the network; the supplier is willing to trade with anyone with a trustworthy reputation. On the other hand, accessibility to the network is strictly controlled when actors perceive a high level of enforcement in their operating environment. Under this setting, the organization of the network becomes more exclusive and ethnically homogenous, as shown in the Tibetan tiger skin-trading network in Lhasa and the tiger bone-trading network in Kunming. The proximity of the tiger source country to the re-distribution sites (fieldwork cities) also influences the organization of the networks. When the level of enforcement is low and the tiger source country is far away from the re-distribution sites, a monetary deposit is required in order to show that the buyer is serious about his/her request, as shown by the tiger skin-trading network in Kunming.

Digital forensics has become a predominant field in recent times and courts have had to deal with an influx of related cases over the past decade. As computer/cyber related criminal attacks become more predominant in today’s technologically driven society the need for and use of, digital evidence in courts has increased. There is the urgent need to hold perpetrators of such crimes accountable and successfully prosecuting them. The process used to acquire this digital evidence (to be used in cases in courts) is digital forensics. The procedures currently used in the digital forensic process were developed focusing on particular areas of the digital evidence acquisition process. This has resulted in very little regard being made for the core components of the digital forensics field, for example the legal and ethical along with other integral aspects of investigations as a whole. These core facets are important for a number of reasons including the fact that other forensic sciences have included them, and to survive as a true forensics discipline digital forensics must ensure that they are accounted for. This is because, digital forensics like other forensics disciplines must ensure that the evidence (digital evidence) produced from the process is able to withstand the rigors of a courtroom. Digital forensics is a new and developing field still in its infancy when compared to traditional forensics fields such as botany or anthropology. Over the years development in the field has been tool centered, being driven by commercial developers of the tools used in the digital investigative process. This, along with having no set standards to guide digital forensics practitioners operating in the field has led to issues regarding the reliability, verifiability and consistency of digital evidence when presented in court cases. Additionally some developers have neglected the fact that the mere mention of the word forensics suggests courts of law, and thus legal practitioners will be intimately involved. Such omissions have resulted in the digital evidence being acquired for use in various investigations facing major challenges when presented in a number of cases. Mitigation of such issues is possible with the development of a standard set of methodologies flexible enough to accommodate the intricacies of all fields to be considered when dealing with digital evidence. This thesis addresses issues regarding digital forensics frameworks, methods, methodologies and standards for acquiring digital evidence using the grounded theory approach. Data was gathered using literature surveys, questionnaires and interviews electronically. Collecting data using electronic means proved useful when there is need to collect data from different jurisdictions worldwide. Initial surveys indicated that there were no existing standards in place and that the terms models/frameworks and methodologies were used interchangeably to refer to methodologies. A framework and methodology have been developed to address the identified issues and represent the major contribution of this research. The dissertation outlines solutions to the identified issues and presents the 2IR Framework of standards which governs the 2IR Methodology supported by a mobile application and a curriculum of studies. These designs were developed using an integrated approach incorporating all four core facets of the digital forensics field. This research lays the foundation for a single integrated approach to digital forensics and can be further developed to ensure the robustness of process and procedures used by digital forensics practitioners worldwide.

published_or_final_version / Law / Master / Master of Laws

published_or_final_version / Urban Studies / Master / Master of Social Sciences

In this study, the development of the computer related crime will be examined in the first chapter. After a detailed introduction to computer crimes, the most common types of the computer crimes will be examined and the characteristics of the offenders and their motivates will be identified. The general investigation process of the computer crime investigation will be outlined in the second chapter. After attempting to define computer crime, computer criminals and investigation process, a case study related to the topic will be examined and the characteristics and the motives of the criminals will be identified. In the last chapter the response by law enforcement officers to high technology crime will be discussed.