Thesis (Ph.D. (Criminology)) -- University of Limpopo, 2015 / The research concerned with the aim of this study, was to assess the appli-cation of intelligence-driven investigation in combating organised motor vehicle theft. The strategic intelligence plan, information sharing and understanding of or-ganised vehicle theft, are some of approaches which will assist in dealing with the challenge of the illegal sale of vehicles and vehicle parts. There is indeed a need to address police corruption, if the battle against vehicle theft is to be realised. The objectives of this study were the following: to explain the strategic intelli-gence plan for investigating motor vehicle theft; to evaluate whether investiga-tions of organised motor vehicle theft in Thohoyandou cluster are intelligence-driven; to assess if the cluster uses intelligence offender profiling in investi-gations; to explore how intelligence-driven investigation assists in information sharing; and, to make recommendations for the improvement of intelligence-driven vehicle theft investigation. The researcher wanted to apply new research knowledge, in order to develop good practice in the field. This has been done by recommending new proced-ures to enhance performance and to improve the ways and means of combating organised vehicle theft. KEY TERMS Intelligence-driven investigation; strategic intelligence; intelligence cycle; crime investigations; modus operandi; offender profiling; organised crime; systems theory; motor vehicle theft; information sharing.

La presente tesis doctoral se enmarca en la línea de investigación "Las Trayectorias de la Violencia y la Conducta Criminal”. Este trabajo consta de 9 capítulos articulados en los siguientes apartados: a) introducción, b) estudios empíricos publicados, c) estudios empíricos en revisión, d) discusión general, limitaciones y perspectivas de futuro, y d) conclusiones. Los estudios empíricos que conforman este trabajo se han centrado en dos colectivos de interés: adolescentes que se inician en el consumo de alcohol y delincuencia adulta en pacientes con Esquizofrenia y otros Trastornos Psicosis. Hasta la fecha, la mayor parte de los estudios realizados que analizan el desarrollo de la violencia y la conducta criminal en la población adolescente y adulta procede de investigaciones realizadas en Norteamerica, Canadá y algunas regiones de Europa. En España sin embargo, existen muy pocos trabajos publicados que analicen los factores determinantes de la delincuencia juvenil y las trayectorias del comportamiento criminal que presentan los individuos que cometen los crímenes más graves y violentos internados en centros psiquiátricos de máxima seguridad. La presente tesis doctoral realiza un recorrido por los factores que motivan el inicio de la delincuencia con especial énfasis en el rol que ejerce el consumo temprano de alcohol y la presencia de trastornos mentales graves vinculados con los delitos violentos cometidos por la población psiquiátrica encarcelada. Para ello, se han determinado 6 objetivos fundamentales de investigación, cada uno de los cuáles deriva en un estudio empírico. Los principales resultados de cada uno de los estudios aparecen recogidos en los capítulos 3-8. En la última sección (capítulo 9), se discuten los hallazgos más significativos obtenidos en cada uno de las investigaciones, las limitaciones y las perspectivas de futuro basadas en los aportes de la Neurocriminología que abren nuevas vías investigación. En el primer estudio examinamos la relación entre el consumo de alcohol adolescente y variables relacionadas con la delincuencia, el desempeño académico, los vínculos sociales y otras conductas problemáticas juveniles. En este estudio 567 estudiantes adolescentes de 14 a 19 años de edad cumplimentaron la Encuesta Estatal sobre Uso de Drogas. Controlando el efecto de la edad y el tipo de institución educativa (pública vs privada), nuestros resultados mostraron que los predictores más significativos del consumo de alcohol adolescente estuvieron relacionados con el número de expulsiones recibidas en los centros educativos, la vinculación con amigos infractores consumidores de alcohol, la participación en peleas, el número de salidas nocturnas y la hora de regreso a casa. Estos factores explicaron el 32.3% de la varianza del consumo alcohol adolescente. En el segundo estudio analizamos, la asociación entre el consumo de alcohol adolescente y la calidad de la relación familiar, el establecimiento de normas, la información sobre el uso de drogas y los comportamientos y actitudes parentales hacia el consumo, en una muestra de 565 estudiantes escolarizados de 14 a 19 años de edad. Los resultados de este estudio mostraron una relación significativa entre el consumo de alcohol y vivir en un entorno familiar caracterizado por la baja supervisión parental, caracterizado por tener un progrenitor consumidor de alcohol y una madre con actitudes permisivas hacia el consumo. En el tercer estudio evaluamos la asociacióne entre un nuevo fenómeno emergente de la conducta alimentaria denominado “Drunkorexia” caracterizado por la restricción del consumo de alimentos con alto contenido calórico para compensar el exceso de calorías proporcionado por la ingesta abusiva de alcohol y alcanzar más rápidamente los efectos de intoxicación etílica con el patrón de Binge Drinking. En este estudio 120 estudiantes universitarios de Nutrición Humana y Dietética cumplimentaron un cuestionario online sobre hábitos alimentarios y consumo de alcohol. La prevalencia de Drunkorexia obtenida en nuestro estudio fue del 10%. La Drunkorexia estuvo fuertemente relacionada con el consumo de alcohol en forma de binge drinking. Los participantes que redujeron intencionalmente el consumo de calorías tuvieron 2.5 (95% CI 1.46-4.27) veces más probabilidades de ser Binge drinkers. Los tres últimos artículos se centran en la población de delincuentes con Esquizofrenia y otras Psicosis, encarcelados en centros psiquiátricos de maxima seguridad por la comisión de crímenes violentos. Investigaciones previas han demostrado que la presencia de trastornos de conducta en la infancia (CD) antes de los 15 años de edad se relacionan con el comportamiento agresivo y la conducta criminal en individuos con Esquizofrenia y otros Trastornos Psicóticos (Hodgins, Cree, Alderton, y Mak, 2008). En nuestro cuarto estudio, analizamos la tipología de delincuentes con enfermedad mental internados en un centro psiquiátrico de maxima seguridad, clasificando a estos pacientes de acuerdo a la presencia antecedents de CD en la infancia y las escalas de predicción de la conducta violenta HCR-20 y la psicopatía PCL:SV. La presencia de CD antes de los 15 años de edad estuvo fuertemente relacionada con un patrón de conducta criminal así como con elevadas puntuaciones en los instrumentos HCR-20 y PCL:SV. Un mayor número de pacientes con Esquizofrenia y CD mostraron un diagnóstico adicional de trastorno de la personalidad. Consistente con estudios previos, nuestros resultados confirmaron que la mayoría de estos pacientes habían experimentado un mayor número de abusos físicos en la infancia, tasas más prevalentes de hiperactividad infantil y habían sido condenados a lo largo de la vida por un mayor número de delitos violentos y no violentos. En el estudio 5, presentamos los resultados del primer estudio longitudinal realizado en España sobre la validez predictiva de los instrumentos HCR-20 y PCL:SV en delincuentes internados en centros psiquiátricos de máxima seguridad. En este estudio 107 pacientes con Esquizofrenia y otras Psicosis fueron monitorizados durante 24 meses en la institución con el objetivo de analizar la capacidad predictiva de estos instrumentos. A lo largo del periodo de seguimiento, un 29.2% de la muestra manifiestó actos de agresión y violencia. Ambos instrumentos fueron capacidades de discriminar a los delincuentes de alto riesgo con niveles de precision moderados con valores de AUCs=.72–.83 para el HCR-20 y (AUCs=.70–.80]) para la PCL:SV. Estos resultados confirmaron la utilidad clínica de estas medidas en delincuentes con trastornos mentales en España. Por último, el estudio 6 examinó la validez predictiva de la versión española del Suicide Risk Assessment Measure (S-RAMM) para la evaluación del riesgo de comportamiento suicida en delincuentes violentos con Esquizofrenia y otras Psicosis. Los pacientes fueron monitorizados dentro de la institución a lo largo de 18 meses de seguimiento para registrar los incidentes de suicidio y violencia utilizando los instrumentos S-RAMM y HCR-20. A lo largo el período de seguimiento, un 25% de los delincuentes cometió algún incidente de carácter suicida incluyendo actos de autolesión, ideación e intentos suicidas y un 34% se comportó violentamente. El S-RAMM y el HCR-20 estuvieron fuertemente correlacionados y fueron capaces de predecir estas conductas con un moderado-largo tamaño de efecto (AUCs = .81-.85; AUCs= .78-.80 rrespectivamente). Los pacientes que puntuaron por encima de la media en el S-RAMM (>20 puntos) y el HCR-20 (>21 puntos) tuvieron un riesgo 5 veces superior de conducta suicida (OR = 5.15, 95% CI = 2.75-9.80) y 7 veces más probabilidades de manifestar actos de violencia (OR= 7.04, 95% CI= 2.1-23.3). Estos resultados confirman el valor predictivo de ambas medidas en delincuentes internados en centros psiquiátricos de máxima seguridad. En el capítulo 9, discutimos los principales resultados obtenidos en cada estudio empíricos y destacamos las limitaciones y perspectivas de futuro que abren nuevas vías de investigación. Por último, se presentan las conclusiones derivadas del presente trabajo (capítulo 10).

An Abstract The dissertation is devoted to criminal recidivism terms of probation officers who work daily with offenders, who were imposed an alternative punishment. The theoretical part is focused on explanation of restorative and retributive justice and probation and mediation service in the Czech Republic but also in England and Germany. Furthermore, the theoretical part includes a description of the factors that influence the criminal behavior of the offender with an emphasis on social - cultural factors. In the last part of the theoretical work is defined criminal recidivism itself, its basic layout, types, and also statistics of recidivism in the Czech Republic and penitentiary and post-penitentiary care. The practical part contains qualitative research made with the help of interviews with probation officers. The aim of the research part of the thesis is to find out what Probation and Mediation Service employees themselves think about the possibilities of reducing recidivism through probation work with criminals and also what is the probation employees opinion of the actual criminal recidivism.

The current research analyzed the relationship between methamphetamine use, cocaine use and marijuana use within the last 12 months and crime committed within the last 12 months. Crime is defined as drug sales, property and violent crime. The research design is a quantitative approach which uses secondary data analysis of the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health (Add Health) to provide evidence toward the research question; does illegal drug use increase the risk of committing a crime?The public access, 2008 Wave III data results of this nationally representative sample of adolescents in grades 7 through 12 in the US in the 1994-95 school year was used for analysis. Methamphetamine use was associated with an increased risk of committing all crime, only until cocaine use was controlled for. Once cocaine use was controlled for, methamphetamine use became non-significant. Cocaine use and marijuana use were significant and associated with an increased use of committing a crime.

Crime and deadly violence have increased in Sweden in recent years. Victims and perpetrators have become younger and research shows that the majority of crimes committed in society today are committed by young men (Estrada, 2022). Why some people choose a criminal lifestyle of violence and crime is a question many often ask. The purpose of the study was therefore to investigate which factors protect and which factors increase the risk of criminal behavior in a child. I chose to do a theoretical thematic literature study of two books in order to investigate which risk and protective factors I could find that influence a person to become criminal or not criminal. The study was based on previous research of risk and protective factors and two selected books which are Nicola Lunabba's autobiography Will you be sad if I die? (2022) and Gangster life: crimes, the gang and life on the street (2021) written by Jacob Härnqvist. The research results of the study showed that there are several risk factors for a child to develop criminal behavior and examples of these are growing up with a weak economy, abuse,violence, lack of love and support and difficulties in controlling their aggression. The result also showed the importance of protective factors and that these in turn can be feelings of support and love, good relationships, routines and interests and future plans. The study also showed how deviant behavior in a child at an early age often has an increased risk of continuing into adulthood, which means that one should work preventively against crime in the child's early age. At the same time, the study showed that the reason why a child develops criminal behavior is complicated and is caused by a variety of factors that interact at the child's different levels. It is therefore not possible to give a concrete answer as to why a child develops criminal behaviour, but is instead based on the child's environment, characteristics and risk and protective factors.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between family type and criminal behavior of juveniles in Tennessee who were referred to Juvenile Court in 2006. The population used in the study comprised the juveniles who were referred to the Tennessee Juvenile Courts as reported by the Tennessee Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges in 2006. This investigation focused on the criminal behavior as indicated by number and type of referrals to the Juvenile and Family Court system in Tennessee. The data were analyzed by family-of-origin type, age group, and geographic region in Tennessee. The findings of this study indicate there was a difference in criminal behavior of children referred to the Juvenile and Family Court system in Tennessee in 2006 according to family-of-origin type with referrals. For the family-of-origin types with referrals to the juvenile courts (TCJFCJ), 20,734 (26.2%) of the referrals came from married couples, 5,899 (7.5%) of the referrals came from fathers only, 33,802 (42.8%) of the referrals came from mothers only, and 18,620 (23.6%) of the referrals came from other family-of-origin type. For all family-of-origin types in Tennessee (TN 2006) with referrals to the juvenile court system, 20,734 ( 4.4%) of the married couples had referrals , 5,899 (11.3%) of the fathers only had referrals, 33,802 (17.8%) of the mothers only had referrals, and 18,620 (3.2%) of the other family-of-origin type had referrals. The findings also show that as children approach the age of 18, there is a dramatic increase in illegal conduct and a less dramatic increase in status offenses. The number of referrals for offenses against persons and offenses against property tend to have a constant increase as children approach age 19. The results also show that in East Tennessee, status offenses had the highest number of offenses and offenses against persons had the lowest number of offenses. In West Tennessee, offenses against persons had highest number of referrals and status offenses had the lowest number of referrals.

This study aims to identify risk factors among young boys that might lead to criminal behavior and actions. The study is based on four books, written by former criminals, a lawyer that has been working with the cold shooting cases in Sweden and two reporters from the exposed areas. By reading the books we could identify similar risk factors among the participants in the books that have got their story told. Since social worker's job is to help prevent criminal behavior among youth and young children by identifying the risk factors, we thought that this study could be helpful. The books produce important knowledge from reality. The study is divided into seven different themes in which risk factors can be found. Those are risk factors related to firearm-related violence, risk factors within the individuals, the families, school, socioeconomic status, substance use and social capital. First the study presents previous scientific studies, in the same seven themes, and then they are put together with the new findings from the books. From this study we can also find that the risk factors are influenced by each other, and that individuals are more likely to have several risk factors if they already have one. Depending on how the individuals identify and manage the risk factors, it is different how much they are affected by it. A risk factor that one individual has, does not have to be a risk factor for another individual. Due to this, social workers have to pay attention to every individual youth and consider their situation regarding risk factors for criminal behavior.

A sociological approach is used to analyze incidences of extreme opportunism in financial markets. Through an analysis of arguably the most widely publicized "rogue" trader events in recent history, a determination is made of the validity of explaining these events as aberrations, attributable to the actions of "rogues". The primary focus is the role of structural factors underlying these incidences of extreme opportunism in financial markets. A diverse range of documentary and other sources is used to avoid any form of bias as far as possible. It was found that structural factors act as countervailing forces to inhibit such behavior or as motivators and facilitators acting as catalysts for extreme opportunism. The balance between these factors largely determines the level of opportunistic behavior in a particular environment. Extreme opportunism is therefore not an aberration or "rogue" occurrence but a manageable phenomenon intrinsic to the social structural context within which it occurs. By conceptualizing these factors as countervailing forces one is forced to view structural factors, like compensation structures and formal and informal restraints, relative to one another and no longer in isolation. This realization translates into the conclusion that restraints and oversight systems for example, should be designed relative to the relevant motivators and facilitators in its area of application. In an environment where traders of highly geared financial products are motivated with multimillion USD incentive packages, a low budget oversight system and inexperienced regulatory staff, is clearly not the appropriate tools to control and manage extreme opportunism. / Criminology / D.Phil. (Sociology)

In an attempt to find more information on the developing of an offender profile through docket analysis, the researcher utilised sources available in the Greater George area, as well as national and international material. The initial idea was to test the general knowledge of the concept “offender” profiling locally, in order to research and later suggest how such a profile of a rape offender could be developed through docket analysis. To establish this, it was important to indicate how offender profiling forms part of the objectives of investigation of crime. The objective – the individualisation of crime – was directly linked to profiling, as it suggests that the crime is an act of a particular person or persons. At the heart of the concept “profiling”, it is suggested that the trademarks of the offender can be deduced by carefully and painstakingly examining the characteristics of the offence. This information can, at a later stage, predict the most likely offender who could have committed the offence. When the odds are against one in the investigation of crime – more specifically, a rape case – the concept and goals of offender profiling should most definitely be considered as a key aid. / Police practice / M. Tech. (Forensic Investigation)

This research looks at the best practices applied by forensic investigators in conducting lifestyle audits on white collar crime suspects. The researcher explored, firstly, how a lifestyle audit relates to white collar crime investigations; secondly, the best practices in performing lifestyle audits on white collar crime suspects, and lastly, the various sources of information available to forensic investigators when conducting a lifestyle audit of a white collar crime suspect. As lifestyle audits will serve as an investigative tool in future forensic investigations into white collar crime, this study’s aim was to understand and create an awareness of the current best practices applied by forensic investigators within private sector forensic investigation practices while conducting lifestyle audits during white collar crime investigations. It also makes available research data regarding the concept of lifestyle audits in white collar crime investigations, the implementation of these audits, the benefits, and the best practices of these audits. The general purpose of this study was to provide practical recommendations on the best practices for lifestyle audits for forensic investigators within private sector. / Criminology / M. Tech. (Forensic Investigation)