Thesis (M.A.)--University of Delaware, 2006. / Principal faculty advisor: Roger Kobak, Dept. of Psychology. Includes bibliographical references.

The police interview is one of the most important investigative tools that law enforcement has close at hand, and police interview methods have changed during the twentieth century. A good police interview is conducted in the frame of the law, is governed by the interview goal, and is influenced by facilitating factors that may affect the elicited report. The present doctoral dissertation focuses on police interviews in cases of very serious crimes of violence and sexual offences. Results reveal crime victims’ and perpetrators’ experiences of being interviewed and police officers’ attitudes towards conducting interviews related to traumatizing crimes. Study 1 revealed that when police officers interviewed murderers and sexual offenders, the interviewees perceived attitudes characterized by either dominance or humanity. Police interviews marked by dominance and suspects’ responses of anxiety were mainly associated with a higher proportion of denials, whereas an approach marked by humanity, and responses of being respected were significantly associated with admissions. In line with Study 1, the victims of rape and aggravated assault in Study 2 also revealed the experience of two police interview styles, where an interviewing style marked by dominance and responses of anxiety was significantly associated with crime victims’ omissions of information. Moreover, a humanitarian interviewing style, and crime victims’ feelings of being respected and co-operative, was significantly related to crime victims providing all information from painful events. Special squad police officers’ attitudes towards interviewing crime victims, in Study 3, also showed a humanitarian approach and two dominant approaches, one affective and the other refusing. The attitude towards interviewing suspects of crimes in focus revealed humanitarian and dominant interviewing attitudes, and an approach marked by kindness. The present thesis shows that, during their entire career, an overwhelming majority of the special squad police officers have experienced stressful events during patrol as well as investigative duty. Results show that symptoms from stressful event exposures and coping mechanisms are associated with negative attitudes towards interviewing suspects and supportive attitudes towards crime victim interviews. Thus, experiences from stressful exposures may automatically activate ego-defensive functions that automatically generate dominant attitudes. Moreover, it is important to offer police officers who have been exposed to stressful events the opportunity to work through their experiences, for example, through debriefing procedures. After debriefings, police officers are better prepared to meet crime victims and suspects and, through conscious closed-loop processes, to conduct police interviews without awaking ego-defensive functions.

Bakgrunden till den här uppsatsen finns att hitta i min något idealistiska bild av nyhetspressens eviga sökande efter och uppdagande av sanningen. Den bilden, i kombination med den senaste tidens skriverier om bland annat Hagamannen och dennes offer, fick mig att fundera kring nyhetspressens eventuella konstruerande eller reproducerande av våldsbrottsofferdiskursen. Jag använde mig av Faircloughs kritiska diskursanalys då jag analyserade 36 nyhetsartiklar och nyhetsnotiser från Aftonbladet, Expressen, Svenska dagbladet och Dagens Nyheter, vilka alla hade publicerats under 2005/2006. Fokuseringen i undersökningen låg på den lingvistiska nivån i texten, det vill säga på ord, styckekombinationer och meningsuppbyggnader men även på de diskursiva praktikerna som fanns att finna i texterna. Det huvudsakliga som kom fram i undersökningen var att det inte finns en våldsbrottsofferdiskurs värd att tala om i svensk nyhetspress, den är alltid underordnad könsdiskursen och åldersdiskursen. Det finns inga våldsbrottsoffer i svensk nyhetspress, bara män och kvinnor i olika åldrar som blir utsatta för brott

The police interview is one of the most important investigative tools that law enforcement has close at hand, and police interview methods have changed during the twentieth century. A good police interview is conducted in the frame of the law, is governed by the interview goal, and is influenced by facilitating factors that may affect the elicited report. The present doctoral dissertation focuses on police interviews in cases of very serious crimes of violence and sexual offences. Results reveal crime victims’ and perpetrators’ experiences of being interviewed and police officers’ attitudes towards conducting interviews related to traumatizing crimes. Study 1 revealed that when police officers interviewed murderers and sexual offenders, the interviewees perceived attitudes characterized by either dominance or humanity. Police interviews marked by dominance and suspects’ responses of anxiety were mainly associated with a higher proportion of denials, whereas an approach marked by humanity, and responses of being respected were significantly associated with admissions. In line with Study 1, the victims of rape and aggravated assault in Study 2 also revealed the experience of two police interview styles, where an interviewing style marked by dominance and responses of anxiety was significantly associated with crime victims’ omissions of information. Moreover, a humanitarian interviewing style, and crime victims’ feelings of being respected and co-operative, was significantly related to crime victims providing all information from painful events. Special squad police officers’ attitudes towards interviewing crime victims, in Study 3, also showed a humanitarian approach and two dominant approaches, one affective and the other refusing. The attitude towards interviewing suspects of crimes in focus revealed humanitarian and dominant interviewing attitudes, and an approach marked by kindness. The present thesis shows that, during their entire career, an overwhelming majority of the special squad police officers have experienced stressful events during patrol as well as investigative duty. Results show that symptoms from stressful event exposures and coping mechanisms are associated with negative attitudes towards interviewing suspects and supportive attitudes towards crime victim interviews. Thus, experiences from stressful exposures may automatically activate ego-defensive functions that automatically generate dominant attitudes. Moreover, it is important to offer police officers who have been exposed to stressful events the opportunity to work through their experiences, for example, through debriefing procedures. After debriefings, police officers are better prepared to meet crime victims and suspects and, through conscious closed-loop processes, to conduct police interviews without awaking ego-defensive functions.

Very often we are likely to hear how important it is as adults to help small children and pupils out of bullying situations, both for the bullied one and the bully. What we often tend to forget is that bullying situations among adults are as common as the ones children put up with. The only difference is that the ones adults go through is a much more silent one, and the bullies often have a better strategy on how to beat down their victims slowly. Some of the cases also show that the bullying that is happening among adults is similar to the one between children. The risks in the bullying that occurs in the work environment are such as: bad self-esteem, doubting in their roles as professionals, anger, depression, anxiety and in some cases can be so dangerous that the suffered one eventually commits suicide. Therefore I chose to examine what kind of view the interviewed educators have towards: What the definition of bullying is? What kinds of factors are causing the bullying? What kind of action-plans are there to prevent this from happening? Needless to say, the topic becomes more interesting when the authorities at work don’t show interest in taking the problems seriously, which almost give the bullies the impression that it’s acceptable to do so. Unfortunately, the results showed that the employees eventually decided to quit their jobs, because of all the harassments that didn’t stop and for the help they didn’t get from their bosses and neither did they’ve had contact with the Work Environment Agency. It is also of importance to mention that all three of the interviewed people are educators themselves and worked in a preschool environment during the bullying periods. The study has been examined by their perspective on the subject.

Increasingly individuals are coming into contact with the criminal justice system. For millions of Americans this contact is mediated by the victimization or offense of a loved one. This study focused on exploring what the family members of victims and offenders identify as their needs and concerns in relation to the criminal justice system, assessing if the system is effective in addressing these needs and concerns, and understanding how these families' lives are shaped by interaction with the system. Grounded theory method was used to analyze the narratives posted on two on-line message boards, one for victims' families and one for offenders' families. The results from this study suggest that both groups express the same frustrations and concerns about the criminal justice system, and that both groups develop similar coping strategies to assist them in negotiating the system after initial incarceration or victimization.

The object of this study was to meet with offenders and victims of crime who recently participated in victim-offender-mediation, in order to explore their experiences and feelings about it. The method of research was individual qualitative interviews with two offenders and two crime victims. The main questions aimed to find out how the participants felt about the mediation process, what experiences they had about the person they had to face during the meeting, and finally what thoughts they had about the crime and its consequences. In helping to analyze the results of the interviews, Reintegrative Shaming Theory and Theories of attribution were used. The former was used to try to explain the feelings resembling shame that emerged during the meeting, while the latter was helpful in order to understand the descriptions the participants used when they talked about the other person. The results showed that both offenders and victims found the mediation to be helpful, mostly because it made them understand the other person better. Most of them also shared the feeling that they had been able to move on and not think about the crime as much as before.

Den här uppsatsen handlar om mobbing ur elevers perspektiv. Jag har valt att intervjua barn i åldrarna 8-12 år, och barnen kom från två olika grundskolor i mellan Sverige. Den litteratur som används är mestadels baserad på nordisk forskning. I studien redogörs för barnens uppfattning om vilka personligheter som mobbar och vilka som offren är. Hur ser barnen på fenomenet mobbing och hur kan lärare och elever, enligt dem, arbeta tillsammans för att förebygga mobbing i skolan. Vilka blir konsekvenserna för de som deltar i dessa handlingar och för dem som blir utsatta? I undersökningen redogörs det också för fem av de antimobbningsprogram som är vanligt förekommande i landets skolor. Studien visar att alla eleverna visste vad mobbing är för dem, att det kan vara fula ord, slag och sparkar. Eleverna tror att de som mobbar är arga eller ledsna av sig, och de som blir mobbade kan vara vilka ersoner som helst. Dessa barn som drabbats av mobbing kommer troligtvis drabbas av huvudvärk, magont, dåligt självförtroende, huvudvärk och magont. Dom vill inte gå till skolan, och i värsta fall får de självmordstankar. / This essay is about bullying from the students point of view. I`ve chosen to interview children between 8-12 years old, in two schools from the central part of Sweden. The main part of the literature I´ve used is based on Nordic researches. The study reads up on children`s perception of what personalities the bullies have and who their victims are. What is bullying for them, the children I interviewed, and how can we work together to prevent bullying in schools. What are the consequences for those who participate in these acts and for those who are being abused? The investigation also reads up on five of the most common bullying programs used in scholls around Sweden. The study shows that every one of the students knew what bullying is, that  it can be nasty words, punches and kicks. The students belive that those who bully are angry and sad, and those who are being subjected can be anyone. These children most likely will get low self esteem, headache and stomach problems. They don`t want to go to school, and in worse cases they´ll get suicidal thoughts.

La tesi affronta il tema della vittimizzazione degli immigrati nelle province di Caserta e Napoli in Campania attraverso uno studio esplorativo realizzato attraverso la somministrazione di 73 interviste semi-strutturate a immigrati e 20 interviste semi-strutturate a informatori privilegiati. I risultati rivelano che gli immigrati subiscono un numero cospicuo di reati che spesso non sono denunciati alle forze dell’ordine per paura, ignoranza del sistema penale italiano e della lingua e per altri motivi. Il principale di questi, comunque, riguarda la condizione di irregolarità in cui versano molti immigrati che li rende cittadini di secondo ordine e che spesso li espone a sfruttamento sia da parte di italiani sia da parte di altri stranieri. In conclusione, viene suggerito un profilo di vulnerabilità che traccia le caratteristiche socio-demografiche che rendono più vulnerabili gli immigrati e sono avanzati dei suggerimenti tecnici e metodologici per ulteriori, più ambiziose ricerche sull’argomento, che rimane tuttora sostanzialmente inesplorato soprattutto in Italia. Sono anche avanzati suggerimenti di policy per ridurre la vulnerabilità degli immigrati e per rendere il sistema della giustizia e delle forze dell’ordine più friendly nei loro confronti. / The present thesis presents the results of a study conducted in a fringe area in criminology: immigrants as victims of ordinary crime. This topic has only recently begun to draw some interest at an international level, and promises to become a mainstream issue in contemporary society in view of the growing meaning large-scale migrations are acquiring. This work is exploratory in nature and focuses on a limited geographical area in Italy: the Campania region, in particular the town of Caserta and the city of Naples. The main goal is to explore the crimes suffered by immigrants in the above mentioned area. The work is organized into five chapters. The first and the second present a review of the existing literature on the subject and offer an explanation as to why it is still a marginal topic of study in contemporary criminology, while at the same time discussing the limitations of the current statistics and studies available on the subject. The third chapter describes the methodological steps employed to carry out the research. The fourth chapter presents the findings of the research. Finally, chapter five sketches out a vulnerability profile and proposes suggestions for further research and policy implications.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2000. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 133-143). Also available on the Internet.