This research explores the beliefs and behaviour of individuals who have suffered a traumatic experience, specifically the violent crimes of assault, motor vehicle hijackings and armed robbery. The researcher focuses on the occurrence of residual, subclinical symptoms of PTSD that individuals experience subsequent to the specified violent crimes. By identifying and describing trends in commonalities that exist between research participants’ accounts of such residual, subclinical symptoms the research aims to explore and describe these trends, enabling a common understanding and awareness of the longstanding effects that these experiences have on individuals. The qualitative research design allowed for an exploration aimed at understanding the meaning that individuals ascribe to specific events. Three case studies were examined. The researcher ensured the exclusion of individuals who met the criteria for PTSD by making use of the PCL-S. From this approach a thematic analysis was done using the transcriptions of audiotaped interviews with the participants. The three participants chosen for the study were aged twenty-nine (29), thirty (30) and thirty-one (31) independently. Two of the participants experienced an armed robbery, which were, independently, followed by non-violent crime of housebreaking and theft. A third participant experienced an armed robbery during her early childhood, and an additional crime of aggravated robbery in adulthood. The studied violent crimes had taken place between one year eleven months and six years prior to this study. None of the participants have received therapy following their traumatic experience. Five important findings were identified and discussed. Firstly, some individuals still meet the requirements for a diagnosis of PTSD, even years following their experiences with traumatic events. Secondly, following the experience of a violent crime some individual’s core cognitive schemas regarding themselves, their world and their relationships undergo various changes. Thirdly, some individuals experience numerous posttraumatic symptoms, which are not extensive enough to validate the diagnosis of PTSD, but that affect the individual’s life on a regular basis. Nine symptoms were identified in this study. Fourthly, some individuals may experience additional effects following exposure to violent crimes, e.g. physical illness, that is not classified as posttraumatic symptoms. Fifthly, a few individuals who have been the victim of more than one crime may experience cumulative or diminished effects when one explores the overall effects of revictimisation. Results also indicated that individuals may experiences similar posttraumatic symptoms, but that the presentation of these symptoms are unique and are influenced by an individual’s history, cognitive schemas and the characteristics of the crimes that they have experienced. Finally, these findings explored and described the phenomenon of partial posttraumatic stress disorder in order to expand the understanding of this occurrence. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / tm2015 / Psychology / MA / Unrestricted

In recent years there has been a growing interest in and a number of studies sensitive to the relationships between gender and conflict, including gender and violent extremism. While much attention, both in the media and scientifically, has been given to individuals directly connected to violent extremist groups, less attention has been focused on their families. This study aims to fill in the empirical gap in how violent extremism impacts family members of people associated with violent extremist organisations. The research is particularly concerned with women who became widows due to their husbands’ engagement in a violent extremist group. By utilising the biographical narratives of the widows in Kwale County in Kenya, the study seeks to broaden an understanding of the impact of violent extremism on widows whose husbands chose to join the violent extremist group al-Shabaab, with its main stronghold in Somalia. The study focuses on four impact areas: economic, physical and emotional, socio- cultural, as well as ideological impact. Moreover, based on theoretical approaches, the study discusses a widespread assumption of women as preventive forces for violent extremism in the context of Kwale County, as well as women’s empowerment measures vital for widows in the region. The results reveal that the most tangible impacts on the widows are economic, physical and emotional, with a wide range of severe consequences for both the widows and their children. Additionally, socio-cultural impact plays an immense role for the widows living situation. The study does not reveal any findings which may suggest that the widows have been impacted ideologically by their husbands in the same way. Subsequently, the study questions the assumption of women as best placed to prevent violent extremism within the domestic sphere in the context of Kwale county. Furthermore, it focuses attention on the importance of economic, educational and religious empowerment of women in the region.

The myth of the “super-predator” offender was adopted by newspaper media in the mid-1990s characterizing “violent”, urban, and minority juvenile offenders. The phrase originated from newspaper headlines of the 1980s and 1990s, but limited research has identified whether this con-struct predated DiIulio and Fox’s crime surge prediction. This study sampled juvenile crime news items from The Chicago Tribune, The Los Angeles Times and The New York Times (N=2,008) 1985-1995 with defined search criteria of juvenile actors, “violent” juvenile crime, and/or juvenile drug crime. A descriptive analysis of the data determined reporting trends sought for a “period effect” caused by the publicity of the prediction and searched for the pre-existence of “super-predator” construct. Finally, a series χ2 test determined the statistical independence of “super-predator” offender, the victim, and crime characteristics, from variables of news article prominence. This study found support for identifiable trends in juvenile crime reporting, no identifiable “period effect” and mixed, but ultimately null findings, in pre-establishing the super-predator media construct. The χ2 test determined the statistical independence of “super-predator” offender, the victim, and crime characteristics, found some characteristics were statically independent of variables of article prominence, but that these relationships are weak.

My thesis Threats, risks and prevention of violent radicalization of individuals deals with the phenomenon of radicalization, especially with violent radicalization of an individual. The theoretical section provides current theoretical background with emphasis on contemporary models and theories of radicalization. Further attention is paid to an individual in the process of violent radicalization, risk factors and comparison of self- radicalization of lone assailants and radicalization of an individual within terrorist group or within mainstream society. Specifics of radicalization in Czech Republic, contemporary risks and possibilities of prevention of the phenomenon are also included. As a research method in the empirical part, whose aim was to map key knowledge about radicalization in Czech Republic and experience of refined experts in this area, I chose a qualitative research strategy. Research group consists of 12 experts in the field of psychology, Political Sciences, members of armed forces and academic scholars, touching the topic of radicalization in their field of work. The data was obtained through the series of semi-structured interviews. The outcome of my thesis is the description of the radicalization phenomenon, its specifics in Czech Republic, possible causes and risk factors,...

The goal of this thesis is a deeper exploration of the phenomenon of violent radicalization and its causes in the prison population in the Czech environment. The theoretical part summarizes current knowledge about the possible causes of radicalization and current issues concerning radicalization around the world and in the Czech Republic. Furthermore, the specifics of prison radicalization and possible ways of deradicalization, including examples of good practice, are outlined. The empirical part attempts to map the characteristics of individuals in potential risk of radicalization in the environment of Czech prisons. The examined sample of 67 people is composed only of men and their average age is 34 years. Nearly half of the cases involves right-wing radicalization, in one third of cases individual non-specific radicalization is identified, and Islamic and left-wing radicalization is represented in low percentage of cases. In the sample, we can observe a high rate of unemployment, previous criminality, low level of education, childhood behavioral problems, under-average intellect, increased aggression, or impulsivity. Dissociative personality, identity problems, or mental health issues are also very common. The second part of the research aims at evaluating professional preparedness of the prison...

This thesis wants to make clear the theoretical concept in the form of a testable hypothesis on the relationship between the political control of the territory by a Violent Non-State Actor (VNSA) and the effectiveness of realization of its political objective (policies). Since in the literature there is no explicit theory or theorization that would reflect the varying degree of effectiveness with regard to the varying degree of territorial penetration, and there are no explicit parametric indicators and values that may be necessary for effective achievement of the political objective in relation to the territory, the purpose of the research will be to answer the question whether, how and to what extent the intensity of the physical penetration of the territory is related to the ability to more easily and efficiently achieve the goals for which the VNSA has been established and has strived. A general definition of threshold values of the penetration can also provide partial piece of knowledge for practical policies and approaches to territorial VNSA on the part of states (counterinsurgency actors). Although there is no explicit use of any of the theories of international relations in the research, the used theoretical framework is inspired by a) approaches to political geography and outlines of...

Although island disputes have returned to the geopolitical theatre on a small scale, to date, virtually no previous research on territorial interstate island disputes and violent escalation exists. This paper argues that when an island is positioned in a strategic location, because of its unique attacking, defending, and trade capabilities this may induce a willingness towards- and eventual use of violence in the attempt to conquer or defend the territory. This paper attempts to answer: under what circumstances do island disputes escalate? by modelling the influence of strategic locations on violent island disputes. It draws observations from Altman (2020c) and a novel data frame (1920 – 2020) with additional cases and an alternative operationalization of strategic locations along important lines of communication. It finds that island disputes are more likely to occur without BRD than non-island disputes. Meanwhile, island disputes escalate violently more often than they do not. An island’s strategic location, notwithstanding a broad or narrow operationalization, does not have a statistically significant effect on a violent outcome of a dispute. Instead, the presence of military garrisons, ceteris paribus, resulted in the most statistically significant effect. Consequentially, the causal mechanisms were adapted to include military garrisons.

The unprecedented situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic worldwide is characterized by social isolation, separation from loved ones and limited freedom. These events have been identified as adversely affecting the mental health of the population, who suffer mainly from depression, anxiety symptoms, anger and fear feelings as well as sleep problems. Based on general strain theory (Agnew, 1992) combined with the changing opportunities in crime (routine activity theories), the aim of the survey was to examine the impact of the negative mental health during the second wave of COVID-19 lockdown, in violent behavior and substance use of individuals residing or living in Greece. A secondary objective formulated based on gendered approach for which men are expected to act more violently than women and females are expected to have poorer mental health than males. An online survey was conducted and disseminated through Facebook groups. Approval of the informed consent was one of the criteria for participation in the study. The collected data included demographic characteristics, information about mental health, violent behavior, and substance use, like alcohol drinking and smoking cigarettes during the lockdown. The ANOVA shown that there is not any significant impact of poor mentality in aggressive behavior and substance use which could be explained by considering the Greek cultural context. The results of independent samples T-test indicated that male indeed act more violently than female, and that women report poorer mental health than men. This finding is consistent with the gender approach and could be further explored through feminist theories. The results of this research purposes to give more insight into this kindly new phenomenon and to present a perspective that may differ from other countries not only in the kind of measures adopted, but also in the perception of individuals that disclose the cultural variation.

Scholars and policymakers alike have recognized mass incarceration and criminal recidivism as two of the most profound challenges American society faces. For more than half a century, the United States has been the world’s most prominent incarcerator, boasting the highest incarceration rate and the third-highest recidivism rate, with analysts projecting that U.S. incarceration will grow exponentially in the near future. The U.S. has more instances of lethal crime than any of its developed peers. Violent crime makes up a more significant percentage of criminal activity than property, drug, and public order crimes combined. Thus, individual states’ social, judicial, and policing policies have a greater impact on U.S. incarceration rates than the actions or challenges faced by any of its federal entities. Both localized and national efforts to reduce incarceration and re-offense rates through literacy initiatives, education pipelines, harsher sentencing, and the development of reentry programs have rendered statistically insignificant results. Despite the resources afforded by the nation’s wealth; decades of scholarship and activism dedicated to exposing its inherent racial inequities; and its proven inability to act as a catalyst to social reform; the American carceral system remains a threat to the social welfare and economic health of the United States. This qualitative study provides an adult learning perspective on the process by which a sample of previously violent offenders arrived at criminal desistance despite a statistical likelihood of re-offense. The participants consisted of thirty individuals (males, ages 22 to 49) previously convicted of and self-identifying as having committed violent felonies in New York State after being previously incarcerated for other violent crimes. This research’s primary data collection method was semi-structured interviews. Supportive methods included a pre-interview survey and interview participants’ use of an illustrative timeline tool as an interview discussion aid. This research applies transformative learning and self-efficacy theories as a lens through which to examine four main points of inquiry as they occurred within participants’ recollection of their learning and desistance process: what experiences were fundamental to desistance; the role of self-perception and self-assessment in desistance; supports and hindrances to desistance; and supported recommendations for desistance education design. Analysis of the findings revealed an emergent and substantiated four-phase process of desistance: (1) success separate from desistance as leading to new identity; (2) new identity as a catalyst to reappraisal and revision of needs and perspectives; (3) excavation and re-evaluation of formative experiences; and (4) conscious navigation of somatic responses.

In his article, "Cycles of Deviance" (1996), Hawdon demonstrates how varying rates of social mobility correspond to cyclical patterns of drug use in the United States between 1880 and 1990. He proposes that social mobility alters the "deviance structure" of a society by changing the rate at which certain behaviors are labeled deviant, and thus, the rate at which people engage in those behaviors. This study provides an updated assessment of the cycles of deviance model to determine whether it can account for rates of violent and economic crime. I use social mobility to predict homicide, burglary, and overall rates of drug use from 1970 through 2010 using a time-series analysis. Crime data are obtained from the FBI\'s Uniform Crime Reports and Monitoring the Future. Social mobility data are obtained from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Bureau of Justice Statistics, and the U.S. Census Bureau. I also control for several well- established correlates of crime -- namely, economic and demographic factors, police size, illicit drug market activity, and firearm availability. Results show moderate support for the cycles of deviance model in predicting rates of homicide and burglary. However, social mobility\'s influence with respect to drug use appears to vary with the size of the youth population. / Master of Science