The scholarly field on rebel use of sexual violence in armed conflict is divided. While some scholars argue that it principally occurs as a conscious strategy, a weapon of war, others argue that it is primarily a consequence of asymmetrical gender power relations. In this paper it is argued that access to and use of natural resources as means of finance enable rebel actors to commit sexual violence against civilians. As they extract resources from external sources, their accountability to civilians decreases and the use of sexual violence is made more economically viable. To test this, a quantitative analysis of around one hundred rebel actor conflict-episodes was conducted. The results suggest a positive correlation between natural resource financing and sexual violence.

L’étude du harcèlement systématique entre pairs à l’école (school bullying) est-il éclairé par l’approfondissement de la relation aux normes qu’entretiennent les jeunes acteurs ? Quels sont les éléments clé aidant l’identification et la compréhension du phénomène ?A partir d’une redéfinition du bullying insistant sur les apports croisés de chaque protagoniste sur la scène des dynamiques indésirables, le travail propose une étude située du problème. Chaque acte et chaque initiative de type bullying sont ainsi analysés dans le cadre de la situation spécifique qu’ils dessinent et dont ils relèvent à la fois. Pour cela, l’attention est portée sur les attributions de sens et sur la perception réciproque d’adhésions normatives mises en avant par les élèves concernés. Quatre classes scolaires italiennes sont analysées dans leurs dynamiques relationnelles et conflictuelles ; du point de vue de leur organisation, de l’ordre et de la discipline ; en termes d’investissements axiologiques opérés par les jeunes et leur entourage et encouragés par les enseignants. / School bullying: does the study of peer harassment in schools delve deeper into the relationships of young people with rules and values? What are the key factors that can help to better identify and understand the phenomenon ? The work starts from a re-definition of school bullying based on the cross contribution of each character acting in the educational scene where the undesirable dynamics take place to propose a local analysis of the problem. Each school bullying initiative is analysed in the context of the specific situation that it create and from which it raises. Attention is also brought to the attribution of meanings as well as to the reciprocal perception of the compliance with the rules by students. Four Italian classrooms are examined taking into account the dynamics of their relationships and conflicts; their organization, rules and discipline; the axiological investments made by young people and promoted by their teachers.

The issue of victims of sexual offences and their protection through criminal law Abstract The theme of this diploma thesis refers to the issue of victims of sexual offences and their protection through criminal law. This thesis aims to theoretically analyse this issue, describe the specifics of the victimisation process, and focus on protecting victims of sexual offences through criminal law. The author also asks in the introduction why these victims are victimised by so many. It also evaluates the legislation in selected areas and suggests possible changes in the legislation. The thesis itself is divided into six chapters, each of which deals with different aspects of this theme. The first chapter deals with the current legislation on selected crimes of rape, sexual abuse and sexual coercion. The author also discusses the degree of their latency, which is relatively high in crimes against human dignity in the sexual field. The second chapter defines the various concepts related to the issue of victims of sexual offences. These are terms such as victim, particularly vulnerable victim or false victim. Furthermore, the so-called victimity and victimogenic situation and factors are defined here. The conclusion of this chapter is devoted to the description of the relationship between the perpetrator of a...

Crime is a complex social problem which has a diverse range of socioeconomic and legal consequences. Its effects upon victims are equally wide-ranging. In the cases of both violent and non-violent crimes, the effects and consequences for victims can assume any of a great many different forms. Dinisman and Moroz (2017) confirm that the effects can be deleterious in respects such as the physical health, emotional well-being, financial security, and prospects for employment or higher education. In addition, the intensity of the effects upon victims is influenced by many different factors. Evidence suggests that the nature of crimes which are committed and their seriousness do not in themselves account solely for differences in the severity of the effects which victims experience (Dinisman & Moroz, 2017). In the past, many organisations, including government departments, have been concerned mainly with rendering services to victims of child abuse and domestic violence, often at the expense of victims of serious crimes such as murder, rape, car hijacking, armed robbery and assault. A qualitative study was conducted, in order to obtain an understanding from both providers of victim empowerment services and victims of violent crimes of the services which are provided to victims. A significant amount of data was collected in the form of suggestions from both groups of participants for improving the effectiveness of existing VE services and diversifying them to make the rendering of services a more holistic endeavour than it is at present. The study was conducted in the provinces of Mpumalanga, Gauteng, the Western Cape, and the Northern Cape and the data was collected from semi-structured face-to face interviews and focus group discussions. The findings revealed that there were no standardised guidelines for rendering VE services to victims of different categories of crimes and the suggestions of the participants underscored the need for the development of appropriate referral protocols as a component of the guidelines for practice which were to be developed from the findings of the study. Some of the victims who participated in the study maintained that although some of their basic needs were being met in the shelters in which they were housed, in some instances counselling and therapeutic services were not available. Victims who were accommodated in shelters with their children expressed concerns with respect to a lack of educational programmes and facilities for the children. Many also expressed the belief that programmes which enabled them to develop skills to become financially self-sufficient upon leaving shelters were crucial to both their rehabilitation and empowerment. From the findings of this study, it was evident that guidelines for practice needed to be developed in accordance with the types of crimes which are committed against victims. From a careful analysis of the suggestions and recommendations of the participants, the researcher developed guidelines for practice for designing and implementing victim empowerment programmes in accordance with the objectives of providers of VE services and the needs of victims. The guidelines take the form of information pertaining to relevant programmes and services, appropriate referral protocols, and monitoring and evaluation framework templates to enable providers of VE services to assess their performance in relation to whether their services fulfil their mandates and whether the victims to whom they are rendered consider them to be sufficiently effective and appropriate. The guidelines are also intended to reduce inappropriate variations in the rendering of VE services and to stipulate standardised practices. The guidelines were circulated to members of the Victim Empowerment Management Forum who are also providers of VE services, for their comments and suggestions, which have subsequently been incorporated into the final draft of the guidelines for practice. / Social Work / D. Phil. (Social Work)

Obesity has become a global pandemic that not only affects adults, but also children and adolescents. It has been found that obesity among children and adolescents has emotional, social, physical and psychological ramifications, one of which is bullying. Very little has been written on the effects obesity in early adolescence has on bullying behaviour in a South African context. For this reason the researcher deemed it necessary to study the perceptions of youths in early adolescence with regard to obesity and bullying. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 35 early adolescents from the Brooklyn policing precinct in the east of Pretoria. The data were assessed through content and interpretative phenomenological analysis. Thus the researcher tried to capture the essence of each individual interview. Several themes emerged from the data analysis, of which the most noteworthy were what youths in early adolescence perceive as bullying; the influence of bullying on behaviour; a general overview of perpetrators and victims of bullying; and the correlation between an early adolescent’s body shape and victimisation. The findings give insight into how obese young adolescents are perceived and treated by their peers. Furthermore, the findings elucidate what early adolescents perceive as bullying and possible reasons for such behaviour. By identifying the perceptions held by early adolescents, programmes can be implemented to address these stereotypes, thus decreasing the potential victimisation of overweight/obese youths in early adolescence. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / Social Work and Criminology / unrestricted

Die Komplexität des Sicherheitsempfindens bringt es mit sich, dass nicht wenige Theorien vorhanden sind, mit denen versucht wird, das Zustandekommen von Kriminalitätsfurcht bzw. Sicherheitsempfinden zu erklären. Die Theorie der generellen Ängste, der sozialen Desorganisation, der sozialen Problemperspektive bezeichnen einige Pfade dieser Entwicklung. Die erste und scheinbar selbstevidente Theorie war jene der Viktimisierung. Es schien auf der Hand zu liegen, dass Viktimsierungserfahrungen die Kriminalitätsfurcht steigern.

Les études antérieures appuient l’idée d’une association prédictive entre la fréquentation des services de garde et certaines tendances comportementales à l’âge scolaire (timidité, retrait social et agressivité). Ces variations dans le comportement social pourraient aussi expliquer une plus grande susceptibilité à des expériences sociales négatives, dont la victimisation. L’objectif de cette étude est de vérifier s’il y a des associations prédictives entre les caractéristiques de fréquentation des services de garde (la fréquentation, l’intensité, l’âge d’entrée et le type) à l’âge préscolaire et la victimisation au début et à la fin de l’école primaire, et si ces associations sont en partie médiatisées par les comportements sociaux. Les données utilisées proviennent de l’Étude longitudinale du développement des enfants du Québec (ÉLDEQ; N = 1 899). La fréquentation des services de garde de 5 mois à 5 ans a été évaluée par la mère. La victimisation de 6 à 12 ans a été mesurée par l’enfant et l’enseignant et les comportements sociaux, par l’enseignant seulement. Selon une série d’analyses de médiation, la fréquentation des services de garde est associée indirectement à une fréquence plus élevée de victimisation à la maternelle par le biais des comportements sociaux, mais ne l’est plus à la fin de l’école primaire. La fréquentation intensive des services de garde est associée indirectement à une fréquence plus élevée de victimisation à la maternelle, mais cette association devient directe à la fin de l’école primaire. L’âge d’entrée précoce dans les services de garde ne prédit une plus faible fréquence de victimisation qu’à la fin de l’école primaire. À la maternelle, la fréquentation de CPE et de garderies en milieu familial prédit indirectement une fréquence plus élevée de victimisation et la garde par une personne apparentée prédit directement une fréquence plus faible. Comme attendu, les résultats de la présente étude appuient l’hypothèse d’une socialisation adaptative au groupe social. / Previous studies support the idea of a predictive association between preschool child-care services and some social behavioral trends at school age (shyness, social withdrawal and aggression). Those variations in social behaviors may also explain a greater susceptibility to negative social experiences, including victimization. The main purpose of this study is to examine, firstly, if there are predictive associations between child-care services features (i.e. its use, the intensity, the age at entry and the type) at preschool age and victimization at the beginning and at the end of elementary school and, secondly, if these associations are partly mediated by social behaviors. The data used in this study come from The Québec Longitudinal Study of Child Development (QLSCD; N = 1 899). The use of child-care services was assessed by the mother's verbal report from 5 months to 5 years. Peer victimization was measured by questionnaires, completed by the child and the teacher, when the child is aged 6 to 12; the same goes for social behaviors, evaluated by the teacher only. According to a series of mediation analyses, the use of child-care services is indirectly associated with higher kindergarten victimization through social behaviors, but not at the end of elementary school. Intensity is associated indirectly with higher kindergarten victimization, but this association becomes direct by the end of elementary school. Early entry into child-care services predicts lower victimization only at the end of elementary school. The type of child-care services is more associated with kindergarten than end of elementary school victimization; attending center-based care and family-based child care indirectly predicts higher victimization, and individual child care by a family member directly predicts lower victimization. As expected, the results of this study support the social group adaptation hypothesis.

Même si des écrits scientifiques portant sur la violence dans les relations intimes ou amoureuses entre hommes sont publiés depuis trente ans, ce problème n’est reconnu socialement que depuis quelques années. Les pratiques de prévention et d’intervention auprès de cette population sont encore en élaboration à ce jour. Dans ce contexte, comprendre le processus de prise de conscience des hommes victimes de violence conjugale dans une relation homosexuelle pourrait contribuer au développement d’outils de sensibilisation. Quelques recherches sur la prise de conscience ont été réalisées auprès de femmes hétérosexuelles vivant la même situation, mais ces résultats pourraient ne pas s’appliquer directement aux hommes. De plus, ces modèles n’expliquent pas comment s’amorce la prise de conscience. Ce mémoire vise principalement à comprendre comment les hommes ayant une relation intime ou amoureuse avec un autre homme prennent conscience de la violence dont ils sont victimes. Il tente également de spécifier les formes de violence vécues et leurs conséquences. Pour ce faire, dix participants ont été rencontrés lors d’entrevues semi-dirigées portant sur la violence conjugale. Les résultats de l’analyse thématique indiquent que tous ont vécu de la violence sexuelle, presque tous ont subi de la violence psychologique et la majorité a connu au moins un épisode de violence économique ou physique. Les conséquences sont diverses et perdurent dans le temps. L’analyse a conduit à modéliser le processus de prise de conscience de la violence en trois phases. Durant la première phase, les comportements violents sont interprétés comme un aspect normal de la relation. Durant la seconde, ils sont perçus comme anormaux et dangereux, et c’est dans la troisième phase qu’ils sont compris comme de la violence. À la lumière de ces résultats, des recommandations sont formulées concernant la recherche et l’intervention auprès d’hommes victimes de violence. / Even though the scientific community has recognized intimate partner violence in same-sex relationships for more than 30 years, this problem has only been socially recognized in recent years. Prevention and intervention practices for this population are still under development. Therefore, studying the process by which male victims of intimate partner violence by a same-sex partner understand their situation as violence could help to inform practices. The few researches on the subject explored this process using samples of heterosexual females, their result might not apply to male victims. Moreover, these models don’t explain how this process is initiated. This research seeks to better understand how French-speaking men victims of an intimate partner violence by a same-sex partner become aware of this violence. This research also seeks to understand the type of violence experienced, and the consequences associated with them. Ten participants took part in a semi-structured interview exploring intimate partner violence. Results of thematic analysis suggest all participants experienced sexual violence, almost all experienced psychological violence and most reported economic and physical violence. The consequences of this violence are diverse and persist over time. Analysis led to a three-phase model of the violence awareness process. First, violent behaviors are understood as a normal part of the relationship. Second, they are perceived as something abnormal and dangerous. Third, they are finally understood as intimate partner violence. In light of these results, implications for prevention, intervention practices as well as research on intimate partner violence in same-sex relationships are discussed. / Résumé en espagnol

<p>This dissertation is a collection of three papers. Each paper constitutes a chapter. Each chapter empirically examines an aspect of bias-motivated behavior in the United States. </p> <p>The first chapter studies the impact of penalty enhancement statutes by state legislatures on the incidence of hate crimes in the United States. Penalty enhancements may deter crime, however, the passing of such laws may also increase awareness among law enforcement officials and increase arrests. Using administrative data on hate crimes and a difference-in-differences method that leverages state-level variation in the introduction of legislation, this paper does not find a significant effect of the state enactment of penalty enhancement statutes on hate-crime incidence rates. </p> <p>The second chapter examines whether election timing and election outcomes affect the incidence of crimes motivated by hate and intolerance. Using administrative data and a difference-in-differences design that compares election with non-election years, I show that hate crimes increase by an average of 28 percent in the three weeks around a US presidential election. This effect is larger in recent presidential elections and when there is no incumbent candidate. Second, using a similar design and cross-state variation in the timing of gubernatorial elections, I find no evidence that these state-level elections affect hate-crime incidence. Third, using regression-discontinuity designs based on vote counts, I find that the number of hate crimes is not affected by presidential or gubernatorial election outcomes. </p> <p>The third chapter studies the impact of presidential and gubernatorial election timing on the level of toxicity present on social media platforms such as Twitter. Together with Sameer Borwankar, I empirically determine the extent to which the toxicity of Twitter content changes during election times as compared to non-election times. We randomly sample Twitter users and collect all tweets made by this sample around election time. We use a difference-in-differences identification leveraging election and non-election years. We further focus on toxic content that is motivated by political polarization and examine various bias-motivation categories that come up in this content as well as the variation in the intensity of toxicity between national and local election times.  </p> <p><br></p>

Thèse ou mémoire avec insertion d'articles / Depuis plusieurs années, les écoles gabonaises sont le théâtre de comportements violents multiformes impliquant les élèves. Cependant, le Gabon ne dispose pas de données statistiques sur l'ampleur de cette violence. L'objectif général de cette thèse de doctorat est de réaliser un portrait de la violence subie par les élèves de ces écoles secondaires dans ce pays. Plus précisément, celle-ci vise deux objectifs spécifiques : 1) décrire la nature, la prévalence et la fréquence des mauvais traitements du personnel scolaire envers les élèves des collèges d'enseignement secondaire (CES), selon le sexe, le niveau scolaire et le type de quartier (milieu socioéconomique) où se situe l'école; 2) décrire la nature, la prévalence et la fréquence de la violence entre pairs dans les CES, selon les mêmes indicateurs. Mille quatre-vingt-onze élèves (47 % de garçons) constituent l'échantillon, provenant de quatorze CES publics de Libreville et Port-Gentil, dont huit sont situés dans des quartiers résidentiels et six dans ceux dits populaires. L'instrument de mesure utilisé est le Questionnaire sur la sécurité et la violence à l'école au Gabon (QSVE/Gabon), une adaptation transculturelle de la version élèves du Questionnaire sur la sécurité et la violence à l'école révisé (QSVE-R/Beaumont et al., 2014). La passation de ce questionnaire autorapporté s'est faite par voie électronique. Les résultats montrent que la victimisation des élèves est répandue, qu'elle soit le fait du personnel scolaire ou des pairs. S'agissant de la maltraitance du personnel scolaire, elle touche près d'un élève sur deux (50,30 %). La maltraitance de type émotionnel est la plus signalée. Si les filles rapportent plus de maltraitance pour un comportement (un adulte de l'école m'a dragué ou dit des mots impolis de nature sexuelle) les élèves des quartiers populaires en déclarent davantage pour trois (un adulte de l'école m'a insulté ou donné un surnom humiliant, un adulte de l'école m'a puni de façon humiliante et la punition que m'a donnée un adulte de l'école m'a fait souffrir physiquement). Quant à la violence subie par des pairs, plus de deux élèves sur trois (68 %) la rapportent. Les violences de gravité mineure, en l'occurrence le vol d'objets personnels et les insultes/noms humiliants, sont prépondérantes. Globalement, les filles et les élèves des classes inférieures signalent plus de victimisation pour certains comportements (pour les filles : tenté de m'éloigner des amis, mal parlé de moi pour éloigner mes amis et volé mon argent ; pour les élèves des classes inférieures : menacé à l'école, frappé, brisé par exprès mes objets personnels et volé mon argent) alors que les garçons indiquent davantage subir de la violence de type « sorcellaire ». Mise en évidence dans cette recherche, cette dernière a été déclarée par près d'un élève sur quatre (23,7 %). Mais, dans la littérature scientifique très peu est connu sur ce type d'agression, notamment sur sa définition et sa prévalence. Aussi, le troisième article inséré dans cette thèse s'est consacré à le documenter. Ainsi, dans le but de contribuer au développement de connaissances nouvelles, c'est appuyé par une recension des écrits sur le sujet que cette thèse propose une définition opérationnelle de l'agression sorcellaire, de même que quelques éléments contextuels pour comprendre comment la sorcellerie s'invite à l'école, prenant la forme de divers actes d'agression. Des retombées pratiques de cette étude de même que des pistes de recherches ultérieures sont suggérées pour permettre aux décideurs et intervenants scolaires de trouver des solutions efficaces et pérennes pour faire face à cette situation-problème. / For several years, Gabonese schools have been the scene of multifaceted violent behavior involving students. However, Gabon does not have statistical data on the extent of this violence. The general objective of this doctoral dissertation is to provide a portrait of the violence experienced by secondary school students in this country. Specifically, the purpose of this dissertation is twofold: 1) to describe the nature, prevalence, and frequency of abuse by school personnel of high school students by gender, grade level, and type of neighborhood (socioeconomic environment) in which the school is located; and 2) to describe the nature, prevalence, and frequency of peer-to-peer violence in high schools by the same indicators. The sample consisted of 1091 students (47 % boys) from 14 public schools in Libreville and Port-Gentil, eight of which were in residential neighborhoods and six in working-class neighborhoods. The measurement instrument used is the Questionnaire on School Safety and Violence in Gabon (QSVE/Gabon), a cross-cultural adaptation of the student version of the revised Questionnaire on School Safety and Violence (QSVE-R/Beaumont et al., 2014). This self-reported questionnaire was administered electronically. The results show that student victimization is widespread, whether by school staff or peers. In terms of abuse by school staff, almost one in two students (50.30 %) was affected. Emotional abuse was the most reported behavior. While girls report more abuse for one behavior (an adult at school hit on me or said rude words of a sexual nature), inner-city students report more for three (an adult at school called me names or gave me a humiliating nickname, an adult at school punished me in a humiliating way, and the punishment given to me by an adult at school made me suffer physically). As for violence by peers, more than two in three students (68 %) report it. Violence of minor severity, in this case stealing personal items and humiliating insults/names, predominates. Overall, girls and lower grades report more victimization for certain behaviors (for girls: tried to get me away from friends, bad-mouthed me to get me away from friends, and stole my money; for lower grades: threatened me at school, hit me, purposely broke my personal items, and stole my money) while boys report more "witchcraft" type violence. The latter was reported by almost one in four students (23.7 %) in this research. However, in the scientific literature, very little is known about this type of aggression, particularly its definition and prevalence. Therefore, the third article in this thesis was devoted to documenting it. Thus, with the aim of contributing to the development of new knowledge, it is supported by a review of the literature on the subject that this thesis proposes an operational definition of witchcraft aggression, as well as some contextual elements to understand how witchcraft invites itself to the school, taking the form of various acts of aggression.