The Origin of White Collar Criminality? – Exploring a Gene x Environment Interaction Hypothesis - Pages 196-205
 
Tage Alalehto

DOI: https://doi.org/10.6000/1929-4409.2018.07.14

Published: 25 June 2018

Abstract: The aim for this article is the elementary question: why does white collar criminals become white collar criminals? The answer is a hypothetical syllogistic constructed hypothesis for further empirical exploration in the agenda. The hypothesis takes its point of departure in biosocial criminology, especially the gene-environment interplay, focused on white collar criminality. The hypothesis proposes a link between criminal attitudes and criminal behavior based on how biological (e.g. intergenerational heredity, MAO-A), neurological (e.g. executive functioning, cortical thickness) and social-psychological/sociological factors (e.g. peer-group, rationalizations, social stress, loss of class status) correlates to each other as a system of mechanisms.

Keywords: White collar crime, biosocial criminology, mechanisms, formal logic.

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Explaining Torture: A Case Study - Pages 206-223
 
Claudia Reyes-Quilodran and Martha Cottam

DOI: https://doi.org/10.6000/1929-4409.2018.07.15

Published: 26 July 2018

Abstract: During the late 1960s and early 1970s, most Latin American countries experienced military coups and military interventions in government affairs. One of the worst consequences of these military interventions was the torture and murder of thousands of people. This study focuses on the perpetrators of torture and examines group influences on the occurrence of torture and the behavior of torturers. To achieve this goal, we have conducted field research to interview and evaluate individuals who were members of the Chilean police and military during the 1980s. Interviews were conducted with Chilean military and police torturers active during the military regime (1973 – 1990). Group influences are strongly associated with the institutional context. The study identifies common patterns among the perpetrators but also considers the marked differences between them and demonstrates the important role of the group in enabling the perpetration of torture. Few studies have examined torture behavior in an institutional framework, and the identification of these features may allow this type of crime to be prevented.

Keywords: Torturer behavior, political crimes, group influences, torture.

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Lethal Violence and Peripheral Youth Extermination in Brazil Amazon Region - Pages 224-238
 
Jean-François Yves Deluchey and Amanda Laysi Pimentel Dos Santos

DOI: https://doi.org/10.6000/1929-4409.2018.07.16

Published: 30 August 2018

Abstract: This work aims to discuss the homicide problem in the Brazilian Amazon region, based on the analysis of data collected by DATASUS, Sangari and Ipea Institute on homicides in Brazil, which were systematized within the framework of the “Amazonias: Knowledge and Changes” project, and by interviews analysis carried out with relatives of victims of the region. Based on these studies, which point out that the main victims of this type of violence are youth from the peripheries and using the notion of sociodiversity, we try to understand how violence against this youth maintained relation with neoliberalism set of governmental practices, as described by Michel Foucault in The Birth of Biopolitics. In this way, we think possible to provide a synthesis of the major problems of lethal violence and extermination of peripheral youth in the Amazon Region.

Keywords: Lethal Violence, Amazon Region, Peripheral Youth Extermination.

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Citizen Opinion Survey: How a Mid-Sized California Community Perceives their Police Department - Pages 239-249
 
Robert Werling, Sriram Chintakrindi, Nicholas Clark, Gregory Morris, Mark Perry, Blake Randol

DOI: https://doi.org/10.6000/1929-4409.2018.07.17

Published: 30 August 2018

Abstract: Successful community policing is, in part, dependent on the community’s perception of their police officers. The police department of a mid-sized community in California’s Central Valley conducted a survey to gain some measure of the citizen’s perception of their police. The survey was conducted in conjunction with a nearby California State University. The results of the survey are being used to make revisions in the policies and procedures of the police department. It also proved to be an interesting activity for the professors and students of the university.

Keywords: Survey, police, community perception, research partnership, canvassing a community.

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The Role of Law Enforcement in Community-Based Drug Treatment and its Impact on Crime Prevention - Pages 250-259
 
Krisanaphong Poothakool

DOI: https://doi.org/10.6000/1929-4409.2018.07.18

Published: 26 October 2018

Abstract: In line with trends in other countries the Royal Thai Police acknowledges the need for more community-oriented approaches which are responsive to local contexts. However, the development of such approaches to policing needs also to engage with responses to illicit drug use locally, which would include a wider definition of harm reduction and accommodate the work of public health partners their initiatives, such as needle-exchange.

The present study examines the role of law enforcement officers in community-based drug treatment in the Chiang Mai region of the Upper North, through use of in-depth, qualitative interviews with key stakeholders, which included senior police, judges, public health managers, NGO workers and local community leaders.

Most interviewees expressed concern that not enough was being done to address drug use in local communities, and barriers to police adopting a harm reduction approach locally included government-directed arrest quotas and lack of experience in working co-operatively with public health partners. Effective police involvement required coordinated policy-change and officer training to develop understanding and ways of working to support community-based drug treatment.

Keywords: Policing, community-based drug treatment, harm reduction, Thailand.

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