Although many countries have shown a distinct drop in crime over the last decades, the criminological literature suggests that fear of crime in those countries remained relatively stable. Research on this issue is sparse however, mostly confined to a single country, a few indicators and/or a relatively short timeframe. For this chapter 1,100 data series on fear of crime related items from (supra)national surveys were collected, covering 121 countries and more than 25 years (1989-2015). Using these data, a first prototype for an International Fear of Crime Trend Index was developed. Used on the five UN-regions with the highest average amount of data series per country, the index shows a pronounced fear drop in four of the five regions: all of them in Europe and the Anglo-Saxon countries. Explanations for these fear drops are hypothesized and directions for further research are formulated.
DOCUMENT
Repeat victimization has been widely studied from the perspective of environmental criminology for several decades. During this period, criminologists have identified a set of repeat victimization premises that are observed for many crimes; however, it is unknown whether these premises are also valid for cybercrime. In this study we rely on more than 9 million Zone-H data records from 2010 to 2017 to test whether these premises apply for the cybercrime of website defacement. We show that the phenomenon of repeat victimization is also observed in defaced cyber places (i.e. websites). In particular, we found that repeats contributed little to crime rates, that repeats occurred even several years after the original incident, that they were committed disproportionately by prolific offenders, and that few offenders returned to victimize previous targets. The results suggest that some traditional premises of repeat victimization may also be valid for understanding cybercrime events such as website defacement, implying that environmental criminology theories also constitute a useful framework for cybercrime analysis. The implications of these results in terms of criminological theory, cybercrime prevention, and the limitations derived from the use of Zone-H data are discussed
DOCUMENT
Repeat victimization has been widely studied from the perspective of environmental criminology for several decades. During this period, criminologists have identified a set of repeat victimization premises that are observed for many crimes; however, it is unknown whether these premises are also valid for cybercrime. In this study we rely on more than 9 million Zone-H data records from 2010 to 2017 to test whether these premises apply for the cybercrime of website defacement. We show that the phenomenon of repeat victimization is also observed in defaced cyber places (i.e. websites). In particular, we found that repeats contributed little to crime rates, that repeats occurred even several years after the original incident, that they were committed disproportionately by prolific offenders, and that few offenders returned to victimize previous targets. The results suggest that some traditional premises of repeat victimization may also be valid for understanding cybercrime events such as website defacement, implying that environmental criminology theories also constitute a useful framework for cybercrime analysis. The implications of these results in terms of criminological theory, cybercrime prevention, and the limitations derived from the use of Zone-H data are discussed.
DOCUMENT
In our highly digitalized society, cybercrime has become a common crime. However, because research into cybercriminals is in its infancy, our knowledge about cybercriminals is still limited. One of the main considerations is whether cybercriminals have higher intellectual capabilities than traditional criminals or even the general population. Although criminological studies clearly show that traditional criminals have lower intellectual capabilities, little is known about the relationship between cybercrime and intelligence. The current study adds to the literature by exploring the relationship between CITO-test scores and cybercrime in the Netherlands. The CITO final test is a standardized test for primary school students - usually taken at the age of 11 or 12 - and highly correlated with IQ-scores. Data from Statistics Netherlands were used to compare CITO-test scores of 143 apprehended cybercriminals with those of 143 apprehended traditional criminals and 143 non-criminals, matched on age, sex, and country of birth. Ordinary Least Squares regression analyses were used to compare CITO test scores between cybercriminals, traditional criminals, and non-criminals. Additionally, a discordant sibling design was used to control for unmeasured confounding by family factors. Findings reveal that cybercriminals have significantly higher CITO test scores compared to traditional criminals and significantly lower CITO test scores compared to non-criminals.
DOCUMENT
The transition from adolescence to adulthood also has been described as a window of opportunity or vulnerability when developmental and contextual changes converge to support positive turnarounds and redirections (Masten, Long, Kuo, McCormick, & Desjardins, 2009; Masten, Obradović, & Burt, 2006). The transition years also are a criminological crossroads, as major changes in criminal careers often occur at these ages as well. For some who began their criminal careers during adolescence, offending continues and escalates; for others involvement in crime wanes; and yet others only begin serious involvement in crime at these ages. There are distinctive patterns of offending that emerge during the transition from adolescence to adulthood. One shows a rise of offending in adolescence and the persistence of high crime rates into adulthood; a second reflects the overall age-crime curve pattern of increasing offending in adolescence followed by decreases during the transition years; and the third group shows a late onset of offending relative to the age-crime curve. Developmental theories of offending ought to be able to explain these markedly different trajectories
DOCUMENT
Longitudinal criminological studies greatly improved our understanding of the longitudinal patterns of criminality. These studies, however, focused almost exclusively on traditional types of offending and it is therefore unclear whether results are generalizable to online types of offending. This study attempted to identify the developmental trajectories of active hackers who perform web defacements. The data for this study consisted of 2,745,311 attacks performed by 66,553 hackers and reported to Zone-H between January 2010 and March 2017. Semi-parametric group-based trajectory models were used to distinguish six different groups of hackers based on the timing and frequency of their defacements. The results demonstrated some common relationships to traditional types of crime, as a small population of defacers accounted for the majority of defacements against websites. Additionally, the methods and targeting practices of defacers differed based on the frequency with which they performed defacements generally.
DOCUMENT
Doelstellingen De mate van betrokkenheid van jonge gebruikers bij wervingsadvertenties voor geldezels op Instagram onderzoeken. Methoden Drie advertenties die de belangrijkste mechanismen voor betrokkenheid bij cybercriminaliteit weerspiegelen en gericht waren op Nederlandse gebruikersclusters werden op twee Instagram-plaatsingen geplaatst. Door middel van dit quasi-experimentele 3 × 2 factorial design konden we het bereik en de weergaven van de advertenties, de doorklikratio's, het geslacht van de deelnemers en de temporele verdelingen van de gebruikersbetrokkenheid analyseren. Resultaten De analyse toont aan dat tot 3% van de jonge gebruikers zich bezighield met de advertenties, vooral met advertenties die een luxe levensstijl promoten en neutralisatietechnieken gebruiken. Mannen waren vaker betrokken en 's nachts werd er meer geklikt. Conclusies Sommige jonge Instagram-gebruikers lijken geneigd om geld te verdienen via hun bankpas en lopen het risico om online betrokken te raken bij cybercriminaliteit. We moedigen toekomstig onderzoek aan om het gebruik van sociale media in criminologische studies verder te onderzoeken. ENGLISH Objectives Examine the level of engagement of young users with money mule recruitment ads on Instagram. Methods Three ads reflecting key cybercrime involvement mechanisms and targeting Dutch user clusters were run on two Instagram placements. By means of this quasi-experimental 3 × 2 factorial design, we were able to analyze the reach and views of the ads, click-through rates, gender of the participants, and temporal distributions of user engagement. Results Mimicking actual recruitment environments, analysis shows that up to 3% of young users engaged with the ads, especially those promoting a luxury lifestyle and using neutralization techniques. Men were more likely to engage, and click-through rates were higher at night. Conclusions Some young Instagram users seem prone to making money through their bank cards and risk becoming involved in cybercrime online. We encourage future research to explore further the use of social media in criminological studies. This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article published in Journal of Experimental Criminology. The final authenticated version is available online at: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11292-022-09537-7
DOCUMENT
The relationship between socioeconomic factors and crime is a classic theme in criminological literature. However, the relationship between debt and crime is still unclear, and little is known about the causality of this relationship and the factors that influence it. In addition, effective interventions and guidelines to adequately support offenders with debt are limited. Therefore, this thesis aims to systematically gain more insight into the factors that influence the relationship between debt and crime among probation clients and to contribute to developing tools that probation officers and other forensic social professionals can use to support clients with debt adequately. The relationship between debt and crime was studied by (1) a systematic and scoping literature review (5 studies were included in the systematic review and 24 studies in the scoping review), (2) a client file study including risk assessment data of a sample of 250 Dutch probation clients, (3) a quantitative study including recidivism data of the same sample of 250 Dutch probation clients, (4) interviews with 33 Dutch probation officers and 16 clients, and (5) a multiple case study focusing on working elements in the supervision of individual offenders (5 cases). The results show that debt is prevalent among probation clients, hinders resocialization, and increases recidivism risk. Debt and crime are not only related directly but are also related by a complex interplay of problems in different life domains, such as problems regarding childhood, education and work, and mental and physical health. Notwithstanding the strong relationship between debt and crime, financial assistance for probation clients with debts is limited. As debt is strongly related to problems in other life domains, a systematic collaboration between professionals of different disciplines is necessary to support clients with debt adequately.
DOCUMENT
Hoofdstuk 20 Part II in Understanding Penal Practice van Ioan Durnescu en Fergus McNeill Criminological and penological scholarship has in recent years explored how and why institutions and systems of punishment change – and how and why these changes differ in different contexts. Important though these analyses are, this book focuses not so much on the changing nature of institutions and systems, but rather the changing nature of penal practice and practitioners The first part of the book focuses on understanding practice and practitioners, exploring how changing social, cultural, political, and organisational contexts influence practice, and how training, development, professional socialisation and other factors influence practitioners. The second part is concerned with how practitioners can be best supported to develop the skills and approaches that seem most likely to generate positive impacts. It contains accounts of new practice models and approaches, as well as reports of research projects seeking both to discover and to encourage effective practices
MULTIFILE
