Victim-offender contact has been studied extensively in prisons, but research on contact between victims and mentally disordered offenders in forensic mental health settings is lacking. Therefore, an exploratory study was conducted on contact between victims and offenders in four Dutch forensic psychiatric hospitals. These offenders have committed serious (sexually) violent offenses, for which they could not be held fully responsible due to severe psychopathology. During the mandatory treatment, it is possible for offenders and their victims to engage in contact with each other if both parties agree to this. To explore the conditions under which this contact is suitable, we interviewed 35 social workers about their experiences in 57 cases from four Dutch forensic psychiatric hospitals. Findings demonstrated that, according to the social workers, no type of offense or psychopathology were obvious exclusion criteria for victim-offender contact. Social workers described offenders' problem awareness, stable psychiatric condition, and ability to keep to agreements as important factors that enable victim-offender contact. Implications and suggestions for future research are provided.
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De auteur beschrijft de migrantenstroom in de grensplaats Velika Kladuša (Bosnië en Herzegovina). Sinds een jaar of twee is dit stadje de laatste halte voor migranten die via de Balkanroute naar de EU reist. Vanuit het binnenland arriveren onophoudelijk groepjes migranten die één richting uitgaan: Europa. Inmiddels kent het stadje duizenden migranten uit Azië, bijvoorbeeld uit Pakistan en Afghanistan maar ook uit Noord-Afrikaanse landen, zoals Algerije en Marokko. Zodra het kan, steken zij de grens over. Toen de eerste groepen migranten destijds aankwamen, stond de lokale bevolking onmiddellijk klaar om hun de nodige ondersteuning en hulp aan te bieden. De middelen in Velika Kladuša zijn schaars. Er is een hoge werkeloosheid, het leven is relatief duur en er is weinig inkomen. Vanuit de hoofdstad komt nauwelijks ondersteuning. Het toenemende aantal vluchtelingen legt een grote druk op de weinige beschikbare middelen. Verhalen over overlast, criminaliteit en seksueel ongewenst gedrag nemen toe. Dat leidt tot vechtpartijen en demonstraties waarbij wapens zichtbaar aanwezig zijn. De Bosniërs zien de migranten nu als bedreiging en willen dat ze zo snel mogelijk vertrekken. De auteur pleit voor ondersteuning voor zowel de bewoners als de migranten. De EU behoort daarin het voortouw te nemen en samen met de Bosnische overheid op te trekken.
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While criminality is digitizing, a theory-based understanding of the impact of cybercrime on victims is lacking. Therefore, this study addresses the psychological and financial impact of cybercrime on victims, applying the shattered assumptions theory (SAT) to predict that impact. A secondary analysis was performed on a representative data set of Dutch citizens (N = 33,702), exploring the psychological and financial impact for different groups of cybercrime victims. The results showed a higher negative impact on emotional well-being for victims of person-centered cybercrime, victims for whom the offender was an acquaintance, and victims whose financial loss was not compensated and a lower negative impact on emotional well-being for victims with a higher income. The study led to novel scientific insights and showed the applicability of the SAT for developing hypotheses about cybercrime victimization impact. In this study, most hypotheses had to be rejected, leading to the conclusion that more work has to be done to test the applicability of the SAT in the field of cybercrime. Furthermore, policy implications were identified considering the prioritization of and approach to specific cybercrimes, treatment of victims, and financial loss compensation.
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Professionals moeten tijdens het gehele mediationproces omgaan met het thema ‘verantwoordelijkheid nemen’ door de verdachte. Zij komen echter een aantal knelpunten tegen. Wat is bijvoorbeeld nodig qua verantwoordelijkheid nemen om door te verwijzen naar de volgende fase in het mediationtraject? Hoe kunnen mediators verantwoordelijkheid nemen stimuleren en op welke manier kunnen zij dit omschrijven in de slotovereenkomst? De hoofdvraag van dit onderzoek is daarom: ‘Welke criteria kunnen stakeholders (rechters, officieren van justitie, mediationfunctionarissen en mediators) hanteren bij het vaststellen en stimuleren van ‘verantwoordelijkheid nemen door een verdachte’ tijdens het mediation in strafzaken traject en welk handelingsrepertoire is hiervoor nodig? Door middel van interviews met rechters, OvJ’s, mediationfunctionarissen, mediators, strafrechtadvocaten, slachtoffers en verdachten alsook via focusgroepen met mediators en mediationfunctionarissen is deze vraag onderzocht.
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Indecent exposure is often regarded as a nuisance offense and detailed studies into this topic are relatively rare. However, there is consensus that relatively high recidivism rates and risk of escalation to more severe offenses can be of serious concern among these perpetrators. This cohort study aims to increase our general knowledge on the basic characteristics of these offenses and includes all registered police cases of indecent exposure in the Netherlands between 2012 and 2020, including 6741 incidents, involving 4663 suspects and 3808 registered victims. This first study of a large cohort over a long period of time describes the basic characteristics of these incidents, the perpetrators and their victims, and visualizes the results to explore trends over time. Results show that a modal indecent exposure incident is perpetrated by a 25-year-old male, on foot, on a public road, on a Wednesday afternoon in July, masturbating and directing his genitals intentionally toward a 13-year-old girl. The age distribution of victims shows remarkable similarity to victims of sexual assault. Compared to the first year of the period studied, the number of annually reported incidents gradually declined to half in the last year of the study. Findings are discussed in light of the most prominent theories on exhibitionism. Issues and suggestions relevant to apprehension and treatment of perpetrators are identified and discussed.
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"Probation is a fast-developing field that plays an important role in the response to crime and the prevention of reoffending. Probation covers various sanctions and community-based measures, including supervision and community service, designed to promote community safety and the social inclusion of offenders. This brochure is intended for justice ministers, other politicians and senior civil servants interested in setting up or upgrading a probation service. The ‘key message’ highlights the main topics and messages in this brochure. Readers who want to learn more about the benefits of probation and about how to bring these into practice should read the full text."
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"Probation is a fast-developing field that plays an important role in the response to crime and the prevention of reoffending. Probation covers various sanctions and community-based measures, including supervision and community service, designed to promote community safety and the social inclusion of offenders. This brochure is intended for justice ministers, other politicians and senior civil servants interested in setting up or upgrading a probation service. The ‘key message’ highlights the main topics and messages in this brochure. Readers who want to learn more about the benefits of probation and about how to bring these into practice should read the full text."
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This article examines the network structure, criminal cooperation, and external interactions of cybercriminal networks. Its contribution is empirical and inductive. The core of this study involved carrying out 10 case analyses on closed cybercrime investigations – all with financial motivations on the part of the offenders - in the UK and beyond. Each analysis involved investigator interview and access to unpublished law enforcement files. The comparison of these cases resulted in a wide range of findings on these cybercriminal networks, including: a common division between the scam/attack components and the money components; the presence of offline/local elements; a broad, and sometimes blurred, spectrum of cybercriminal behaviour and organisation. An overarching theme across the cases that we observe is that cybercriminal business models are relatively stable.
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Criminologists have frequently debated whether offenders are specialists, in that they consistently perform either one offense or similar offenses, or versatile by performing any crime based on opportunities and situational provocations. Such foundational research has yet to be developed regarding cybercrimes, or offenses enabled by computer technology and the Internet. This study address this issue using a sample of 37 offender networks. The results show variations in the offending behaviors of those involved in cybercrime. Almost half of the offender networks in this sample appeared to be cybercrime specialists, in that they only performed certain forms of cybercrime. The other half performed various types of crimes on and offline. The relative equity in specialization relative to versatility, particularly in both on and offline activities, suggests that there may be limited value in treating cybercriminals as a distinct offender group. Furthermore, this study calls to question what factors influence an offender's pathway into cybercrime, whether as a specialized or versatile offender. The actors involved in cybercrime networks, whether as specialists or generalists, were enmeshed into broader online offender networks who may have helped recognize and act on opportunities to engage in phishing, malware, and other economic offenses.
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In een MiS is verantwoordelijkheid nemen door een verdachte een voorwaarde om 1) de mediation te starten en 2) voor een succesvol verloop daarvan. Door het onderzoek dat wij uitvoeren willen we verduidelijken wat het nemen van deze verantwoordelijkheid inhoudt. Tijdens een MiS blijkt het voor de verdachte niet altijd gemakkelijk om de verantwoordelijkheid te nemen, zeker niet als het gaat om een zware verantwoordelijkheid, zoals in strafzaken nogal eens speelt. Zelfbeschermingsmechanismen als ontkenning, bagatellisering, verschuiving van verantwoordelijkheid en dissociatie treden vrijwel automatisch in werking. De mediators hebben tijdens dit proces een ondersteunende rol waar het gaat om het nemen van verantwoordelijkheid door een verdachte. Dat betekent begrip voor de verdachte, die niet alleen ‘dader’ is maar ook mens. Maar ook moeten mediators soms confronteren als allerlei zelfbeschermingsmechanismen de verdachte in weg zitten om verantwoordelijkheid te nemen. Het onderzoek wil ook bijdragen aan (uitbreiding van) het arsenaal aan effectieve interventies inzake het nemen van verantwoordelijkheid door de verdachte.
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