PubMed Health⌕ Search

SEARCH · PubMed Health

Results for “Crime”

Explore indexed PubMed citations for clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health research. Read source abstracts and follow each citation to its original PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

[The genesis of crime according to dialectic criminology. II. Comments on the genesis of crime].

Prof. Lyra discusses in this article the basic problem of criminological sciences, stating that its essential object of study is the determination of the genesis of crime. The Author states that, before defining the crime genesis, it is necessary to outline, through a synthesis of epistemological restructurization of criminology itself. This way, we can develop a conception of Dialectic Criminology, where the term "dialectic" does not necessarily coincide with a marxist posture, but it extends along much more complex and comprehensive parameters. Dialectic Criminology is defined, in Lyra's conception, as a Classified Criminology, synthetizing both the psychological approach (clinical criminology, or micro-criminology), and the sociological approach (sociological criminology or macro-criminology), according to an anthropological basic frame of reference, which constitutes the new and original prerequisite. To this aim, according to Prof. Lyra, it is necessary to overcome merely biological or psychological theories, and the new sociologisms, which cannot explain deviant behavior without falling into dogmatism or relativism. It is necessary to give back to criminology its original ethico-philosophical roots, and to place the problem of crime within a new "praxis" concept, which takes into account the authentic freedom of man, interracting with historical evolution. This way, through Dialectic Criminology, we can overcome the conception of crime and delinquency viewed as counterparts of the concept of Law.

Antisocial Personality Disorder↗
PubMed1992

Estimating costs of traffic crashes and crime: tools for informed decision making.

Traffic crashes and crime both impose significant economic and social burdens through injury and loss of life, as well as property damage and loss. Efforts to reduce crashes and crime often result in competing demands on limited public resources. Comparable and up-to-date cost data on crashes and crime contribute to informed decisions about allocation of these resources in important ways. As a first step, cost data provide information about the magnitude of the problems of crashes and crime by allowing us to estimate associated dollar losses to society. More importantly, cost data on crashes and crime are essential to evaluating costs and benefits of various policy alternatives that compete for resources. This paper presents the first comparable comprehensive cost estimates for crashes and crime and applies them to crash and crime incidence data for Michigan to generate dollar losses for the state. An example illustrates how cost estimates can be used to evaluate costs and benefits of crash-reduction and crime-reduction policies in making resource allocation decisions. Traffic crash and selected index crime incidence data from the calendar year 1988 were obtained from the Michigan State Police. Costs for crashes and index crimes were generated and applied to incidence data to estimate dollar losses from crashes and index crimes for the state of Michigan. In 1988, index crimes in Michigan resulted in $0.8 billion in monetary costs and $2.4 billion in total monetary and nonmonetary quality-of-life costs (using the willingness-to-pay approach). Traffic crashes in Michigan resulted in $2.3 billion in monetary costs and $7.1 billion in total monetary and nonmonetary quality-of-life costs, nearly three times the costs of index crimes. Based on dollar losses to the state, the magnitude of the problem of traffic crashes clearly exceeded that of index crimes in Michigan in 1988. From a policy perspective, summing the total dollar losses from crashes or crime is of less importance than understanding the costs and benefits of various policy alternatives. This paper therefore concludes with an example of how our cost estimates can be used to compare the costs and benefits of competing policies.

Accidents, Traffic↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Statistical and dynamic analysis of crime in relation to primary dimensions in various countries].

The examination of the effects of social change on crime has experienced a revival of interest in the past decade. With the increasing availability of cross-national data such analyses are being done in a comparative perspective. The current effort is designed to examine the relationship between three variables which have been shown to be empirically and theoretically pertinent to the study of social change and crime indices. Specifically, the variables of population, gross national product per capita and political orientation are regressed on the homicide rates, property crime rates and total crime rates for a number of countries. This analysis is done statically for 1965 and dynamically, for the change in the variables from 1960 to 1965. The data for the independent variables were acquired from the World Handbook of Political and Social Indicators, Second Edition. The source of the dependent variables was the International Crime Statistics published by the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol). The problems with such data are recongized and discussed. The results indicate that in the static analysis the three variables explain a substantial amount of the variance in property crime rates and total crime rates whereas they do not explain much of the variance in the homicide rate. Gross national product per capita contributes the most to the explained variance in all the analyses. A theoretical perspective combining the ideas incorporated in control theory and in environmental opportunity theory was employed to account for the results. The results of the dynamic analyses parallel those of the static analyses, with the exception of the equation employing the total crime rate at the dependent variable. The total variance explained in this equation was significantly lower than in the static analysis for the total crime rate. Durkheim's notions of the functions of crime and the expected stability in crime rates were offered as an explanation for this finding.

Africa↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Economic crime].

Economic crime, often also referred to as white collar crime, is one of the most incidious and predatory of offenses. Unlike street crime, for which there may well be some protection, the average citizen is completely at the mercy of the perpetrators of economic crimes. The concept of white collar crime was first identified by Edwin H. Sutherland. He dealt with the problem as a violation of trust involving either or both misrepresentation and duplicity. He argued for the use of criminal sanctions rather than civil remedies as a means of dealing with white collar offenses. Sutherland's views were attacked by the legal profession, by sociologists and criminologists and by public opinion specialists. They contended that an act treated in civil court is not a crime; that criminals are those persons who are defined as such and white collar criminals are neither so defined nor do they define themselves as criminals and, finally, that economic crime is universal. Can anyone be criminal, then, ask the critics? A number of studies by Clinard, Quinney, Black, Ball, Cressey, Newman and others have translated the interest in white collar crime into empirical terms. The last thirty-five years have also witnessed the elaboration and alteration of the theory itself. Geis' work has been particularly important in this respect. His "street" versus "suite" crime is a useful dichotomy. Most important, however, have been the monograph and papers by Herbert Edelhertz who has conceptualized the issues on various levels - from consumer fraud to the illegal activities of the multinational corporation. This article is concerned with the exposition of the theory and research in the field. Most significant, the paper raises serious doubts whether the problem of economic crime can be researched and studied; it raises even more difficult issues concerning the legal and sociological implications of economic crime and of its prevention, management and control.

Attitude↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Organized and professional crime: a comparative approach].

After a short preliminary statement of a terminological character, the authors review the basic features of professional and organized crime, also in relation to historically well defined aspects of it, of the "crime-syndicate" type. The tracts differentiating in this sector the European criminality from the North-American one are identified, and the most significant examples of criminal organization active in recent times especially in Great Britain are illustrated. The survey is carried out taking into account the quantitative and qualitative evolution of the phenomenon and probing further into the value and function that the various categories of crime operators assume in the most modern forms of organized crime. A special attention is devoted to the activities of particular importance that precede and follow the perpetration of crimes. The problem of the professional and organized crime is also viewed in the light of the difference existing in the various European countries, and of the easy access to international connections which afford to this type of crime quite a comprehensive scope of action and which involve a greater difficulty of the activities carried out by the authorities of the various countries. The authors finally emphasize the gravity of the new forms of crime that are being committed especially in the business field, and urge all those concerned in criminological problems to devote their attention to the phenomenon, delving further into the connection it has with the deviance theory.

Crime↗
PubMed1992

Victims of crime: the internist's role in treatment.

This article reports a case study on a crime victim identified and treated in an internal medicine residency program. Recent findings on crime and violence in the United States are reviewed with a particular focus on the psychologic and medical aftermath faced by victims. A unique role for the internist is suggested in the management of such sequelae. Research studies suggest that victims of crime, especially violent crime, evidence one or more of several clusters of acute and delayed emotional responses that typically progress through three stages of a recovery process. Physician awareness of these symptom clusters should result in increased understanding and improved assessment/treatment of crime victims.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1979

Crime and treatment of heroin users.

In San Antonio serious reported crime increased every year from 1965 through 1969. Then, in 1970, coincident with a marked increase of heroin users in treatment, the crime rate decreased. In three succeeding years while the treatment rate increased, crime decreased. Then in 1974, due to loss of program funds, the treatment rate decreased and the crime rate increased. The changes in the crime rate were due primarily to changes in the theft rate. For the years 1970-1974, treatment and theft had a significant negative correlation. We tentatively attribute part of the changes in the theft rate to changes in the treatment rate.

Crime↗
PubMed1975

Crime in the changing Greek Society. Reflections on statistical data.

Crime is a complex phenomenon. Statistics related to crime in a given milieu reveal nothing in substance and they are not amenable to comparisons. For one thing they are classified differently in different countries. For another, statistics are related to processes that are the outcome of all the interrelated variables which operate in the given milieu. It is within the context of the transaction of these variables: cultural, social, economic, technological, psychological, and biological, that these statistics may become meaningful and may lead to valuable interpretations. In Greece, for instance, during the last ten years, crime has decreased. (In 1960, there were 82,649 convictions and in 1970 there were 72,393. The population, seven years of age and above, increased from 7,289,130 in 1960 to 7,796,850 in 1970. Moreover the number of recidivists for the same years increased only from 28,988 to 31,540.) And yet, from impressionistic observations one notices that violence has increased significantly. The modus operandi of the criminals as well as the motives that instigate criminal behavior have changed. Those changes are alarming. Crime statistics, although they present a picture of decrease in crime rate, do not help us to focus on the real problem and search for measures of prevention and control.

Crime↗
PubMed1992

Mentally disordered offenders. Patterns in the relationship between mental disorder and crime.

Five patterns among mentally disordered offenders are distinguished by the relationship between mental disorder, on the one hand, and criminality, on the other. Pattern 1 offenders are those for whom crime is a response to psychotic symptoms, most often delusions or hallucinations. Pattern 2 offenders commit crimes motivated by compulsive desires, such as sex offenses by paraphiles and offenses regarded as evidence of disorders of impulse control. Pattern 3 offenders are those with personality disorder for whom the crime is merely one example of a maladaptive pattern of voluntary and knowing behavior. Pattern 4 offenders have coincidental mental illness that is unrelated to the crime. Pattern 5 offenders are those who become mentally disordered or feign mental disorder as a result of their crimes, such as those who dissociate upon seeing what they have done, those who become depressed in prison, those who become psychotic on death row, and those who malinger mental illness. Although these categories do not determine whether offenders are responsible for their behavior, some unknown proportion of Pattern 1 offenders do meet legal criteria for insanity, depending on the facts of each case and the applicable legal standards. It is arguable whether or not Pattern 2 offenders ever meet legal criteria of insanity. Offenders evidencing only Patterns 3, 4, or 5 are not candidates for an insanity defense.

Adult↗
PubMed2026

Syndemics, violence and injury: exploring historical relationships between infectious disease epidemics and violent crime in South Africa.

This paper explores historical and contemporary intersections between mass-mortality epidemics and violent crime in South Africa, focusing on four major epidemics - Spanish Flu, tuberculosis, HIV, and Covid-19. The study integrates epidemiological data and contextual historical information such as crime statistics, archival records, and secondary scholarship to explore whether epidemic-driven mortality crises are associated with subsequent changes in violence and injury profiles. With the possible exception of gendered violence, the study finds little evidence that earlier epidemics directly contributed to rapid or sustained increases in violent crime, despite causing substantial adult mortality and long-term social and economic disruption. A comparison between epidemic and socio-economic profiles strongly suggests that the significant increases in violent crime recorded after the Covid-19 pandemic are highly localised, and may be more strongly related to lockdown responses, including alcohol restrictions, rather than the effects of disease itself.

Humans↗
PubMed1977

A preliminary report on crime and addiction within a community-wide population of narcotic addicts.

This paper discusses the criminal behavior of narcotic addicts and is based on a sample of males identified as narcotic abusers by a large urban Police Department in the United States over a twenty-year period (1952-1971). The records of 252 subjects (representing a 92% interview response rate) were analyzed to determine whether there were differences between blacks and whites with regard to criminality before first use and after first regular use of narcotics. The findings generally support previous ones in regard to the increase of criminal activity after the onset of narcotic addiction. In addition, this community-wide population of narcotic addicts revealed that black addicts tend to commit more crimes, and more serious crimes, than white addicts before first use of narcotics and after the onset of addiction. Further, weighted crime index scores of both the "before" and "after" segments appear higher for blacks who became addicted in the most recent years, while this appears to be true for the whites only after the onset of their addiction.

Black or African American↗
PubMed1975

Drunkenness, a "special circumstance" in crimes of violence: sometimes.

A preliminary investigation into belief systems of the public about interactions between drunkenness and crime is reported. Fifty respondents, randomly selected, were interviewed first about their beliefs regarding the "effects of alcohol" along three dimensions--control, responsibility, and accountability. Second, they were asked to consider whether being legally drunk when committing a violent crime constitutes a "special circumstance" deserving other than the usual penalty. Three other possible contributing factors were also examined to determine their relationship to drunkenness as a "special circumstance"--premeditation, alcoholism, and recidivism. Two preliminary conclusions are suggested: (1) it appears that many members of the public still view alcohol abuse as an associated criminal offense, and (2) respondnets' beliefs about the "effects of alcohol" do not demonstrate a rational consistency as relates to penalty judgments concerning violent crimes committed by drunken individuals. This finding is, in part, consistent wtih Linsky's earlier work.

Alcoholic Intoxication↗
PubMed1979

[Victimology of sexual crime. Examination of victims and the consequences for behavior, prophylaxis and therapy (author's transl)].

Medico-legal and criminological examinations of 93 sexual crimes are reported. This figure comprises all the crimes which have become known to the police during a certain period in one region. It is suggested that the medical examination by confined to specific wards of the gynecological hospital so that psychological care can be provided and the customary criminological investigation methods be changed. For preventive reasons, a general expertise of the offenders and credibility examinations of victims and offenders seem to be called for in the absence of satisfactory evidence. Physical resistance on the part of the victim in the present cases led to a significant increase in the injury and death rate. How far traditional social views toward women favor sexual crime is discussed.

Criminal Psychology↗
PubMed1975

Crimes in New York and Tokyo: sociocultural perspectives.

Patterns of major crimes in Tokyo and New York City, based on official reports, are compared. Among other findings, the rate of infanticides among the total of murder cases was strikingly higher in Tokyo than in New York City. Intruders in New York City, on the other hand, were found to seek confrontation with victims more actively than their counterparts in Tokyo. Social and cultural factors underlying or contributing to the causes of major crimes are discussed.

Child↗
PubMed1976

[Differentation and timeinterval for detection of tissue cells on a weapon used in a crime (author's transl)].

There are numerous methods of examining the weapon used in a crime to detect evidence of blood or of blood-group properties. Forensic literature also contains references to the tracing of organic tissue. In the case against Jaccoud the two medical experts called upon, UNDRITZ and HEGG, found evidence of cells from internal organs on a knife which had possibly been used to commit the crime and which had been stored away for some considerable time. Practical experience has shown that the likelihood of finding cells on the weapon used is small; however, it is greater in the case of abdominal injuries than in the case of stab wounds in the chest. Tests carried out on corpses have revealed evidence that cells from the liver can adhere to a blade plunged into the organ. This happens mostly when a knife with a serrated or wavy edge is used. The abdominal wall has a greater cleaning effect on a blade than clothing does. It is of crucial importance to clarify the environmental conditions to which an object bearing certain traces has been exposed. Over a long period of time it is much easier to detect parts of organs if they have been subjected to swift dehydration (by the wind, for example). A location which is either warm or damp and humid makes identification, even after a few hours, no longer possible. The presence of a single tissue cell, especially if it should have managed to retain its structure after several months' dessication, can never suffice for an organic diagnosis. How many determining characteristics then must be traceable? And how great is the certainty of identification with regard to cells from other organs or to nun-human cell structures - all of which are also subject to environmental and time factors? How many single tissue cells must be identified to determine conclusively that the cells in question came, for example from the liver?

Autolysis↗
PubMed1977

Trends in drug use and crime and their relationship in an arrested population.

Trends in drug use and criminal charges of 44,223 consecutive admissions to the District of Columbia Superior Court lock-up between December 1971 and April 1975 were analyzed. While the number of persons arrested and admitted to the lock-up remained relatively constant during this time, drug use as measured by positive urinalysis declined substantially in 1973 and remained at a lower level through 1975. Heroin use showed a decline similar to the overall trends in 1973, but began to increase in mid-1974. Arrestees who were drug positive were generally less likely to be charged with major crimes of violence than those who were drug negative. Exceptions to this pattern as well as trends in drug use and crime in the arrested population are discussed.

Amphetamines↗
PubMed1979

Crimes of violence and alcohol abuse in Sweden.

Of 793 offenders submitted to forensic psychiatric examination in 1972-1976, 44% were guilty of crimes of violence against persons. Among them, 68% were drunk when committing their crime; for nonviolent offenders this percentage was 38. Psychotic assailants stood apart as mostly sober. While Swedish and United States drinking patterns are similar, the homicide rate in Sweden is about one-tenth that in the United States. The possible cause-effect relationship between alcohol abuse and assaultive behavior is complex. A common basis could be found in personal and interpersonal distress rather than in socioeconomic and educational shortcomings.

Adolescent↗