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Date: April 25, 2024 Thu
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germany
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277 total results foundAuthor: Kurtenbach, Sabine Title: Guatemala's Post-War Development: The Structural Failure of Low Intensity Peace Summary: The present study is part of the research project on "Social and Political Fractures after Wars: Youth Violence in Cambodia and Guatemala." The project aims at explaining different levels of youth violence in two post-war societies whose process of war termination are regarded as successful. However, both societies face serious problems of post-war development that are closely related to the experiences of war and war termination. Guatemala suffers from levels of violence higher than during most of the war. The differences between both countries in levels of violence and mechanisms of violence control are also visible in the incidence of youth violence. The project aims to explain these differences through the contextualization of youth violence. This working paper analyses continuity and change of violence in post-war Guatemala. Four development areas in post-war Guatemala are analyzed due to their relevance for the question of continuity and change of violence: organization, operating mode and legitimacy of the public security sector; development of the political system; deficits in the establishment of civil forms of conflict regulation; and the use of material, natural and human resources. Details: Duisburg, Germany: Institute for Development and Peace, 2008 Source: Social and Political Fractures after Wars: Youth Violence in Cambodia and Guatemala; Project Working Paper no. 3 Year: 2008 Country: Germany Keywords: Juveniles Shelf Number: 114775 |
Author: Cyrus, Norbert Title: Trafficking for Labour and Sexual Exploitation in Germany Summary: Germany is an important destination country for migrant workers from around the world. Many of them work on the basis of mutually beneficial agreements made with their employers, but many are forced into submission by deception, threats, abuse, fraud and coercion. The migrant workers enter the country through clandestine channels or as asylum seekers, seasonal labor migrants, visitors or students. This study aims to demonstrate that migrant workers are forced into submission and thus increase profit margins. This is most often the case in those labor-intensive economic sectors that are encountering even more competition on global markets. Details: Geneva: International Labour Office, 2005. 91p. Source: Year: 2005 Country: Germany Keywords: Economics Shelf Number: 111925 |
Author: Falk, Armin Title: Unemployment and Right-Wing Extremist Crime Summary: Right-wing extremism is a serious problem in many societies. A prominent hypothesis states that unemployment plays a crucial role for the occurrence of right-wing extremist crime. In this paper we empirically test this hypothesis. We use a previously not used data set which includes all officially recorded right-wing criminal acts in Germany. These data are recorded by the German Federal Criminal Police Office on a monthly and state level basis. Our main finding is that there is in fact a significant positive relation between unemployment and rightwing criminal activities. We show further that the big difference in right-wing crime between East and West German states can mostly be attributed to differences in unemployment. This finding reinforces the importance of unemployment as an explanatory factor for right-wing crime and questions explanations based solely on the different socialization in former communist East Germany and the liberal West German states. Our data further allow us to separate violent from non-violent right-wing crimes. We show that unemployment is closely related to both types of crimes, but that the association with non-violent crimes is much stronger. Since right-wing crime is committed particularly by relatively young males, we also explore whether the youth unemployment rate is a better predictor for right-wing crime than total unemployment. This hypothesis can be rejected: given total unemployment, a higher share of youth unemployment does not affect right-wing extremist crime rates. Details: Bonn: Institute for the Study of Labor, 2005. 29p. Source: Internet Resource: IZA Discussion Paper No. 1540: Accessed October 21, 2010 at: http://ftp.iza.org/dp1540.pdf Year: 2005 Country: Germany Keywords: Hate Crimes Shelf Number: 120038 |
Author: Entorf, Horst Title: Crime, Prosecutors, and the Certainty of Conviction Summary: This paper tests predictions of a structural, augmented supply-of-offenders model regarding the relative effects of police, public prosecution and courts, respectively, on crime. Using detailed data on the different stages of the criminal prosecution process in Germany, empirical evidence suggests that public prosecutors and their influence on the probability of conviction play a major role in explaining the variation of crime rates, while the impact of the severity of punishment is small and insignificant. Details: Bonn, Germany: Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), 2011. 42p. Source: Internet Resource: Discussion Paper No. 5670: Accessed July 15, 2011 at: http://ftp.iza.org/dp5670.pdf Year: 2011 Country: Germany Keywords: Deterrence Shelf Number: 122076 |
Author: Kurtenbach, Sabine Title: Youth Violence as a Scapegoat - Youth in Post-War Guatemala Summary: The present study is part of the research project on “Social and Political Fractures after Wars: Youth Violence in Cambodia and Guatemala”. The project is financed by the German Foundation for Peace Research and is located at the Institute for Development and Peace at the University of Duisburg-Essen. The project aims at explaining different levels of youth violence in two post-war societies whose processes of war termination are regarded as successful. However, both societies face serious problems of post-war development that are closely related to the experiences of war and war termination. While Cambodia’s democratization process is considered more or less as a failure, Guatemala suffers from levels of violence higher than during most of the war. The differences between both countries in levels of violence and mechanisms of violence control are also visible in the incidence of youth violence. This working paper presents the findings of the case study on Guatemala. While there have been abundant discussions on youth violence all over Central America most of these studies only indirectly relate youth violence to the experience of war and widespread violence. Following the focus of the conceptual frame on youth violence in post-war societies presented in Working Paper 1 and based on the analysis of post-war fractures in working paper 3, this study looks at youth violence under the perspective of continuity and change. After analysing the involvement of youths in war and violence and the consequences those experiences have on young people different life-worlds for post-war youths will be investigated. Youth violence in Guatemala is neither as widespread as public discussions suggest nor can most youth violence be contributed to organized gangs. The disaggregation of youth violence according to different causes, dynamics and life-worlds shows that youth violence mostly serves as a scapegoat and as an excuse to maintain the exclusive societal status quo. Details: Duisburg, Germany: Institute for Development and Peace, 2008. 34p. Source: INEF Working Paper No. 5: Internet Resource: Accessed February 7, 2012 at Year: 2008 Country: Germany Keywords: Juveniles Shelf Number: 124028 |
Author: Feltes, Thomas Title: Gender-based Violence, Stalking adn Fear of Crime: Country Report Germany Summary: Between 1994 and 2002, 23 young women were raped near the Ruhr University in Bochum. This series of incidents generated a great deal of media publicity in the city and surrounding areas and led to a special police commission being set up which is still operating even today. The DNA of ten thousand men in the region was profiled and stored in a database. Understandably, these events caused a great deal of uncertainty particularly among the female students at local higher education (HE) institutions. Conforming to the “classic pattern” of the unknown sex attacker who jumps out from behind a bush and subdues his victim using a weapon, these incidents of sexual violence have remained firmly fixed in the collective consciousness of female students and have an influence on young women’s sense of safety on and around the Bochum university campus. This background formed the basis for an academic project that eventually attracted funding from the European Commission as a European research project for the years 2009 to 2011. Starting out from the question of whether female students are affected to a greater extent by sexual assault due to their age and life situation as students, the aim was to gather data pertaining to the extent and circumstances of sexual violence and thereby to establish the knowledge base needed to create an awareness of the importance of this sensitive issue. This did not mean merely filling in the research gap regarding unreported sexual assaults: the results are also intended to serve the practical goal of providing a basis for recommendations regarding prevention and intervention measures for HE institutions/universities that wish to take action against sexual assaults on campus. Quantitative and qualitative data from sixteen selected German universities were collected and analysed, providing well-founded insights into the factual situation regarding the range of gender-specific sexual assaults from sexual harassment through stalking to criminal sexual acts involving the use of force and threats. The data also enabled conclusions to be drawn regarding the nature of the victim-perpetrator relationship and its impacts on disclosure and thus on the victim’s use of support services. The impacts of experiences of violence on a person’s health and studies can give rise to obstacles and interruptions in that person’s life and career path, and for this reason they also pose a challenge for HE institutions. This raises the question regarding each university’s responsibility when it comes to the difficult social problem of experiences of sexual violence among female students: both in terms of moral responsibility and with regard to German legislation, this is an issue universities need to address. This study provides HE institutions with valuable information about the (everyday) experiences and fears – as well as the needs and wishes – of their female students. They can use the results and recommendations to examine and possible optimise their existing services. The country report for Germany is a concise presentation of the German research results from the European comparative study. Details: Bochum, Germany: Ruhr-University Bochum, 2012. 47p. Source: EU-Project 2009-2011: Internet Resource: Accessed March 18, 2012 at http://vmrz0183.vm.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/gendercrime/pdf/gendercrime_country_report_germany_english.pdf Year: 2012 Country: Germany Keywords: Fear of Crime (Germany) Shelf Number: 124573 |
Author: Entorf, Horst Title: Turning 18: What a Difference Application of Adult Criminal Law Makes Summary: This paper contributes to the literature on specific deterrence by addressing the issue of selecting adolescents into adult and juvenile law systems. In Germany, different from the U.S. and most other countries, turning a critical cutoff age does not cause a sharp discontinuity from juvenile to adult penal law, but rather implies a shift to a discretionary system of both adult and juvenile law, dependent on the courts' impression of moral and mental personal development of the adolescent at the time of the act. The German legal system draws the line of adulthood at some fuzzy age interval between 18 and 21, which is well above the thresholds prevailing in the U.S. (16 to 18 years, state specific) and other countries such that the German evidence entails some external evidence to the previous literature mostly relying on U.S. data. Based on a unique inmate survey and two-equation models controlling for selectivity problems, results show that application of adult criminal law instead of juvenile penal law decreases expected recidivism of adolescents. Details: Bonn, Germany: Institute for the Study of Labor, 2011. 30p. Source: Internet Resource: IZA Discussion Paper No. 5434: Accessed March 21, 2012 at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1745709 Year: 2011 Country: Germany Keywords: Criminal Law Shelf Number: 124624 |
Author: von Pfeil, Evy, ed. Title: FLEGT - Combating illegal logging as a contribution towards sustainable development Summary: Illegal logging and trade in illegally harvested timber constitutes a widespread phenomenon in many developing countries. Illegal logging contributes to the destruction of forests world-wide, and its far-reaching impacts go far beyond the confines of the forest sector. FLEGT is therefore a key field of action of international forest policy. Since the Plan of Implementation was adopted by the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), held in Johannesburg in 2002, there has been a fundamental global awareness of the urgent need to combat illegal activities in the forest sector. As far back as 1998, the G8 states made a commitment to promote measures to combat illegal logging. Since 2001, the World Bank has been assisting regional processes whereby participating countries undertake to implement FLEG measures. In 2003, the EU adopted its FLEGT Action Plan, cornerstones of which include a licensing scheme for timber and Voluntary Partnership Agreements (VPAs)with timber-producing countries. Both the Foodand Agriculture Organization (FAO)and the International Tropical Timber Organization(ITTO) have incorporated FLEGT measures into their work programmes. Although there is akeen awareness at political level – also among many timber-producing countries – of the need to curb illegal logging and trade in illegal timber products, actual implementation is still difficult and results to date have been limited. The proposals for action to combat illegal activities in the forest sector outlined in this paper should be seen as an intermediate step towards achieving sustainable forest management. Development-policy measures to promote FLEGT aim to support the partners’ own commitment to introducing and implementing reforms relating to good governance, combating corruption and supporting law enforcement. Advisory services to partner countries and regions adopt a multi-level approach that incorporates all instruments of German development cooperation. FLEGT-relevant measures have already been integrated into many ongoing bilateral development cooperation projects and programmes. This strategy provides ideas on how to extend this commitment,taking account of the specific national and regional features of FLEGT policies. Details: Bonn, Germany: Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, 2007. 19p. Source: Topics 180: Internet Resource: Accessed August 21, 2012 at http://www.bmz.de/en/publications/topics/environment/Materialie180.pdf Year: 2007 Country: Germany Keywords: Forest Management Shelf Number: 126085 |
Author: Cho, Seo-Young Title: Human Trafficking, A Shadow of Migration - Evidence from Germany Summary: This paper empirically analyzes the relationship between migration and human trafficking inflows into Germany during the period between 2001 and 2010. My results suggest that migrant networks, measured by migrant stocks from a specific source country, have a causal linkage with the illicit, exploitative form of migration – human trafficking – from that respective country. However, the network effect varies across different income levels of source countries. The significant, positive effect of migrant networks on human trafficking decreases as the income level increases, and furthermore the effect is insignificant for high income countries. Details: Berlin: Economics of Security, 2012. 32p. Source: Internet Resource: Discussion Paper: Accessed November 28, 2012 at: http://www.ilo.org/public/libdoc/nonigo/2012/472474.pdf Year: 2012 Country: Germany Keywords: Human Trafficking (Germay) Shelf Number: 127018 |
Author: Auliya, Mark Title: Hot Trade in Cool Creatures: A review of the live reptile trade in the European Union in the 1990s with a focus on Germany Summary: The European Union (EU)1 is one of the world’s largest markets for live reptiles, such as snakes, lizards and tortoises, and the exotic and scaly animals have become increasingly fashionable as pets since the early 1990s. Even though captive-breeding efforts have improved significantly in the last few decades, a large proportion of the reptiles offered in pet shops in the EU still originate from the wild and hence the live reptile trade can have a considerable impact on the conservation status of these species. To date, around 8000 reptile species have been described, however only a portion of these are regulated in national and international trade: for example, approximately 500 reptile species are listed in one of the three Appendices of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (hereafter CITES) that regulates international trade in around 30 000 animal and plant species. In addition, several countries protect native reptile species from exploitation through harvest and trade restrictions. All 15 EU Member States are Parties to CITES and the Convention is jointly implemented by all EU Member States through Council Regulation (EC) No. 338/97 and Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1808/2001 (hereafter referred to as the EU Wildlife Trade Regulations). Most of the available information on the trade in live reptiles in the EU originates from annual reports prepared by EU Member States for CITES. Data to document trade in non-CITES species are more difficult to obtain and often lacking. The objective of this report is to provide an overview for the market of live reptiles in the EU in the 1990s, by compiling data on legal and illegal trade, analysing trends, including supply and demand and other aspects, such as trade routes, main countries of export, species in trade, and prices. It is hoped that the content of this report reflects the diversity of issues related to these markets and that the conclusions and recommendations drawn from it will assist decision-makers from the relevant authorities in the EU and elsewhere in their efforts to ensure that the trade in live reptiles of CITES-listed as well as non-CITES species is well regulated and not posing a threat to wild populations. The report focuses primarily on the market for live reptiles in Germany, one of the largest importers of live reptiles among the 15 EU Member States with a large domestic market, as a case study of the situation and trends in the late 1990s, when the EU comprised 15 Member States. Therefore this report is a ‘snapshot’ of the reptile trade and market in the late 20th century, but may no longer reflect the current situation, in the first years of the new millennium. Details: Brussels, Belgium: TRAFFIC Europe, 2003. 112p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 20, 2013 at: www.traffic.org/species-reports/traffic_species_reptiles2.pdf Year: 2003 Country: Germany Keywords: Illegal Wildlife Trade Shelf Number: 128050 |
Author: Chmura, Thorsten Title: Selfishness As a Potential Cause of Crime. A Prison Experiment Summary: For a rational choice theorist, the absence of crime is more difficult to explain than its presence. Arguably, the expected value of criminal sanctions, i.e. the product of severity times certainty, is often below the expected benefit. We rely on a standard theory from behavioral economics, inequity aversion, to offer an explanation. This theory could also explain how imperfect criminal sanctions deter crime. The critical component of the theory is aversion against outperforming others. To test this theory, we exploit that it posits inequity aversion to be a personality trait. We can therefore test it in a very simple standard game. Inequity averse individuals give a fraction of their endowment to another anonymous, unendowed participant. We have prisoners play this game, and compare results to findings from a meta-study of more than 100 dictator games with non-prisoners. Surprisingly, results do not differ, not even if we only compare with other dictator games among close-knit groups. To exclude social proximity as an explanation, we retest prisoners on a second dictator game where the recipient is a charity. Prisoners give more, not less. Details: Bonn, Germany: Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods, 2013. 33p. Source: Internet Resource: Preprints of the Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods Bonn 2013/5: Accessed April 6, 2013 at: http://www.coll.mpg.de/pdf_dat/2013_05online.pdf Year: 2013 Country: Germany Keywords: Criminal Sanctions Shelf Number: 128314 |
Author: Pichler, Stefan Title: Juvenile Law and Recidivism in Germany - New Evidence from the Old Continent Summary: Abstract: In this paper, we analyze the effect of the criminal justice system on juvenile recidivism. Using a unique sample of German inmates, we are able to disentangle the selection into criminal and juvenile law from the subsequent recidivism decision of the inmate. We base our identification strategy on two distinct methods. First, we jointly estimate selection and recidivism in a bivariate probit model. In a second step, we use a discontinuity in law assignment created by German legislation and apply a (fuzzy) regression discontinuity design. In contrast to the bulk of the literature, which mainly relies on US data, we do not find that the application of criminal law increases juvenile recidivism. Rather, our results suggest that sentencing adolescents as adults reduces recidivism in Germany. Details: Unpublished paper, 2011. 45p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 16, 2013 at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1986789 Year: 2011 Country: Germany Keywords: Juvenile Court Transfers Shelf Number: 129409 |
Author: Entorf, Horst Title: Criminal Victims, Victimized Criminals, or Both? A Deeper Look at the Victim-Offender Overlap Summary: Offenders are more likely than non-offenders to be victims, and victims are more likely than non-victims to be offenders. The overlap between offenders and victims is not well understood in criminology, and in the economics of crime the stylized empirical fact is even widely ignored. The paper gives a survey of leading theoretical interpretations and empirical results. It summarizes findings from criminology and focuses on economic explanations, where rational choice, behavioral economics, as well as bounded and ecological rationality are discussed. The paper presents new econometric evidence based on German survey data covering victimization experiences and criminal activities. Using recursive bivariate Probit modeling, econometric results confirm that victimization depends on offending but not vice versa. Among the joint covariates of the bivariate system, broken homes, criminal records of parents and personal indebtedness turn out as highly relevant factors of offending behavior, whereas individual victimization risks are significantly linked to education, employment and size of peer groups. Details: Bonn: Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), 2013. 40p. Source: Internet Resource: IZA Discussion Paper No. 7686: Accessed October 28, 2013 at: http://ftp.iza.org/dp7686.pdf Year: 2013 Country: Germany Keywords: Behavioral Economics Shelf Number: 131501 |
Author: Friehe, Tim Title: The Individual and Joint Performance of Economic Preferences, Personality, and Self-Control in Predicting Criminal Behavior Summary: We explore the individual and joint explanatory power of concepts from economics, psychology, and criminology for criminal behavior. More precisely, we consider risk and time preferences, personality traits from psychology (Big Five and locus of control), and a self-control scale from criminology. We find that economic preferences, personality traits, and self-control complement each other in predicting criminal behavior. The most significant predictors stem from all three disciplines: risk aversion, conscientiousness, and high self-control make criminal behavior less likely. Our results illustrate that integrating concepts from various disciplines enhances our understanding of individual behavior. Details: Munich: Center for Economic Studies & Ifo Institute (CESifo), 2014. 13p. Source: Internet Resource: CESifo Working Paper No. 4622, Accessed April 8, 2014 at: http://www.cesifo-gruppe.de/ifoHome/publications/working-papers/CESifoWP/CESifoWPdetails?wp_id=19106244 Year: 2014 Country: Germany Keywords: Criminal Behavior Shelf Number: 132049 |
Author: Mocan, Naci H. Title: Economic Well-Being and Anti-Semitic, Xenophobic, and Racist Attitudes in Germany Summary: The fear and hatred of others who are different has economic consequences because such feelings are likely to translate into discrimination in labor, credit, housing, and other markets. The implications range from earnings inequality to intergenerational mobility. Using German data from various years between 1996 and 2010, we analyze the determinants of racist and xenophobic feelings towards foreigners in general, and against specific groups such as Italians and Turks. We also analyze racist and anti-Semitic feelings towards German citizens who differ in ethnicity (Aussiedler from Eastern Europe) or in religion (German Jews). Individuals perceived (or actual) economic well-being is negatively related to the strength of these feelings. Education, and having contact with foreigners mitigate racist, anti-Semitic and xenophobic feelings. People who live in states which had provided above-median support of the Nazi party in the 1928 elections have stronger anti-Semitic feelings today. The results are not gender-driven. They are not an artifact of economic conditions triggering feelings about job priority for German males, and they are not fully driven by fears about foreigners taking away jobs. The results of the paper are consistent with the model of Glaeser (2005) on hate, and with that of Akerlof and Kranton (2000, 2005) on identity in the utility function. Details: Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research, 2014. 73p. Source: Internet Resource: NBER Working Paper Series; Working Paper 20059: Accessed April 21, 2014 at: http://craschke.org/files/Mocan_Raschke_RACISM_Apr10.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Germany Keywords: Bias Shelf Number: 132089 |
Author: Germany. Bundeskriminalamt Title: Organised Crime: National Situation Report 2012 Summary: The National Situation Report on Organised Crime contains information about the current situation and developments in the field of organised crime. The report is drawn up by the Bundeskriminalamt (Federal Criminal Police Office - BKA) in cooperation with the Landeskriminalamter (Land Criminal Police Offices - LKAs), the Zollkriminalamt (Central Office of the German Customs Investigation Service - ZKA) and the Bundespolizeiprasidium (Federal Police Headquarters) on the basis of the definition of "organised crime" formulated by the Working Party of Police and Judicial Authorities (AG Justiz/Polizei) in May 1990. Data on OC investigations conducted during the year under review are compiled by applying the same set of criteria throughout the country. In a summarised form, the situation report mainly represents the results of law enforcement activities carried out by the police in relation to crime revealed by controls/monitoring. Therefore, it is a description of the recorded cases, i.e. the crime coming to police notice, and any valid estimation on the type and extent of unreported crime cases cannot be deduced from the statistical data. Statements on the developments of Organised Crime are essentially based on the analysis of the development of individual indicators taken from (retrograde) long term monitoring. Details: Wiesbaden: Bundeskriminalamt, 2012. 28p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 23, 2014 at: http://www.bka.de/nn_194550/EN/SubjectsAZ/OrganisedCrime/organisedCrime__node.html?__nnn=true Year: 2012 Country: Germany Keywords: Crime Statistics Shelf Number: 132145 |
Author: Hoffmann, Ulrike Title: Ifendification of Victims of Trafficking in Human Beings in International Protection and Forced Return Procedures. Focussed Study of the German National Contact Point for the European Migration Network (EMN) Summary: Working Paper 56 addresses the challenges in identifying victims and presents available statistics of human trafficking in Germany. Residence permits issued under Section 25, Subs. 4a residence act (Aufenthaltsgesetz) have increased slightly between 2008 and 2012. It allows residence on humanitarian grounds for the duration of criminal proceedings. Statistics also show that the majority of identified victims of human trafficking in international protection procedures are female, between the ages of 18 and 35. The primary countries of origin outside the EU are Nigeria, the Russian Federation, the Ukraine and India. Furthermore, Working Paper 56 describes general conditions under criminal, asylum and residence law. It also highlights the administrative mechanisms for identifying victims used by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees, reception centres, detention facilities, the German Federal Police, foreigners authorities and counselling centres for victims of human trafficking Details: Berlin: Federal Office for Migration and Refugees, 2013. 49p. Source: Internet Resource: Working Paper 56: Accessed May 15, 2014 at: http://www.bamf.de/SharedDocs/Anlagen/EN/Publikationen/EMN/Nationale-Studien-WorkingPaper/emn-wp56-menschenhandel.html?nn=1450230 Year: 2013 Country: Germany Keywords: Human Trafficking (Germany) Shelf Number: 132362 |
Author: Calderoni, Francesco Title: The Factbook on the Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products 5 - Germany Summary: This report is part of the project the Factbook on the Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products (henceforth ITTP). The project has been developed by Transcrime after the Round Table on Proofing EU Regulation against the Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products hosted by Universite Cattolica of Milan, on 5 May 2011. During the Round Table, participants (researchers and policymakers with experience in the field of the illicit trade in tobacco products) agreed on a research agenda concerning the ITTP (Transcrime 2011b). Items 3 and 6 of the research agenda focused on the need for better analysis of the tobacco market taking account of its dual nature (i.e. legal and illicit) and on how licit and illicit markets vary across different countries and regions. Given these considerations, Transcrime has developed the Factbook on the ITTP, a multi-annual research plan providing detailed analyses of the ITTP and of its relations with the legal market and other socio-economic and political factors in a number of countries around the world. The aim of the Factbook is to provide an innovative instrument able to shed light on the complex mechanisms behind the ITTP in different countries. This report focuses on Germany. Tobacco consumption is undoubtedly a danger for human health, and governments should carefully regulate the tobacco market. Illicit tobacco avoids state regulation and taxation and may jeopardise tobacco control policies. The Factbook will contribute to raising awareness about the global importance of the ITTP and about the strategies available to prevent it. The Factbook has been developed for a wide readership ranging from policymakers, through academics, to interested stakeholders, the intention being to provide a support to develop knowledge-based debates and policies on the ITTP. The information gathered for this report originates from academic literature, grey literature, open sources, questionnaires and interviews with experts and stakeholders. There are few studies on the ITTP in Germany. Furthermore, information of law enforcement action comes mainly from the German Customs, while other law enforcement agencies, although involved in the fight against the ITTP, provide more limited data. In addition to the these issues, the data-gathering phase of the project encountered major difficulties due to the number of sources, institutions and stakeholders involved. The results of the report do not claim to be exhaustive, nor an accurate reflection of criminal practices. They provide an initial assessment of the ITTP in Germany and a starting point for future research. Details: Milan, IT: Transcrime, 2013. 89p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 14, 2014 at: http://www.transcrime.it/en/pubblicazioni/the-factbook-on-the-illicit-trade-in-tobacco-products-5-germany/ Year: 2013 Country: Germany Keywords: Cigarette Smuggling Shelf Number: 132809 |
Author: Avdic, Daniel Title: Does the Burglar Also Disturb the Neighbor? Crime Spillovers on Individual Well-Being Summary: Indirect psychological effects induced by crime are likely to contribute significantly to the total costs of crime beyond the financial costs of direct victimization. Using detailed crime statistics for the whole of Germany and linking them to individual-level mental health information from the German Socio-Economic Panel, we analyze whether local crime rates affect the mental health of residents. We estimate that a one standard deviation increase in local violent crime rates significantly decreases individual mental well-being among residents by, on average, one percent. Smaller effects are found for property and total crime rates. Results are insensitive to migration and not isolated to urban areas, but are rather driven by less densely populated regions. In contrast to previous literature on vulnerability to crime, we find that men, more educated and singles react more to variation in violent crime rates in their neighborhoods. One potential explanation could be that those who are more fearful of crime have developed better coping strategies and, hence, react less to changes in crime. Details: Berlin: German Socio-Economic Panel Study, 2015. Source: Internet Resource: SOEP Papers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research no. 737: Accessed March 12, 2015 at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2569662## Year: 2015 Country: Germany Keywords: Burglars Shelf Number: 134920 |
Author: Krekel, Christian Title: The Effect of Local Crime on Well-Being: Evidence for Germany Summary: This paper investigates the effect of local crime on well-being in Germany, using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) and a novel data set constructed from official police crime statistics, covering both counties and urban districts for the time period between 1994 and 2012. We find that local area crime has a significantly negative impact on life satisfaction, makes residents worry more frequently, and worry more about crime in Germany. In particular, a 1% increase in the crime frequency ratio results in a 0.043 standard deviation decrease in life satisfaction. This effect is driven almost exclusively by violent crimes, while property crimes and other crimes have no significant impact on well-being. Details: Zurich, SWIT: Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, 2014. 27p. Source: Internet Resource: KOK Working Papers 358: Accessed march 16, 2015 at: http://www.kof.ethz.ch/en/publications/p/kof-working-papers/358/ Year: 2014 Country: Germany Keywords: Crime Statistics Shelf Number: 134928 |
Author: Piopiunik, Marc Title: Immigration, Regional Conditions, and Crime: Evidence from an Allocation Policy in Germany Summary: After the collapse of the Soviet Union, more than 3 million people with German ancestors immigrated to Germany under a special law granting immediate citizenship. Exploiting the exogenous allocation of ethnic German immigrants by German authorities across regions upon arrival, we find that immigration significantly increases crime. The crime impact of immigration depends strongly on local labor market conditions, with strong impacts in regions with high unemployment. Similarly, we find substantially stronger effects in regions with high preexisting crime levels or large shares of foreigners. Details: Bonn: Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), 2015. 40p. Source: Internet Resource: IZA DP No. 8962: Accessed April 22, 2015 at: http://ftp.iza.org/dp8962.pdf Year: 2015 Country: Germany Keywords: Economics and Crime Shelf Number: 135359 |
Author: Tepe, Markus Title: Cops for Hire? The Political Economy of Police Employment in the German States Summary: In times of an alleged waning of political business cycles and partisan policymaking, vote-seeking policymakers can be expected to shift the use of political manipulation mechanisms towards other policy domains in which the macro-institutional environment allows them greater leverage. Public employment generally, and police employment specifically, are promising domains for such tactics. Timing the hiring of police officers during election periods may increase votes, as these are 'street-visible' jobs dealing with politically salient issues. Law-and-order competence signaling makes police hiring especially attractive for conservative parties. Testing these electioneering and partisanship hypotheses in the German states between 1992 and 2010, we find that socio-economic variables such as population density strongly determine police employment. But incumbents also hire more police officers before elections, while conservative party power increases police numbers. Subjectively 'immediate' forms of crime (issue salience) and perceived causes of crime such as immigration are also positively associated with police numbers. Details: Unpublished paper, 2012. 46p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 18, 2015 at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2031003 Year: 2012 Country: Germany Keywords: Crime Reduction Shelf Number: 135801 |
Author: Zimmermann-Schwartz, Claudia Title: Report: Round Table Summary: Political Mandate With a view to promoting the implementation of the Prostitution Act of the Federal government, a Round Table "Prostitution" was established according to the coalition agreement of the government parties SPD and Bundnis 90/Die Grunen of July 2010; its objective was to develop an action plan for the necessary adjustments of the State law. This political mandate was taken up at an early stage by the "red and green" State government. As soon as December 14, 2012, it had approved the establishment of this body and commissioned the Minister of Health, Equalities and Ageing of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia as the lead institution. Guiding concepts The cabinet's decision also highlights the legal and political guiding concepts the State government links with the establishment of the Round Table "Prostitution". The government's guiding concept is an emancipated society without exclusion. This also means that the free decision of people to engage in prostitution has to be respected and protected by the established law. Whoever decides to practice this profession shall do so under the rule of law and decent conditions. For the State government, the objective is to reinforce prostitutes' right to self-determination, improve their working conditions and protect them against violence. The State government considers this action to also be an important contribution to the fight against human trafficking and the uncovering of unreported cases. Legal situation Since the mandate given to the Round Table "Prostitution" refers to "implementing the Prostitution Act", it is necessary to take a look at the legal situation. The Prostitution Act of January 1, 2002 was passed by the federal legislator in order to improve the legal situation of prostitutes. Details: Dusselforf: Ministry for Health, Equalities, Care and Age, of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, 2015. 82p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 4, 2015 at: http://www.mgepa.nrw.de/emanzipation/frauen/frau_und_beruf/runder_tisch_prostitution/finalreport-prostitution_2015-03-30_weblinks.pdf Year: 2015 Country: Germany Keywords: Prostitutes Shelf Number: 135889 |
Author: Galm, Beate Title: Combating Child Abuse and Neglect: Child Protection in Germany Summary: The Federal Republic of Germany is a federal state with 16 partially sovereign constituent Lander (Federal States). The authorities of the Lander extend to legislation. The distribution of legislative and other competences between the federal government and the Lander is governed by the German Constitution, which is binding for all. The constitution stipulates the basic rights of its 82 million citizens. To promote and protect the child's rights, the constitution stipulates the distribution of responsibilities between parents and government as follows: Childcare and the education of children are the right and duty of the parents. The national community monitors their activities. Only if the parents fail to fulfill their care and educational duties sufficiently, then state is not only entitled to intervene but also mandated. This happens in child endangerment cases, which the parents themselves cannot or do not want to avert. Moreover the state has the general duty to support families in their task of care and education. So far, there is no significant information available in Germany about how often cases become known in the children and youth protection system, where violence against children transgresses the threshold of child endangerment. In fact, there is a nationwide unified official child and youth welfare statistic; however, it focuses on actions and not on cases or case situations. Currently, a Federal Child Protection Act (Bundeskinderschutz-gesetz) is under way which is likely to come into force in 2012. It provides for expanding the child and youth welfare statistic with the objective of collecting the number of cases of child endangerment known in the area of child and youth welfare. In general, only limited assertions can be made concerning the extent of various types of violence against children in Germany. These are based on few studies with a representative selection of the population, on methodologically insufficient estimates (overview in Pothmann, 2006), and on smaller samples in the area of healthcare and Children and Youth Services. Moreover, various statistics (e.g. child and youth statistic, the crime statistic of the police, the statistic of the cause of death) provide information about various partial quantities, e.g. cases of abuse, which are criminally prosecuted or cases, in which children are removed from the family for a short or long-term. In light of the widespread child neglect and psychological child abuse there is a recent representative study (Hauser et al., 2011). Lesser intensity of neglect included, almost 50% of the respondents (juveniles and adults were surveyed, n = 2504) report physical neglect and nearly 50% report emotional neglect in their childhood and adolescence. Serious physical neglect was experienced by 10.8%, serious emotional neglect by 6.6%. The proportion auf psychological abuse reported is 15%, if moderate intensity is included and 1.6% for serious psychological abuse. Non-representative data suggest that child neglect is by far the most common form of endangerment known in the area of child and youth welfare. This assertion is strengthened by the tendency that the situation is similar in all countries, which so far have examined the frequency of various forms of child endangerment (Galm et al., 2010, p. 38-40). In the case of Germany, this was confirmed by a study based on cases over which the family court had to decide about an intervention concerning the parental care (Munder et al., 2000, n = 318). In nearly two-thirds (65 percent) of the cases, the presence of child neglect was affirmed by the social workers. In every second case (50 percent), it was seen as the main cause for endangerment. The same study described psychological child abuse as the second most frequent form of endangerment after child neglect and before physical abuse and sexual abuse of children. Moreover, there is a high rate of overlapping between various forms of child endangerment. These findings are reflected internationally as well (e.g. Jonson-Reid et al., 2003). The few representative study results suggest, that the majority of parents in Germany - even with a decreasing trend - still use at least some minor forms of corporal punishment against their child such as a light slap in the face or a spanking (Bussmann, 2004, 2005, 2008, Wetzels, 1997, Pfeiffer et al., 1997, 1999, Baier et al., 2009). In this connection, Germany is in a middle position in a European comparative study about corporal punishment (Bussmann, 2008). This study also shows that most parents - in Germany about 90% - are aiming to raise their children free of violence. In a summary of German study results, Engfer (2005) concludes that 10% to 15% of parents use more severe and more frequent corporal punishments. In the survey of Hauser et al. (2011) 12% of the respondents re-port physical and 2.8% serious physical violence. In three representative surveys, women, men (Wetzels & Pfeiffer, 1995, Wetzels, 1997, Bienek et al., 2011, Hauser, 2011), juvenile girls, and boys (repeat survey of BZgA, 2010) are asked among others about sexual violence during their childhood and youth. The results show that based on a wider definition of sexual violence up to 19% of women and 8% of men were affected by sexual violence during childhood in Germany. The follow up survey (n = 11,428) by Bienek et al. (2011) is interesting: The results show a significant reduction of sexual violence in the last 20 years. Depending on the definition, in international studies the figures fluctuate between 7% and 36% in affected women and between 3% and 19% in affected men concerning the extent of sexual violence (Finkelhor, 2005). Since the end of the last century the awareness of the negative effects of partnership violence on children has increased in Germany (Kavemann, 2006) According to international studies, partnership violence, which has a special potential for injury and which is embedded in forms of control and debasement is mainly initiated by men toward their partners (research over-views e.g. in Johnson, 2001, Saunders, 2002). In Germany, these findings are confirmed by a representative study (a representative community sample of 10,000 women from all over Germany) concerning living situations, security, and health of women commissioned by the Federal Ministry for Families, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (Muller et al., 2004). This study concludes that at least every fourth woman (25 %) between the ages of 16 and 85 years, who has lived in a partnership, has experienced one or several times physical (23 %) or - in part additionally - sexual (7 %) violence by their partner (Muller et al., 2004, p. 8). Compared to the prevailing data from other European studies (overview in Hagemann-White 2001), these results are in the medium to upper level, whereby the methods and instruments of the survey, the topic and content of focus as well as the included age and examination samples vary greatly and make a comparison the more difficult. In this survey 60% of the women, who had experienced a violent relationship were living with children at the time (N=485). Asked about how they thought this affected their children 57% of these women reported that the children had overheard violent situations, 50% that children had seen these situations and 25% stated that children had tried to defend them against their violent partner. 23% of the women believed that the children had not noticed the partnership violence at all. (Muller et al., 2004, pp. 276-277) In surveys of unreported incidents with juveniles (Enzmann & Wetzels, 2001), approx. 7 % of the ones surveyed stated that they experienced frequent violence of the (social) father against the mother or of both parents against one another during the year prior to the survey. Details: Munich: Deutsches Jugendinstitut e.V., 2011. 54p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 4, 2015 at: http://www.youthpolicy.nl/yp/downloadsyp/Daphne-report-Germany.pdf Year: 2011 Country: Germany Keywords: Child Abuse and Neglect Shelf Number: 135901 |
Author: Czarnecki, Dorothea Title: Prostitution in Germany - A Comprehensive Analysis of Complex Challenges Summary: Debate about prostitution was rekindled in Germany in the autumn of 2013, in connection with a number of national and international media and policy campaigns. This debate has often conflated two different issues: prostitution on the one hand, and human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation on the other. This in turn has led to incorrect information being spread about the legal situation and practice in Germany. A campaign by the European Women's Lobby, for example, seeks to "free" Europe from prostitution. Along with the Bild-Zeitung and Der Spiegel, feminists both at home and abroad are calling Germany "Europe's brothel". In the autumn of 2013 the women's magazine EMMA called on its readers to sign a petition to criminalize sex workers' clients and to eliminate prostitution as such. In response, the newly founded Professional Association for Erotic and Sexual Services (Berufsverband erotische und sexuelle Dienstleistungen - BesD) proceeded to release its own "pro prostitution" petition. We, the authors of this analysis, are feminists who work with both sex workers and trafficked persons as part of our professional activities, which include providing psychosocial support, doing research, and seeking to improve the situation of these two groups in terms of both policy and practice (see the bios in section 14). We seek to achieve a secure legal framework for sex workers, because we know that strengthening their rights will lead to greater protection against violence, better disease prevention and health services, and also reduce the social stigmatization and humiliating treatment they experience from authorities. We are publishing this analysis to help provide a more objective and nuanced basis for discussion about prostitution. We seek to present a realistic view of prostitution in Germany that is based on research and professional experience. Our analysis of this issue focuses on the rights and legal equality of sex workers, and on the protection thereof. We do not make value judgments about prostitution. We realize that not all feminists share this position. Some feminists view prostitution as a threat to women's right to equality with men and to a life free of male violence and patriarchal dominance. They fear that the public presence of prostitutes, along with the associated sexualized and stereotypical view of women and the character of the sexual services they provide, could make these social struggles more difficult and undermine the achievements of the women's movement. We take these fears very seriously. These questions are of concern to many women who are clearly willing to take a closer look at the issues and not to simplify them on the basis of any ideology. We are aware that this constitutes a dilemma - the rights of individuals or a minority stand in opposition to the widespread wish for a society without prostitution. But this dilemma may not be resolved in a one-sided manner. Comprehensive account must be taken of different situations, different worlds, and the "obstinate lifestyles of others" (Nauerth 2012:58). This is a matter of self-determination - and of respect for decisions that women make in the face of greatly reduced options. And many women make decisions that others would strictly reject for themselves. Details: Berlin: SPI Research, 2014. 48p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 8, 2015 at: http://www.spi-research.eu/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/ProstitutioninGermanyEN_main.pdf Year: 2015 Country: Germany Keywords: Human Trafficking Shelf Number: 135965 |
Author: Boyne, Shawn Marie Title: Juvenile Justice in Germany Summary: In this article, I trace the emergence of diverse models of juvenile prosecution practice in Germany and show how those models reflect local and regional attitudes towards the character of juvenile crime. The evolution of distinct local practices poses an intriguing challenge to a key underlying premise in the German criminal justice system-namely that prosecutorial decision-making is objective, impartial, and grounded in neutral legal standards which are impervious to political influence. To set the stage for this inquiry, I begin by laying out the basic framework of German juvenile law and the ambit of discretion which it permits. I then explore the actual patterns of juvenile criminality and punishment using published statistical reports. In the chapter's core, I delve into prosecutors' perceptions of the purposes of juvenile crime and actual sanctioning practices. This includes a discussion of decision making norms. Finally, the article details the aims and practices of newly developed fast-track programs and innovative "repeat offender" units established in some German cities. In the framework of that discussion I show how the latitude inherent in the law as well as the structure of management controls and workload pressures empower prosecution offices with the latitude to tailor prosecution policies to respond to community and political pressures Details: Indianapolis: Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law, 2015. 44p. Source: Internet Resource: Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law Research Paper No. 2015-28 : Accessed August 14, 2015 at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2608878 Year: 2015 Country: Germany Keywords: Juvenile Offenders Shelf Number: 136425 |
Author: Dengler-Roscher, Kathrin Title: Do Thieves React to Prices? - Evidence from Gas Stations Summary: In this paper we examine whether fuel theft reacts on prices changes. We cooperated with the State Office of Criminal Investigation Stuttgart and collected data on fuel theft. So we have a unique data set with which we can investigate if and how much fuel thieves react on price changes of fuel. We find that fuel price has a statistically significant positive effect on fuel theft. In our most extensive model we include a lagged detection rate and unemployment as further time-variant variables and control for overall crime by including a crime index. Details: Ulm, Germany: Institute of Economics, Ulm University, 2015. 27p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 26, 2015 at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2674651 Year: 2015 Country: Germany Keywords: Deterrence Shelf Number: 137140 |
Author: Steffan, Elfriede Title: Final Report from the study of the federal model project "Support for Leaving Prostitution" Summary: This is the abridged version of the final report from the extended evaluation and research study (wissenschaftliche Begleitung) commissioned for the federal model project "Support for Leaving Prostitution" and carried out by SPI Forschung gGmbH in Berlin and the Sozialwissenschaftliches FrauenForschungsInstitut in Freiburg (SoFFi F.). The evaluation and research commenced on 1 November 2011, approximately two years after the start of the model project, and went on for three years and seven months, ending on 31 May 2015. The aim of the evaluation and research study was to gain information and knowledge. It sought to capture facets of reality - sex workers' lives and working conditions and the factors that help them leave prostitution - and to make the results available for practical action and policy decisions. Contact to the sex workers in this report was made via specialized counseling centers offering programs for leaving prostitution. Our research therefore focused on the views of those seeking to stop doing sex work, and as such makes no statements about this work in general. This evaluation of the federal model project clearly shows that sex workers face stigmatization and exclusion. As long as that remains the case, specific counseling and support programs will be needed to reach this target group and work with them in open and non-judgmental ways. The work at the three locations of the federal model project demonstrated in impressive form how the processes of leaving prostitution and embarking on new pathways can succeed by means of: 1) individual support and assistance for clients; and 2) close cooperation among specialized counseling centers, exit programs, and training institutes including job centers. Results from the different regions of this model project indicate that at least one in ten of all sex workers depends on counseling and support to take new personal and career paths. Details: Berlin: Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth, 2015. 40p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 28, 2015 at: http://www.bmfsfj.de/RedaktionBMFSFJ/Broschuerenstelle/Pdf-Anlagen/Unterst_C3_BCtzung-des-Ausstiegs-aus-der-Prostitution-Kurzfassung-englisch,property=pdf,bereich=bmfsfj,sprache=de,rwb=true.pdf Year: 2015 Country: Germany Keywords: Prostitutes Shelf Number: 137367 |
Author: Jehle, Jorg-Martin Title: Criminal Justice in Germany. Sixth Edition Summary: Public perception of crime and law enforcement is dominated by headline news. Sensational cases attract media coverage; they are the topic of discussion on social networks. But the real picture is different: The day-to-day fight against crime is largely a story of minor to moderately serious property offences. This publication uses selected statistical data to present a realistic picture of punishable behaviour and the prosecution of criminal offences. Beyond this, it aims to provide an insight into how our criminal justice system works. All stages of criminal justice are described, from the work of police, prosecutors and judges, to sentencing, corrections and probation. Criminal Justice in Germany contains a dedicated section with figures on offender-victim mediation. It has been rounded off with a chapter on reoffending and some comparative statistics for Europe. However, a publication of this sort can only paint a picture of selected areas. It would go beyond the scope of this publication to cover all branches of criminal procedure and all available penalties together with the relevant figures. The figures presented in the following chapters have been taken from current statistics, which naturally refer to previous years. Details: Berlin: Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection, 2015. 88p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed December 1, 2015 at: https://www.bundesjustizamt.de/DE/SharedDocs/Publikationen/Justizstatistik/Criminal_Justice_Germany_en.pdf?__blob=publicationFile Year: 2015 Country: Germany Keywords: Crime Statistics Shelf Number: 137370 |
Author: Dengler-Roscher, Kathrin Title: Do Criminals Behave Rationally? Evidence from the Franco-German Border Summary: In this paper we use a new identification strategy to provide further empirical evidence that criminals behave as predicted by rational choice theory. We collected data from German police administration to build an unique data set that contains monthly fuel thefts at gas station level. In a first step, we use exogenous variation of fuel prices to provide empirical evidence that fuel theft reacts to different fuel prices. In a second step, we find empirical evidence that this price effect is stronger when cost-reducing activities of criminals are additionally taken into account. Thereby, we observe the German border area near France where potential French fuel thieves have better opportunities to get away with fuel theft than their German counterparts. Details: Ulm, Germany: Institute of Economics, Ulm University, 2016. 35p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 26, 2016 at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2712872 Year: 2016 Country: Germany Keywords: Criminal Behavior Shelf Number: 137655 |
Author: Kirchgassner, Gebhard Title: On Estimating the Size of the Shadow Economy Summary: As long as it is employed cautiously enough, the model approach is a useful tool to estimate simultaneously the size and the development of the shadow economy in several countries. However, a second method is necessary to calibrate the model. The currency demand approach can lead to highly implausible results; the size of the shadow economy might be largely overestimated. An alternative is the survey method. For real tests of whether a variable has an impact, procedures are necessary that do not use the same variables as those used to construct the indicator. Thus, to make progress in analysing the shadow economy, the model approach has a role to play, but it has to be complemented by other methods employing different data. The currency demand approach cannot be used as long as it employs the same variables for its constructions. Details: At. Gallen: SWIT: University of St.Gallen, School of Economics and Political Science, Department of Economics, 2016. 17p. Source: Internet Resource: Discussion Paper no. 2016-03: Accessed February 17, 2016 at: http://www1.vwa.unisg.ch/RePEc/usg/econwp/EWP-1603.pdf Year: 2016 Country: Germany Keywords: Commercial Crimes Shelf Number: 137863 |
Author: Entorf, Horst Title: Does the Link between Unemployment and Crime Depend on the Crime Level? A Quantile Regression Approach Summary: Two alternative hypotheses - referred to as opportunity - and stigma-based behavior suggest that the relationship between unemployment and crime also depends on preexisting local crime levels. In order to analyze conjectured nonlinearities between both variables, we are using quantile regressions applied to German county panel data. While both conventional OLS and quantile regressions confirm the positive link between unemployment and crime for property crimes, results for assault differ with respect to the method of estimation. Whereas conventional mean regressions do not show any significant effect (which would confirm the usual result found for violent crimes in the literature), quantile regression uncovers that size and importance of the relationship are conditional on the crime rate: The partial effect is significantly positive for moderately low and median quantiles of local assault rates. Details: Bonn, Germany: Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), 2014. 34p. Source: Internet Resource: IZA Discussion Paper No. 8334: Accessed April 2, 2016 at: http://ftp.iza.org/dp8334.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Germany Keywords: Socioeconomic Conditions and Crime Shelf Number: 138534 |
Author: Dustmann, Christian Title: Illegal Migration and Consumption Behavior of Immigrant Households Summary: We analyze the effect of immigrants' legal status on their consumption behavior using unique survey data that samples both documented and undocumented immigrants. To address the problem of sorting into legal status, we propose two alternative identification strategies as exogenous source of variation for current legal status: First, transitory income shocks in the home country, measured as rainfall shocks at the time of emigration. Second, amnesty quotas that grant legal residence status to undocumented immigrants. Both sources of variation create a strong first stage, and - although very different in nature - lead to similar estimates of the effects of illegal status on consumption, with undocumented immigrants consuming about 40% less than documented immigrants, conditional on background characteristics. Roughly one quarter of this decrease is explained by undocumented immigrants having lower incomes than documented immigrants. Our findings imply that legalization programs may have a potentially important effect on immigrants' consumption behavior, with consequences for both the source and host countries. Details: Munich: Center for Economic Studies (CESifo), 2016. 69p. Source: Internet Resource: CESifo Working Paper No. 5822: Accessed April 6, 2016 at: http://www.cesifo-group.de/ifoHome/publications/working-papers/CESifoWP/CESifoWPdetails?wp_num=5822&CESifoWP.search=+ Year: 2016 Country: Germany Keywords: Illegal Migration Shelf Number: 138570 |
Author: Klaas, Katharina Title: Wildlife Crime in Germany. In-depth Analysis for the ENVI Committee Summary: The Ecologic Institute, together with a consortium, conducted a study on wildlife crime, which gives an overview over the state of wildlife crime in Europe. As a basis for this study, in-depth analyses were carried out for five EU member states. Ecologic Institute conducted the in-depth analysis of wildlife crime in Germany. The analysis concludes that Germany is not a main destination for illegal wildlife products from iconic species, but still an important destination for live animals like reptiles for the pet market. It is also an important transit country for ivory and other illegally traded animal parts from Western and Central Africa with East and South-East Asia as the main region of destination. Germany is quite active in promoting the fight against wildlife crime, both by cooperating closely with destination countries, sharing expertise and intelligence, and internally regarding demand reduction, e.g. regarding reptiles. The cooperation between the various German authorities and institutions as well as with NGOs is reported to function well, formally as well as informally. Problems are mainly of an organisational nature; they result from the high number of competent authorities which is due to the federal structure of the German political system. Regarding enforcement, the study points out that there is a lack of specialised knowledge on wildlife crime in administrative, enforcement and judicial bodies, ultimately attributed to a general lack of prioritisation and resources allocated to wildlife crime issues. Wildlife crime is a serious threat to biodiversity and sustainable development. The EU is both one of the most important markets for illegal wildlife products and an important actor in the fight against wildlife crime. Details: Brussels: European Parliament, 2016. 30p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 22, 2016 at: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/IDAN/2016/578958/IPOL_IDA%282016%29578958_EN.pdf Year: 2016 Country: Germany Keywords: Illegal Wildlife Trade Shelf Number: 138724 |
Author: Entorf, Horst Title: The Analysis of Prison-Prisoner Data Using Cluster-Sample Econometrics: Prison Conditions and Prisoners' Assessments of the Future Summary: The study investigates whether and how strong prison conditions contribute to the perceived propensity to recidivate after controlling for personal characteristics and criminal background. In order to combine different sources of information on personal characteristics of prison inmates and administrative prison data in an efficient way, we propose the use of matched prison-prisoner data and application of cluster-sample methods such as GEE (generalized estimating equations). Estimated average partial effects based on GEE and random-effects Probit modeling reveal that prison conditions show significant effects on the perceived likelihood of future reincarceration. Particularly, we find that inmates facing prison overcrowding show a reduced likelihood of recidivism. Details: Bonn, Germany: Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), 2016. 28p. Source: Internet Resource: IZA Discussion Paper No. 10209: Accessed September 14, 2016 at: http://ftp.iza.org/dp10209.pdf Year: 2016 Country: Germany Keywords: Prison Overcrowding Shelf Number: 147869 |
Author: Lehmann, Robert J.B. Title: Using Crime Scene Behavior for Risk Assessment in Sexual Offenders Summary: Sexual offending represents an important judicial, clinical, and policy issue and tends to invoke considerable public concern. Recent meta-analytic research indicates that about 8% of men and 20% of women had suffered some form of sexual abuse prior to the age of 18 (Pereda, Guilera, Forns, & Gomez-Benito, 2009). Tjaden and Thoennes (2006) report a lifetime prevalence of rape in men of about 3% and in women of about 18%. Accordingly, courts, police, and forensic practitioners invest considerable resources in predicting and preventing sexual offending by known sexual offenders. In general, those involved in assessing an offender's risk for future sexual offending seek to collect diverse information about the offender and the offenses committed to inform their decisions. Furthermore, the importance of including crime scene information into forensic risk assessment (referred to as "risk assessment" from hereon) is emphasized throughout the literature (e.g., Beech, Fisher, & Thornton, 2003; West, 2000). In Germany, the analysis of crime scene behavior is an essential part of clinical-idiographic risk assessment (Rasch, 1999). Expert witnesses are implicitly required by law to explain an offender's risk by providing evidence from their crime scene behavior. Indeed, the courts have placed increasing demand on the analysis of an offender's crime scene behavior to date. Moreover, the analysis of an offender's criminal behavior following a clinical-idiographic approach (Dahle, 2005) is part of the minimum standards of risk assessment in Germany (Boetticher et al., 2007). In spite of the theoretical relevance of crime scene analysis (CSA) for risk assessment, there is little empirical evidence to support what crime scene behavior is most relevant for risk assessment. Therefore, the empirical analysis of the predictive accuracy of crime scene behaviors for the assessment of future sexual offending is needed. For example, whereas frequently used actuarial risk assessment methods rely heavily on the criminal history of an offender with only limited and a-theoretical inclusion of crime scene related variables, CSA could also be applied in cases where offenders have no such criminal history (i.e., first-time offenders) or where the criminal history is simply unknown (e.g., foreign offender). Furthermore, according to German regulations, risk assessment can only be completed using a clinical-idiographic risk assessment approach, which pays particular attention to the individual circumstances and characteristics (e.g., crime scene information) of a particular case. To provide for a scientific and controllable framework as well as for transparency, it is essential to structure the clinical-idiographic assessment content-wise and to follow specific methodological guidelines. In terms of the theoretical and empirical basis for the process of analyzing the crime scene behavior evaluators have to draw on, for example, general theories of criminality and social psychology or dated (non-validated) offender typologies. So far, there are no explicit guidelines or risk assessment instruments assisting the evaluator to structure the CSA or indicating what is the relevant information to include. Therefore, the possibilities for quality control (e.g., comprehensiveness, completeness) of the CSA are limited. To diagnose deviant sexual preferences diagnosticians often rely on the self-report assessment of the patients themselves. However, given the elevated risk associated with a diagnosis of a sexual paraphilia, patients may have a tendency for dissimulation. To overcome this problem researchers have recently suggested the use of behavioral indicators derived from a person's criminal history as a complementary method for diagnosing sexual paraphilia (Nitschke, Mokros, Osterheider, & Marshall, 2012). In addition to being a useful complement for the clinical diagnosis of sexual paraphilia, crime scene behavior could generally provide potentially rich information about other enduring offender propensities as well. These propensities (e.g., whether a sexual offense was motivated by general antisocial behavior or sexualized aggression) could have important implications for risk assessment, offender treatment, and police investigations. They could help therapists to identify the important clinical phenomena evident in the offense behavior or could inform risk assessment for police investigations in cases where the offender has yet to be identified (e.g., behavioral investigative advice). Altogether, crime scene information is an important and understudied factor that might be a valid contribution to risk assessment as well as for other applied contexts (e.g., the delivery of treatment services). Crime scene information is valuable as it is a more objective measure of what the offender actually did, and is not dependent on self-report. Also, it should commonly be available and easily assessable by the analysis of victim statements, police reports, and court decisions. However, to date no systematic and theory-based empirical evaluation is available that tries to identify the relevant crime scene information to be included into a comprehensive risk assessment. Details: Berlin: Freie Universitat Berlin, 2014. 83p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed September 28, 2016 at: http://www.diss.fu-berlin.de/diss/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/FUDISS_derivate_000000015568/Lehmann.Robert.diss.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Germany Keywords: Crime Analysis Shelf Number: 146119 |
Author: Khadjavi, Menusch Title: Deterrence Works for Criminals Summary: Criminal law and economics rests on the expectation that deterrence incentives can be employed to reduce crime. Prison survey evidence however suggests that a majority of criminals are biased and may not react to deterrence incentives. This study employs an extra-laboratory experiment in a German prison to test the effectiveness of deterrence. Subjects either face potential punishment when stealing, or they can steal without deterrence. We confirm Gary Becker's deterrence hypothesis that deterrence works for criminals. Details: Kiel, Germany: Kiel Institute for the World Economy, 2014. 16p. Source: Internet Resource: Kiel Working Paper no. 1938: Accessed October 12, 2016 at: https://www.ifw-members.ifw-kiel.de/publications/deterrence-works-for-criminals/KWP1938_Deterrence%20works%20for%20criminals_Khadjavi.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Germany Keywords: Deterrence Shelf Number: 145426 |
Author: Westermaier, Franz G. Title: The Impact of Lengthening the School Day on Substance Abuse and Crime: Evidence from a German High School Reform Summary: In the 2000s, a major educational reform in Germany reduced the academic high school duration by one year while keeping constant the total number of instructional hours before graduation. The instructional hours from the eliminated school year shifted to lower grade levels, which increased the time younger students spend at school. This study explores the impact of the reform on youth crime rates and substance abuse using administrative police crime statistics, administrative student enrollment data, and a student drug survey. The staggered implementation of the reform in different Lander -age-groups allows for a difference-in-difference approach. I find that the reform resulted in a decline in crime rates, which is almost exclusively driven by a reduction in violent crime and illegal substance abuse. Regarding the latter, the rate of illegal cannabis consumption strongly declined; however, no significant effect is detected on cannabis dealers or the consumption of other illegal drugs. The survey evidence further suggests that decreased cannabis consumption was not driven by a shift of consumption into 'school hours'. The results point to an 'incapacitation' effect of schooling due to the increased instructional hours at lower grade levels. Details: Berlin: DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research, 2016. 34p. Source: Internet Resource: Discussion Papers no. 1616: Accessed November 17, 2016 at: https://www.diw.de/documents/publikationen/73/diw_01.c.546486.de/dp1616.pdf Year: 2016 Country: Germany Keywords: Crime Rates Shelf Number: 144857 |
Author: Friebel, Guido Title: Trust the Police? Self-Selection of Motivated Agents into the German Police Force Summary: We conduct experimental games with police applicants in Germany to investigate whether intrinsically motivated agents self-select into public service. Our focus is on trustworthiness and the willingness to enforce norms as key dimensions of intrinsic motivation in the police context. We find that police applicants are more trustworthy than non-applicants, i.e., they return higher shares as second-movers in a trust game. Furthermore, they invest more in rewards and punishment when they can enforce cooperation as a third party. Our results provide clear evidence for advantageous self-selection into the German police force, documenting an important mechanism by which the match between jobs and agents in public service can be improved. Details: Bonn: Institute of Labor Studies (IZA), 2016. 28p. Source: Internet Resource: IZA Discussion Paper Series: No. 10410: Accessed February 8, 2017 at: http://ftp.iza.org/dp10410.pdf Year: 2016 Country: Germany Keywords: Police Behavior Shelf Number: 140859 |
Author: Gehrsitz, Markus Title: Jobs, Crime, and Votes - A Short-run Evaluation of the Refugee Crisis in Germany Summary: Millions of refugees made their way to Europe between 2014 and 2015, with over one million arriving in Germany alone. Yet, little is known about the impact of this inflow on labor markets, crime, and voting behavior. This article uses administrative data on refugee allocation and provides an evaluation of the short-run consequences of the refugee inflow. Our identification strategy exploits that a scramble for accommodation determined the assignment of refugees to German counties resulting in exogeneous variations in the number of refugees per county within and across states. Our estimates suggest that migrants have not displaced native workers but have themselves struggled to find gainful employment. We find very small increases in crime in particular with respect to drug offenses and fare-dodging. Our analysis further suggests that counties which experience a larger influx see neither more nor less support for the main anti-immigrant party than counties which experience small migrant inflows. Details: Mannheim: Centre for European Economic Research, 2016. 45p. Source: Internet Resource: ZEW Discussion Paper No. 16-086 : Accessed February 13, 2017 at: http://www.zew.de/en/publikationen/jobs-crime-and-votes-a-short-run-evaluation-of-the-refugee-crisis-in-germany/?cHash=d082c304ea3aca820856d2c78c22852b Year: 2016 Country: Germany Keywords: Immigrants Shelf Number: 145103 |
Author: Trautmann, Catrin Title: Systematic Classification of in Germany Offered and Implemented (Prevention) Programmes Against Islamist Motivated Radicalisation Outside the Justice System Summary: Prevention clearly includes a wide range of social, educational and therapeutic approaches. Its success often depends on the extent to which adolescents and young adults are able to participate within society and that they are shown a direction in life that is worth pursuing. Development psychology and educational science show that the path of discovering one's identity during youth does not always run smoothly for some young people. Unfortunately, the "search for meaning" is, on occasions, first answered by the attention and support provided by extremists, due, for example, to prolonged personal experiences of exclusion and rejection. The prevention of radicalisation is the job of those who have taken on responsibility for young persons, for example, in schools, in training or education programmes and, of course, not least of all, in families and their networks. The state is obliged to offer advice and support, in certain cases, very intensively and for longer periods. Germany's national programmes, "Demokratie leben!"[Living Democracy] and "Zusammenhalt durch Teilhabe" [Cohesion through Participation] along with additional state initiatives, provide the financial support for the local prevention work of authorities, independent organisations and civil society. Germany's federal government alone has provided well over 50 million euros. This amount is expected to double in the budget for 2017. It is necessary for the dissemination and quality of the measures to continue to be evaluated in different ways. The positive effects are difficult to measure, the evaluation method at times touching the sensibilities of the actors involved. In some places, there are not sufficient programmes in place, while in others the quality may be lacking. To avoid any misunderstandings: without the numerous initiatives, projects and programmes being offered by dedicated experts and professionals, there would be even greater problems. Thus it is necessary to further qualify the programmes that are in place, to monitor the effects, to fill any regional gaps and to consolidate successful approaches that are in place. An agreement on central quality standards would represent ground-breaking progress. In the area of violence prevention, the DFK, along with researchers, provides well-structured information and recommendations on programmes as well as their successful implementation at the website www.wegweiser-praevention.de. An extension of the portal to the prevention of extremism and radicalisation would be desirable, for example, linking the programmes to the Federal Centre for Political Education [Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung]. A cross-over with state initiatives, for example, in the state prevention committees, is one of DFK’s working principles. I continue to be optimistic that the undeniable obstacles to cooperation can be overcome and urge for cooperation for the purposes of a common "prevention strategy". I recommend politicians to provide valuable support for preventative work, both at federal and state level, which at times has to be carried out with very limited personnel and financial resources. This Systematic classification of Prevention Programmes against Islamist Motivated Radicalisation (here as a short version) is the beginning of a growing culture of cooperation, in which knowledge and experiences are shared and new quality standards are developed. Academic and practical partners are warmly invited to participate! This inventory excludes initiatives and measures taking place within the judicial system because these are being analysed and structured in parallel in a project initiated by the Centre for Criminology [Kriminologische Zentralstelle]. Details: Bielefeld: Institute for Interdisciplinary Research on Conflict and Violence [IKG], University of Bielefeld, 2016. 45p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 16, 2017 at: http://www.kriminalpraevention.de/files/DFK/sprachen/en/2016_classification_of_programmes_against_violent_islamist_extremism.pdf Year: 2016 Country: Germany Keywords: Extremist Groups Shelf Number: 141054 |
Author: Follmar-Otto, Petra Title: Human trafficking in Germany; strengthening victim's human rights Summary: The previously marginalised phenomenon of human trafficking became a mainstream political issue more than ten years ago. Human trafficking is not only perceived as a severe form of transnational organised crime but is also denounced as a human rights violation. Many international, regional, and national initiatives and programmes have been created. The 2000 UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons and the 2005 Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings are specialised legal instruments that have led to legal changes at the regional and national levels. In spite of these developments, human trafficking remains one of the most urgent human rights issues for Germany and other industrialised countries: first – in spite of the necessary scepticism about the data on human trafficking – there is every indication that the extent of human trafficking in Europe and worldwide remains very high. Second, victim's rights have made only marginal progress in spite of the attention human trafficking receives in Germany: the vast majority of trafficked persons are not identified as victims of human trafficking. In practice, even those who are so identified cannot assert rights to (temporary) residence, safe accommodation, material and psychosocial assistance, and remuneration and compensation unless they agree to appear as witnesses in criminal proceedings. Trafficked persons are not perceived as legal subjects, and there is a lack of legal clarity and legal certainty. Third, the prevention of human trafficking is not integrated into a way of organising (labour) migration that is generally oriented to human rights and aims to ensure that regular and irregular migrants never end up in situations of exploitation that are similar to slavery. Announcements are often made to the public that enough has been said about human trafficking and that it is now time to act. This is certainly right – but, given the steps that have already been taken, it is also necessary to review the underlying concepts and the effects that actions taken against human trafficking can have on human rights. Trafficked persons are caught in the competing political interests of fighting crime, migration policies, and human rights. In many countries, including Germany, actions that are taken and reforms of the law still emphasise criminal prosecution. A full human rights approach has not yet been developed. The specific international instruments on human trafficking are still far from covering all obligations under the core human rights treaties, such as the UN Covenant on Civil and Political Rights or the UN Convention for the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). Measures against human trafficking can even lead to violations of the human rights of trafficked persons (or people who could potentially be trafficked) or other groups, such as migrants or sex workers. In some contexts, combating human trafficking is also used as a pretext for introducing restrictive and repressive measures into migration or security policies or the regulation of sex work. This study is therefore intended to contribute to the analysis of policies against human trafficking from the viewpoint of human rights. In the public debate there is often uncertainty about how to describe this phenomenon, which makes it difficult to take effective, appropriate action against human trafficking. This study therefore begins with definitions, explains the necessary distinctions, and provides data and facts about human trafficking (section 2). The third section covers the causes of human trafficking and the various approaches to combating it and describes the status quo in Germany. The fourth section discusses in greater detail how the prohibition of human trafficking and the resulting state obligations are anchored in human rights. The more recent specialised international agreements on human trafficking and law-making in the European Union are then presented (section 5). The emphasis is on the Council of Europe Convention, which professes to treat human trafficking in a human rights context. The final chapter summarizes elements of a human rights approach against human trafficking and makes recommendations for further development of policies. This study concentrates on trafficking in adults. Women, who make up the vast majority of the trafficked persons in Europe, are in the forefront. The field of trafficking in children is not covered by this study. Where that issue is concerned, reference is made to a recently published study by the Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) of the European Union, which investigates the legal framework and measures against trafficking in children in the EU Member States. Details: Berlin: German Institute for Human Rights, 2009. 96p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 28, 2017 at: http://www.stiftung-evz.de/fileadmin/user_upload/EVZ_Uploads/Publikationen/Studien/2009_study_human_trafficking_in_germany.pdf Year: 2009 Country: Germany Keywords: Human Rights Abuses Shelf Number: 141254 |
Author: Friehe, Tim Title: The Effect of Western TV on Crime: Evidence from East Germany Summary: This paper explores the causal influence of Western television programming on crime rates. We exploit a natural experiment involving access to West German TV within the German Democratic Republic (GDR) in which only geography and topography determined the allocation of individuals to treatment and control groups. Focusing on violent and property crime (as these domains were most likely to be affected by the marked differences in TV content), we find that in the post-reunification decade in which TV content was harmonized, regions that had access to Western TV broadcasts prior to the reunification experienced lower rates of violent crime, sex crime, and theft, but more fraud. Details: Marburg, Germany: University of Marburg, 2017. 32p. Source: Internet Resource: Joint Discussion Paper Series in Economics, No. 10-2017: Accessed March 8, 2017 at: https://www.uni-marburg.de/fb02/makro/forschung/magkspapers/paper_2017/10-2017_friehe.pdf Year: 2017 Country: Germany Keywords: Mass Media Shelf Number: 141375 |
Author: Gehrsitz, Markus Title: Speeding, Punishment, and Recidivism: Evidence from a Regression Discontinuity Design Summary: This paper estimates the effects of temporary driver's license suspensions on driving behavior. A little known rule in the German traffic penalty catalogue maintains that drivers who commit a series of speeding transgressions within 365 days should have their license suspended for one month. My regression discontinuity design exploits the quasi-random assignment of license suspensions caused by the 365-days cut-off and shows that 1-month license suspensions lower the probability of recidivating within a year by 20 percent. This is largely a specific deterrence effect driven by the punishment itself and not by incapacitation, information asymmetries, or the threat of stiffer future penalties. Details: Bonn: Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), 2017. 54p. Source: Internet Resource: ADiscussion Paper Series: ccessed May 6, 2017 at: http://ftp.iza.org/dp10707.pdf Year: 2017 Country: Germany Keywords: License Suspensions Shelf Number: 145330 |
Author: ufuq.de Title: Protest, Provocation or Propaganda? Guide to Preventing Salafist Ideologization in Schools and Youth Centers Summary: This guide summarizes our longstanding experiences in the field of prevention, CVE and civic education. It draws on various off- and online projects with youngsters of different religious and ethnic background and builds on several years of trainings and consultancy with teachers, social workers, municipalities and police officers. The guide informs about the growing popularity of Salafist ideology among youngsters and highlights the various motivations that can lead youngsters to join religiously extreme groupings and organisations. Focusing on schools and youth work, it provides concrete examples to prevent radicalisation processes and to intervene in religiously motivated conflicts Details: Berlin: ufuq.de, 2016. 66p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 23, 2017 at: http://www.ufuq.de/Preventing_radicalisation.pdf Year: 2016 Country: Germany Keywords: Extremism Shelf Number: 145742 |
Author: Lastauskas, Povilas Title: Spatial Nexus in Crime and Unemployment in Times of Crisis Summary: Space is important. In this paper we use the global financial crisis as an exogenous shock to the German labor market to elucidate the spatial nexus between crime and unemployment. Our contribution is twofold: first, we lay down a parsimonious spatial labor market model with search frictions, criminal opportunities, and, unlike earlier analyses, productivity shocks which link criminal engagement and employment status. Second, we seek empirical support using data on the 402 German regions and years 2009 - 2010, in a setting that not only allows for crime spatial multipliers but also circumvents reverse causality by exploiting exogenous changes in unemployment due to the crisis. As predicted by our theory, the destruction of the lowest productivity matches, measured by increases in unemployment rates, has a significant impact on pure property crime (housing burglary and theft of/from motor vehicles) and street crime. The analysis offers important implications for local government policy. Details: Stockholm: Swedish Institute for Social Research (SOFI), 2017. 52p. Source: Internet Resource: WORKING PAPER 2/2017: Accessed June 24, 2017 at: http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1083238/FULLTEXT01.pdf Year: 2017 Country: Germany Keywords: Burglary Shelf Number: 146370 |
Author: Chevalier, Arnaud Title: Economic Uncertainty, Parental Selection, and the Criminal Activity of the 'Children of the Wall' Summary: We study the link between parental selection and children criminality in a new context. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, East Germany experienced an unprecedented temporary drop in fertility driven by economic uncertainty. We exploit this natural experiment to estimate that the children from these (smaller) cohorts are 40 percent more likely to commit crimes. We show that women who gave birth at this period were negatively selected. Investigation of the underlying mechanisms reveals that emotional attachment and risk attitudes play important roles in the fertility-crime relationship. Finally, results for siblings support a causal interpretation of our findings. Details: Munich, Germany: CESifo (Center for Economic Studies & Ifo Institute, 2013. 45p. Source: Internet Resource: CESifo Working Paper Series No. 4462: Accessed August 22, 2017 at: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2353311## Year: 2013 Country: Germany Keywords: Economics and Crime Shelf Number: 131747 |
Author: Chevalier, Arnaud Title: Economic Uncertainty, Parental Selection, and Children's Educational Outcomes Summary: After the fall of the Berlin Wall, East Germany experienced an unprecedented temporary drop in fertility driven by economic uncertainty. We show that the children born during this transition period performed worse on a range of educational outcomes from an early age onward. The mothers of these children exhibit personal characteristics and family structures consistent with negative parental selection. Investigating the underlying mechanisms reveals that parental educational input and emotional attachment were also lower for these children. Finally, our ability to compare siblings means that we can reject that our results stem from a time of birth effect. Details: Munich, Germany: CESifo (Center for Economic Studies & Ifo Institute, 2015. 48p. Source: Internet Resource: IZA Discussion paper no. 9004: Accessed August 23, 2017 at: http://ftp.iza.org/dp9004.pdf Year: 2015 Country: Germany Keywords: Economics and Crime Shelf Number: 146885 |
Author: Falk, Armin Title: Status Inequality, Moral Disengagement and Violence Summary: This paper studies the causal effect of status differences on moral disengagement and violence. To measure violent behavior, in the experiment, a subject can inflict a painful electric shock on another subject in return for money. We exogenously vary relative status in the realm of sexual attractiveness. In three between-subject conditions, the assigned other subject is either of higher, lower or equal status. The incidence of electric shocks is substantially higher among subjects matched with higher- and lower-status others, relative to subjects matched with equal-status others. This causal evidence on the role of status inequality on violence suggests an important societal cost of economic and social inequalities Details: Bonn, Germany: IZA - Institute of Labor Economics, 2017. 31p. Source: Internet Resource: IZA DP No. 10921: Accessed September 7, 2017 at: http://ftp.iza.org/dp10921.pdf Year: 2017 Country: Germany Keywords: Inequality Shelf Number: 147143 |
Author: Munchow, Sebastian von Title: Aftermath of the Terror Attack on Breitscheid Platz Christmas Market: Germany's Security Architecture and Parliamentary Inquiries Summary: On December 19th 2016, Anis Amri, a Tunisian citizen, hijacked a truck and crashed into a Christmas market at Breitscheid Platz in Berlin. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack, which resulted in twelve deaths and fifty additional casualties. Amri escaped the crime scene and travelled through Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France to Northern Italy where police officers killed him near Milan three days later. This assault was the first major terrorist event in Germany for decades. Prior to this event, the most recent attacks were the Red Army Faction plots in the 1970s, the Olympics hostage-taking in 1972, and the right-wing motivated attack on Munich's Oktoberfest in 1980. This attack, in which a vehicle rammed into a crowded Christmas market in the center of Berlin, not only sparked a debate about Berlin's migration policy at large, but also focused the conversation on specific questions. How could Amri be seeking asylum in Germany despite his criminal record in Italy? How did he operate inside Germany using fourteen different identities? Did he rely on a network of supporters? How did he manage to travel through half of Europe before his life ended? Some political voices called for security-related reforms aimed at improving video surveillance, data exchange, and deportation processes, while others demanded a thorough parliamentary investigation of the plot. This paper will briefly touch upon those parliamentary attempts on state and federal level to explore the plot. It will then revisit federal inquiries into matters related to the security architecture over the past twenty-seven years as well as the coverage of these inquiries in the media. Finally, this study will conclude with some thoughts about whether a federal parliamentary inquiry should have been used to investigate what happened before, during, and after the attack. Details: Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany: George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies, 2017. 19p. Source: Internet Resource: Occasional Paper Series, No. 28: Accessed October 10, 2017 at: http://www.marshallcenter.org/MCPUBLICWEB/mcdocs/files/College/F_Publications/occPapers/occ-paper_28-en.pdf Year: 2017 Country: Germany Keywords: Homeland Security Shelf Number: 147653 |
Author: Muller, Karsten Title: Fanning the Flames of Hate: Social Media and Hate Crime Summary: This paper investigates the link between social media and hate crime using hand-collected data from Facebook. We study the case of Germany, where the recently emerged right-wing party Alternative fur Deutschland (AfD) has developed a major social media presence. Using a Bartik-type empirical strategy, we show that right-wing anti-refugee sentiment on Facebook predicts violent crimes against refugees in otherwise similar municipalities with higher social media usage. To establish causality, we further exploit exogenous variation in major internet and Facebook outages, which fully undo the correlation between social media and hate crime. We further find that the effect decreases with distracting news events; increases with user network interactions; and does not hold for posts unrelated to refugees. Our results suggest that social media can act as a propagation mechanism between online hate speech and real-life incidents. Details: Coventry, UK: University of Warwick, 2018. 82p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 4, 2018 at: https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/economics/staff/crschwarz/fanning-flames-hate.pdf Year: 2018 Country: Germany Keywords: Bias Motivated Crimes Shelf Number: 149690 |
Author: Alvarez, Amalia Title: Normative change and culture of hate: An experiment on online environments Summary: We present an online experiment in which we investigate the impact of perceived social acceptability on online hate speech, and measure the causal effect of specific interventions. We compare two types of interventions: counter-speaking (informal verbal sanctions) and censoring (deleting hateful content). The interventions are based on the belief that individuals infer acceptability from the context, using previous actions as a source of normative information. The interventions are based on the two conceptualizations found in the literature: 1) what do others normally do, i.e., descriptive norms; and 2) what happened to those who violated the norm, i.e., injunctive norms. Participants were significantly less likely to engage in hate speech when prior hate content had been moderately censored. Our results suggest that normative behavior in online conversations might, in fact, be motivated by descriptive norms rather than injunctive norms. With this work we present some of the first experimental evidence investigating the social determinants of hate speech in online communities. The results could advance the understanding of the micro-mechanisms that regulate hate speech. Also, such findings can guide future interventions in online communities that help prevent the spread of hate. Details: Bonn, Germany: Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods, 2018. 35p. Source: Internet Resource: Discussion papers of the Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods Bonn 2018/3: Accessed May 11, 2018 at: http://www.coll.mpg.de/pdf_dat/2018_03online.pdf Year: 2018 Country: Germany Keywords: Hate Speech Shelf Number: 150167 |
Author: Dunkel, Frieder Title: Electronic Monitoring in Germany Summary: The German sanctions system distinguishes between criminal sanctions based on the guilt of the offender, and measures for rehabilitation and security based on the dangerousness of the offender on the other. In Germany, electronic monitoring (EM) is not an independent criminal sanction or measure by these means. Nevertheless, there are several legal bases in the German sanctions system for the use of EM: - As a directive for dangerous offenders in the context of the measure of supervision of conduct ("Fuhrungsaufsicht") (see s. 68b (1) No. 12 Criminal Code) - As a directive in combination with a suspended sentence (s. 56c Criminal Code) - As a directive for offenders who are released early (s. 57, 57a Criminal Code) - As a directive for an accused to avoid pre-trial detention (s. 116 Criminal Procedure Act) - During the execution of prison sentences for preparing release from prison by so-called relaxations of the prison regime ("Vollzugslockerungen", prison leaves) or as an alternative form of the execution of prison sentences for fine defaulters. The legislative competence for prison law is held by the sixteen federal states. Although there are several legal bases for its implementation in federal law the German sanction practice is very reluctant towards EM as an option. First of all, these legal possibilities for the use of EM are highly controversial. Furthermore, the modelprojects, in which EM was used as an alternative to imprisonment, in two federal states have been evaluated rather sceptically, especially in regard to "net-widening effects". While prison overcrowding was a driver for the implementation of EM in some European countries. Prison overcrowding both in the past and currently is not a major issue in Germany. The need for EM became "urgent" with the decision of the European Court of Human Rights (M. vs. Germany, no. 19359/04), which stated that the instrument of preventive detention was a violation of the European Convention on Human Rights, with the consequence that several "dangerous" offenders had to be released from preventive detention. 1.2 Types of electronic monitoring and their popularity Overall, electronic monitoring of offenders in Germany can be divided into two fields of application: The only form of EM that is accepted in all German federal states is so-called electronic location monitoring (Elektronische Aufenthaltsuberwachung, EAU). EAU comes into play as a directive in the context of the measure of supervision of conduct. The purpose of EAU is to minimise the risk that offenders, who have committed serious sexual or violent offences (dangerous offenders), reoffend after their release from prison or from a forensic institution. EAU uses GPS-technology and thus allows the location of the person under EM to be continuously monitored. When the total population is taken into account, the highest rate of EAU-monitored persons can be found in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. In other federal states with similar population sizes, like Baden-Wurttemberg and Lower Saxony, the use of EAU is limited to only a small handful of cases. EAU is primarily used with offenders who are released from prison after having served their full sentence. Around 75 per cent are sexual offenders, while the remaining 25% are persons who had been sentenced for violent offences. According to our interview partners, EAU has only once been applied in a case involving a female offender. Overall, notwithstanding the observed variations between the different federal states, it is apparent that the EAU-EM directive is used only in select cases in which the offender poses a significant risk. While the EM-directive, applicable in the context of the measure of supervision of conduct, is the only field of application of EM that is explicitly foreseen as an option in federal law, with fewer than 100 cases nationwide, EAU plays only a peripheral role in German sentencing practice. EAU is not the only manifestation of EM in Germany. In the federal state of Hessen, a pilot project has been underway since the year 2000 involving so-called electronic presence monitoring (Elektronische Prasenzkontrolle, EPK). EA and EPK are vastly different from one another, as shall be discussed in closer detail in the course of this report. Unlike EAU, the use of EPK in this pilot is not limited to one particular field of application (EA: as a directive attached to supervision of conduct). Instead, EPK can be applied in a number of different contexts and thus latches onto a number of different statutory provisions. Specifically, EM can be used as a directive in combination with a suspended sentence (probation support), as a means for avoiding pretrial detention/custodial remands, as a directive in combination with a pardon or as a directive in the context of prison-regime "relaxations" used as means for release preparation. EPK thus primarily serves as a means for keeping people out of detention and imprisonment. In contrast to EAU, the target group that EPK caters to is not restricted to serious violent and sexual offenders who have been released from prison after having served their sentence in full. Instead, EPK focuses on offenders who are on the threshold between custody and probation (or between pre-trial detention and alternative (non-)remand options), and who also show a lack of discipline. The EM-directive is intended to monitor the offender's compliance with any court orders, conditions and directives to which he/she has been subjected, thus supporting him/her in finding and adhering to structured daily routines. This form of EM uses radio frequency technology to monitor whether or not the monitored person is at home. Unlike EAU, EPK does not allow for the location of the offender to be precisely pinpointed at any time. On 3rd April 2013 a total of 83 persons were subject to EPK-EM - 41 in the context of probationary directives, the remaining 42 under directives for avoiding pre-trial detention. From the initiation of the pilot project up until that date, EPK was applied in a total of 1,141 cases (up until 31st March 2015: 1,310). That amounts to an average of roughly 80-90 cases per year. In comparison with the total number of 15,977 probationers in Hessen for the year 2014 the practical significance of this instrument becomes clear (even more clearly in comparison with the total number of about 180,000 probationers in whole of Germany). The supervising authorities have reported a significant reduction in the use of EPK in practice over last two years in particular, with a current caseload of only 48. About two thirds of these cases involved directives made in the context of probation or conditional release, while one third were directives for avoiding pre-trial detention. The law also allows for radio frequency monitoring to be applied as a means of "sentence relaxation" in prisons, especially youth prisons. This alternative has not been met with much approval from prison administrators, and accordingly there have only ever been two such cases Details: Greifswald: University of Greifswald, Germany, 2016. 54p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 12, 2018 at: http://28uzqb445tcn4c24864ahmel.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/files/2016/06/EMEU-Electronic-monitoring-in-Germany.pdf Year: 2016 Country: Germany Keywords: Alternatives to Incarceration Shelf Number: 150837 |
Author: Nolte, Andre Title: The Internet Effects on Sex Crime and Murder - Evidence from the Broadband Internet Expansion in Germany Summary: This paper studies the effects of the introduction of a new mass medium on criminal activity in Germany. The paper asks the question of whether highspeed internet leads to higher/lower sex crime offences and murder. I use unique German data on criminal offences and broadband internet measured at the municipality level to shed light on the question. In order to address endogeneity in broadband internet availability, I follow Falck et al. (2014) and exploit technical peculiarities at the regional level that determine the roll-out of high-speed internet. In contrast to findings for Norway (Bhuller et al., 2013), this paper documents a substitution effect of internet and child sex abuse and no effect on rape incidences. The effects on murder increase under the instrumental variable approach however remain insignificant. Overall, the estimated net effects might stem from indirect effects related to differences in reporting crime, a matching effect, and a direct effect of higher and more intensive exposure to extreme and violent media consumption. After investigating the potential channel, I do find some evidence in favor of a reporting effect suggesting that the direct consumption effect is even stronger. Further investigation of the development of illegal pornographic material suggests that the direct consumption channel does play a significant role in explaining the substitution effect. Details: Mannheim, Germany: Centre for European Economic Research, 2017. 60p. Source: Internet Resource: Discussion Paper No. 17-050: Accessed August 16, 2018 at: http://ftp.zew.de/pub/zew-docs/dp/dp17050.pdf Year: 2017 Country: Germany Keywords: Homicides Shelf Number: 151153 |
Author: Said, Behnam T. Title: Countering Islamist Radicalisation in Germany - A Guide to Germany's Growing Prevention Infrastructure Summary: Countering and Preventing Violent Extremism (CVE & PVE) has become a main subject for nation states as well as for international organisations, like the UN or the OSCE, which are deeply engaged in finding good practice examples among their member states. Some states such as the UK or the Netherlands have adopted national strategies against violent extremism. Others, such as France have favoured a more securitised rather than a preventive approach. Set against this context, the present policy brief provides a look at Germany's extensive experience with CVE and PVE, which the country has acquired over the last several years, in order to inform the debate and contribute insights to the benefit of experts and policy advisers working on these topics. Although Germany's programs do not use the terms of CVE or PVE they can rightly be attributed to these concepts in that they are based on preventing involvement in extremism or countering its growth, rather than solely on repressive responses to extremist or terrorist incidents. The insights portrayed in this paper are both based on the professional experience of its authors, who have worked in this policy field for the past eight years as well as from open source material. Details: The Hague: The International Centre for Counter-Terrorism, 2018. 17p. Source: Internet Resource: Policy Brief: Accessed October 13, 2018 at: https://icct.nl/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/ICCT-Said-Fouad-Countering-Islamist-Radicalization-in-Germany-Sept2018.pdf Year: 2018 Country: Germany Keywords: Extremism Shelf Number: 152925 |
Author: Steinhardt, Max Friedrich Title: The Impact of Xenophobic Violence on the Integration of Immigrants Summary: Integration of immigrants is a two-way process involving immigrants and the host country society. An underexplored question is how events of xenophobic violence in the host country affect the integration of immigrants. For this purpose, I exploit a unique series of anti-immigrant attacks in the early 1990s in West Germany. Using a difference-indifferences matching strategy, I find that macro exposure to xenophobic violence has an impact on several dimensions of socio-economic integration of immigrants. In particular, it reduces subjective well-being and increases return intentions, while it reduces investment in German language skills among those staying in Germany. From a policy perspective, this paper shows that anti-immigrant violence can have indirect costs by impairing the integration of those immigrants who belong to the target group of xenophobic attacks. Details: Bonn, Germany: IZA Institute of Labor Economics, 2018. 45p. Source: Internet Resource: IZA Discussion Paper No. 11781: Accessed October 24, 2018 at: http://ftp.iza.org/dp11781.pdf Year: 2018 Country: Germany Keywords: Hate Crimes Shelf Number: 153080 |
Author: Gerstner, Dominik Title: Predictive Policing in the Context of Residential Burglary: An Empirical Illustration on the Basis of a Pilot Project in Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany Summary: Predictive policing has become an important issue in recent times, and different applications have been implemented in different countries. With a remarkable increase in residential burglaries in Germany during the last years, several place-based predictive policing strategies have been applied for this type of offence. In the federal state of Baden-Wurttemberg, the "pilot project predictive policing" (P4) was started in October 2015. The project was designed to produce open-ended and unbiased results and therefore included an external scientific evaluation. The article describes how predictive policing was applied in the P4 pilot and summarizes the main findings of the evaluation study. As predictive policing is more than making predictions, the article sheds light on different aspects of a "prediction-led policing business process" (Perry et al., Predictive policing: the role of crime forecasting in law enforcement operations, Rand Corporation, Santa Monica, 2013). Despite some positive findings, the impact on crime remains unclear and the size of crime reducing effects appears to be moderate. Within the police force, the acceptance of predictive policing is a divisive issue. Future research is recommended. Details: In: European Journal for Security Research (2018) 3:115-138. (Open Access) Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 3, 2018 at: https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2Fs41125-018-0033-0.pdf Year: 2018 Country: Germany Keywords: Burglary Shelf Number: 153241 |
Author: Gerstner, Dominik Title: Predictive Policing Als Instrument Zur Pravention von Wohnungseinbruchdiebstahl: Evaluationsergebenisse zum Baden-Wurttembergischen Pilotprojekt P4 (Predictive Policing As an Instrument To Prevent Burglary Theft: Evaluation results for the Baden-Wurttembe Summary: The pilot project Predictive Policing P4 was conducted by the Baden-Wrttemberg police under the direction of the Stuttgart State Criminal Police Office against the background of a significant increase in apartment burglaries. The computer software PRECOBS of the institute for pattern-based forecasting technology from Oberhausen was used, which predicts increased probabilities of future burglary after an alarm-inducing break-in for certain areas. The project included an external scientific evaluation by the Freiburg Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Criminal Law. In addition to the analysis of process-generated data with a focus on the effectiveness of the forecasting software, an online survey with approx. 700 participants as well as expert interviews were conducted. The present report refers to the evaluation period from 30.10.2015 to 30.04.2016. The extent to which predictive policing can contribute to the prevention of dips in housing and to a trend reversal in case development is difficult to assess even after the evaluation, despite some positive indications. Nevertheless, the many individual results in this report make some relevant conclusions. Full text: https://www.mpicc.de/files/pdf4/rib_50_gerstner_2017.pdf Details: Breisgau, Germany: Max Planck Institute, 2017. 107p. Source: Internet Resource (in German): Accessed January 16, 2019 at: https://www.mpicc.de/files/pdf4/rib_50_gerstner_2017.pdf Year: 2017 Country: Germany Keywords: Apartment Burglaries Shelf Number: 154212 |
Author: Dehos, Fabian T. Title: The Refugee Wave to Germany and Its Impact on Crime Summary: Does refugee migration cause crime? I address this question drawing on recent refugee migration to Germany during the years 2010 to 2015. Based on administrative data records, I add to the literature by disentangling the direct crime impact of asylum seekers and recognized refugees separately. For the group of asylum seekers, I exploit dispersal policies and locational restrictions and find no impact on crime except for migration-specific offenses. For the group of recognized refugees, who may endogenously move, I use a shift-share instrument and find a positive association between the share of recognized refugees and the overall crime rate, which is driven by non-violent property crimes and frauds. The empirical results prove robust along several robustness checks and are consistent with predictions of the Becker model. Details: Essen, Germany: RWI - Leibniz-Institut fur Wirtschaftsforschung, 2017.43p. Source: Internet Resource: Ruhr Economic Papers, No. 737: Accessed February 22, 2019 at: https://www.rwi-essen.de/media/content/pages/publikationen/ruhr-economic-papers/rep_17_737.pdf Year: 2017 Country: Germany Keywords: Asylum Seekers Shelf Number: 154724 |
Author: Blesse, Sebastian Title: Police Reorganization and Crime: Evidence from Police Station Closures Summary: Policy makers often try to optimize local law enforcement by reorganizing police forces. We study the effects of police reallocation via station closures on municipal crime by exploiting a quasi-experiment where a centrally administered reform substantially reduced the number of police stations. Combining a matching strategy with an event-study design, we do not find aggregate effects on crime. Instead, we find changes in the way theft is committed. We observe increases in car theft, apartment and basement burglary but less bicycle theft. We argue that station closures provide an opportunity for criminals to shift from low-value to high-value theft. Details: Leibniz, Germany: Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research, 2019. 65p. Source: Internet Resource: Discussion Paper No. 18-044: Accessed march 13, 2019 at: http://ftp.zew.de/pub/zew-docs/dp/dp18044.pdf Year: 2019 Country: Germany Keywords: Police Administration Shelf Number: 154951 |
Author: Entorf, Horst Title: Refugees Welcome? Understanding the Regional Heterogeneity of Anti-Foreigner Hate Crimes in Germany Summary: In this article, we examine anti-foreigner hate crime in the wake of the large influx of asylum seekers to Germany in 2014 and 2015. By exploiting the quasi-experimental assignment of asylum seekers to German regions, we estimate the causal effect of an unexpected and sudden change in the share of the foreign-born population on anti-foreigner hate crime. Our county-level analysis shows that not simply the size of regional asylum seeker inflows drives the increase in hate crime, but the rapid compositional change of the residential population: Areas with previously low shares of foreign-born inhabitants that face large-scale immigration of asylum seekers witness the strongest upsurge in hate crime. Economically deprived regions and regions with a legacy of anti-foreigner hate crimes are also found to be prone to hate crime against refugees. However, when we explicitly control for East-West German differences, the predominance of native-born residents at the local level stands out as the single most important factor explaining the sudden increase in hate crime. Details: Bonn: Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), 2018. 54p. Source: Internet Resource: IZA Discussion Paper Series, No. 12229: Accessed April 26, 2019 at: http://ftp.iza.org/dp12229.pdf Year: 2019 Country: Germany Keywords: Asylum Seekers Shelf Number: 155573 |
Author: Koehler, Daniel Title: Violence and Terrorism from the Far-Right: Policy Options to Counter an Elusive Threat Summary: Extreme right-wing violence and terrorism are a growing threat to Western societies. This form of political violence is also quite elusive and differs from others (e.g. jihadist violence) in some key characteristics. Since the September 11 attacks, policy makers, law enforcement and intelligence agencies as well as researchers have focused most of their attention on Islamic extremist violence and terrorism. This has led to an imbalance in the understanding of other threats, especially from the far-right, and adequate ways to counter it. This paper, using Germany as a main case study, argues that far-right violence has a potential risk of being misunderstood and under-classified, thus creating the perception among victims of that violence that democratic countries "are blind on the right side". This erosion of trust in the rule of law and the monopoly of force is one goal of extreme right-wing terrorists. Specific recommendations to improve countering the threat posed by the far-right are avoiding double standards in dealing with political violence at all costs, swift and efficient appropriate legal actions against extreme right perpetrators of violence, an increase in funding for research about right-wing terrorism, a possible refinement of the legal definition of "terrorism" and a discussion about its relationship with hate crimes, as well as wide scale support for countering violent extremism (CVE) and deradicalisation programs targeting the far-right. Details: The Hague: International Centre for Counter-Terrorism, 2019. 21p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 8, 2019 at: https://icct.nl/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Koehler-Violence-and-Terrorism-from-the-Far-Right-February-2019.pdf Year: 2019 Country: Germany Keywords: Counter-Terrorism Shelf Number: 155701 |
Author: Sirseloudi, Matenia Title: From Criminals to Terrorists and Back? Quarterly Report: Germany Summary: Our qualitative analysis of 12 biographical profiles of Germans arrested for terrorism offences in 2015 supports the hypothesis of a crime-terror nexus. However, not all cases were related to jihadist groups in Syria and Iraq. On the contrary, our analysis also considers the case of a thwarted homegrown terrorist and an individual with links to a victim of the right-wing terrorist group the NSU (Nationalsozialistischer Untergrund). The above case studies reflect the diversity of profiles analysed in this report. These include the 58-year-old ringleader of a broader network that was deeply involved in recruitment processes and the transfer of goods and vehicles to Syria, as well as a man with psychiatric problems who attempted a homemade bomb attack at a bicycle race. Also, there is the paradigm crime-terror nexus case of a young man sentenced for burglary offences who became more radical in prison and, upon release, went to Syria to join Islamic State. All the profiles analysed in this report are male. And with the notable exception of one rather successful schoolboywho was diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome, probably self-radicalised and who returned from Syria completely disillusionedmost come from a challenging socio-economic background in which violence and criminality were both known and oft-accepted patterns in the broader social context. The 12 profiles analysed so far confirm the broader assessment that the radicalisation of individuals with criminal backgrounds is becoming a common pattern in one particular segment of the Salafi-jihadi scene. Moreover, such intensely intertwined crime-terror biographies appear to be prevalent among the lower ranks of the jihadi movement. In the case of Germany, most of the profiles are linked to the flow of foreign fighters towards Syria and Iraq and the support of jihadi groups in this region. Details: Bratislava, Slovak Republic: GLOBSEC Policy Institute, 2018. 9p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 20, 2019 at: https://www.globsec.org/projects/criminals-terrorists-back/#publications Year: 2018 Country: Germany Keywords: Counter-Terrorism Shelf Number: 155917 |
Author: Woessner, Gunda Title: "I was thrown in at the deep end": prisoner reentry; patterns of transition from prison to community among sexual and violent offenders Summary: Over the last decade, increasing attention has been given to the issue of how prisoners reenter the community. Consequently, aftercare programs and supervision measures have mushroomed. By now, it has been widely acknowledged that ex-prisoners' needs center on such issues as mental health (i.e., substance use treatment), social integration, accommodation, and employment. At the same time, little is known about how ex-prisoners experience the very transition between imprisonment and release in their daily lives. This publication depicts research results from a qualitative analysis of 26 interviews with released or newly incarcerated serious (sexual and violent) offenders approximately one year after prison release in order to identify transition formats and challenges that ex-prisoners face during the transition from prison back into the community. Particular attention is paid to the exprisoners' experiences with correctional release preparation that aim at facilitating this transition. This analysis is part of the longitudinal research project "Sexual Offenders in the Social Therapeutic Institutions of the Free State of Saxony". The studys principal goal is to analyze recidivism amongst sexual offenders and the associated factors from multiple perspectives. Details: Freiburg, Germany: Max-Planck-Institut fur auslandisches und internationales Strafrecht, 2016. 44p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 18, 2019 at: https://pure.mpg.de/rest/items/item_2499244_4/component/file_3015498/content Year: 2016 Country: Germany Keywords: Prisoner Reentry Shelf Number: 156518 |
Author: Maghularia, Rita Title: Do Immigrants Affect Crime? Evidence from Panel Data for Germany Summary: The paper analyses the empirical relationship between immigrants and crime using panel data for 391 German administrative districts between 2003 and 2016. Employing different standard panel estimation methods, we show that there is no positive association between the immigrant rate and the crime rate. We assess the robustness of this result by considering the heterogeneity of immigrant groups with respect to gender, age, country of origin and - if applicable - refugee status, and study naturalized immigrants. We also take into account possible spillover effects of immigrants on criminal activities by Germans, omitted variables and spatial correlation. Furthermore, taking advantage of the panel-structure of the data set we employ an instrumental variable approach that deals with the possibly endogenous allocation of immigrants and allows for causal interpretation of the estimates. There is no evidence that immigrants increase crime. Details: Munich: CESifo Group Munich, 2019. 31p. Source: Internet Resource: CESifo Working Paper Series 7696: Accessed July 16, 2019 at: https://www.ifo.de/DocDL/cesifo1_wp7696.pdf Year: 2019 Country: Germany Keywords: Crime Rates Shelf Number: 156897 |
Author: Degenhardt, Tamara Title: Veranderungen und Auswirkungen durch das ProstSchG auf die Prostitutionsszene in NRW (Changes and effects through the ProstSchG on the prostitution scene in NRW) Summary: For many thousands of years, people have been offering sexual services for a fee, which is why this activity is often colloquially referred to as the oldest profession in the industry World is called. The perception and evaluation of sex work is subject since ever social norms and moral concepts and thus also the cultural Change. Recognition of sex work has undergone constant change throughout the history of prostitution. In today's society, sex workers are stigmatized and abusive in this area of activity Structures, whereby the field of work sex work takes place in large parts in the dark field. The idea is to make the scene of sex work more visible and to create universally valid structures that protect the sex workers in their work and to support, entered the prostitution protection law in Germany on 01.07.2017 Force. In North Rhine-Westphalia, the primary responsibility for the implementation lies of the law at the current Ministry of Homeland, Communal, Construction and Equality. With the regulation to perform tasks under the law for Protection of persons working in prostitution (implementing ordinance Prostitute Protection Act North Rhine-Westphalia - DVO ProstSchG NRW) of 4 April 2017 to transfer the implementation to the districts and independent cities as district authority. Excluded here is statute 10 ProstSchG, which deals with the health advice. These tasks were assigned to the lower health authorities of the Transferring districts and cities. The district administration authorities and the lower ones Health authorities and their tasks are subject to the supervision of the competent district government. Supreme regulators are the Ministry of Home Affairs, Municipalities, Construction and Equality for the registration process, the Ministry of Labor, Health and Welfare for health advice and the Ministry of Economy, Innovation, Digitization and Energy for the commercial sector of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Persons who had been prostituting before 1 July 2017 had to register for the first time until 31 December 2017. Persons who had a prostitution business before 1 July 2017 had to notify the competent authority by 1 October 2017 and apply for To submit a permit by 31 December 2017. Advice centers, associations and associations suspected that the law enacted or the resulting interference in the everyday world of scene members would result in far-reaching changes in this environment. The reviews were moving in a spectrum of extremely negative fears, the sex workers Laws could be profoundly stigmatized, even glorifying Views, through the Legislative Decree and the associated regulation prevented any abuse. In this context, the counseling center KOBER was sponsored by the Sozialdienstes katholischer Frauen e. V. Ortsverein Dortmund (hereinafter referred to as SkF) by the Ministry of Homeland, Communal, Construction and Equal Opportunity (hereinafter referred to as MHKBG) The state of North Rhine-Westphalia asked to observe the changes of the scene for one year. On the basis of these observations, the present report was prepared, which provides insights into the changes in the prostitution scene in the reporting year 2018. As a method to systematically record the corresponding impressions from the everyday world of sex workers, participatory observations and observational ones were made Participation based on a life-world-analytical ethnography applied (cf. Honer 1993). The corresponding data were subsequently analyzed using the content analysis after P. Mayring (see Mayring 2007) analyzed and prepared. The procedure used is outlined in Chapter 2. This is followed in Chapter 3 by the description of the target group of the sex workers' scene. Specifically, various forms of employment are presented here and an insight into the lifeworld of sex workers as well as the basic structures of the sex workers Scene given. The following is a detailed presentation of the findings, with both the qualitative and the also the quantitative results are listed. It could be shown that the introduction of the ProstSchG shows both positive and negative changes in the scene. This report concludes with a summary assessment of the results as well as a look into the future. Details: Dusseldorf, Germany: Ministerium fur Heimat, Kommunales, Bau and Gleichstellung des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen, 2019. 64p. Source: Internet Resource (in German): Accessed August 12, 2019 at: https://www.landtag.nrw.de/Dokumentenservice/portal/WWW/dokumentenarchiv/Dokument/MMV17-2008.pdf Year: 2019 Country: Germany Keywords: Prostitution Shelf Number: 156964 |
Author: Radeloff, Daniel Title: Murderers or Thieves at Risk?: Offence-Related Suicide Rates in Adolescent and Adult Prison Populations Summary: Abstract Purpose Prisoners have a higher risk of suicide compared to non-incarcerated individuals. One aim of suicide prevention for prisoners is to identify risk factors in order to put stronger support mechanisms in place for the more vulnerable detainees. This study investigates the suicide risk (SR) in offence-related sub-populations in a representative German sample and differentiates between SR for adolescent and adult prisoners. Methods Conducting a national study with data from public German records on the entire prison population from 2000 to 2016 and suicide numbers in German prisons in the same period, SR was calculated for the total male prison population as well as for both subgroups, adolescent and adult male prisoners. Results In the study period, male prisoners spent 959.584 life years (LY) in German criminal detention. Among those, 524 prisoners died of suicide. SR was higher for detainees imprisoned for an offence resulting in extensive physical harm for another person, e.g. homicide (suicide rate = 134,8 suicides per 100.000 LY; OR = 2,47; CI95%: 1,983,08), bodily injury (suicide rate = 87,3; OR = 1,60; CI95%: 1,291,99), and sexual offences (suicide rate = 84,2; OR = 1,54; CI95%: 1,182,01) compared with the SR of the total prison population (suicide rate = 54.6). Age differences between offence-related SR were found for theft, with adolescents (suicide rate = 69,3; OR = 1,25; CI95%: 0,851,84) showing higher SR than adults (suicide rate = 38,2; OR = 0,7; CI95%: 0,540,92). Conclusion The index offence of detainees is associated with SR and age-related differences exist. Suicide prevention in prisons should take both into account to determine populations at risk. Details: Leipzig, Germany: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, University Hospital Leipzig, 2019. 11p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 25, 2019 at: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0214936 Year: 2019 Country: Germany Keywords: Adult Prisoners Shelf Number: 157057 |