Authors:Elspeth McInnes Abstract: Male violence against women and children is a pernicious global problem responsible for a high burden of injury, illness, and premature death across societies and cultures. Socio-cultural beliefs, attitudes, and practices underpin the conduct of perpetrators, targets, bystanders, and responding service providers, including police, health, and social welfare services. Bystanders’ willingness to act to help targets of family violence is a key dimension framing the social environment of using violence against family members. An anonymous internet survey of 464 Australians, mainly women, identified that around three-quarters of respondents would respond if they heard a cry for help from a nearby home. Most said they would call the police. The key deterrents to taking action were fears for their safety and their confidence that calling the police would lead to effective action. Despite their willingness to act, most believed that the typical Australian public would not do so. They attributed reluctance to take action to bystanders’ fears for their safety, beliefs that it was not their business, and not wanting to get involved. Respondents wanted more financial, housing, and legal support for victims of violence to end abusive relationships. Nationally consistent FDV laws, changes to media reporting, and school-based education were nominated as key strategies to prevent and reduce family and domestic violence. PubDate: Wed, 20 Apr 2022 00:00:00 +000
Authors:Deirdre Caputo-Levine; Jacob Harris Abstract: This essay builds upon earlier studies of the QAnon superconspiracy theory by applying cultural criminology as a framework to investigate the significance of QAnon and the events that facilitated the rise of the superconspiracy and the associated political movement. QAnon has had multiple impacts that should be of interest to criminologists. In the United States, QAnon was involved with the 2020 election, as adherents believed messages posted by "Q" referred to President Trump as a messiah and Trump tacitly acknowledged the group. In addition, QAnon has international influence, most recently in the "trucker" convoy in Canada and anti-vaccine protests in New Zealand and Germany. This essay utilizes cultural criminology to introduce the framework of relative deprivation theory and emphasize the importance of the gaze from above and below in structuring relative deprivation. In addition, we discuss the role of cultural understandings of victimization in shaping ideology and physical frameworks used by QAnon. PubDate: Wed, 20 Apr 2022 00:00:00 +000
Authors:Munhuweyi Kenneth Takudzwa Abstract: In an analog philosophy by Lobengula of the chameleon and the fly, he unveiled the British occupation of Zimbabwe, which I equally translated or is similar to the 21st-century Chinese involvement in Zimbabwe. In understanding the exploitative nature of colonial and post-colonial politics, the research offered a comparative analysis of the British and Chinese involvement in Zimbabwe. The post-colonial economic colonization neo-colonialism, similar to dependency theory proponents, found the African continent under exploitation and oppression in her post-independence. The researcher utilized qualitative research of documentary review, online sources, and virtual ethnography to unveil and enrich the study phenomenon. PubDate: Wed, 20 Apr 2022 00:00:00 +000
Authors:Nathaniel Phuti Kgadima; Goitseone Emelda Leburu Abstract: Despite the extensive literature on cohabitation, there is scant literature that explores women’s decisions to engage in cohabitation. Drawing on the theory of planned behaviour and a qualitative research approach, this article explores the decision-making processes among women to engage in cohabitation. For some women, cohabitation was preceded by a clear conversation about the intention to marry. The second group of women described cohabitation as an expression of autonomy and independence by rejecting traditionally prescribed conventions such as marriage. When the promise of marriage fails to materialise, some women become increasingly disillusioned and opt to terminate their co-residence relationships in order to negotiate marriage as an option with their partners. This article utilised purposively and snowball sampling to gather data and this was through semi-structured interviews. This data was analysed thematically, and the results show a preponderance of a desire for autonomy that is checked by the harsh persistence of disempowering narratives. Further research is needed to establish patterns of autonomy in cohabiting partners. PubDate: Thu, 07 Apr 2022 00:00:00 +000
Authors:Goitseone Emelda Leburu; Nathaniel Phuti Kgadima, Kgashane Johannes Malesa Abstract: Drawing from the queer theory, this article strives to understand the scourge of gender-based violence against members of the homosexual community through a literature review. There is a gap in understanding this scourge against LGBTIQ. Additionally, there is a dearth of research on GBV within the social work fraternity despite the profession’s mandate to protect vulnerable groups. A comprehensive understanding of this hate crime is critically important in the current times where incidents of violence based on one’s gender are on the rise in South Africa. Social workers are in a privileged position to educate communities about these appalling crimes and to inform inclusive policies to curb this pandemic against members of the homosexual community. PubDate: Thu, 07 Apr 2022 00:00:00 +000
Authors:Hlengiwe P. Gasa; Sazelo Mkhize, Kemist Shumba, Samuel F. Cinini, Nirmala D. Gopal Abstract: Substance abuse is a significant problem among tertiary level students, with alcohol/drug use associated with increased prevalence of negative outcomes, including diminished academic performance, social-interpersonal difficulties, and engaging in risky behaviours. To explore risk factors associated with substance abuse among university students, a qualitative approach was adopted. Twenty on-campus residents were selected through purposive sampling. To elicit their views in-depth interviews were used. Data were thematically analysed, and engendered themes were identified. The findings revealed that various kinds of substances are abused by university students, which include codeine, marijuana (weed), and alcohol. Substance abuse is a kind of behaviour that students either learn or do intentionally, despite their foreknowledge of the negative effects and the risk factors such as peer pressure, stress, and depression. The study concludes that university students are aware of the various negative effects of substance abuse, but they mostly justify it as a way of coping with academic pressure. PubDate: Wed, 16 Mar 2022 00:00:00 +000
Authors:Ety Elisha Abstract: Researchers in the field of crime desistance have recently focused on the strength-based role of the "wounded healer" or "professional-ex", as exemplified by former addicts and prisoners who desist from crime and recover through the professional practice of peer mentoring. Studies point to the many benefits inherent in the role of the “wounded healer” for incarcerated people employed in peer-based rehabilitation roles. These benefits can include opportunities to experience accomplishments and an increasing sense of ability and self-worth. Additional benefits include acquiring a new meaning and purpose in life, the development of a new self-identity, increasing feelings of belonging and satisfaction from life, and a stronger commitment to avoid crime. These findings suggest that formerly incarcerated individuals can form positive, pro-social relationships with their peers and serve as positive role models for them. The purpose of the present article is to review the current literature on peer-to-peer programs currently implemented in Western prisons, to establish and expand them, as a means of improving the rehabilitation efforts of present and past prisoners. It is recommended to examine the preservation of their benefits and effectiveness in the long run, both for aid providers and recipients. PubDate: Wed, 09 Mar 2022 00:00:00 +000
Authors:Ciro Grandi Abstract: The debate on the impact on criminal justice of the empirical evidence offered by techniques of brain exploration and behavioral genetics shows no sign of diminishing, fed by literature now boundless and by case law in constant growth. In the Italian system, the impact of neuroscience at trial is still rather limited and substantially confined to its sedes naturalis, that is to say, the insanity defense. Even in this area, however, there is a very cautious, if not sometimes distrustful, attitude on the part of the courts, still doubtful about the epistemological reliability of neuroscientific evidence. The interdisciplinary dialogue is called upon to help overcome uncertainties and resistance, to avoid the underestimation of data endowed – albeit in a complementary and integrative function – with an increasingly objective value. Summary: 1. Foreword. - 2. Neuroscience: an outline. - Neuroscience and criminal law in the light of the radical-revolutionary model. - 4. Neuroscience and criminal law in the light of the moderate-compatibilist model. - 5. An overview of the use of “neuroscientific evidence” in practice - 6. Neuroscience and the evaluation of criminal capacity: a first assessment. - 7. The (still) limited impact of neuroscience in the Italian criminal trial. Diagnosis and prognosis. – 8. Conclusions. PubDate: Tue, 22 Feb 2022 00:00:00 +000
Open Access journal
