Prevalence of mental illness among Australian and New Zealand people in prison: A systematic review and meta-analysis of studies published over five decades.

BACKGROUND: The higher rate of mental illness, including severe psychotic disorders, among people in prisons compared to the general community is well-established. However, there have been no reviews or attempts to pool data on the reported prevalence of mental illness across prisons in Australia and New Zealand. METHODS: A systematic search of electronic databases from 1966 to the end of 2020 was conducted to identify studies reporting rates of 'any' mental illness, and separately rates of psychotic illness, among adult men and women in Australian and New Zealand prisons. A meta-analysis was performed according to PRISMA guidelines (PROSPERO ID: CRD42021241946), with separate analyses conducted for lifetime and current prevalence rates. RESULTS: Seventeen studies, with a total of 10,209 people in prison, met inclusion criteria. The pooled lifetime prevalence of 'any' mental illness was 69.0% (95% confidence interval = [0.56, 0.79]), and the pooled lifetime prevalence for psychosis was 9.1% (95% confidence interval = [0.07, 0.12]). Meanwhile, the pooled prevalence for 'any' current mental illness was 54.0% (95% confidence interval = [0.39, 0.68]) and for any current psychosis was 6.4% (95% confidence interval = [0.04, 0.10]). There was substantial heterogeneity between studies, with evidence that lifetime rates of psychosis have increased over time, with true prevalence estimates in 95% of all comparable populations falling between 2.7% and 26.4%. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of mental illness, including severe psychotic illness, is high in Australian and New Zealand prisons. Furthermore, there is evidence that the prevalence of psychosis may be increasing over time, indicating more effort is needed to ensure diversion of people with mental illness away from the criminal justice system and into healthcare pathways.

Forensic entomology in homicide cases: study of a corpse found inside a buried vehicle.

Forensic entomology plays a crucial role in death investigations, particularly in estimating the postmortem interval (PMI). This study presents a forensic entomology case involving a corpse found in a buried utility vehicle. The victim was in an advanced state of decomposition, with autopsy findings revealing gunshot wounds. Cadaveric fauna was collected at the scene and during the autopsy. The analysis revealed a diverse insect community, with predominance of Compsomyiops fulvicrura and Piophila casei. The time of development of species like Dermestes maculatus and Necrobia rufipes was used to estimate the minimum PMI. The presence and low abundance of Calliphora vicina, a species preferring lower temperatures, shed light on the seasonal conditions at the time of death and suggested possible body concealment shortly after death. This research is the first to report insects as evidence in a corpse found in a buried vehicle and contributes to the body of knowledge in forensic entomology. The study also suggests that the use of entomological evidence can provide additional information about the season in which the body was concealed, making it a valuable tool in death investigation and crime scene reconstruction. Finally, it emphasizes the need for proper sampling, expert identification, and close collaboration between forensic entomologists and pathologists.

The impact of weather anomalies on violence in the coastal mid-latitudes: a cross-national comparison.

Cross-national studies examining the relationship between weather and crime are rare. Reasons are manifold but include the differences in countries due to geographical, climatic, and seasonal variations. In contrast in this study we examine the causal impact of temperature and rainfall anomalies on violent crime in locations located in two comparable geographic zones: Khayelitsha (in South Africa) and Ipswich (in Australia). We use ANOVA and Tukey's tests to identify statistical meaningful differences (if any) in the impact of these weather anomalies on crime alongside the use of visualisations capturing the anomalous weather-violence relationship in these two contexts. Results show some similarities but also notable differences between locations which we attribute to their inherent socio-demographic differences which we expand upon. We conclude by highlighting the benefits of cross-national crime research, and motivate for its increased application in future research of this nature.

Creating a more inclusive approach to wildlife trade management.

Global wildlife trade involves a diverse array of species. Although sustainable trade underpins livelihoods for communities worldwide, unsustainable trade, whether legal or illegal, threatens thousands of species and can lead to extinctions. From plants and fungi to fish, amphibians, mammals, invertebrates, and reptiles, a diverse array of species across taxa are affected by trade. Attention to wildlife trade has increased in recent years, but its focus has largely remained on a narrow range of high-profile species, with taxa deemed less charismatic frequently overlooked, despite some having significant trade volumes and levels of threat to wild populations. These biases can hamper effective policy interventions, reduce awareness of wider threats from trade, and prevent conservation efforts from focusing on the most pressing issues. It is important to broaden the scope of research and policy discussions and create a more inclusive approach to trade management. The diversity of approaches to wildlife trade can be improved by expanding monitoring of trade to a wider variety of taxa; collecting fundamental ecological data to underpin assessments of trade sustainability; improving and codesigning conservation interventions with key stakeholders and trade actors; and developing appropriate strategies for managing the supply, trade, and demand in diverse wildlife products to ensure species and livelihoods are protected.

Creación de un enfoque más inclusivo para la gestión del mercado de vida silvestre Resumen El mercado global de vida silvestre involucra a una diversa gama de especies. Mientras que el mercado sustentable apoya al sustento de las comunidades, el mercado insostenible, sea legal o ilegal, amenaza a miles de especies y puede causar extinciones. Desde plantas y hongos hasta peces, anfibios, mamíferos, invertebrados y reptiles, una diversa gama de especies de diferentes taxones se ve afectada por el mercado. Aunque la atención hacia el mercado de vida silvestre ha aumentado en años recientes, su enfoque ha sido principalmente en especies de perfil elevado, por lo que se suele ignorar a taxones considerados menos carismáticos, a pesar de que algunos cuenten con importantes volúmenes de comercio o niveles de amenaza para las poblaciones silvestres. Estos sesgos pueden complicar las intervenciones políticas eficientes, reducir la conciencia sobre las amenazas mayores del comercio y prevenir que los esfuerzos de conservación se enfoquen en los temas más urgentes. Es importante que se amplíe el objetivo de la investigación y las discusiones políticas y se cree un enfoque más inclusivo para la gestión del mercado. Se puede mejorar la diversidad de enfoques sobre el mercado de vida silvestre con la expansión del monitoreo del mercado hacia una mayor variedad de taxones; la colecta de datos ecológicos fundamentales para sostener los análisis sobre la sustentabilidad del mercado; la mejora y el diseño de las intervenciones de conservación conjuntamente con los actores clave del mercado; y el desarrollo de estrategias adecuadas para la gestión de la oferta, comercio y demanda de diferentes productos de vida silvestre para asegurar que se protejan las especies y el sustento de las comunidades.

Exposing illegal hunting and wildlife depletion in the world's largest tropical country through social media data.

Globally, illegal sport hunting can threaten prey populations when unregulated. Due to its covert nature, illegal sport hunting poses challenges for data collection, hindering efforts to understand the full extent of its impacts. We gathered social media data to analyze patterns of illegal sport hunting and wildlife depletion across Brazil. We collected data for 2 years (2018-2020) across 5 Facebook groups containing posts depicting pictures of illegal sport hunting events of native fauna. We described and mapped these hunting events by detailing the number of hunters involved, the number of species, the mean body mass of individuals, and the number and biomass of individuals hunted per unit area, stratified by Brazilian biome. We also examined the effects of defaunation on hunting yield and composition via regression models, rank-abundance curves, and spatial interpolation. We detected 2046 illegal sport hunting posts portraying the hunting of 4658 animals (∼29 t of undressed meat) across all 27 states and 6 natural biomes of Brazil. Of 157 native species targeted by hunters, 19 are currently threatened with extinction. We estimated that 1414 hunters extracted 3251 kg/million km2. Some areas exhibited more pronounced wildlife depletion, in particular the Atlantic Forest and Caatinga biomes. In these areas, there was a shift from large mammals and reptiles to small birds as the main targeted taxa, and biomass extracted per hunting event and mean body mass across all taxonomic groups were lower than in other areas. Our results highlight that illegal sport hunting adds to the pressures of subsistence hunting and the wild meat trade on Brazil's wildlife populations. Enhanced surveillance efforts are needed to reduce illegal sport hunting levels and to develop well-managed sustainable sport hunting programs. These can support wildlife conservation and offer incentives for local communities to oversee designated sport hunting areas.

Exposición de la caza ilegal y la reducción de fauna en el país tropical más grande del mundo por medio de datos de las redes sociales Resumen En todo el mundo, la caza recreativa ilegal puede amenazar a las poblaciones de presas cuando no está regulada. Debido a su naturaleza encubierta, la caza recreativa ilegal plantea dificultades para la recopilación de datos, lo que dificulta la comprensión de su impacto. Recopilamos datos de redes sociales para analizar los patrones de caza recreativa ilegal y agotamiento de la vida silvestre en todo Brasil. Recopilamos datos durante 2 años (2018­2020) a través de cinco grupos de Facebook que contenían publicaciones que mostraban imágenes de eventos de caza recreativa ilegal de fauna nativa. Describimos y mapeamos estos eventos de caza detallando el número de cazadores involucrados, el número de especies, la masa corporal media de los individuos y el número y la biomasa de los individuos cazados por unidad de área, estratificados por bioma brasileño. También examinamos los efectos de la deforestación en el rendimiento y la composición de la caza mediante modelos de regresión, curvas de abundancia e interpolación espacial. Detectamos 2,046 puestos de caza recreativa ilegal que mostraban la caza de 4,658 animales (∼29 t de carne sin desollar) en los 27 estados y 6 biomas naturales de Brasil. De las 157 especies autóctonas objetivo de los cazadores, 18 están actualmente en peligro de extinción. Se calcula que 1,414 cazadores extrajeron 3,251 kg/millón de km2. Algunas zonas mostraron una defaunación más pronunciada, en particular los biomas de la Mata Atlántica y la Caatinga. En estas áreas, se produjo un cambio de grandes mamíferos y reptiles a pequeñas aves como principales taxones objetivo, y la biomasa extraída por evento de caza y la masa corporal media en todos los grupos taxonómicos fueron menores que en otras áreas. Nuestros resultados ponen de manifiesto que la caza recreativa ilegal se suma a las presiones de la caza de subsistencia y el comercio de carne salvaje sobre las poblaciones de fauna de Brasil. Es necesario intensificar los esfuerzos de vigilancia para reducir los niveles de caza recreativa ilegal y desarrollar programas de caza recreativa sostenibles y bien gestionados. Estos programas pueden contribuir a la conservación de la fauna y ofrecer incentivos a las comunidades locales para que supervisen las zonas designadas para la caza recreativa.

From Tweets to Streets: Observational Study on the Association Between Twitter Sentiment and Anti-Asian Hate Crimes in New York City from 2019 to 2022.

BACKGROUND: Anti-Asian hate crimes escalated during the COVID-19 pandemic; however, limited research has explored the association between social media sentiment and hate crimes toward Asian communities. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to investigate the relationship between Twitter (rebranded as X) sentiment data and the occurrence of anti-Asian hate crimes in New York City from 2019 to 2022, a period encompassing both before and during COVID-19 pandemic conditions. METHODS: We used a hate crime dataset from the New York City Police Department. This dataset included detailed information on the occurrence of anti-Asian hate crimes at the police precinct level from 2019 to 2022. We used Twitter's application programming interface for Academic Research to collect a random 1% sample of publicly available Twitter data in New York State, including New York City, that included 1 or more of the selected Asian-related keywords and applied support vector machine to classify sentiment. We measured sentiment toward the Asian community using the rates of negative and positive sentiment expressed in tweets at the monthly level (N=48). We used negative binomial models to explore the associations between sentiment levels and the number of anti-Asian hate crimes in the same month. We further adjusted our models for confounders such as the unemployment rate and the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic. As sensitivity analyses, we used distributed lag models to capture 1- to 2-month lag times. RESULTS: A point increase of 1% in negative sentiment rate toward the Asian community in the same month was associated with a 24% increase (incidence rate ratio [IRR] 1.24; 95% CI 1.07-1.44; P=.005) in the number of anti-Asian hate crimes. The association was slightly attenuated after adjusting for unemployment and COVID-19 emergence (ie, after March 2020; P=.008). The positive sentiment toward Asian tweets with a 0-month lag was associated with a 12% decrease (IRR 0.88; 95% CI 0.79-0.97; P=.002) in expected anti-Asian hate crimes in the same month, but the relationship was no longer significant after adjusting for the unemployment rate and the emergence of COVID-19 pandemic (P=.11). CONCLUSIONS: A higher negative sentiment level was associated with more hate crimes specifically targeting the Asian community in the same month. The findings highlight the importance of monitoring public sentiment to predict and potentially mitigate hate crimes against Asian individuals.

Differences in toxicology reports and hospital emergency care for patients suspected of experiencing drug-facilitated crimes: an analysis according to gender. / Atención de pacientes con sospecha de sumisión química en un servicio de urgencias hospitalario y resultados del análisis toxicológico: diferencias según el sexo.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze gender-related differences in patient and care characteristics and in toxicology findings in suspected cases of drug facilitated crime (DFC). METHODS: Observational cross-sectional study of all patients in suspected DFC cases attended in the emergency department of Hospital Clínico San Carlos and of their blood or urine samples analyzed by the National institute of Toxicology and Forensics in Madrid between March 1, 2015, and March 1, 2023. We analyzed variables from patient records and the toxicology reports according to gender. RESULTS: A total of 514 suspected DFC episodes were studied; 101 (19.6%) were proactive crimes, 61 (11.9%) opportunistic, and 352 (68.5%) mixed. The median (interquartile range) age was 25 years (21-34 years), and 370 (72%) were women. Eighty-three percent of the patients had amnesia, and 48% of the cases involved sexual assault or robbery. Toxicology identified substances in 78% of the patients (alcohol, 53%; street drugs, 37%; and/or psychopharmaceuticals or opioids, 23%). Independent variables associated with female gender in the multivariate analysis, according to adjusted odds ratio (aORs) were age less than 25 years (aOR, 2.73; 95% CI, 1.75 4.24; P < .001); physician-referred emergency (aOR, 1.77; 95% CI, 1.12-2.80; P = .03); robbery (aOR, 0.25; 95% CI, 0.15-0.41; P < .001); alcohol-positive test result (aOR, 1.91; 95% CI, 1.21-3.00; P = .01); and a drug-positive result (aOR, 0.43; 95% CI, 0.28-0.64; P < .001). Police and a forensic physician intervened in 13% of the cases, and in such cases the victim was more likely to be female (aOR, 3.97; 95% CI, 1.41-11.13; P < .001). Toxicology identified the presence of an unknown substance in 39%, and a woman was less likely to be involved in such cases (aOR, 0.43; 95% CI, 0.28-0.67; P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: The majority of victims of DFCs were female, and the crimes were mixed, involving involve alcohol, psychopharmaceuticals or street drugs. Female victims were more likely to be under the age of 25 years, be referred to the emergency service by a physician, be attended by a forensic physician for sexual assault, and have an alcoholpositive toxicology report. Women were also less likely to report a robbery or have a toxicology report identifying drugs or an unknown substance.

OBJETIVO: Analizar las diferencias en las características de los pacientes atendidos por sospecha de sumisión química (SQ) y en los resultados del análisis toxicológico (AT) en función del sexo. METODO: Estudio observacional transversal retrospectivo que incluyó a todos los casos con SQ atendidos en el servicio de urgencias del Hospital Clínico San Carlos y las muestras (sangre o orina) para el AT en el Instituto Nacional de Toxicología y Ciencias Forenses de Madrid entre el 1 de marzo de 2015 y el 1 de marzo de 2023. Se analizan variables de la historia clínica y del AT según el sexo. RESULTADOS: Se incluyeron 514 episodios con sospecha de SQ [101 (19,6%) proactiva, 61 (11,9%) oportunista y 352 (68,5%) mixta] en pacientes con una mediana de 25 años (RIC: 21-34), 370 (72%) de sexo femenino. El 83% presentó amnesia y el 48% asoció agresión sexual o robo. En el 78% se identificó alguna sustancia en el AT (53% alcohol etílico, 37% drogas y/o 23% psicofármaco u opiáceos). En el análisis multivariado las variables que se asociaron de manera independiente con el sexo femenino fueron la edad menor de 25 años con ORa de 2,73 (IC 95%: 1,75-4,24; p < 0,001), con médico deriva a urgencias con ORa de 1,77 (IC 95%: 1,12-2,80; p = 0,03), delito de robo con de ORa 0,25 (IC 95%: 0,15-0,41; p < 0,001), alcohol etílico en el AT con ORa 1,91 (IC 95%: 1,21-3,00; p = 0,01) y alguna droga en el AT con ORa 0,43 (IC 95%: 0,28-0,64; p < 0,001). En el 13% de casos hubo intervención policial y médico-forense y fue más probable que fuera a una mujer, con ORa 3,97 (IC 95%: 1,41-11,13; p < 0,001). En el 39% de AT se identificó alguna sustancia desconocida y fue menos probable que fuera mujer, con ORa de 0,43 (IC 95%: 0,28-0,67; p < 0,001). CONCLUSIONES: La mayoría de casos registrados fueron mujeres con sospecha de SQ mixta por alcohol, psicofármacos o drogas de abuso. Las mujeres presentaron mayor probabilidad de tener menos de 25 años, ser derivada a urgencias por un médico, de intervención médico-forense por agresión sexual y encontrar alcohol etílico en el AT.

Predicting Short Time-to-Crime Guns: a Machine Learning Analysis of California Transaction Records (2010-2021).

Gun-related crime continues to be an urgent public health and safety problem in cities across the US. A key question is: how are firearms diverted from the legal retail market into the hands of gun offenders? With close to 8 million legal firearm transaction records in California (2010-2020) linked to over 380,000 records of recovered crime guns (2010-2021), we employ supervised machine learning to predict which firearms are used in crimes shortly after purchase. Specifically, using random forest (RF) with stratified under-sampling, we predict any crime gun recovery within a year (0.2% of transactions) and violent crime gun recovery within a year (0.03% of transactions). We also identify the purchaser, firearm, and dealer characteristics most predictive of this short time-to-crime gun recovery using SHapley Additive exPlanations and mean decrease in accuracy variable importance measures. Overall, our models show good discrimination, and we are able to identify firearms at extreme risk for diversion into criminal hands. The test set AUC is 0.85 for both models. For the model predicting any recovery, a default threshold of 0.50 results in a sensitivity of 0.63 and a specificity of 0.88. Among transactions identified as extremely risky, e.g., transactions with a score of 0.98 and above, 74% (35/47 in the test data) are recovered within a year. The most important predictive features include purchaser age and caliber size. This study suggests the potential utility of transaction records combined with machine learning to identify firearms at the highest risk for diversion and criminal use soon after purchase.

Hidden Hate, Hidden Violence: Dismantling Myths and Identifying Fresh Challenges for Research and Policy.

Hate crime has become an increasingly familiar term within global scholarship, with advancements in conceptual understanding and empirical knowledge helping to generate improved policy responses across many parts of the world. However, the continued demonization of 'other' identities, the escalating volume of hate incidents worldwide and the prevailing climate of rising tensions, decreasing resources and political de-prioritization all suggest that many urgent challenges remain. Contributors to this special issue have dismantled common stereotypes and misperceptions which hamper our collective capacity to address contemporary expressions of hate and violence. In doing so, they draw from their research evidence to identify "hidden" challenges which should be at the forefront of attempts to address the causes, effects, and prevention of all forms of violence. This call for reconfiguration is the unifying theme which runs through each article, and which paves the way for more nuanced analyses that offer new frameworks for responding to the diverse and changing patterns of violence. These are challenges which straddle disciplinary boundaries, geographical borders, and the physical/digital world, and which demand the international, intersectional, and interdisciplinary perspectives evident within this special issue.

Working "With" Not "On" Disabled People: The Role of Hate Crime Research within the Community.

For many disabled people, violence can become an unwanted, yet ordinary part of everyday life. Often, these crimes are attributed to understandings of disabled people as vulnerable and largely, passive victims. Attending to the aims of this special issue, this paper aims to dismantle these stereotypes and attend to the unique ways that disabled people can resist and respond to hate crime through creative and collaborative research practices. Building upon this, I argue that there is a pressing need for hate studies researchers to work "with" and not "on" those who have experienced targeted violence. Working in this way builds upon long-standing efforts of disabled activists and disabilities studies researchers to challenge reductive research practices by working in more collective and inclusive ways. To demonstrate this, I reflect upon a project working in partnership with disabled people to create a disability hate crime toolkit. The toolkit, now published, shares accessible and informative resources that can be used to raise awareness about disability hate crime. While the focus of this paper is disability, I consider methods of collaboration, co-production and participation that can be drawn upon by researchers to respond to hate crime and interpersonal violence more broadly.

Digital Reconstruction: A Critical Examination of the History and Adaptation of Ku Klux Klan Websites.

In response to the data revolution, academic research and media attention have increasingly focused on the technological adaptation and innovation displayed by the far right. The greatest attention is paid to social media and how groups and organizations are utilizing technological advancement and growth in virtual networks to increase recruitment and advance radicalization on a global scale. As with most social and political endeavors, certain technologies are in vogue and thus draw the attention of users and regulators and service providers. This creates a technological blind spot within which extremist groups frequently operate older and less well regarded technologies without the oversight that one might expect. This article examines the less well-studied traditional and official websites of the Ku Klux Klan, the most established and iconic of American far-right organizations. By incorporating non-participant observation of online spaces and thematic analysis, this research analyzes the evolution of 26 websites, from their emergence in the early 1990s to the present day. We examine the ways in which traditional printed communications and other ephemera have progressed with advances in technology, focusing on the following central elements of Klan political activism and community formation: Klan identity, organizational history, aims and objectives; technology and outreach, including online merchandise and event organization; and the constructions of whiteness and racism. The results add value and insight to comparable work by offering a unique historical insight into the ways in which the Klan have developed and made use of Web 1.0, Web 2.0, and Web3 technologies.

Lost in Translation? Applying the Hate Crime Concept to an Indian Context.

Hate crime is increasingly a familiar term within the domains of scholarship, policy, and activism as the harms associated with acts of targeted hostility continue to pose complex, global challenges. However, an exclusively Western-centric focus has done little to foster transnational conversations or to shape conceptual or legal frameworks in parts of the world where the challenges posed by hate and prejudice remain underexplored despite their devastating consequences. This article considers how the complexities and specificities of the Indian context disrupt the dominant assumptions of conventional hate crime frameworks. In doing so, it highlights the value of extending conventional Westernized models of thinking to different environments with different sets of challenges. Through its analysis of caste crimes and the factors that reinforce a prevailing institutional and cultural backdrop of political indifference, bureaucratic resistance, and public skepticism, the article illustrates why and how key elements of the Western framework remain ill-suited to the Indian context. The authors call instead for a creative translation of the hate crime concept, which accommodates the nature of violence within specific social contexts, and which emphasizes the institutional features that can mitigate the limitations of state capacity and intent. The process of translation has value in harnessing the benefits of the hate crime concept within countries, which lack a common framework to foster shared understanding and prioritization in relation to tackling contemporary expressions of hate. At the same time, this process enriches prevailing thinking, dismantles stereotypes, and challenges scholars of targeted violence to familiarize themselves with the unfamiliar.

Crime-related perceptions and walking for recreation inside and outside one's home neighborhood.

It is widely assumed crime and related concerns, including neighborhood incivilities and fear of crime, are barriers to physical activity (PA). Past studies reveal mixed evidence. Studies of impacts for crime-protective factors are less common but have similarly mixed results. This paper evaluates a comprehensive transdisciplinary conceptual framework of cross-sectional associations between crime-related perceptions and reported minutes/week of recreational walking inside and outside one's home neighborhood. Safe and Fit Environments Study (SAFE) recruited and surveyed 2302 participants from adolescents to older adults from four U.S. metropolitan areas. A zero-inflated model estimated two components of each outcome: whether the respondent walked, and minutes/week walked. Correlates of recreational walking were location-specific, differing based on walking location. Fear of crime, risk evaluation, victimization, and incivilities were not consistently associated with walking for recreation inside one's neighborhood. People with crime concerns about their own neighborhoods, however, more commonly walked for recreation outside their neighborhoods. Protective crime-related perceptions that seldom have been studied in relation to PA, such as street efficacy (i.e., the perceived ability to avoid and manage danger), were strongly associated with recreational walking in both locations, indicating the additional heuristic value of the SAFE conceptual framework. Crime-related perceptions and walking for recreation: Evaluating a conceptual model.

The effect of therapeutic and deterrent messages on Internet users attempting to access 'barely legal' pornography.

Online child sexual abuse material (CSAM) is a growing problem. Prevention charities, such as Stop It Now! UK, use online messaging to dissuade users from viewing CSAM and to encourage them to consider anonymous therapeutic interventions. This experiment used a honeypot website that purported to contain barely legal pornography, which we treated as a proxy for CSAM. We examined whether warnings would dissuade males (18-30 years) from visiting the website. Participants (n = 474) who attempted to access the site were randomly allocated to one of four conditions. The control group went straight to the landing page (control; n = 100). The experimental groups encountered different warning messages: deterrence-themed with an image (D3; n = 117); therapeutic-themed (T1; n = 120); and therapeutic-themed with an image (T3; n = 137). We measured the click through to the site. Three quarters of the control group attempted to enter the pornography site, compared with 35 % to 47 % of the experimental groups. All messages were effective: D3 (odds ratio [OR] = 5.02), T1 (OR = 4.06) and T2 (OR = 3.05). Images did not enhance warning effectiveness. We argue that therapeutic and deterrent warnings are useful for CSAM-prevention.

Economic Inequality, Life Expectancy, and Interpersonal Violence in London Neighborhoods.

Positive associations between levels of socioeconomic inequality and homicide rates have been reported at various geographical levels (e.g., between countries, states, cities, and neighborhoods within a city). However, the extent to which inequality predicts levels of non-lethal violence has been less frequently studied. The present study was conducted to investigate the association between socioeconomic inequality and levels of non-lethal interpersonal violence across neighborhoods of London during the period 2010 to 2012, using two independent data sources: Metropolitan Police service recorded violent crime and London Ambulance Service recorded assaults. Mean income per person and local life expectancy were included as additional predictors. Following exclusions due to census boundary changes, across 533 London wards, there were positive bivariate associations between both violence measures and a measure of inequality between neighborhoods (census lower layer super output areas [LSOAs]) within a ward. Moreover, there were negative bivariate associations between violence rates and both ward mean income and life expectancy measures for males and females. However, in a regression analysis only inequality and male life expectancy were consistent predictors of rates of interpersonal violence across outcome measures. The results of the present study provide further evidence of an association between levels of economic inequality and rates of interpersonal violence. The findings, for variation in rates of non-lethal violence across small geographical areas (neighborhoods), build on previous research that has mostly focused on rates of lethal violence and has tended to use aggregate measures across larger geographical areas.

An algorithmic strategy for measuring police presence with GPS data.

This study introduces an algorithmic strategy for measuring dimensions of police presence at microgeographic units using GPS data from police patrol units. The proposed strategy builds upon the integrated theory of hot spots patrol strategy from Sherman et al. (Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice 30:95-122, 2014), focusing on three key dimensions: the frequency, duration, and intermittency of police presence. This study provides pseudocodes for the algorithm, facilitating the pre-processing of GPS-derived data sequences to generate measures of these three central concepts. The measures presented in this article offer a framework for investigating the impact of police presence on crime and other relevant crime-related outcomes at microgeographic units, using GPS data. This algorithmic strategy may further contribute to the development of evidence-based strategies in place-based policing initiatives.

Applying a Racial Lens to the "Cycle of Violence".

One overlooked result in a 1989 Science paper on the "cycle of violence" was a race-specific increase in risk for arrest for violence among Black maltreated children, but not White maltreated children. We examine whether race differences in the cycle of violence are explained by risk factors traditionally associated with violence. Using a prospective design, maltreated and non-maltreated children were matched on age, sex, race, and approximate family social class and interviewed at mean age 28.7 years (N = 1196). Arrest histories were obtained through age 50.5. Regression analyses included maltreatment, race, self-reported violent behavior, and risk factors (e.g., family, school, neighborhood variables). For arrests for violent crime, race was a significant predictor, whereas childhood maltreatment was not significant. For violent arrests, there was a significant race × maltreatment interaction when the total number of risk factors were included controlling for self-reported violent behaviors. For self-reported violent behaviors, childhood maltreatment remained significant for some risk factors. However, race did not predict self-reported violent behaviors. Offending behavior and traditional risk factors did not explain the disproportionate arrests among Black maltreated children. This disparity in the cycle of violence may reflect complex processes influenced by racial bias or structural racism.

Does Escalating Violence and Associated Fear of Crime Worsen Psychological Well-Being in Community Dwellers Living in a Rural Setting? Results From the Atahualpa Project Cohort.

BACKGROUND: Escalating street violence and criminal homicides have an adverse impact on psychological well-being. However, these consequences have been difficult to evaluate. Using a recently validated scale, we aimed to assess the impact of fear of crime on the psychological status of middle-aged and older adults living in a rural setting afflicted by endemic violence. METHODS: Participants were selected from Atahualpa residents included in previous studies targeting psychological distress in the population. A validated scale was used to objectively quantify fear of crime in participants. Differences in symptoms of depression and anxiety between baseline and follow-up were used as distinct dependent variables and the continuous score of the fear of crime scale was used as the independent variable. Linear regression models were fitted to assess the association between the exposure and the outcomes, after adjusting for relevant confounders. RESULTS: A total of 653 participants (mean age = 53.2 ± 11.5 years; 57% women) completed the requested tests. We found a 13% increase in symptoms of depression and anxiety during the peak of violence in the village compared with previous years. Linear regression models showed a significant association between the total score on the fear of crime questionnaire and worsening symptoms of depression (ß = .24; 95% CI = 0.14-0.35) and anxiety (ß = .31; 95% CI = 0.24-0.37), after adjustment for relevant confounders. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows a significant aggravating effect of fear of crime on pre-existing symptoms of depression and anxiety and a deleterious effect of these conditions on overall well-being.