Search

This paper presents a new definition of fear of crime that integrates two conceptual developments in this enduring field of criminological enquiry. Our measurement strategy differentiates first between specific worries and diffuse anxieties in emotional responses to crime, and second between productive and counterproductive effects on subjective well-being and precautionary activities. Drawing on data from a representative survey of seven London neighbourhoods, these distinctions are combined into an ordinal scale that moves from the ‘unworried’, to low-level motivating emotions, to frequent and dysfunctional worry about crime. We demonstrate that different categories of ‘fear’ have different correlates and explain different levels of variation in public confidence in policing. We conclude with a call for more longitudinal research to uncover the dynamic nature of fear of crime over the life course. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Presents an account of young criminals and the criminal `underworld' in London, England in the early nineteenth century. Stereotypical and mythological characterizations of criminality; Young offenders' understanding of the networks and structures of criminal enterprise in London; Role of receivers and fences; Allegations about the operations and corruption of the police.

This paper explores the use of statistical and Geographical Information Systems mapping techniques in producing a preliminary assessment of geographical patterns of racially motivated crimes and harassment in a given area. The geographical distribution of allegations of racially motivated incidents reported to the police in the London Borough of Newham is investigated. The results of the analysis suggest that the ethnic composition of an area appears to have a significant effect on the rate of incidents. Correlation and regression analyses are carried out and support the preliminary finding that rates of incidence are significantly higher where there is a large white majority and smaller groups of other ethnicities.[/p] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the rise of ‘citizen journalism’ and considers its implications for the policing and news media reporting of public protests in the twenty-first century. Our research focuses on the use and impact of multi-media technologies during the 2009 G20 Summit Protests in London and evaluates their role in shaping the subsequent representation of ‘protest as news’. The classic concepts of ‘inferential structure’ (Lang and Lang 1955) and ‘hierarchy of credibility’ (Becker 1967) are re-situated within the context of the 24–7 news mediasphere to analyse the transition in news media focus at G20 from ‘protester violence’ to ‘police violence’. This transition is understood in terms of three key issues: the capacity of technologically empowered citizen journalists to produce information that challenges the ‘official’ version of events; the inclination of professional and citizen journalists to actively seek out and use that information; and the existence of an information-communications marketplace that sustains the commodification and mass consumption of adversarial, anti-establishment news. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Two weeks after the start of a major police initiative targeting drug dealing in London (described by the Metropolitan Police as a ‘spectacular success’), 174 street drug users were interviewed about drug price, availability and purity. Only seven users reported price increases for any drug, with the majority stating that there had been no change in any market features. This basic pattern was not influenced by whether the users were aware of the operation, whether they lived in the areas directly affected or by the number of different dealers that they used to purchase their drugs. Paradoxically, any perceived changes were more likely to be ‘improvements’ in the market than deterioration (i.e. lower price, greater availability and higher levels of purity). There is limited evidence from the current study to support the assertion that targeted policing will impact on the accessibility, price or quality of heroin, cannabis or crack cocaine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development is a prospective longitudinal survey of 411 South London males from age 8 to age 46. Delinquency rates were higher among 75 boys who were living in permanently disrupted families on their fifteenth birthday, compared to boys living in intact families. Results were very similar whether juvenile convictions, juvenile self-reported delinquency or adult convictions were studied. Delinquency rates were similar in disrupted families and in intact high conflict families. Boys who lost their mothers were more likely to be delinquent than boys who lost their fathers, and disruptions caused by parental disharmony were more damaging than disruptions caused by parental death. Boys from disrupted families who continued living with their mothers had similar delinquency rates to boys from intact harmonious families. These results are more concordant with life course theories rather than with trauma theories or selection theories of the effects of family disruption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the association of apparent late onset criminality with risk factors for criminal behavior in London, England. Relevance of recorded criminality with juvenile antisocial behavior; Role of social factors in the onset of criminality; Implications for identifying a history of mental illness or childhood disturbance.

Reports on a research project which investigated the changing policies and practices in rape and sexual assault cases at two police stations in London, England. Process of attrition; Quality of service delivery to complainants; Identification of four major points in judicial process at which cases are excluded.

Focuses on the system of monied policing in London, England in the mid-eighteenth century. Political economy of monied policing; Reform initiatives of Henry Fielding, Saunders Welch and Sir John Fielding; Aftermath of reform on commercial policing.

Describes a housing estate in London, England that had statistically higher than average crime rate and considers the role of informal social control on crime prevention. Relationship between crime and public housing; `Design failures' of public housing; Community-based crime prevention; Residents' denial of the problems posed by criminality.

Studies the nature and extent of slug use following modifications made by the London Underground Ltd. to ticket vending machines in subways in London, England on 1991. Vulnerability of the earlier model of the ticket machine to easily-made slugs; Groups of organized offenders as possible cause of loss of large sums of money from the machines.