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Cybercrime has become a major societal concern, and a better understanding OF cybercrime is needed to target and prevent it more effectively, minimize its consequences, and provide support for victims. Research on cybercrime victimization has exploded in the past few years, but much of it relies on convenience samples and is largely descriptive in nature. The research presented here involves the collection of data from a large sample of Virginia households in 2022 (n = 1,206). The data are analyzed to provide a partial test of routine activity theory to better understand fraud and theft via the Internet. The data provide a solid baseline for describing the extent of cyber victimization across the state. Bivariate and multivariate analyses (logistic regressions) show support for routine activity theory and provide important insights for future research. In particular, we find that certain routine Internet activities may better predict unique forms of cybervictimization than others and that length of time on the Internet is not a good indicator of exposure to motivated offenders. Further, protective guardianship mediates the effects of exposure to motivated offenders; thus, efforts to educate the public on best practices are needed. We conclude that to better assess cybercrime, victimization and engagement, better measurement and longitudinal panel data will be needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public corruption appears ubiquitous and increasing in the last few decades, according to public opinion polls. Trials and convictions of public officials usually receive extensive media attention. It is expected that high profile convictions would reduce corruption in an area as it puts individuals on notice about such behavior. Selected US Attorneys' offices appear to account for the majority of public corruption convictions. This study examines the public corruption conviction rate for all 94 US Attorneys' offices in the US. Using 52 interviews with community stakeholders, former public officials, former prosecutors, and investigators, the nature of corrupt environments is examined to find aspects of a jurisdiction that encourage or inhibit corrupt behaviors. According to interviews, local history and culture, leadership and contagion, and watchdog/oversight activity impact the culture of corruption. Leadership is a double-edged sword. Leadership can both encourage corruption and curb it. Prosecutions may serve a purpose to hold corrupt officials accountable; it does not stem the tide of corrupt cultures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organized crime is a financial crime because its objective is profit or other material gain. The provision of illicit goods and services dominates organized crime profit making. Sometimes an organized crime offense is directed at power or intimidation (in cases such as racketeering or extortion), but these actions are designed to ensure the survival and profitability of an ongoing criminal enterprise. Therefore, organized crime has important similarities to the white-collar forms of financial crimes. What has been lacking in organized crime research is a comparison of actual cases of organized crime (i.e., prosecutions and convictions) to determine the extent to which organized crime prosecutions correspond to the specific offenses being researched on organized crime. An entire calendar year of organized crime prosecutions and published research articles are examined to evaluate their similarities and differences. In addition, aspects of organized crime prosecutions reveal important similarities and differences from other forms of financial crime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This analysis examines the precise laws under which corruption cases are brought and trends over time in order to assess how the underlying corruption behaviors can be grouped into types. Corruption is operationalized into several distinct types of misconduct under law for purposes of prosecution. Federal defendants were most often charged with offenses charging bribery, fraudulent statements/entries, theft of public funds, conspiracy, and fraudulent claims (in that order). Whereas state and local defendants were more likely to be charged with a different ordering of offenses (extortion, theft from government programs, mail fraud, and conspiracy for state defendants, and theft from government programs, extortion, mail fraud, and bribery for local defendants). These differences in the corruption choices by public officials at different levels of government have rarely been considered. Preliminary explanations are offered for these differences, which provide insights into the way in which corruption occurs in different jurisdictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Italian-American mafia is one of the most enduring images of organised crime, but separating fictional images of organised crime from the real thing has not been easy. Overall, organised crime is a continuing criminal enterprise that rationally works to profit from illicit activities that are often in great public demand. Its continuing existence is maintained through the use of force, threats, monopoly control, and/or the corruption of public officials. The past 20 years have seen a decline in the influence of Italian-American organised crime in the US, but this has been offset by the rise of other forms of organised crime, not least groups from the former USSR. Meanwhile, the Canadian underworld is dominated by Asian groups, East European groups, Italian groups, and outlaw motorcycle gangs. The major organised crime groups in Mexico are extended networks composed of Mexican nationals living in Mexico, Mexican-Americans, and Mexican immigrants living in the United States, operating as competing networks in the illicit drug business from supply, to transit, to destination and buyers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The often confusing, sometimes bizarre, nature of crime and justice in contemporary society is shown to result from five fundamental mistakes in criminal justice: (1) the failure to consider an explanation of crime based on ethical decision making, given the inadequacies of positivistic, classical, and structural approaches; (2) the failure to devote more attention to generally poor police training and low clearance rates; (3) the failure to realize that winning cases and moving caseloads have overshadowed the original purposes of truth and justice in the adjudication process; (4) the failure to consider an alternative approach to corrections based on punishment and rehabilitation rather than punishment or rehabilitation; and (5) the failure to pay greater attention to the early lives of young people and their families, from whom much subsequent criminal behavior emerges. Evidence attesting to these failures is presented, and recommendations for overcoming them are indicated. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]