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Copyright of Belügyi Szemle / Academic Journal of Internal Affairs is the property of Ministry of Interior of Hungary and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Strong and viable modern states have limited the use of private force to narrowly-defined situations of self-defense. Yet, evidence from crime surveys shows that a significant proportion of violent and property crimes is not reported to police. Instead of calling the police, people either take no action or employ a variety of mechanisms, including retaliation, to settle disputes. Drawing on data from a survey of 2,921 young people in two German cities, we investigate the propensity of adolescents to resort to self-justice retaliation. The results show widespread propensity to engage in retaliatory actions, particularly among adolescent males of low socio-economic status. Further, attitudes to the police, unsupervised routine activities, and delinquency-related variables were the most influential correlates of propensity to engage in retaliatory actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores how the German TV production Unsere Mütter, unsere Väter (2013) characterizes the 'war generation' with regard to its role in Nazi crimes and as perpetrators, both on screen and as a historical TV event. The three-part TV miniseries tells the story of five young Germans between 1941 and 1945. The narrative of the episodes follows the five friends who supposedly symbolize representative experiences of the war: four non-Jewish characters—two soldiers, a nurse, an artist—and one Jewish one. The involvement of the Gentile characters in crimes is shown, but they are never portrayed as antisemitic or ideological; rather, their deeds are explained by the overwhelming circumstances they find themselves in. They might become perpetrators, but they remain innocent in their intentions. The first screening of the TV miniseries in Germany and Austria was accompanied by educational materials, on-screen roundtable discussions, and documentaries. I argue that the TV production and its promotional campaign portrayed Germans primarily as victims of the war rather than exploring questions concerning the willing involvement of Germans in Nazi atrocities. This is done using references to and aspects of Holocaust cinema and Holocaust memory that serve as the blueprint for an apologetic story that presents Germans as a community of victims rather than perpetrators. Beyond the silver screen, Unsere Mütter, unsere Väter represents broader contemporary developments in 'coming to terms with the past' in German film, focusing on 'German victimhood' that resonate with contemporary debates in German society about its immediate past. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Penetrating trauma is a highly visible issue in history, social media, and politics. Crime statistics showed increasing numbers of violations of the law banning assault weapons in Germany. Although these injuries have historically been rare in Germany, we have noticed increasing numbers in our hospital. Studies focusing on these injuries of penetrating trauma are lacking, hence a distinct therapy algorithm is missing. Method: All penetrating injuries proximal to the wrist and ankle in the years 2016-2021 were analyzed in a retrospective survey. Isolated injuries of hand and foot were excluded. Data were gathered from the clinical information system and the protocol of the emergency medical services. For further analysis we identified three distinct groups: Patients who acquired the injury by an accident (ACCIDENT), self-inflicted (SELF-HARM) or by crime (ASSAULT). The groups were compared using MicroSoft Excel® and Sigma plot® (Jandel, San Rafael, CA). Results: A total of 961 cases were identified. The analysis showed an increasing number of cases with penetrating injuries from 2016 until 2019. Furthermore, major differences between the groups were revealed. The assault victims (ASSAULT n=117) were mostly male (91%) and non-German (52%). They were more likely to be accompanied by the police (13%), to be intoxicated, to require hospital admission (also to critical care) and to require surgery as compared to the cases of the ACCIDENT (n=484) and SELF-HARM (n=360) group. The SELF-HARM group cases were predominantly female, younger and had psychiatric comorbidities. Conclusion: The cause of penetrating trauma injury is important and can provide information crucial to the management of the patient. The emergency treatment of assault victims is challenging due to the particular circumstances of these cases. Optimal preparation and anticipation of the accident and emergency staff are necessary to deal with these patients. In summary, assault victims had more serious injuries than the other groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]