Sociology, Criminology, Organised crime, Human rights, Crime prevention, Juvenile delinquency

Transitions of Truants: Community Truancy Board as a Turning Point in the Lives of Adolescents

by Kevin Wright

Johnson, Charles L, Kevin A. Wright, and Paul S. Strand (2012). "Transitions of Truants: Community Truancy Board as a Turning Point in the Lives of Adolescents." Journal of Juvenile Justice, 1(2), 34-51.

School dropout represents a major turning point in a person’s life that could be seen as an initial step on a... more School dropout represents a major turning point in a person’s life that could be seen as an initial step on a difficult pathway to reduced conventional opportunities. The challenge is to identify interventions that can successfully reintegrate students back into a school setting in a manner that encourages continued attendance and involvement. One such program is the West Valley Community Truancy Board in Spokane, Washington. In addition to the truancy board process, the program employs a court-appointed officer to mentor students and manage the overall process of identifying and attending to the risks and needs that promote truancy. Guided by Sampson and Laub’s (1993) age-graded theory of informal social control and Cullen’s (1994) application of social support to delinquency, the current analysis seeks to determine the overall effectiveness of the truancy board based on both quantitative analyses of outcomes and qualitative interviews with key actors. We discuss the implications for the ongoing theoretical, empirical, and policy debates surrounding truancy intervention.

Le misure di prevenzione del terrorismo e dei traffici criminosi internazionali ("The Measures of Prevention of International Terrorism and Criminal Trafficking")

by Lorenzo Pasculli

Versione definitiva in italiano della mia tesi di dottorato. Vietata ogni distribuzione o riproduzione non autorizzata (Final italian version of my Ph.D. dissertation. Do not distribute or copy without permission)

Università degli Studi di Trento (University of Trento)

Relatore (Tutor/Supervisor): Prof. Silvio Riondato

Obiettivo della presente ricerca è stata la ricognizione, la sistematizzazione e la critica delle misure di... more Obiettivo della presente ricerca è stata la ricognizione, la sistematizzazione e la critica delle misure di prevenzione negative praeter delictum del crimine globale previste dal diritto internazionale e sovranazionale. Si è cercato di adottare un metodo rispondente al carattere, appunto, globale della materia, nonché all’esigenza di offrirne una lettura sistematica universale. In questo senso, si è fatto largo uso della comparazione giuridica, al fine di individuare principi, categorie e prassi comuni, con cui interpretare anche il diritto internazionale e sovranazionale.

Il lavoro si è strutturato in quattro parti. Nella prima si è introdotto il problema della possibile confusione fra pene e misure preventive predelittuali, che, applicate senza idonee garanzie di certezza legale, si prestano a fungere da pene del mero sospetto. Nella seconda parte si è affrontata l’evoluzione della prevenzione negli ordinamenti contemporanei, con particolare riferimento all’impiego di misure negative da parte del potere politico in tempi di emergenza. Nella terza parte sono state esaminate, in un quadro d’insieme, le esperienze e le categorie maturate da vari ordinamenti nazionali in materia di prevenzione. Nell’ultima parte si è cercato di interpretare alla luce di tali strumenti i modelli di prevenzione di diritto internazionale e sovranazionale.

All’esito della nostra ricerca è emerso come il ricorso a misure di prevenzione negativa praeter delictum sia prerogativa comune ad ogni ordinamento giuridico, se non altro nei casi in cui vengano meno l’efficacia deterrente della pena e l’efficacia di interventi di prevenzione positiva. In certi paesi tali misure sono uno strumento ordinario di lotta alla criminalità pur sempre riconducibili ai principi garantistici del diritto penale, in altri contesti esse vengono usate quali misure eccezionali o di guerra, in una concezione utilitaristica che, in nome della ragione politica, tende a giustificare indiscriminati sacrifici delle libertà e dei diritti individuali, come la tortura e i “targeted killings”.

Nonostante alcuni significativi interventi della Corte di Giustizia dell’Unione europea, la disciplina delle misure negative adottate dagli ordinamenti internazionali e sovranazionali risulta ancora troppo legata a logiche politiche e troppo svincolata da principi e garanzie in grado di tutelare, quanto meno, un nucleo inderogabile di diritti e libertà fondamentali.

Hard to Reach Communities: Living in the UK, and Issues Facing British Muslims of Kashmiri Heritage Born & Bred in the UK

by Owais Rajput

In my presentation I will focus on British Muslim Communities living in UK; my main focus will be on the British local... more In my presentation I will focus on British Muslim Communities living in UK; my main focus will be on the British local community with Kashmiri heritage, as most of the time they are labelled in the media as “Home Grown Radicalised” Muslims, even if they are the fourth & fifth generation born & bred in UK.

I will also focus on Processes to Radicalisation in UK, in local communities, again particularly in the Kashmiri community.

I will also focus on design and delivery processes so far used by authorities in de-radicalisation processes and the results so far, and why we need to change those design and delivery processes, especially when we focus on the British Diaspora with Kashmiri heritage, the fourth & fifth generation born & bred in the UK.

Should environmental issues be securitised?

by Owais Rajput

Environmental issues
The variables that have defined national security for the most part of the World’s history... more Environmental issues
The variables that have defined national security for the most part of the World’s history have largely been military in nature. Security was primarily made up of the physical defence of the country, its people and whatever they possessed. Profound factors outside the traditional area of military operations have been realised that could affect the securities of many countries.
It is within this background that environmental issues have raised to importance, and the term ‘Environmental Security’ has entered the language of environmentalists, policy makers and security planners. With the ending of the cold war, the usual concepts of the nature of national security and the methods to achieve it have changed. The global powers at the time were engaged in military containment of each other, as in the case of America and the Soviet Union containment of each other.

Why is US defence spending still at Cold War levels despite the dissolution of the Soviet Union?

by Owais Rajput

Mersey heat - Gang culture in Liverpool

by Anna Sergi

Published in Jane's Intelligence Review, January 2012

Its unique characteristics mean that Liverpool remains a magnet for drug-related
crime and trafficking. Anna... more Its unique characteristics mean that Liverpool remains a magnet for drug-related
crime and trafficking. Anna Sergi looks at the history of gangs in the city from the
1960s to the present day, and assesses the police response and security risk.

Shielding the State of Emergency: Organised Crime in Ireland and the State’s Response

by Alan Greene

(2011) 62(3) Northern Ireland Legal Quarterly 15-33

This article analyses the correlation between the Irish Government's reaction to the perceived increase in the threat... more This article analyses the correlation between the Irish Government's reaction to the perceived increase in the threat posed by organised crime and a state's response in periods of extreme crisis, i.e. a state of emergency.  This  paper  commences  with  an  outline  of  what  constitutes  an emergency  and  an emergency response. Part 2 illustrates the correlation between the previously constructed paradigm  and  the  Criminal Justice (Amendment) Act 2009.  Finally,  this paper  concludes  with  a  discussion  of  the consequences of  utilising an emergency response in dealing with organised crime and the implications this may have on formulating an understanding of the nature of emergencies and dealing with threats to the life of the nation.

LORENZO PASCULLI - The Measures of Prevention of International Terrorism and Criminal Trafficking

by Lorenzo Pasculli

Draft of the research project for my Ph.D. thesis. The draft is outdated and the actual work has been developing in different directions. Still the main core remains the same. Do not cite and/or distribute without permission.

The unprecedented, and, to some extent, unpredictable forms which shape crime in the global context, in default of a... more The unprecedented, and, to some extent, unpredictable forms which shape crime in the global context, in default of a well defined and effective global system of criminal justice, has proven the insufficiency of merely retributive and deterrence-based approaches. At the same time, the often destructive harmfulness of global crime urge to (try to) prevent it, rather than just (try to) repress it. In order to pursue such preventive aims, both the single States and the international and supranational organizations are taking several measures of prevention. If some of them only affect the social context, other directly constrain
some fundamental liberties and rights.
It is time to draw a system – both on a comparative and on an international/supranational level – of the measures of prevention of all those crimes that, for different reasons, are characterized by an international or transnational dimension (such as terrorism, international organized crime, human trafficking and exploitation, drug trafficking, etc.), in order to achieve two main goals:
a) organize under clear and univocal legal categories all the different measures adopted by the single national legal orders, the supranational legal orders (such as the European Union), the several international organizations (such as the United Nations) and the whole international community at the aim of preventing transnational crime and terrorism;
b) criticize the resulting system of preventative measures in the light of
- the essential constitutional and criminal law principles and traditions shared by every Nation,
- the human rights and liberties stated and protected by international and supranational law,
and eventually try to understand, in a de jure condendo perspective, if (and how) it could be possible to improve such system in order to make it more effective but, at the same time, more respectful of the maximum standards of protection of the aforementioned fundamental rights, liberties and guarantees.

The Measures of Prevention of International Terrorism and Criminal Trafficking (English_Abstract)

by Lorenzo Pasculli

Abstract (in english) of the research project for my Ph.D. thesis. Do not cite and/or distribute without permission.

The unprecedented and unpredictable forms which shape crime in the global context has proven the insufficiency of... more The unprecedented and unpredictable forms which shape crime in the global context has proven the insufficiency of merely retributive and deterrence-based approaches. At the same time, the often destructive harmfulness of global crime urge to (try to) prevent it, rather than just (try to) repress it.

In order to pursue such preventive aims, both the single States and the international and supranational organizations are taking several measures of prevention, which often constrain some fundamental liberties and rights.

It is time to draw a system – both on a comparative and on an international/supranational level – of the measures of prevention of all those crimes that, for different reasons, are characterized by an international or transnational dimension, in order to organize under clear and univocal legal categories all the different measures and criticize such system in the light of the essential constitutional and criminal law principles and traditions shared by every Nation and the human rights and liberties stated and protected by international and supranational law.

We will eventually try to understand if (and how) it could be possible to improve such system in order to make it more effective but, at the same time, more respectful of the maximum standards of protection of the aforementioned fundamental rights, liberties and guarantees.

'Government responses to organized crime in the United Kingdom since 1997: a review.'

by Palvinder Gill

Organized crime presents the UK with a number of problems. Initially, the social and economic harms caused by... more Organized crime presents the UK with a number of problems. Initially, the social and economic harms caused by organized crime are far reaching and can range from individual suffering to national decline. However in addition to the threats from organized criminal activity, organized crime is certainly a difficult concept to define and detect. Consequently, both of these factors increase the difficulties of designing and measuring preventative strategies. More so, without the sufficient intelligence and understanding, the government and academics are helpless in regards to measuring the impact and effectiveness of control measures.


Nevertheless, this dissertation embarks on the concept of organized crime by critically appraising relevant government and academic publications to review government responses to organized crime in the UK since 1997. Whilst appreciating the broad nature of organized crime, the government in the UK is pragmatic in prioritizing the response by targeting the most harmful threats. With a fundamental aim of reducing the harms caused by organized crime, the law enforcement response has experienced a shift in emphasis towards a unified intelligence-led preventative approach. This desire to approach organized crime with constant risk analysis and continuing intervention through a variety of policing interventions has also been emphasized in the implementation of risk-based civil orders and substantive asset recovery legislation.


Although, despite the increased efficiency of the government's enforcement and intelligence role achieved through the amalgamation of the NCIS and NCS, it remains to be seen whether the remaining inter-agency collaborations will undermine SOCA's unified strategy against organized crime. Also, whilst appreciating the concerns in respect of the European Convention on Human Rights, a level of operational confidence must be reached by the agencies and the courts to fully utilize the new civil proceedings. This includes the imposition of Serious Crime Prevention Orders prior to a conviction as well as the new civil procedure for asset recovery.


Crucially, despite the robust implementation of law enforcement agency reforms and substantive legislation, the new intelligence-led preventative approach requires a level of performance management beyond the methods used for conventional policing. Whether this is possible remains to be seen, but the current inability to quantify preventative measures leaves the approach wide open to scrutiny.