Suchergebnisse

State Succession — Judgments of Courts — Incorporation of Austria into German Reich — Conviction of Criminal by Court in Austria — Whether such Conviction Equivalent to Conviction Obtained in Germany — Liability to Punishment as Recidivist according to German Law.

States — Continuity of — Factual Division of Former German Reich into Separate Entities — Trial of Criminal in German Federal Republic — Previous Conviction in Soviet Zone of Germany — Whether Such Conviction Constitutes a Conviction Obtained "in Germany" — Liability to Punishment as Recidivist — The Law of Germany.

The relation between sex and crime is an important and significant one. Broadly speaking, recorded criminality varies notably according to sex, being at a much higher level among males than females. It is men who are largely responsible for the planning and execution of large-scale crimes such as robberies. Serious recidivism, which presents such a problem in terms of penal care and treatment, is almost exclusively a masculine phenomenon—in a recent survey of crime in the UK, the incidence of serious recidivism amongst women is not even calculated (McClintock & Avison, 1968). The study of sex differences in criminality should, then, illuminate our knowledge of crime and its aetiology; it should also tell us something about sex differences in society in general.

"Punir ni plus qu'il n'est juste, ni plus qu'il n'est utile"This old and famous French adage seems to have become the motto adopted in relation to penalty sanction. In fact, "the basic aim of the sanction is not onlyany more to dissuade criminals from recidivism, but to rehabilitate them and prepare them to face society again and be reintegrated in it among the righteous and virtuous" (Becheraoui, n.d., in Arabic).

The treatment of offenders is a specific role of the penal system. It is those professionally concerned who are charged by society with responsibility for the rehabilitation of the offender. Although the function of punishment and treatment are not well differentiated, at least a large measure of agreement can be reached regarding objectives, namely, that one of the main aims of treatment must be to minimize the probability that the offender will again commit crimes. In a word, the reduction of recidivism is the major objective of the penal system. (Wilkins, 1965)

The possibility of utilizing an interdisciplinary team of operations analysts, frequently working with mathematical techniques rarely employed in criminology, to improve the operations of various crime control activities, is suggested. Procedures for translating typical criminological concerns into more rigorous manipulatable models are presented. Specifically, various applications of mathematical modelling, mathematical programming, game theory, Markov process theory & queing to problems of causality, police operations, courts, treatment & recidivism are explored. It is pointed out that the several mathematical techniques may be used to advantage not only in criminology, but frequently the questions which would be raised in the course of such study would be of broad sociol'al interest. AA.

Norman House in London is the prototype of the halfway house movement, which works for the resettle ment of homeless offenders. Norman House originated in its founder's visits to a prison where he realized that homelessness was frequently a consequence of repeated imprisonment, and recidivism itself a disqualification for social help on discharge. What the inadequate recidivist was asking for was support and direction so that he could be a useful citizen. What he received, in fact, was advice and admonition and a couple of nights in a common lodginghouse, which amounted to a return ticket to prison. Norman House was started in 1954 as a small family home for twelve adult recidivists who wanted something better than the advice to go straight and the lodg inghouse where they were expected to start the journey. Nor man House was designed as a family home where the isolated offender could feel that he belonged. "Going straight" then began to have purpose because it was related to people who cared for him. What happened to him was a matter for concern to someone. This was the simple beginning of what is now developing into a national service. It is not without influence on developments in the United States, Canada, and Australia.