Suchergebnisse

<B>Ziel:</B> In der vorliegenden Studie wird überprüft, ob die im Rahmen der heroingestützten Behandlung festgestellte Abnahme der Delinquenz auf individueller Ebene mit der Entwicklung von Indikatoren zur sozialen Lage und zum Suchtverhalten einhergeht. </P><P><B>Methodik:</B> Basierend auf einer einheitlichen Stichprobe wird überprüft, ob dieselben Entwicklungstrends festgestellt werden können wie in den bisherigen Untersuchungen. Dabei können die früheren Befunde weitgehend repliziert werden. Alsdann wird die Kernthese mittels bivariater logistischer Regressionen untersucht. </P><P><B>Ergebnisse:</B> Die Delinquenzabnahme geht zwar mit einer Desintegration aus der Drogensubkultur, nicht aber mit einer gesellschaftlichen Reintegration einher. Im Wesentlichen lässt sie sich mit dem verringerten finanziellen Bedarf erklären. </P><P><B>Schlussfolgerungen:</B> Praktische und theoretische Implikationen der Ergebnisse werden unter Berücksichtigung der Befunde neuerer Untersuchungen zu den Langzeitwirkungen der Heroinverschreibung diskutiert.

During the Swiss heroin prescription trials (PROVE, 1994–1996), over 1,000 heavily addicted heroin users were recruited into the program. While short- and medium-term effects of the program had been thoroughly assessed earlier, only a small body of data on the long-term effects on treated subjects was available. Data on program dropouts were particularly scarce. In order to partially fill that gap, police records of all participants were collected in summer 2000. Based on these data, the present paper focuses on the long-term effects (up to 48 months after admission) of heroin maintenance on criminal involvement and, to some extent, on addictive behavior. Results suggest that heroin prescription causes a strong and stable decrease in criminal involvement of most patients. Similar patterns of desistance are observed for a broad range of offenses and across different subpopulations of patients. Although the most pronounced decrease in criminal involvement is observed in the group of those treated permanently, treatment effects seem to hold in the post-treatment period. In particular, post-treatment rates of records related to use/possession of heroin remain comparatively stable, indicating that most program dropouts do not reengage in (public) use of illegal heroin. Additional data suggest that such stabilization is mainly related to the ability of the program to redirect the majority of patients towards alternative treatments once they left the treatment program.

Can the three concepts of Neutralization Techniques, Moral Disengagement, and Secondary Self-Serving Cognitive Distortions be conceived theoretically and empirically as capturing the same cognitive processes and thus be measured with one single scale of Moral Neutralization? First, we show how the different approaches overlap conceptually. Second, in Study 1, we verify that four scales derived from the three conceptions of Moral Neutralization are correlated in such a way that they can be conceived as measuring the same phenomenon. Third, building on the results of Study 1, we derive a unified scale of Moral Neutralization which specifically focuses on the neutralization of aggression and test it in a large general population sample of preadolescents (Study 2). Confirmatory factor analyses suggest a good internal consistency and acceptable cross-gender factorial invariance. Correlation analyses with related behavioral and cognitive constructs corroborate the scale's criterion and convergent validity. In the final section we present a possible integration of Moral Neutralization in a broader framework of crime causation. Adapted from the source document.

"Can the three concepts of Neutralization Techniques, Moral Disengagement, and Secondary Self-Serving Cognitive Distortions be conceived theoretically and empirically as capturing the same cognitive processes and thus be measured with one single scale of Moral Neutralization? First, the authors show how the different approaches overlap conceptually. Second, in Study 1, they verify that four scales derived from the three conceptions of Moral Neutralization are correlated in such a way that they can be conceived as measuring the same phenomenon. Third, building on the results of Study 1, they derive a unified scale of Moral Neutralization which specifically focuses on the neutralization of aggression and test it in a large general population sample of preadolescents (Study 2). Confirmatory factor analyses suggest a good internal consistency and acceptable cross-gender factorial invariance. Correlation analyses with related behavioral and cognitive constructs corroborate the scale's criterion and convergent validity. In the final section the authors present a possible integration of Moral Neutralization in a broader framework of crime causation." (author's abstract)

AbstractIn different theoretical traditions, negative social conditions, attachments, and interactions shape the way individuals view the law and its agents. Although most researchers acknowledge the conceptual distinction between different legal attitudes such as legal cynicism and police legitimacy, it remains unclear to what extent these attitudes stem from the same social sources. In the current study, therefore, we evaluate the social and individual factors that influence trajectories of legal cynicism and police legitimacy using a diverse community sample of youths in Zurich, Switzerland. Latent growth curve models were employed to examine patterns of change in legal cynicism and police legitimacy between 13 and 20 years of age. The findings show that legal cynicism and police legitimacy both decline into early adulthood and exhibit high rank‐stability over time. Furthermore, we find that legal cynicism is closely related to individual characteristics that reflect one's inability to recognize or abide by their internal rules. By contrast, police legitimacy is shaped by socialization influences, particularly teacher bonds and police contacts. These results indicate a need to assess the measurement and interpretation of legal cynicism critically in relation to broader legitimacy beliefs and to investigate the shared and distinct sources of these different constructs.

"An evaluation of the effectiveness of a school-based social competence curriculum PATHS (Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies) on teacher-rated aggressive behavior, ADHD, and prosocial behavior in children. The one-year prevention program was administered to children in 28 of 56 Swiss elementary schools (N=1,675). Outcomes were assessed at pretest and posttest with a follow-up 2 years later. Moderator interactions involving baseline child characteristics and economic factors were tested. There were significant treatment effects for ADHD/ impulsivity and aggression at the follow-up. Baseline development variables predicted higher prosocial behavior as well as lower aggressive behavior and ADHD at the follow-up. Economic risk factors predicted poor behavior outcomes at the follow-up. Development variables moderated the impact of PATHS on ADHD and aggression at the follow-up. However, for most outcomes, no main effects or moderation of treatment effects were found." (author's abstract)

An evaluation of the effectiveness of a school-based social competence curriculum PATHS (Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies) on teacher-rated aggressive behavior, ADHD, and prosocial behavior in children. The one-year prevention program was administered to children in 28 of 56 Swiss elementary schools (N = 1,675). Outcomes were assessed at pretest and posttest with a follow-up 2 years later. Moderator interactions involving baseline child characteristics and economic factors were tested. There were significant treatment effects for ADHD/impulsivity and aggression at the follow-up. Baseline development variables predicted higher prosocial behavior as well as lower aggressive behavior and ADHD at the follow-up. Economic risk factors predicted poor behavior outcomes at the follow-up. Development variables moderated the impact of PATHS on ADHD and aggression at the follow-up. However, for most outcomes, no main effects or moderation of treatment effects were found. Adapted from the source document.

Ziel des Beitrags ist es, einen Überblick über die aktuelle Forschung zu jugendlichem Gewalthandeln und -erleben in der Schweiz sowie über aktuelle kriminologische Forschungsansätze zu geben. Hierzu wird zunächst die zeitliche Entwicklung von Jugendgewalt in den vergangenen zwei Dekaden dargestellt. Vor diesem Hintergrund fragen die Verfasser nach Ursachen von jugendlichem Gewaltverhalten. Dabei werden die folgenden Risikofaktoren diskutiert: Schulbildung, Geschlecht, Nationalität, Opfer elterlicher Gewalt in der Kindheit, elterliche Trennung, Frühdelinquenz, Selbstkontrolle, Freizeitverhalten, Taschengeld. Weitere Themen sind die Opfererfahrungen - gewalttätiger - Jugendlicher sowie die Situation in Zürich im Vergleich zu deutschen Städten. Abschließend werden vier Schwerpunkte effektiver Präventionsarbeit formuliert. (ICE2)

Ziel des Beitrags ist es, einen Überblick über die aktuelle Forschung zu jugendlichem Gewalthandeln und -erleben in der Schweiz sowie über aktuelle kriminologische Forschungsansätze zu geben. Hierzu wird zunächst die zeitliche Entwicklung von Jugendgewalt in den vergangenen zwei Dekaden dargestellt. Vor diesem Hintergrund fragen die Verfasser nach Ursachen von jugendlichem Gewaltverhalten. Dabei werden die folgenden Risikofaktoren diskutiert: Schulbildung, Geschlecht, Nationalität, Opfer elterlicher Gewalt in der Kindheit, elterliche Trennung, Frühdelinquenz, Selbstkontrolle, Freizeitverhalten, Taschengeld. Weitere Themen sind die Opfererfahrungen - gewalttätiger - Jugendlicher sowie die Situation in Zürich im Vergleich zu deutschen Städten. Abschließend werden vier Schwerpunkte effektiver Präventionsarbeit formuliert. (ICE2). Die Untersuchung enthält quantitative Daten. Die Untersuchung bezieht sich auf den Zeitraum 1980 bis 2000.

Community service, along with other new sanctions, has been recommended in many Western countries as an alternative to incarceration over many years. Despite a rich literature on evaluations of so‐called alternative sanctions, random assignment has only exceptionally been used in this field, and (short‐term) imprisonment has never been an option in such designs. The present study tried to assess the comparative effects of community service and prison sentences of up to 14 days, through a controlled experiment in Switzerland in which 123 convicts have been randomly assigned. The results show no difference with respect to later employment history and social and private life circumstances. However, re‐arrest by the police was more frequent among those randomly assigned to prison than among those selected for community service. Prisoners also developed more unfavourable attitudes towards their sentence and the criminal justice system.

AbstractExisting research has shown that the quality of the relationship between teacher and child is associated with more positive perceptions of school authorities. There has been relatively less attention to the processes that connect attitudes towards different sources of authority, such as between teachers and police. The current study uses a counterfactual approach to estimate the direct and indirect effects of teacher–child relationships on children's later perceptions of police legitimacy. Using data from a longitudinal study of youth in Zurich, Switzerland, this study applies non-bipartite propensity score matching to identify matched pairs (n = 232 pairs, 55% male) of children with better versus worse relationships with their teacher at age 11 following a teacher change. Matched pairs were then compared on potential mediators (moral norms about deviant behavior and low self-control) at age 13 and perceptions of police legitimacy at age 15. The results demonstrate the importance of the quality of the relationships between students and teachers in shaping young people's interpersonal characteristics as well as perceptions of the world around them. Namely, if young people feel that they are being treated fairly by their teachers, they are more likely to distinguish behaviors that are right or wrong (moral norms) and control their actions (self-control). Moreover, as a result they are also more likely to perceive authorities such as police as legitimate agents that facilitate societal order.