Search results

1

XXX-Lecie

100%

Batawia S.

Archiwum Kryminologii

|

1974

|

issue VI

7-13

EN

Approaching the 30 years of the the Polish People’s Republic from the point of view of the problems, which are the subject of research work, conducted by the Department of Criminology of the Institute of the Law Sciences at the Polish Academy of Sciences, one should be well aware of the fact, that during that period there could be noticed in many capitalist countries a marked increase of delinquency, and the explanation that is as a rule given for this phenomenon is the influence of, industrialization and urbanization processes. A marked increase has also taken place as regards, serious crimes, combined with aggression and in some countries, where the degree of industrialization is especially high, the phenomenon of organized crime (organized, specialized groups of criminals) has recently adopted alarming dimensions. In addition to this there can almost everywhere be found an increase in juvenile delinquency and that of young adults. This increase takes prace also in such milieux where disturbances of the socialization process are not connected with the bringing up of children in bad material conditions. In Poland, despite the fact that during those 30 years revolutionary economic transformations have taken place and enormous socio-demographic changes, often combined with intensified migration processes, there has not been noticed an increase in crime as compared with the pre-war period, but rather a marked decrease. Worth emphasizing is above all the drop by five times of homicides, the considerable decrease in the number of brawls and severe bodily injuries. According to statistical data the number of larcencies brought before a court has decreased markedly. It has, however, to be borne in mind that part of petty theft is at present settled in work enterprises through “exerting educational influence” and some, of course, is not revealed, as is the case in all countries. Even if we assume that among economic offences, of which statictics lists only a very small number, there is an especially large dark number, it should, however, be borne in mind, that as a rule these offences of an economic nature cause in practice only small material losses. Discussing data connected with robberies, it is worth while to stress that during the prewar period they used to be of a much more serious nature. An analysis of data from 1951 does not point to an increase in offences in Poland during that long period and in particular what deserves special emphasis, there is no increase in juvenile and young adult delinquency and also no intensification of delinquency among the inhabitants of towns and cities in comparison with the rural population. Studies have revealed that the differences in the intensity of delinquency between the various areas (voivodeships) is above all due to the social results of the mass migrations of the population, which started in 1945, and not to the industrialization and urbanization processes which are taking place. The greatest intensity of delinquency can be noticed in those areas with the largest percentage of newcomers, while in the most strongly urbanized and industrialized area (Katowice) the intensity of delinquency was and continues to be below the average fon the whole of Poland. Despite the systematic growth of industrialization and urbanization processes no increase in delinquency can be noticed or the increase is not significant at all, or appears only during the stage when industrial enterprises are under construction and later decreases markedly. On the basis of experience obtained in a newly established industrial centre (Nowa Huta) one may assume that in those few regions marked by intensive industrialization, where delinquency has distinctly increased, it is going to decrease later to the average level. The example of, Nowa Huta testifies to the fact that delinquency grew only during the first period of the influx of rural population, migrating into this area, which had lost the ties with its former environment and had thus been deprived of social control. Their adaptation to new difficult conditions of existence and new types of work proceeded with the accompaniment of considerable disturbances. The above findings are of great significance in the present conditions of new socio-political system, where it is possible to control many social phenomena exerting an influence on crime. * The Departament of Criminology of the Institute of the Law Sciences, Polish Academy of Sciences conducts ‒ on the basis of statistical data ‒ systematic research on the dimensions and intensity of delinquency in Poland and their socio-economic as well as demographic conditioning, a problem to which a number of publications has been devoted. An analysis of the results of these researches makes it possible to throw a light on the entire problem in a manner that markedly differs from the current opinion on the determinants of criminal offences in the new socio-political conditions. A problem to which since the beginning in 1953 of the existence of the Department of Criminology many research works have been devoted, due to its specific significance, is that of social maladjustment of children and juvenile delinquents. This subject matter goes beyond the problem of juvenile delinquency alone, since it is connected with delinquency of a considerable section of the young adult offenders and persistent recidivists, even in older age groups, where the process of social maladjustment as a rule reaches back to the time when they were under age. Research connected with juvenile delinquents took into account the population of children from the lower grades of primary school (approximately 5,500 children), so important from the point of view of prevention of crime, as well as that category of youth, so far not examined in Poland, who “do not attend school and do not work” (542 boys and girls). The results of such investigations revealed the important and as a rule underestimated role played by maladjustment in school in the etiology of social maladjustment as well as the considerable percentage of school youth with symptoms of demoralization in the younger (below 12) age groups (about 11 per cent), due to which there arose the problem of earlier diagnosis of the above-mentioned symptoms in the school, which is of particular significance for the prevention of later juvenile delinquency on the part of these children. The population of juvenile delinquents, examined in great detail, was made up of approximately 1,700 juvenile delinquents from the Warsaw area and several other towns and settlements; in two-thirds of the cases researches were conducted during a long follow-up period. Subject of research were also 250 gangs of juvenile delinquents, who had committed larcency and hooligan offences. Studies of the juvenile delinquents revealed interaction, essential from the prognostic point of view, between the early beginnings of social maladjustment and the dimensions of recidivism of a later period, jointly with the period after the age of 21. Research of this type also points to the significance for the etiology of social maladjustment and juvenile delinquency of being brought up in negative family surroundings (especially excessive drinking of alcohol in such families), and also to the significance that should be attached to the early detection of personality disonders, frenquently encountered with such minors The problems of young adults (between 17 and 20), close to that of the juvenile delinquents, socially considered just as important, has also been taken into account in the studies of the Department of Criminology, regarding the intensity and dynamics of their delinquency and analyses of the type of offences committed by them. Detailed studies concentrated on this problem, dealing with several youth populations, which have committed offences combined with aggression and the large category of young adults showing tendencies for recidivism. Due to the specific features of youth, those who have committed offences and are below 21 years of age, require separate treatment and therefore problems, connected with tchem should be the subject of special research. Investigations conducted in the Department of Criminology base itself on the assumption that a joint discussion of young adult delinquency and the delinquency of older age groups ‒ something we often encounter ‒ may lead to an entire numer of faulty conclusions and incorrect decisions. Though larcency is the major offence committed by young adults, nevertheless there are very frequent offences combined with aggression. And it is actually for this reason that this category of young adults, committing the last mentioned offence have become the subject of studies, especially the prisoners convicted for offences qualified as hooligan offences and those convicted for robbery. The total material collected concerned approximately 1,000 young adults, who had been brought before a court for hooligan offences. In 300 cases detailed studies were conducted, combined with environmental interviews, which took into account the prisoners as well as their families. These studies revealed that there was a large numer of young adults who had committed hooligan offences, who had already in their childhood shown symptoms of severe social maladjustment and who had started very early to drink systematically alcohol. Anyhow, similar symptoms could be found with young adults convicted for robbery. Special research was devoted to problems of recidivism in the case of young adult offenders, combined with a long follow-up period. Attention concentrated on those who were convicted several times and as a rule came from among the former juvenile delinquents. In addition to this, studies were conducted of the further fate of young adult prisoners, set free in 1961 from 40 penitentiaries; the follow-up period lasted for l0 years; the examined population was made up of 2,000 men. The material obtained made it possible to establish with accuracy the dimensions of their later recidivism. The research under discussion testifies also to the necessity to deal with recidivism among young adults in connection with their earlier social maladjustment, often dating back to their childhood. The problem, of very early social maladjustment also turned out to be most essential as regards young prostitutes, who were the subject of separate and thorough studies. The problem of recidivism, thrown so clearly into relief in research on juvenile and young adult delinquents, was also taken into account in the case of adult offenders. Research of the Department of Criminology embraced several populations of recidivists, beginning with the young age groups (21-24 years old). Material was obtained about over 600 recidivists, out of which approximately 400 prisoners were subjected to thorough criminological and psychological studies. Recently started examinations of material connected with persistent recidivists, who had been sent to “centre for social adjustment” (a preventive detention centre). The studies of recidivists which were conducted revealed that the problems of recidivism should be dealt with in our country in connection with the phenomenon of systematic excessive drinking: a very considerable percentage of recidivists are individuals who, due to long lasting and frequent drinking of alcohol, have developed symptoms of dependency on alcohol. As a result of this the criminality is in the case of alcoholics among the recidivists connected with their addiction and general social degradation. An analysis of data obtained through psychological and medical studies, testifies to the fact that persistent recidivists not only reveal symptoms of early social maladjustment, but as a rule also distinct severe personality disorders, which make it necessary to introduce measures, taking into account the psychopathological features of those offenders. Underestimation of this problem causes in practice highly negative phenomena. Worth stressing are the results of research, revealing that the small number of recidivists with multiple convictions, who began their criminal careers when at least already 25 years old, almost always come from among alcoholics. . Due to the significance of systematic excessive drinking and that of alcoholism in the genesis of various negative social phenomena, the problem of alcoholism has been taken widely into account in research conducted by the Department of Criminology. However, special attention has recently been devoted to the subject of early alcoholism and its serious social repercussions, underestimated so far and very little studied. In connection with this, research has been undertaken, conducted with 150 alcoholics up to 25 years old, who had been brought before social and medical commissions for alcoholics. Taken into account in research connected with excessive drinking were also people convicted for hooligan offences (approximately 600 from various age groups), 900 men charged with disturbing public order while intoxicated and people who had time and again been in a Detoxication Centre (500 men and 250 women). The obtained results testify to the importance of what is called problem of drinking. An analysis of the data about the law-breaking of these people showed that as a rule we deal here with people charged with offences that are not particularly severe; similar results have been revealed by material dealing with approximately 800 alcoholics who underwent treatment ‒ serious offences on the person are rare occurrences. * Investigations on criminological problems were conducted by taking into account sociological, psychological and psychopathological as well as legal aspects. In addition to subject matter, dealing with the dimensions of the criminality and its macro-social conditioning, empirical research concentrated mainly on the establishment of the etiology of social maladjustment in various samples of offenders by means of a detailed analysis of the individual cases, with a simultaneous utilization of objective data from various sources. Examination of long follow-up periods permitted the proper verification of prognostic factors. The results of the studies are being published since 1960, mainly in ,,Archiwum Kryminologii’ (Archives of Criminology), issued by the Department of Criminology which has so far printed 37 works, containing the results of empirical research. Some of the results of the Departments works have been published in other magazines and in the form of monographs. It should be stressed that the work of the Department of Criminology also includes opinions regarding drafts of laws, connected with the problem of delinquency, alcoholism and other phenomena in the field of social pathology; these opinions were sent to the proper ministries and to the parliament. Due to the great lack of scientific workers in the whole country, who are properly prepared to conduct research and to lecture in the field of criminology, the Department of Criminology has recently started postgraduate courses in this field.

2

Criminology versus criminal law - selected theoretical and practical aspect.

66%

Tarnacka A.

Zeszyty Naukowe Wyższej Szkoły Finansów i Prawa w Bielsku-Białej

|

2020

|

issue 3

37-44

XX

Criminology and criminal law are two separate scientific disciplines which are mutually helpful for each other. Criminology is a practical discipline whose most important scientific method is empirical method relying solely on the statement of facts which makes it neutral from judgements and assessments. Criminal law, in turn, belongs to the category of normative sciences where the fundamental method is the legal-dogmatic method. The law is based assessment because the values adopted by law are the foundations on which moral and public order are built. As criminology and criminal law possess common research areas, criminology can serve as an auxiliary discipline for criminal law and was treated as such already at the dawn of its existence in the 19th century when it was believed that empirical sciences were to reform and improve social reality. Criminology derives from criminal law legal definitions pertaining to types of crimes and referring to their legal shape, whereas the legislation of criminal law which is grounded in reality and evolution judicature both require knowledge of criminology. Outcomes of criminological research are used for the purposes of criminal law which creates a bond between these two disciplines and this bond which supports their mutual co-existence.

3

Streszczenie wyników badań i wnioski

58%

Batawia S.

Archiwum Kryminologii

|

1972

|

issue V

134-149

EN

In the light of the surveys of the 15 - l7-year-olds “out of school and out of work,” it can be seen that a large majority of the subjects are recruited from among boys and girls whose basic problems can be reduced to school maladjustment, serious learning difficulties and inability to adapt to the school curriculum. With most of the subjects social maladjustment is clearly connected with school maladjustment, which is no doubt frequently the anterior process. The lack of detailed psychological and medical tests makes it impossible to say what are the factors chiefly responsible fur such school retardation: what percentage of the subjects are backward children, children with only partial developmental retardation, children with certain congenital defects which are serious obstacles to learning to read and write, or children with personality disorders which interfere considerable with a normal process of education, reduce their capacity for systematic effort, impede concentration, etc. The children whose normal progress at school encounters serious difficulties and cannot cope unaided with their school obligations have a sense of inferiority with regard to the other children in their class, and the conflict situations experienced by them continually and their fear of the consequences of bad results at school make for a hostile attitude to school, truancy, seeking contacts outside school with peers in a similar position, spending much of their time with other maladjusted boys in whose company they can win approval. Children of this kind frequently drop far behind in elementary school and sometimes fail to complete it altogether. Subsequently, they have a very difficult start in life, extremely limited prospects of employment in jobs with a low social status and a sense of personal failure and rejection which frequently helps to develop antisocial attitudes. In dealing with boys and girls of this sort who have already reached an older age bracket, one should realize that their considerable school retardation, their unaccustomedness for systematic study and the development of certain adverse habits militate against progress in the vocational schools to which they are directed. In view of the fact that teaching them a specific trade in combination with practical in-work training may be of vital importance to their subsequent careers, the syllabus in these special vocational schools should be adjusted to the degree of inability displayed by such boys and girls. Since the boys who have not even completed six or seven grades of elementary school are in a worse position than those who have completed a greater number of grades, the syllabus of the vocational courses for these children should be differentiated to match their achievement level in elementary school. It seems essential therefore, before directing such boys and girls to a vocational school, to submit them to psychological tests to discover their intelligence level and suitability for a specific trade. The findings of these surveys make clear the importance from the point of view not only of the practice of the educational authorities but also of social policy of paying special attention to cases of recurring repetition of elementary school grades and truancy, and of failure to complete elementary school. Problems and failures at school require the early intervention of psychologists and doctors and the extension of special attention to such children in the earliest grades. The elimination and prevention of symptoms of school maladjustment depend on the proper organization of school work to allow for the specific problems of this category of children. It is essential to provide a sufficient number of special classes in the lower years to enable children making poor progress to catch up and also individual coaching of pupils who have special learning problems. The surveys show how important the implementation of the above recommendations could be for prevention of social maladjustment and demoralization among a large proportion of the children subsequently classified as “out of school and out of work”. The fact that among juvenile offenders there is a large incidence of records of serious disturbances in the course of their education from an early age is obvious evidence of the need to pay special attention to school maladjustment with a view to the prevention of juvenile delinquency. Since the surveys have shown that a large proportion of children with serious school failures come from adverse home backgrounds, from broken homes, from homes in which the father is an alcoholic and from homes whose material circumstances are bad, it is essential to put such families under special supervision and also to provide welfare benefits to the mothers of children in such home.

4

Obraz przestępczości nieletnich w Polsce w badaniach kryminologicznych – przed i po transformacji

58%

Rzeplińska I.

Archiwum Kryminologii

|

2006

|

issue XXVIII

331-343

EN

Patterns of offences committed by youth aged 13–16: in contemporary Poland and fifteen years earlier – in the 1980s. The limit is 1989, a year when major social and political changes in Poland begun. What was different and what was similar in offences between these two groups of youth.

5

Bezpośrednio, telefonicznie czy internetowo? Efekt techniki w badaniach wiktymizacyjnych

58%

Ostaszewski P.

Biuletyn Kryminologiczny

|

2015

|

issue 22

91-101

PL

Badania wiktymizacyjne stanowią w kryminologii jedno z głównych źródeł rzetelnych danych ilościowych o rozmiarach wiktymizacji, poziomie lęku przed przestępczością i społecznych ocenach organów ścigania i wymiaru sprawiedliwości. Badania te realizowane mogą być przy wykorzystaniu różnych technik badawczych, które z kolei mogą być obarczone różnego rodzaju błędami.W artykule omówiono podstawowe rodzaje technik prowadzenia badań wiktymizacyjnych oraz rodzaje błędów związanych z realizacją badań sondażowych. Opisano szczególne problemy, jakie może nieść za sobą wykorzystanie dwóch, alternatywnych do wywiadu bezpośredniego (PAPI lub CAPI), sposobów prowadzenia badań wiktymizacyjnych, czyli sondaży telefonicznych (CATI) i kwestionariuszy internetowych (CAWI).

6

Dalsze losy nieletnich i młodocianych sprawców przestępstw

51%

Batawia S., Żabczyńska E., Strzembosz A., Szymanowski T.

Archiwum Kryminologii

|

1974

|

issue VI

126-127

EN

Three follow-up studies were published, dealing with juvenile delinquents and young adult offenders, based on a random sample and material on: ‒ 100 boys charged with larcency, who during the period of the investigation in 1966 were barely 10-11 years old. This research concentrated in turn on all the 10-11 year-old boys charged with larcency and brought before a Juvenile Court in Warsaw; the follow-up period embraced 5 years; ‒ 358 former juveniles (10-16 years old) charged with theft in three districts of Warsaw and brought before a Juvenile Court in 1961-1962, whose further fate was investigated during the period when they were 17-20 years old and from among the same 243 former juveniles 13-16 years old, who in 1972 were already 24-27 years old; ‒ 17-20 year-old young adults released from 40 prisons throughout the country, after having served their sentences for various offences and whose subsequent recidivism was established during the course of 10 years from their release from prison in 1961. Two works, discussing the further recidivism of the juvenile delinquents, convicted for larcency obviously differ markedly regarding the age and follow-up period. The first work deals with the investigated up to the age of 15-16 only, the second also embraces the time when the former juveniles are already approximately 26 years old. However, both works unanimously emphasize the fundamental significance of early initiation of social maladjustment and demoralization for the prognosing of the rapidity and extent of recidivism. They stress the necessity to make use in practice as the only criterion for recidivism of juveniles, each new charge brought before a court and the number of times theft has been committed, being the subject of a given trial. Simultaneously these works reveal unanimously, that the majority of the juvenile delinquents charged with larcency, are brought up in families, which are unable to guarantee them the proper conditions for normal development and that in these families also many brothers of the juvenile delinquents charged with larcency revealed symptoms of social maladjustment and committed offences. The results of the studies under discussion also are unanimous as to the fact that with the majority of the juveniles could be found personality disorders. The material under discussion deserves special attention as regards the juvenile delinquents of the younger age groups. It is of great significance that many of the investigated 10‒11-year-olds charged with larcency committed theft already before. Long years of research, conducted by the Department of Criminology, Institute of Legal Sciences, Polish Academy of Sciences, testify to the fact that the majority of the juvenile delinquents charged with larcency and brought before Juvenile Courts are boys who already previously committed larcency more than once. Disturbance of the socialization process with these juveniles, usually reaches back to their early childhood, requires early discovery and interference at the earliest possible time in the form of surrounding the parents, brothers and sisters of the juvenile delinquent with care and also of controlling them. The results yielded by follow-up studies of the recidivism during a period of 10 years of the 17-20 year-old young adult offenders, released from prison in 1961, concentrate on young people whose recidivism is undoubtedly connected with serious social maladjustment already during their juvenility. Obviously one cannot identify these young adults released from prison with all the 17‒20-year-old young adults convicted by courts who received various sentences. The results of the follow-up studies of the young adult prisoners should contribute to the initiation of systematic, individual research regarding young adults convicted and receiving various prison terms and to the change of certain guiding lines of the penal and penitentiary policy in regard to young adult offenders.

PL

Publikacja posiada następującą strukturę: Wstęp I. Ewa Żabczyńska: Dalsze losy 100 chłopców mających sprawy o kradzieże w wieku 10-11 lat II. Adam Strzembosz: Rozmiary recydywy u nieletnich podsądnych sprawców krażeży III. Teodor Szymanowski: Rozmiary recydywy u młodocianych więźniów po upływie 10 lat od ich zwolnienia z zakładów karnych

7

Wyniki badań 110 dziewcząt “nie uczących się i nie pracujących”

51%

Ostrihanska Z., Kossowska A.

Archiwum Kryminologii

|

1972

|

issue V

84-117

EN

The publication presents the findings of an inquiry conducted among 110 girls aged 15 - 17 who had been directed, on the grounds of being “out of school and out of work”, to two one-year vocational schools in Warsaw (catering and clothing). All the girls enrolled in these schools were the subjects of the study. The first point to be established was whether the girls classified as “out of school and out of work” had in fact not been attending school or gainfully employed for a longer period of time prior to admission. In point of fact the job question did not really enter the picture since almost all the subjects had never yet been employed, partly on account of their age: only 31 per cent of them had reached their 17th birthday at the time of the inquiry. Most of them had previously been attending school, while the period of idleness was as a rule very short: as many as 70 per cent had been in attendance until the end of the preceding school year and had found themselves without a place at the beginning of the new one. The number which had quit or interrupted school attendance in the course of the preceding school year came to 24 per cent; only 6 per cent had longer breaks in schooling of a year or more. However, if we forego this formal criterion of non-attendance and take into account not only failure to enroll in a school, but also systematic truancy, it turns out that the number not attending school is much larger: two-thirds of the subjects had either left school or, though nominally in attendance had in fact been systematically truant in the course of the preceding school year. The question of the criteria employed to classify young people as “out of school and out of work” merits special emphasis because, as we shall see, it was systematic staying away from school though nominally enrolled rather than brief official breaks in attendance which proved bad prediction for subsequent adjustment in the one-year vocational school. Two-thirds of the girl subjects had fallen behind in elementary school, and among 46 per cent this retardation came to at least two years. The school retardation of the subjects was not only much greater than the general rate among children in the higher grades of elementary school in Poland, but also greater than among boy subjects attending analogous one-year vocational schools. So large a degree of school retardation prompts the question whether poor progress was not due to the diminished intelligence level of the subjects. This point was examined with the help of Raven’s Progressive Matrices, tests of achievement in basic subjects, and the opinions obtained from teachers at the schools which the subjects had previously attended. A large percentage of the girls (41 per cent) had low and very low Raven scores (under 25 percentiles). Girls attending one-year vocational schools had far worse scores than average school children, and worse ones than boys attending one-year vocational schools and even than boys attending two-year vocational schools. These Raven scores must be put into the context of data obtained by other means. As had been said, tests were made of the level of achievement in basic subjects (Polish and mathematics). The percentage of subjects who displayed a very low level of achievement was greater than the percentage with low and very low Raven scores. The girls attending one-year vocational schools differed markedly in level of achievement from the control group of elementary school children. Additional information on the abilities of the subjects was obtained from questionnaires answered by teachers at the schools which these girls had previously attended. On this evidence, more of them were found to be “dull” than had been suggested by their Raven scores. The variations in the data obtained from different sources require clarification. Raven’s Progressive Matrices test only certain abilities (reasoning visual perception) important to learning. But there are also a number of other abilities which play a part in progress at school (e.g. memory, audial perception, verbal abilities) and deficiencies where these are concerned might have contributed to the low scores of the subjects in the tests of achievement and to the teachers’ estimates of their abilities. The failures or difficulties of a part of the subjects at school might have been connected with disturbances in these particular learning abilities. But they might equally well have been due to personality factors or – and this seems especially important given the evidence obtained in interviews – to considerable neglect at home. The school retardation of the subjects, their achievement level, their low Raven scores and the teachers’ opinions of their poor abilities are all signs that their being “out of school and out of work” was clearly bound up with failures at school and objective difficulties with learning. The next question was the degree of social maladjustment of the subjects. Only a small number of the girls (18 per cent) had no record of considerable school retardation, presented no particular problems of conduct at school, and displayed no symptoms of social maladjustment. The biggest quantitative problem among the subjects were the girls (almost half) who only manifested evidence of maladjustment as regards school work, i.e. retardation of two or more years, systematic truancy, and repeated discontinuance of school attendance. Only a third of the girls were found, however, to have other symptoms of social maladjustment: keeping demoralized company, running away from home, excessive drinking, stealing and suspected sexual promiscuity. It was only these girls in whom the relevant symptom or symptoms had occurred frequently or jointly that were classified as socially maladjusted. It should be added, however, that only three of the girls had been previously convicted, only 10 per cent were found to have committed thefts and only 10 per cent were suspected of sexual promiscuity. These percentages are insignificant when compared to those found in girls brought before the courts. However, for a third of the girls to reveal evidence of social maladjustment constitutes a relatively large proportion if it is compared with the degree of social maladjustment found in an average schoolgirl population. In the inquiry a comparison was made of the girls who displayed only symptoms of maladjustment at school (notably considerable school retardation) with those whose behaviour indicated evidence of social maladjustment as well. It was found that the subjects in the latter category tended indeed to come more frequently from adverse home environments and were more often described by school teachers as excitable, restless and aggressive. Although systematic truancy has in this study been placed under the heading of maladjustment at school, it proved in fact to be more frequent among the socially maladjusted girls than those who displayed only school maladjustment. This fact, as well as evidence of a connection between social maladjustment and certain personality features, suggest that it is not difficulties and failures at school as such, but the modes of reaction to them that lead to major maladjustment. The next point tackled by the inquiry related to the environmental, health and personality factors behind the subjects’ non-attendance of school and lack of employment. Here the data was obtained by means of background interviews and interviews with 62 of the girls who qualified most obviously for the designation of “out of school and out of work” on account of interrupted school attendance and systematic truancy. Of these 62 girts, as many as 44 per cent came from broken homes. Among their families there was a high incidence (47 per cent) of excessive drinking by the father. A third of the fathers had criminal convictions and in 30 per cent of the families there were brothers with convictions. This data indicates that the girls who were “out of school and out of work” had frequently been brought up in homes which constituted socially negative educative environments and got their children off to a bad start in life. Health data showed that 29 per cent of the girls “out of school and out of work” had suffered various protracted illnesses resulting in long absences from school which could have led to low achievement level. Hospital or sanatorium treatment had been prescribed at some time for 44 per cent. The interviews afforded grounds for suspecting that 23 per cent had suffered brain damage. These are all factors which interfere with progress at school. But they are obstacles which could have been more easily overcome if the girls could have counted on the help and care of their families; in the home environment in which many of the subjects grew up, on the other hand, they formed serious barriers to normal results at school. Finally progress at school has been analysed in 110 pupils attending one-year schools as well as their accomplishment in a successive year. A total of 40 per cent of the subjects attended the one-year vocational schools very irregularly, cutting over a quarter of the days of instruction. This poor attendance record had a statistically significant interdependence with systematic truancy in the preceding school year (though insignificant with the break in school attendance prior to enrolment in the one-year vocational school). This indicates that truancy schould be regarded by schools as a particularly urgent warning to pay greater attention to the children involved. Irregular attendance of the one-year vocational schools was also connected with social maladjustment in the period preceding admission. The girls with the greatest degree of social maladjustment were the ones who found it hardest to adapt in the vocational schools. A year after the end of the school year in which the inquiry was conducted, follow-up interviews were made in order to see if the former pupils of the one year vocational schools were still attending school or gainfully employed. It was found that almost half the girls were continuing their education and 29 per cent were working (half of them in jobs matching their vocational qualifications); only about a fifth were “out of school and out of work”. The reasons they gave for this varied and in certain cases the fact that they were neither attending school nor working was clearly justified by special circumstances.

8

Wyniki badań 432 chłopców “nie uczących się i nie pracujących”

51%

Kołakowska-Przełomiec H.

Archiwum Kryminologii

|

1972

|

issue V

32-83

EN

The boys examined in the l967/68 school year (the first year in which the educational authorities registered this category of youth) were older than the subjects in the following year. As has been already indicated, 43 per cent of the boys in 1967/68 had passed their 17th birthday, compared to only 23 per cent in 1968/69. It is worth noting, however, that the number of l5-year-olds was small, only 23 and 36 per cent respectively. Since only a third of all the subjects were at least 17 at the time of registration, the question of the employment of these boys in the period preceding their referral to vocational school is not worth entering into. The basic point is connected with the course of their school attendance – the degree to which the process of education at elementary school was disrupted and the length of time these boys had been out of school (among those who had completed the 7th grade and also those who had discontinued attendance at a normal vocational school). The surveys revealed the important fact that only a small percentage of the youth described as “out of school and out of work” had in actual fact been absent from school for a period of more than six months (including the summer holiday): in the two succeeding years the number of boys of this kind was 28 and 21 per cent, while the number who had no breaks in school attendance whatsoever was 33 per cent in the first year and as much as 77 per cent in the next. On the other hand, the process of education had been highly disturbed: among the subjects attending one-year vocational schools only 21 per cent had no record of retardation at elementary school, and barely one per cent in the two-year schools. Among the boys attending the one-year schools 28 and 24 per cent had dropped two years behind, and 11 and 18 per cent three years or more. The boys in the two-year schools who had completed only 4 - 6 grades were of course even more retarded: in 1967/68 retardation of two years was shown by 28 per cent and in 1968/69 by 45 per cent, and three years or more by 52 and 39 per cent respectively. As many as 70 – 80 per cent of all the subjects had been systematically truant from elementary school, and about two-thirds had long-lasting disciplinary difficulties. In considering these boys’ failures at school, attention should be given to the results of tests of their achievement level and of their scores in the Raven’s Progressive Matrices. On the whole the subjects’ achievement level in mathematics differed markedly from that of a comparative sample of children in corresponding grades of elementary school. Bad marks in mathematics were scored by 62 and 64 per cent of the boys in the one-year schools and 83 and 86 per cent of the boys in the two-year schools. There were also considerable differences in achievement in Polish between the subjects and the control group. Particular emphasis should be given to the bad scores recorded in silent reading and comprehension tests not only by many of the boys in the two-year schools who had not completed the 7th grade but also by many of the boys in the one-year schools. This low achievement level in basic subjects was undoubtedly a serious obstacle to learning progress for the majority of the subjects, not only earlier at elementary school, but also at vocational school. Raven’s Progressive Matrices testing, first of all, reasoning ability revealed in 1967/68 a larger percentage of boys with low and very low scores than in the control group. The subjects in the one-year schools had better scores than the subjects in the two-year school. In the following year, 1968/69, however, the percentage with low and very low scores decreased, though it remained higher among the boys attending two-year schools than one-year schools. The Raven’s Progressive Matrices scores do not, however, explain all the reasons for the boys’ great degree of school retardation, since there was a fairly large group which had good and very good scores. Their failure at school must be connected with other factors than low reasoning ability. These may be deficiencies in other mental abilities, personality disorders, neglect at home, etc. In examining the degree of social maladjustment (the criteria were discussed earlier) of the boys surveyed in 1967/68 it was found that: 1) only 28 per cent of the boys could be judged seriously socially maladjusted; they displayed a number of symptoms of marked demoralization and committed offences (theft); 2) 35 per cent could be called moderately maladjusted: they had been out of school or out of work longer than six months, had been frequently truant, and some of them also displayed other symptoms of maladjustment of a less marked order: 3) a relatively large group (36 per cent) were boys who by and large displayed only symptoms of school maladjustment, and symptoms of demoralization only sporadically. It should be added that the number of seriously maladjusted boys was much smaller in the one-year schools (25 per cent) than among those who had not completed the 7th grade and had been placed in the two-year schools (33 per cent). It is worth drawing attention to the fact that boys with various Raven scores and various achievement levels in basic subjects can be found in similar percentages both among the group of boys only slightly socially maladjusted and the group of boys moderately or seriously maladjusted. However, the more socially maladjusted boys had worse home backgrounds than the others and no doubt suffered from greater personality disorders since they had already earlier caused more serious disciplinary problems. The greater degree of maladjustment among this groups of boys who had made bad progress at school was, therefore, affected by factors connected with personality and home background. It should be noted that 34 per cent of the subjects in 1967/68 and 33 per cent in 1968/69 came from broken homes. Fathers who were excessive drinkers (alcohol addicts among them) constituted 41 per cent of the total, and the number of brothers (over ten years of age) who displayed various symptoms of social maladjustment came to 30 per cent. Bad material conditions were found in almost half the homes of the subjects. The surveys revealed that the percentage of boys “out of school and out of work” who had appeared before juvenile courts was relatively small. Among the total number of subjects (432), only 28.4 per cent had been prosecuted before being directed to vocational school. In the period of attendance to vocational school and later a total of 39 boys were convicted, but only 14 of those had previous convictions. The percentage of boys brought to court rose only very slightly to 31.7 per cent, and it should be emphasized that the percentage of recidivists with three or more cases among the total number convicted came to only 24 per cent (including juvenile court appearances). A large majority of the subjects are therefore boys who were not seriously delinquent even though they displayed a whole series of symptoms of social maladjustment. The careers of the boys after placement in vocational schools are basically contingent on the degree of their social maladjustment, and only this, and not appearance in court, forms the proper criterion for assessing the difficulties encountered by efforts to normalize these boys. Although the subjects’ attendance at the vocational schools was not regular and there was a considerable degree of absenteeism from the practical training periods, while a large percentage (53 and 41 per cent in the two succeeding years) failed to complete the vocational course on time, follow-up studies showed that only a third of the subjects in 1967/68 and a fifth in 1968/69 had not subsequently continued their education or entered employment. These boys, in the case of whom attempts at rehabilitation had been wholly unsuccessful, did not exceed 25 per cent of the total of 432. Virtually all of them came from the group of subjects with serious prior social maladjustment who had long displayed advanced symptoms of demoralization.

9

Wyniki badań recydywistów alkoholików o początku przestępczości po ukończeniu 25 lat

51%

Szelhaus S.

Archiwum Kryminologii

|

1972

|

issue V

228-268

EN

In 1965 - 1966, when studying the data on the delinquency of 440 recidivists aged 26 - 35, who had been convicted many (at least 4) times, it was ascertained that only 50 of them (11.4 per cent) had their criminal records started when they were already 25 or more. It was decided to investigate the delinquency of these 50 recidivists and the most important events of their life, important particularly for the estimation of the extent of their addiction to alcohol and of the degree of their social maladjustment, in the light of data contained in the registers, in court records and in those of the police (1/3 of these recidivists could be closely investigated in prison). The data obtained during the follow-up studies until August 1971, when the average age of these recidivists was already 38, were then taken into consideration. With the above-mentioned data on 50 recidivists were then compared those on the delinquency of 390 (from among the 440) recidivists whose delinquency had started early. 63 per cent of them had started to perpetrate offences before they were 17. Moreover, the results concerning the 50 recidivists were also compared with the data on the delinquency of 61 alcohol addicts of the group of 777 ones who had been submitted in 1960 - 1961 to treatment (mostly compulsory) as out patients and in-patients. The 61 ones had also been convicted at least 4 times only from the age of 25. In 1971 their average age was already 45. The selection of these 2 groups of recidivists to be compared. with the mentioned category of recidivists-alcohol addicts was made to verify the hypothesis, that the extent and the rapidity of their recidivism distinguish them both from the not numerous category of recidivists also convicted at least 4 times, occuring among the treated alcohol addicts, and from persistent recidivists who were convicted being very young, among whom there is a considerable percentage of alcohol addicts already in an advanced stage of addiction. Before we discuss the differences between the delinquency of these 3 groups of recidivists, we shall present here certain data characterising 50 repeatedly convicted “late” recidivists among whom 92 per cent are alcohol addicts. Only half of them lived in Warsaw, some at small towns, not far or at some distance from Warsaw, and some in the country. But those living outside Warsaw were, as a rule. at least intermittedly also working in Warsaw. Nearly of them were learning at school only for 1 - 4 years, only a half have supposedly completed their primary education; the majority had no acquired trade. On the basis of data on most of them, the course of their work may be characterized as follows: When they were aged 17 – 25, i.e. before their criminal records, ¾ of them had been working, on the whole, regularly; but when they were 25 – less than 1/5 of them continued their regular work and the rest were employed only at odd jobs (for instance conveying coal, unloading railway carriages). However, it is worth mentioning that a considerable part of them were ill reputed at their working places already before they were 25, i.e. at the time when they were working comparatively regularly, (absented themselves from work, were drinking alcohol at working places etc.). After they were 25, they were, as a rule, very ill reputed and dismissed, and the data on their frequent indulging in alcohol appear constantly. As the years go by, their visible degradation in work and giving up employment are noticeable, which, in the light of the court records and those of the police, should be connected with their increasing addiction to alcohol. We should like to mention again that probably among ¾ of these recidivists the initial symptoms of addiction to alcohol dated since they were at least 23 – 25, and among the remaining ones–since 27–28; ¾ from among them had used strong drinks several times a week when they were aged under 21. It should be stressed that the marital life of as many as ¾ of these recidivists was broken up, as a rule already when they were under 30. When investigating the delinquency of 50 recidivists alcohol addicts, (hereinafter called group A), and of 61 alcohol addicts submitted, as a rule, to compulsory treatment, also convicted at least 4 times, (group C), it should be stated that among those of group A there are considerably fewer of those convicted only 4 – 5 times (26 per cent, although they were aged, on the average, only 38), than in group C (44 per cent) in which the average age of alcohol addicts is already 45. The fact that among the 50 recidivists there are much more individuals convicted several times, cannot be explained by the argument that the alcoholics of group C are considerably older and, recently, already less inclined to commit offences. The investigation of the delinquency of these 2 groups, when they were aged only 25 – 35, showed that while in group A 60 per cent of recidivists were convicted 4 – 5 times and 40 per cent – 6 and more times, most of those of group C (56 per cent) were at that age convicted fewer than 4 times, and only 7 per cent of them – 6 and more times. The delinquency of the alcoholics of group C starts much later than that of the 50 recidivists of group A. In group C, 52 per cent were convicted for the first time when aged under 30, and in group A – as many as 96 por cent. The rapidity of recidivism is considerably greater in 50 recidivists of group A than in those of group C. While in as many as 52 per cent of the former group their stay at liberty between two arrests did not exceed one year – in group C such a rapid recidivism occurred only in 13 per cent. Even as regards the 390 persistent criminals whose delinquency and social degradation started very early (B), and among whom 46 per cent did not stay at liberty for more than one year on the average – we do not notice so many short stays at liberty between successive arrests. Nearly a half (46 per cent) of alcoholics convicted several times (C) were at liberty between arrests at least for 5 years. Such cases do not occur in group A and do not exceed 11 per cent in group B. As regards the structure of delinquency, offences against property amount in group A to 47 per cent, in group B to 60 per cent and in group C to 45 per cent, and acts of violence – to 21 per cent in all 3 groups. As anyone can see, the structure of delinquency in 50 recidivists, whose delinquency is connected with their addiction to alcohol, is identical with that of 61 alcoholics (out-patients and inpatients), also repeatedly convicted recidivists. Yet it should be stressed that as regards offences with violence in group A, the victims of about half of them are next of kin, while in group C this proportion is only 1/3 and in group B only 10 per cent. In this category of delinquencies more serious crimes of violence, both in group A and C, represent only an insignificant proportion (7 per cent). It should be stressed that the thefts committed by the 50 recidivists-alcoholics caused comparatively slight losses; the losses of 50 per cent of the thefts did not exceed 500 zł, and only those of 16 per cent amounted to more than 2,000 zł. Among such recidivists-alcoholics (A) who perpetrated exclusively or chiefly offences against property, as many as 86 per cent of them committed thefts connected with their alcoholism: they either acted in a state of intoxication or spent immediately the stolen money for alcohol. Taking into consideration all categories of recidivists, one may state the existence of a great percentage of such recidivists-alcoholics among whom predominate offences of violence or of verbal aggression and other offences connected with alcoholism (besides thefts). There are 56 per cent of them in group A, 46 per cent in group C, while only 28 per cent in group B. Yet it should be stressed that the percentage of such recidivists in whom offences of violence against strangers predominate, does not exceed 8 per cent of the totality of recidivists in group A, or about 10 per cent in group C. If we consider such recidivists, who were convicted 4 times for offences of violence against strangers, to be dangerous violent criminals – there were (taking also into account convictions for robbery) – 6 per cent of them in group A and 8 per cent in group C. Among persistent offenders who started to commit offences much earlier in life (B), there were more such recidivists (14 per cent), and some of them were even convicted for violent offences 5 and more times. The results of the above investigations evidence the fact that those recidivists whose delinquency started comparatively late and who are alcohol addicts (A), in whom, as a rule, symptoms of addiction to alcohol preceded delinquency – distinguish themselves by an exceedingly rapid recidivism, which does not occur either in alcoholics (even in those submitted to compulsory treatment) (C) – or even in persistent offenders in whom the beginning of social degradation appeared early (B), in spite of the fact that among them there also appears a considerable percentage of individuals who showed symptoms of addiction to alcohol being comparatively young. The offences of these alcoholics, both against property and against person, are not serious and are connected with their addiction to alcohol.

10

Percepcja dewiacji w społeczeństwie

51%

Siemaszko A.

Archiwum Kryminologii

|

1991

|

issue XVII

117-197

EN

The main object of the study was to define the attitude of Polish society to forty-six types of behaviour controversial from the moral point of view and/or prohibited by law. Another aim was to determine which of the socio-demographic variables examined influence the different opinions about those types of behaviour. Two pilot surveys preceded the study. They concerned two quota samples of 100 persons each and were aimed at finding out, among others, which of the alternative descriptions of the separate types of behaviour might constitute better indices. As a result, descriptions of several types of behaviour were rewritten, and some others formulated more intelligibly. The study proper was conducted in November 1987; a national random sample of 2000 persons was examined. The respondents could choose one of the following seven answers: I do not condemn at all; I do not condemn; I rather do not condemn; it is difficult to say; I rather condemn; I condemn; I condemn utterly. Questions concerning all of the 46 types of behaviour included in the study could be answered the above seven ways. The analysis was based on arithmetic means of answers which ranged from 1 to 7 in value. The following types of behaviour were the least condemned (the figures are arithmetic means; proportions of utter condemnations have been quoted in brackets): 1. becoming an unmarried mother – 2.65 (2.9 per cent); 2. leaving the country forever – 3.45 (5.7 per cent); 3. watching porno films – 3.76 (8.4 per cent); 4. living unwed – 3.87 (11.1 per cent); 5. unintentional homicide – 4.29 (12.7 per cent); 6. tourists’ petty trade abroad – 4.33 (11.8 per cent); 7. divorce – 4.42 (13.8 per cent); 8. criticising the political system in public – 4.46 (11.5 per cent); 9. addiction to tobacco – 4.48 (14.3 per cent); taking part in a strike – 4.55 (14.3 per cent). As shown by the results of the AID analysis, the best predictors of public opinion’s attitude to the above-mentioned ten types of behaviour are as follows: for becoming an unmarried mother – education; for emigration – age; for watching porno films – education; for fornication – religiousness; for unintentional homicide – the answers were not differentiated (homogeneity of opinions); for tourist’ petty trade – age; for divorce – religiousness; for criticising the system in public – education; for addiction to tobacco – age; for participation in strikes – education. Among the above ten types of behaviour that are least condemned, the most numerous group concerns the broadly interpreted sexual sphere which testifies to great transformations in sexual morals of Polish society. Also conspicuous is the presence of two types of behaviour from the sphere of politics among those least condemned. On the other hand, there are no criminal offences in this group. The following types of behaviour proved to be the most condemned (they are arranged according to the rising means; proportions of utter condemnations in brackets): 37. addiction to alcohol – 6.41 (56.7 per cent); 38. espionage – 6.48 (62.0 per cent); 39. kidnapping an airplane – 6.55 (66.1 per cent); 40. drug addiction – 6.57 (64.7 per cent); 41. failure to help a person in mortal danger – 6.60 (66.5 per cent); 42. robbery 6.65 (71.0 per cent); 43. rape – 6.67 (72.4 per cent); 44. hooligan battery – 6.73 (75.6 per cent); 45. murder – 6.78 (81.0 per cent); father-daughter incest – 6.81 (83.3 per cent). The best predictors of differentiation of opinions were as follows: for alcoholism – sex; for espionage – marital status (the unmarried, that is the younger, condemned espionage less strongly) for air-plane kidnapping – place of residence; for drug addiction – the answers were not differentiated (homogeneous opinions); for failure to help – the answers were not differentiated (homogenous opinions); for robbery – education (condemnation growing with the level of education); for rape – place of residence (the rural population condemning it less strongly); for hooligan battery – the answers were not differentiated (homogeneous opinions); for murder – place of residence (peasants and inhabitants of small towns condemning it less strongly); for incest – education (condemnation growing with the level of education). Of the above ten types of behaviour that were most condemned, eight are offences, including the most serious ones like rape, robbery and murder. The differences between the means of answers are much smaller here than in the case of the most tolerated types of behaviour. The opinions are also differentiated to a much smaller degree with respect to the independent variables examined. In three cases (drug addiction, hooligan battery and failure to help), the examined socio-demographic traits failed to differentiate opinions at all, which points to extremely unanimous condemnation of those acts. An analysis of the list of the most condemned types of behaviour leads to the following conclusions: 1. the more condemned a given act, the smaller the differentiation of opinions; 2. Polish society is particularly intolerant to aggressive behaviour: the list contains as many as five aggressive acts; 3. the most condemned types of behaviour do not include acts such as e.g. theft of private and public property (ranks 31 and 29 respectively); prostitution (rank 25); homosexualism (rank 32; bribery (rank 26); failure to pay maintenance (rank 34); social parasitism (rank 23); speculation (rank 27); also none of political acts were condemned as much; 4. eight of the ten most condemned types of behaviour are offences; addictions are condemned to a comparable extent; 5. the differences between the mean answers concerning the separate types of most condemned behaviour are slight (ranging from 6.41 for alcoholism to 6.8 for incest). Polish society is relatively tolerant to sexual behaviour. In the list of 46 examined types of behaviour arranged according to growing means of answers, becoming an unmarried mother ranks first, watching porno films – third, fornication – fourth, divorce – seventh, adultery – twenty-second, prostitution – twenly-fifth, and homosexualism – thirtysecond. In the case of the two latter types only, that is prostitution and homosexualism, the means of answers exceeded 6, while four of the seven types included in this group were among the most tolerated. The variable which has the greatest influence on the attitude to sexual behaviour is religiousness. The attitude to religious practices was the best predictor of differentiation of opinions in the case of fornication, adultery, and divorce, and appeared as a differentiating variable of a secondary importance in the case of watching porno films and prostitution: Education significantly modified the attitude to homosexualism, watching porno films, and becoming an unmarried mother. Sex, instead, most strongly differentiated the attitudes to prostitution, women condemning this type of behaviour more strongly than men. Against expectations, age was never the best predictor in relation to sexual behaviour. Nor could the typothesis be confirmed that the rural population condemns behaviour of that sphere more strongly than the urban one. Quite the contrary, the two groups appeared not to differ from each other in their opinions about sexual behaviour. Also political acts are greatly tolerated by Polish society. Two of them can be found among the ten least condemned: criticising the system in public (rank 8), and participation in a strike (rank 10). Further, “underground” political activity ranked eleventh, participation in a street demonstration – fifteenth, and refusal to enter military service (which in Poland has a political context as a rule) – eighteenth. The attitude to political acts, however, is particularly differentiated according to the separate socio-demographic traits. Here, the best predictor is education: the higher its level, the greatest the tolerance. Education best differentiated the attitude to criticising the system in public, participation in a strike, and participation in a demonstration. The attitude to political opposition, instead, was best explained by material situation (tolerance increasing with the worsening of that situation). On the other hand, the opinion about refusal to enter military service depended mostly on marital status, single (that is, younger) respondents being considerably more tolerant in this respect. The following conclusions can be drawn from an analysis of the Polish public opinion’s attitude to political acts: 1. there was in this group the greatest dispersion of answers according to the separate socio-demographic traits; 2. the attitude to political acts is entirely independent of the level of religiousness; 3. the influence of Party membership on the differentiation of opinions proved much smaller than expected. Polish society shows a low tolerance to behaviour related to alcohol: illicit distillation of liquor ranked twentieth, unlicensed sale of alcohol thirtieth, and alcoholism – thirty-seventh (that is, among the most strongly condemned types of behaviour). Sex is the variable which has the greatest influence on the attitude to behaviour related to alcohol. In all of the above three cases, women condemned behaviour related to alcohol much more strongly than men. The following conclusions can be drawn from the AID, analysis: 1. despite the generally low permissiveness of behaviour related to alcohol, the opinions of the separate subgroups of respondents are highly differentiated and range from very stnong condemnation to considerable tolerance; 2. the above very high differentiation of opinions testifies to behaviour related to alcohol being an important and controversial problem; 3. the influence of the place of residence on the attitude to this group of acts was smaller than expected (particularly astonishing is a lack of a greater tolerance of illicit distilling of liquor among the rural population). Of the three addictions taken into account in the study, the least condemned one is smoking (rank 9; the best predictor: age). Alcoholism ranked thirty-seventh (the best predictor: sex), and drug addiction – fortieth (homogeneous opinions, no differentiation of answers). Despite the comparability of the examined addictions, the attitude to smoking is by far more tolerant which indicates that the respondents treated nicotine addiction differently than alcoholism and drug addiction. The morally controversial types of behaviour included euthanasia (rank 13, the best predictor: religiousness); free riding (rank 17, the best predictor: age); suicide (rank 24, predictor: religiousness); social parasitism (rank 23, predictor: age); and denouncing others to authorities (rank 21, predictor: place of residence). Conclusions from the AID analysis are as follows: 1. religiousness most strongly influences the perception of euthanasia and suicide: e.g. in the latter case, a different scale of opinions corresponds with each of the separated levels of religiousness; 2. euthanasia meets with an astonishingly small condemnation (the term defined as “causing the death of an incurably ill person at his request”); 3. the respondents were unexpectedly unanimous in their very strong condemnation of denouncing, with a somewhat greater tolerance shown by the rural population only. Corrupt practices included: using connections to settle a business (rank 12, the best predictor: age); accepting bribes (rank 26, predictor: age); deriving personal profit from one’s job (rank 28, predictor: age); membership of a coterie (rank 36, predictor: education). As follows from the AID, analysis, 1. the attitude to corrupt practices depends most strongly on age: younger respondents aged under 35 (that is, those brought up under the present rule) are much more tolerant to the above forms of corruption; 2. a higher level of education increases the tolerance to corrupt practices; Polish society’s opinions about corruption are relatively poorly differentiated. Of criminal acts, eight were included in the group of the most condemned ones discussed above. Of the remaining offences, theft of private property ranked 31 (the best predictor: place of residence, condemnation is less strong among the rural population); theft of public property ranked 29 (predictor: place of residence, also in this case, condemnation is less strong among peasants); vandalism ranked 35 (predictor: place of residence, peasants and inhabitants of small towns condemned it less strongly); helping a person wanted by the police ranked 19 (homogeneous opinions); speculation ranked 27 (predictor: are, respondents under 19 were more tolerant). The findings lead to the following conclusions. Firstly, Polish society is astonishingly unanimous in its opinions about the types of behaviour included in the study. In several cases, uniformity of opinions was so high as to make any divisions in respect of the force of condemnation impossible. Thus a high axiological homogeneity of Polish society has been found. Secondly, the independent variables examined explained but a very small part of variances. Therefore, socio-demographic traits have a low predictive value as regards the differentiation of opinions about deviant behaviour. Consequently, an inclination to condemn the examined types of behaviour results not from the basic individual characteristics (such as sex, age, education) but from some other factors. Thirdly, the best predictor of differentiation of opinions was education (in 10 cases), followed by age and place of residence (in 9 cases each). The influence of religiousness on differentiation of opinions was smaller than expected (5 cases), and the relationship between sex and the opinions about the examined types of behaviour proved astonishingly distant (4 cases). The remaining independent variables (i.e. background, Party membership, material situation, activities in social organizations) failed to influence significantly the differentiation of opinions. Fourthly, Polish society is highly rigoristic. As many as 29 of the 46 types of behaviour examined were condemned most strongly by at least 25 per cent of respondents. Thus the Poles have an exceptionally low global degree of tolerance to controversial or negative phenomena and types of behaviour.

11

Sprawca przestępstwa (zarys problematyki)

51%

Ostrihanska Z.

Archiwum Kryminologii

|

1991

|

issue XVII

41-74

EN

The paper shows various approaches to the perpetrator of crime, and practical consequences of the specific point of view adopted. The object is not to point to ready solutions or to declare for or against the discussed views, but to give an outline of the variety of problems that concern the person of offender, and to mention the related questions and issues. Discussed have been the general theoretical problems related to the person of offender; psychological problems; those arising from the fact that the offender has been made subject of criminological research; and the problems of the image of offender functioning in public opinion. Whether we formulate criminological theories or adopt definite practical solutions, questions cannot be avoided about the offender as a human being, about his rights, the extent of his freedom and responsibility, his relationship with society, and the limits of a just and permissible intervention in those rights and liberties. The problems mentioned in this relation point to the need for the problems of offender to be considered in a broad philosophical perspective based on a moral reflection. The discussion of psychological problems is focused on two issues. The first of them are the psychological conceptions of man which provide explanations of the offender’s criminal behaviour and lead to conclusions as to the treatment of offenders. Those problems have been exemplified by behaviourist and psychoanalytical ideas and the conception of humanistic psychology. Another important psychological problem is whether the offender’s behaviour that violates the legal norms results from his personality traits or has been conditioned by the situation in which he found himself. Studies point to complexity of this problem and to the fact that both personality and situation influence criminal behaviour. At the same time, some individuals are particularly resistant and others particularly susceptible to situations conducive to that behaviour. There are also situations in which an offence is particularly easily committed. Among them, there are the rapid changes found during great historic events and social transformations, as well as the situations, most and sotimes even extremely difficult, created by socio-political systems. In some offences, situation is a most important factor; in others the offender’s personality plays a greater part. This complexity of the problem should be taken into account when deciding about a given offender in the practical operation of criminal justice. The image of offender obtained in criminological studies of convicted persons is connected with a variety of problems. Some of tchem arise from the very definition of offender. It is a most general notion, related to the legislation in force in a given country at a given moment, and designating perpetrators of a great variety of acts which may result from different situations and psychological mechanisms. A question arises whether a single act, possibly jus an episode, may really constitute a good criterion to distinguish a given individual from others who have not committed such an act: whether that act is an isolated event only or results from the given person’s way of living. What also matters for the picture of a convicted offender obtained in studies is the process of selection to which he had been subjected before the offence was revealed, criminal proceedings instituted, and the offender convicted. A factor essential for that selection, for decisions concerning the offender, and for his readaptation to life in society after release is the stereotype of offender which functions in public opinion. As shown by studies, that stereotype is shaped by fear and the thirst for revenge on a person who is perceived as a threat but at the same time treated as a distant stranger. A condemnation of certain acts makes the Public realize the noxiousness of those acts and shapes moral attitudes. But the condemnation of acts does not have to lead to a similar disapproval of their perpetrators. It is most necessary to conduct criminological research and to provide society with straightforward information about the findings.

12

Recydywiści alkoholicy w wieku 35–41 lat o późnym początku przestępczości

51%

Batawia S., Szelhaus S.

Archiwum Kryminologii

|

1972

|

issue V

213-268

PL

Publikacja posiada następującą strukturę: I. Stanisław Batawia: Problematyka wczesnego alkoholizmu II. Stanisław Szelhaus: Wyniki badań recydywistów alkoholików o początku przestępczości po ukończeniu 25 lat

44%

Tuziak B.

Archiwum Kryminologii

|

1996

|

issue XXII

149-163

19

Kryminogeneza i sposoby jej badania

44%

Tyszkiewicz L.

Archiwum Kryminologii

|

2008

|

issue XXIX-XXX

215-225

20

Neutralizacja normy „nie kradnij” w genezie przestępczości nieletnich

37%

Stańdo-Kawecka B.

Archiwum Kryminologii

|

1994

|

issue XX

21-51

EN

The paper discusses the findings of a study aimed at an empirical verification of a well-known criminological concept: the Sykes and Matza concept of neutralization techniques from the classical trend of positivist criminology. What Sykes and Matza see as the factor of juvenile delinquency are mechanisms of justification of one’s own delinquent behavior. Reverting to functionalim, the authors assume a social consensus on the basic values and norms of behavior. Juvenile delinquents generally recognize the same values and norms as non-delinquent youth but, unlike that youth, they grow proficient in neutralizing those norms so as to prevent them from influencing their behavior. According to Sykes and Matza, norms are neutralized through finding and accepting justifications for one’s own deviant behavior. Five types of such neutralization techniques heve been distinguished according to the contents of those justifications: denial of responsibility, denial of injury, denial of the victim, condemnation of the condemners, and appeal to higher loyalties. In their conception of neutralization techniques, G.M. Sykes and D. Matza mainly describe and classify the ways of excusing one’s own deviant behavior and provide but a perfunctory discussion of the mechanizm of neutralization itself. L. Festinger’s theory of cognitive dissonance proves useful in explaining the psychological mechanizm of neutralization of recognized norms. Assumptions of the conception of neutralization techniques and the theory of cognitive dissonance provided the grounds for hypotheses which were subsequently submitted to empirical verification. The subject was limited to neutralization of the rule “do not steal” interpreted as a ban appropriation on theft and a rule of respect for another person’s property. Criminologists have long questioned the desing of empirical study where achool youth are treated as non-delinquent and examined as a control group oppesed to juvenile delinquents in houses of correction or educational institutions. In the present study, three groups were examined: ‒ juvenile delinquents confined to a reformatory or home for detained juveniles by a judicial decision as perpetrators of offences against property (84 persons); ‒ school youth not involved in acts against another person’s property, called non-delinquent youth (70 persons); ‒ school youth involved in acts againts another person’s property, called actually delinquent (37 persons); The groups of “non-delinquent” and “actually delinquent” persons were distinguished from school youth by means of a self-report survey. Of the original hypotheses, only one was confirmed by the findings. The exemined groups appeared to differ significantly in their approval of the techniques of neutralization of the norm of honesty, the differences trending as expected. The lowest approval of statements expressing various excuses for breaches of another person’s property was found among the non-delinquent youth. The group that most often approves ot such excuses are wards of reformatories and juvenile homes; however, they do not differ much in this respect from the actually delinquent youth. All of the examined groups have similar priorities as to the separate types of excuses. The type accepted most often is “condemnation of the condemners”. In particular, a statement that “the police and judges are corruptible and malicious”enjoys great popularity. The types accepted least often, instead, are excuses consisting in “denial of injury” and “appeal to higher loyalties”. What could not be conformed are hypotheses as to absence of differences between the groups with respect to appraisal of one’s own honesty and acceptance of the rule “do not steal”. Non -delinquent youth appraise themselves much higher in terms of honesty than the remaining two groups. Wards of reformatories and juvenile homes, instead, appraise themselves somewhat lower than the actually delinquent youth. The non-delinquent youth show the strongest acceptance of the norm of honesty. The degree of acceptance of that norm among wards of reformatories is similar to that among actual delinquents, the former showing a somewhat stronger acceptance of the rule “do not steal” than the actually delinquent group. Another hypothesis that was not confirmed concerned a tendency to neutralize the rule “do not steal” once it has been violated; the method used here was projection where the respondents were to complete unfinished stories. Against expectations, the tendency to neutralize that norm once it has been violated appeared to occur much more often among school youth than among wards of reformatories and juvenile homes. Of the various methods of reducing the anxiety resulting from a breach of another person’s property, both groups of school youth most often suggested neutralization of the norm of honesty. Wards of institutions, instead, much more often mentioned methods other than neutralization of the violated norm: e.g., focus on the derived or potential profit, or focus on the absence of threat with any negative consequences from without. The study questioned the role of delinquent neutralizations as conceived by Sykes and Matza in the origin of juvenile delinquency. Unforfunately, the findings could not be interpreted explicitly. According to the theoretical assumptions made, a number of possible explanations of the findings can be suggested which at least party exclude one another. A new empirical study would be necessary to verify those explanations.

Refine search results

XXX-Lecie

Criminology versus criminal law - selected theoretical and practical aspect.

Streszczenie wyników badań i wnioski

Obraz przestępczości nieletnich w Polsce w badaniach kryminologicznych – przed i po transformacji

Bezpośrednio, telefonicznie czy internetowo? Efekt techniki w badaniach wiktymizacyjnych

Dalsze losy nieletnich i młodocianych sprawców przestępstw

Wyniki badań 110 dziewcząt “nie uczących się i nie pracujących”

Wyniki badań 432 chłopców “nie uczących się i nie pracujących”

Wyniki badań recydywistów alkoholików o początku przestępczości po ukończeniu 25 lat

Percepcja dewiacji w społeczeństwie

Sprawca przestępstwa (zarys problematyki)

Recydywiści alkoholicy w wieku 35–41 lat o późnym początku przestępczości

Kierunki rozwoju kryminologii w Rosji

Agresja w szkole w świetle samoopisów uczniów

Przestępczość i sprawcy przestępstw z użyciem agresji

Środowiskowo–przestrzenne uwarunkowania przestępczości. Wybrane zagadnienia współczesnej ekologii przestępczości

Nieletni sprawcy przestępstw popełnionych pod wpływem alkoholu

Przestępczość w Rzeszowie w latach 1990-1995

Kryminogeneza i sposoby jej badania

Neutralizacja normy „nie kradnij” w genezie przestępczości nieletnich