Full-text resources of CEJSH and other databases are now available in the new Library of Science.
Visit https://bibliotekanauki.pl

Results found: 36

first rewind previous Page / 2 next fast forward last

Search results

Search:
in the keywords:  delinquency
help Sort By:

help Limit search:
first rewind previous Page / 2 next fast forward last
PL
The article covers the issue of juvenile delinquency and social maladjustment. The aim of this paper is to present, on the basis of literature review, a picture of child crime in Poland, as well as to present the psychological determinants of crime and social maladjustment among children. The article discusses the definition of a juvenile in the context of the proceedings for criminal acts and symptoms of social maladjustment. Moreover, it describes the psychological determinants of juvenile delinquency including personality and environmental factors (family, school environment and peers).
EN
Juvenile delinquency is currently one of the most dangerous social phenomena. Despite the involvement of a large number of researchers trying to explore the causes of delinquency, despite the development of numerous theories focused on this problem, and finally, despite the permanent verification of legal provisions regarding this phenomenon, juvenile delinquency still occurs, and what is worse, increases in rates and changes in character. Increasingly more brutal crimes are committed by increasingly younger people. Investigating juvenile delinquency means monitoring changes that occur in this area, as well as learning about existing threats and forecasting activities that should translate into the elimination of deviant behaviors.
EN
This study analyzes the gender gap in delinquency and victimization of youth and its development using data from two sweeps of the International Self-Report Delinquency study. Besides a description of differences in gender gaps across European countries, a series of hypotheses derived from the emancipation theory is tested. The results reveal that the gender gap in delinquency is present almost in all countries, whereas in the case of victimization, prevalence rates of boys and girl are often comparable. In addition, there is a decrease in the size of the gender gap both in delinquency and victimization in almost all countries during one decade which coincides with the increase in gender equality. In general, findings are fairly supportive of the emancipation theory when countries are analyzed separately; nevertheless, a comparative analysis employing the Gender Inequality Index does not show any association between the level of inequality and the gender gap across European countries.
6
Publication available in full text mode
Content available

On Man-Made Pain

87%
EN
This contribution provides an analysis of one of the forms of the social degradation of girls viz. prostitution, on the basis of an investigation which has comprized one hundred girls and young women, below twenty-five years of age, all of them living in Warsaw. The way in which the materials have been collected authorizes one to suppose that the latter is representative, in the sense that many features typical for the girls under investigation will also prove to be such with regard to other juvenile prostitutes in the milieu of a great city.   The prostitutes below twenty-five years of age constitute about forty per cent, of the total number of the women who practice prostitution, and who are known as such to the police. Even though, under the new social and economic conditions, the dimensions of prostitution in Poland are now incomparably smaller than they used to be in the pre-war period, yet the existence of that troublesome phenomenon fully justifies the need for scientific research, more particularly so where juveniles are concerned. Among the girls comprized by the investigation, forty per cent, were under eighteen years of age, another forty per cent. - between nineteen and twenty-one years, and twenty per cent. - from twenty-two to twenty- -five years of age. During the investigation it appeared that the majority of the youngest girls (those under eighteen) could not be described as prostitutes in the strict sense of the term, in spite of their way of life and their behaviour which made them resemble prostitutes. The behaviour of such girls exhibited a number of symptoms of social deviation, in particular early begun and frequent sexual intercourse with various partners, strolling about at night time, spending time in the environment of social wrecks and outcasts, abusing of alcoholic drink, etc. The interviewing of eighty-two of the prostitutes was, as a rule, carried out at the police stations in various districts of Warsaw, and, moreover, later on also in the private homes of the investigators, at the domicile of the interviewed, etc. Part of the girls were interviewed in a women's jail. In every single case environment interviews have been carried out. They took place at the family homes of the girls, or in the homes of those persons with whom they were brought up. Moreover, interviews have been carried out in the schools which the girls under investigation had attended, as well as at the place of work, if they had worked prior to practicing prostitution. The data concerning the prostitutes’ judicial record (whether punished or not) have been scrupulously checked. It has been found possible to comprize a mere one-third of the girls under investigation in psychological and medical examination, mostly those who were serving a term of imprisonment in jail. One year after the termination of the research follow-up studies were carried out in every single case, and again, after nearly two years, they were once more repeated. The latest follow-up studies obtained come from the year 1960. The fundamental difficulties which have made it impossible to carry out deeper psychological and psychopathological investigation were connected, first and foremost, with the place where such investigation was conducted, and have been the reason why the material was elaborated mostly from a sociological angle. It would seem, however, that taking into account, first and foremost, the sociological aspect was fully justified (and has proved to be fruitful), since an investigation of prostitutes carried out almost exclusively from a psychiatric angle fails to explain properly the process of such persons going to wreck socially.   The girls who practice prostitution could be classified into various categories of prostitutes. The classification of the girls investigated has been carried out in accordance with the terminology accepted in their environment and with a complex criterion imposed, as it were, by the girls themselves. Such elements as: clothing and outward appearance, the place of making contacts with men and of spending time with them, the method and forms of winning them over, and, finally, the amount of pay received are, in the opinion of the prostitutes themselves, a testimony of their belonging to such or such other circle. The two fundamental categories of persons who practice prostitution, singled out on the basis of the set of elements enumerated above are the so-called  “premises” and the “street” prostitutes. That division, however, is inadequate in a fundamental way, since it does not single out, from the total number of street prostitutes, that group of persons who, from the point of view of the general living standards of the women who practice prostitution, stand considerably lower than their remaining companions from the street. Because of the criterion accepted, therefore, the most adequate seems to be a threepartite division, comprizing the following categories: (“ A” ) premises prostitutes, (“ B” ) higher-class street prostitutes, and (“C” ) - lower-class street prostitutes. The above division of the persons investigated has greatly helped to notice the various aspects of the complicated problem of prostitution. In the course of the investigation it has appeared that the stereotyped notion of “ prostitute in general” ought to undergo revision. The differences which divide from each other the prostitutes of the several categories are so great, beginning with the origin of the process of their social derailment and ending with their present-day way of life, that it is really hardly possible to speak of the type of the average prostitute. It would seem that the above problem had so far been underestimated in the research on prostitution.   The social environment, from which the girls under investigation hailed, was divided according to the following groups: working-class, peasant, lumpen-proletariat, educated and the so-called “ miscellaneous” . 51 per cent, of the girls come from working-class families (in the broad sense of the word), while only one-third of their parents were skilled workers, while another one-third were manual workers without any training, employed as porters, janitors, coachmen, cleaners, etc. A relatively small group of girls hailed from the country (18 per cent.). Their parents were agricultural labourers or small-holding peasants. The third group of girls were the daughters of representatives of the lumpen-proletariat (lowest, socially degraded stratum of the proletariat). 12 per cent, of the girls hailed from an environment of that type. The fourth group of the girls investigated hailed from environments described as “miscellaneous” . Here we have included those girls, whose parents worked at trades widely differing from one another (e. g. hairdresser and typist, waiter and factory girl, etc.), while the type of home environment itself did not present any close analogies with those previously enumerated. Altogether 14 per cent, of the population investigated belong to that group. The fifth type of environment distinguished by us in this material is the intelligentsia. 5 per cent, of the girls hailed from intelligentsia families. The data concerning the level of education of the parents of the prostitutes under investigation, and the economic situation of the family environment look as follows: In the working-class families the parents or guardians of more than one-half of the total number of the girls had barely gone through a few classes of the elementary school, or even are illiterate. The economic situation of the working-class families under investigation does not present any uniform picture: one-half of the families live in middling material conditions, another half - in bad ones. In the lumpen-proletariat families the level of the parents’ education presents a critical picture. Not a single one of all the parents has finished elementary school. They live mostly in distant suburbs, in one-room dwellings, under poor hygienic conditions. Their material situation is bad.   In the peasant families, from which the girls under investigation hail, the level of the education of the parents is similarly low. The financial conditions of such families exhibit considerable divergencies, from bad ones in several families burdened with a great number of children, right up to a prosperity which enabled them to maintain and educate their children in town. The intelligentsia families from which some of the girls hail are characterized by a favourable financial and housing situation. The girls’ parents have a secondary, or even a higher, education. In the family environments described as “miscellaneous” considerable differences as to the education level of the parents make their appearance. The financial situation of such families is moderately good or good. From the above data it results that 72 per cent, of the total number of parents are people who either did not have even an elementary education, or else were altogether illiterate, and that one-half of the total number of the girls under investigation were brought up in at least middling financial conditions, and another half - in poor conditions.   A characteristic feature, which makes its appearance with nearly all the categories of girls, is the m u l t i p l i c i t y o f e d u c a t i o n a l  e n v i r- o n m e n t s through which they went in the period of their childhood and early youth. The children who were brought up by one of the parents only, or else by a stepfather, stepmother or by strangers, changed their educational environment particularly frequently. Among the one hundred girls, who, it should be noted were selected at random for investigation, as many as forty-five were half-orphans, and fifteen - total orphans, while approximately thirty per cent, have live through a wrecking of their parents’ marriage.  Altogether as many as eighty-four per cent, of the girls have been deprived of a normal, full family, while only fifteen per cent, of their number ceased to be under the guardianship of both parents at the age of from fourteen to eighteen years, and all the remaining ones - below the age of fourteen.  Such facts to a large extent explain the changing destinies of the girls under investigation, as well as the multiplicity of the environments in which they were brought up (aproximately one-third of them spent at least a couple of years in State Homes for Children). Barely seventeen per cent, spent both their childhood and their youth in one single family home. The girls who had changed their ,,homes“ twice or three times account for forty-two per cent, of the total number, four or five times - for twenty-six per cent., from six to ten times - for fifteen per cent. The lack of a feeling of stability, the necessity of breaking emotional ties, changing authorities and requirements - all that exerted a powerful influence upon the mental development of those children. Being already adults they more than once expressed themselves on that subject with a grudge and a feeling of having been wronged. E d u c a t i o n a l c o n d i t i o n s assumed a most unfavorable outlook in the case of nearly the whole group of girls. One-third of the girls had made a direct experience of the consequences of living under the same roof with a habitual drunkard, while a total of two-thirds came into contact with various forms of intense alcoholism. Every fourth girl was brought up in a family where both parents or guardians abused of intoxicating drink. Other undesirable elements of the educational atmosphere, such as: frequent brawls and quarrels, a bad married life of the parents, their conjugal infidelity etc. made their appearance in the families of seventy per cent, of the girls under investigation. Bad relations between the children and their stepfather or stepmother appeared in nearly one-third of the families. A considerable group of the girls (approximately forty per cent.) had met, in the family home, with emotional coolness, indifference or hostility on the part of their stepmother, stepfather, father or mother. A lack of rational educational methods made their appearance with more than one-half of the family environments under investigation, while a general lack of guardianship and control over the children prevailed in three-fourths of the homes. In about one-half of such cases one could definitely speak of a convergence between the absorbing professional work of the mothers and the lack of care of the children (altogether seventy-two per cent, of the mothers worked for a living outside the family home).   A total absence of any single of the above-mentioned negative educational factors appears in a mere one per cent, of the families investigated. It should be emphasized that it was merely in five per cent, of the families that th‘e mothers also practiced prostitution (or else the female guardians of the girls did), while with another five per cent, of the cases there subsisted a suspicion of the mothers practicing prostitution. It has not been found possible to collect any more precise information concerning the parents’ criminal record; there can be no doubt, however, that at least twenty per cent, of the fathers and mothers had been prosecuted before the law-courts for various offences.   The data concerning the b r o t h e r s and s i s t e r s of the girls under investigation bear witness to the significant fact that, in two-thirds of the families, not only the prostitute investigated herself, but also at least one of her brothers or sisters betrayed certain symptoms of having gone to wreck socially. There were cases of hooliganism (twenty-five per cent.), of criminality (thirty-four per cent.), of far-gone alcoholism (twenty-two per cent.), of prostitution (seventeen per cent.). Moreover, several of the sisters of the girls under investigation led a sexual life fairly approximating prostitution (thirteen per cent). In a number of families such phenomena made their appearance concurrently. It has been found, moreover, that the process of social degradation of the girls’ brothers and sisters as a rule occurred in those cases, where there was a particular intensity of educationally undesirable elements in the family environment.   An application of the X2 test has made it possible to demonstrate whether and if so, in what cases, there exist bases for rejecting the hypothesis of the independence of the variables which characterize the environment of the girls under investigation, of the category of prostitutes. Such hypotheses have been checked on a level of significance amounting to 0.05. As a standard of the degree of dependence, Tchuprov’s coefficient of contingency T, has been accepted. Below are some of the significant statistical dependences which have been brought to light. The “premises” prostitutes (“ A" ) differ from the prostitutes of the remaining categories by their social origin: they come from working-class or peasant environment considerably more rarely than do the remaining girls. Illiteracy among the parents of the “premises” prostitutes makes its appearance considerably more rarely then is the case with the families of the other girls. The financial and housing conditions in which the girls belonging to this group have been brought up were considerably better than in the case of the remaining persons. The “premises” prostitutes more rarely changed their educational environment, and remained for a longer time among their complete families. On the other hand, they came much more frequently than the remaining prostitutes into contact with such a destructive factor as a bad married life of the parents, and with that specific atmosphere of the family home, in the formation of which an essential role was played by the matrimonial infidelity of the parents. A peasant social origin distinguishes in a characteristic way the group of street prostitutes of the lower class (“C” ) out of all the other prostitutes. The percentage of illiterates among their Barents is the highest. The girls who had found their way into that circle of prostitutes had been brought up in financial conditions worse than those of the remaining persons. They were also deprived at an earlier date of guardianship of both parents. It is also in the group that the percentage of entire orphans is the highest. The higher-class street prostitutes (“B”) more frequently than the others girls investigated hailed from working-class families domiciled in Warsaw. As distinguished form the group “C” prostitutes, the majority of whom had spent their childhood in critical finacial conditions, as well as from the “premises” prostitutes, a large number of whom had a good situation in this respect, the ,,higher-class“ street prostitutes were brought up in average, middling material conditions.   The data concerning the e d u c a t i o n o f t h e p r o s t i t u t e s under investigation present a picture fairly unfavourable for the total of the population investigated. Fifty-one per cent, of them have not completed their elementary education, while a mere three per cent, have a secondary education. As many as eighty-six per cent, of the girls have interrupted their training, either at the elementary, or at the secondary school. The girls who stayed on in the same form for a second or a third year broke away from school with particular ease. Fifty-five per cent, of the girls under investigation repeated one or several forms. That was mainly caused by two factors: considerable pedagogical neglect, the lack of any assistance or even control on the part of the girls’ parents, and the low level of intelligence with a great many of the investigated. The abandoning of school prior to finishing it was of the significant statistical dependences which have been moreover more than once caused by difficult general conditions  whether family of personal, in which many of the girls found themselves (deportarian to Germany during the war, the absolute necessity of taking care of younger brothers and sisters, etc.). In so far as the educational difficulties which the prostitutes under investigation caused in the period of their childhood are concerned, it must be stated that, out of the eighty-five girls about whom it has been possible to collect more detailed data, more than one-half (forty-five) were considered to be “ difficult” children. In the anamneses their own mothers describe some of them as being impatient, prone to outbursts of anger, aggressive, others again - as restless, of unequal disposition, excessively excitable, over-active, nervous, while others still were described as apathetic, lazy, passive, unwilling to undertake even the smallest effort.    Part of the girls under investigation can undoubtedly be classified as psychopaths, neurotics and persons with encephalopathy symptoms. Over and above this, seventeen per cent, of them were cases of mental deficiency (morons). Altogether, fifty-three per cent, of the prostitutes under investigation exhibited, in their childhood, obvious personality disorders and pathological traits. Concerning the girls who did not pass for particularly difficult at the time of their childhood and who did not distinguish themselves, in an unfavourable sense, against the background of their co-equals, brothers and sisters, many mothers yet asserted that they were characterized by frivolity, a lack of perseverance, as well as a considerable susceptibility to the influence of the environment. The question of whether, within this group of girls, persons with features of e. g. a psychopathy of the type of life instability were represented in any numerical strength or not, cannot be decided, because of the lack of adequately precise data. It should be remarked, moreover, that twenty-seven per cent, of the investigated, even though they did not exhibit features of mental deficiency yet were at an intelligence level below average.   The initial symptoms of the process of social degradation made their appearance with twenty-one per cent, of the investigated - prior to their completing their thirteenth year of age, with thirty- height per cent. - between the fourteenth and fifteenth year of age, with forty-one per cent. - in their sixteenth year of age or later. Approximately three-fourths of the investigated ran away from home. Such flights were mainly caused by: fear of punishment, not feeling well at home, revolt because of having been placed, against their will, in an educational institution or with strange people, etc. Thefts, during that initial stage of demoralization, were committed by eighteen per cent, of the girls, whereas theft as a phenomenon isolated from other symptoms of the girl’s degradation rarely made its appearance (a mere eight per cent, of the cases), unless we also take into consideration sporadic petty thefts in the family home or at school, which were committed by twenty per cent, of the investigated. A characteristic feature is the participation of the girls under investigation in three types of groups of seriously demoralized young people: hooligan (thirty-one per cent, of the girls), hooligan-and-thieving (twelve per cent of the girls), and the so-called “ premises group” (twenty-five per cent, of the girls). The circles of young people who frequented a luna-park (entertainment park) or such similar place, in which many of the girls investigated spent their time, were easily transformed into groups of a more or less hooligan character. The presence, there, of individuals who had gone through a certain “ period of training” in a hooligan gang, and acquaintance with the “merits” of intoxicating drink particularly favoured such a change. Cases of coming forward, in an aggressive manner, against their environment, which at first has been sporadic, fairly rapidly became a habit and a permanent element in the life of the group. One of the principal attractions of the life within such a group was frequent sexual intercourse between boys and girls. The joining of hooligan-and-thieving groups by the girls frequently followed a course approximating that described above. Such groups, because of their very character, were, as a rule, better organized and more compact. Usually, they also had at their disposal their own accommodation - a “ dive” (thieves’ den). Part of the girls under investigation joined the life of groups of young people of yet another sort, namely so-called premises groups. The fact of frequently staying away from home in search of company and entertainment in cafés, dancing resorts, etc. was, in many instances, connected, in some manner or other, with the fact that the girls investigated did not feel well at home, in an atmosphere of family quarrels, of a very bad married life of the parents, of their conjugal unfaithfulness, etc. What has also contributed to their joining the circles of young people who spent their time in entertainment premises were, moreover, various other personal experiences of the investigated, and, among others, their first and unsatisfactory sexual experience, which brought about an early awakening of erotical desire and the search for ever new partners. Sexual promiscuity unconnected, in a special way, with the girl belonging to any comradeship group made its appearance in eighteen per cent, of the cases. It should be noted, however, that approximately one-half of those girls did not start their sexual experiences out of their own free will, but had been raped by adult men. All such girls began, after the above happening, to run away from home and to go in for an intense sex life.   Out of the seventy-six g i r l s w h o h a d b e e n w o r k i n g for their livelihood prior to their beginning to practice prostitution, eighty-three per cent, had gone to work before the eighteenth year of their lives, including one-half who did so before they had completed sixteen years of age. The work which such girls had been able to get was, in an overwhelming majority of the cases, very poorly remunerated and mostly very unattractive, owing to the girls’ young age, their lack of education and qualifications. Sixty-one per cent, of their jobs was accounted for by manual work (factory worker, agricultural labourer, errand-girl, domestic servant, etc.), twenty per cent. - by half-manual jobs (shop assistant, conductress, waitress, etc.). The girls under investigation fairly frequently changed their place of work: on an average every one of them had worked 3.7 times. A factor which favoured that lack of stabilization in their trade was, first and foremost, the process of their social degradation, mostly already begun during that period, and, in particular, their connections with groups of seriously demoralized young people. A dishonest attitude to work, the missing of workdays, petty thefts at the place of work, etc. have caused twenty per cent, of the investigated to receive reprimands, while disciplinary action had been taken against as many as forty per cent., and another ten per cent, were prosecuted . before the law-courts by their place of work. It has been found possible to establish, by means of the x2 test, further differences between the several categories of the girls under investigation, other than those discussed previously (under item 7). The dependence between the level of education and the fact of the subsequent finding their way into the several categories of prostitutes has proved to be significant. The girls from the group of lower-class street prostitutes (“C”) have the poorest level of education, the ‘‘premises” prostitutes (“A” - the highest).  Then, when checking in turn the hypotheses of a possible lack of dependence between the girls’ intellectual level and their belonging to this or that category, it was found possible to establish the following fact: persons intellectually below an average level could be met with, relatively most frequently, among the group (“C” ) prostitutes; relatively most rarely among those of group (“A”). The considerable pre-dominance of persons with an intellectual level below average (seventy-one per cent.) among the prostitutes of that lowest category, and of persons with a normal intellectual level among the “ premises” girls (seventy-seven per cent.) have caused the dependence between the variables enumerated to be particularly striking. This confirms the observation made in the course of the investigation, that the problem of a low intellectual level has played a role in the process of the degradation of but certain categories of prostitutes. The test of significance has, moreover, made probable the existence of a clear connection between the age of the investigated and the initial symptoms of the process of degradation, discussed previously, as well as between such symptoms and the fact of the girls belonging to the several categories of prostitutes. Thus e.g. flights from home and petty thefts, committed individually, most frequently made their appearance among very young girls (before their fourteenth year of age); participation in hooligan and hooligan-and-thieving groups has proved to be characteristic of those girls, who in time became street prostitutes, while participation in a group of young people frequenting some place of entertainment - of those girls, who were subsequently to become “ premises” prostitutes.   The girls under investigation started their s e x u a l l i f e relatively early. Nearly one-half (forty-four per cent.) of them experienced their first sexual intercourse before they had completed their sixteenth year of age, and another group, equally numerous - between their seventeenth and their eighteenth years of age. Their first partner was mostly the boy with whom they “ went out” , or else a comrade from the group. Such first sexual experiences were, generally speaking, rapidly followed by others, with other partners. Questions which form part of the domain of sexuology were extremely difficult to establish under the conditions under which the investigation was carried out. It was barely in approximately one-half of the cases that it proved possible to obtain data concerning the sexual experiences of the girls under investigation, concerning the period when they were practising prostitution.   The group of entirely frigid girls was represented by approximately thirty per cent, of the total number. Nearly one-half (forty-six per cent.) consisted of girls, who had average sexual experiences with those men, with whom they were emotionally bound, and, moreover, they occasionally experienced a satisfaction of their sexual drive even with chance “ customers” who appealed to them. The remaining girls (twenty-four per cent.) only achieved satisfaction in sexual intercourse, when their partner was a man for whom they had some feeling.   The data concerning the beginnings of prostitution with the girls investigated looked as follows. Those girls who spent a lot of their time in groups of young people in cafés, places of entertainment, etc. generally speaking reached prostitution within a very short time. The influence of intoxicating drink, the example and persuasion of girl-friends already demoralized, numerous offers on the part of the men who spent a lot of their time in such places, and such-like factors created circumstances which favoured the taking up of the profession of prostitute. A most essential factor, moreover, consisted in the large sums of money frequently offered and given to the girls by men (such sums oftentimes amounted to the equivalent of one half of the girl’s monthly wages at her place of work). The girls who were members of hooligan groups, as a rule already seriously demoralized, not working, having no money of their own, usually easily found the way into a prostitutes’ environment, yielding to the example of girl-friends, who had been prostitutes previously. The girls who belonged to thieves’ groups began to practise prostitution in the hope of convenient and easy theft or else became prostitutes upon the demand of the group. Their appointed task was to provide convenient opportunities for the members of the gang to steal from their “customers”.    A certain part of the girls under investigation (fourteen per cent.) who did not have the support of a family home, taken from among those girls who had been prosecuted before the courts (principally ‘for theft) after completing their seventeenth year of age, found their way to a prostitutes’ environment only after having left prison, as a result of the example and persuasion of their fellow-prisoners. Thirteen per cent, of the girls began to practise prostitution because of having established contacts with either a procuress or a souteneur. The fact should be emphasized that, in the course of their practising prostitution, as many as approximately thirty per cent, of the girls investigated were bound up with souteneurs.   The data concerning the under investigation, when c r i m i n a l i t y o f t h e p r o s t i t u t e s we take into consideration both the period preceding prostitution and the period of actually practising it, look as follows: Prior to their practising prostitution the criminality of the investigated was mostly limited to hooligan acts and to thefts. No criminal offences, not even any petty home or school thefts, were committed at that time by forty per cent, of the girls. During the period of their practising prostitution (the average duration of that period amounted to 5.4 years) as many as eighty-four per cent, of the investigated committed criminal offences. The latter were mainly offences against property and offences against the public peace (resistance to the police, brawls and scuffles when under the influence of drink, etc.). Offences against the public peace were committed by approximately sixty per cent, of the investigated. Offences against property (which as a rule consisted of thefts) were commiteed by seventy-six per cent, of the total number of girls investigated. The thefts mostly consisted in taking from a drunken “customer” his money or his watch. Thefts accompanied by the use of violence or robberies (eleven cases in all) were committed by the girls investigated always along with men, who organized such operations. Barely one-fifth of the girls never saw the inside of a prison. The rest served various terms of imprisonment and were detained under preventive arrest pending inquest mostly more often than once (most frequently from twice to five times). The majority of the criminal offences committed by the prostitutes investigated were connected with their practising their profession, and, first and foremost, with the environment in which such girls stayed and to which they accommodated themselves. Contrary to numerous opinions formerly expressed in the literature of the subject, we may now include thefts in the number of criminal offences more particularly bound up with prostitution.   On the basis of the %2 test an obvious dependence has been found to exist between the “road” which had led them to prostitution, and the category of prostitutes. The higher-class street prostitutes (“B” ) significantly more often than the persons belonging to the other groups became prostitutes direct through their participation in hooligan-and-thieving groups. Among the lower-class street prostitutes (“C”) relatively the largest number began to practise prostitution after having come out of prison. That fact is closely connected with their homelessness, by which they significantly differ from the other girls investigated. The typical “road” of arriving at prostitution in the case of the premises girls was their previous participation in circles of young people who frequented places of entertainment.  During the period when they practised prostitution the street girls committed offences against public peace considerably more frequently than did the premises girls. The test of significance has brought to light the fact, that there did not, however, exist any dependence between the lesser or greater intensity of offences against property and the fact of a girl belonging to this or that definite category of prostitutes. This is true, first and foremost, of theft, which has become one of the - elements of a prostitute's “profession”.    17 . The follow-up studies comprize the period of merely two years from the moment of the termination of research work, and this is precisely the reason why the data concerning the further destinies of the girls under investigation have, of necessity, but a limited scope. The age of the prostitutes under investigation at the time of the carrying out of such follow-up studies mostly amounted to from twenty-two to twenty-five years, and the average length of the period during which they had been practising prostitution - to 5.4 years. The breaks in the practising of prostitution, whether of longer or shorter duration, which took place in thirty per cent, of the cases, were principally brought about by the girl in question tying her life to some one man, who frequently was e.g. the girl’s previous “customer” . But unions of that type were not distinguished by their lasting character. Twenty-eight (i.e. thirty-four per cent.) of the prostitutes under investigation got married. The marriages of thirteen of their number took a favourable course: those women altogether broke away from their previous way of life. The marriages of ten of them have proved unsuccessful, and, after becoming separated from their husbands, those women once more began to practise prostitution. Five of the prostitutes have married thieves and souteneurs, and still continue to ply their trade. Out of the whole number of the remaining girls under investigation who were not married, a mere five have undertaken systematic work for a livelihood and have broken away from prostitution. Thus only twenty-two per cent, of the juvenile prostitutes investigated abandoned prostitution during either the period of the research, or else during that of the follow-up studies (together amounting to from four to five years). What is emphasized, first and foremost, in the c o n c l u s i o n of the contribution, is the fact that the process which leads a girl to prostitution is one of long duration. It grows out on the substratum of an abnormally functioning family and of personality disorders with such girls, whereas there exist, as early as during the period of their minority, clear and obvious harbingers of the beginning and increasing process of social degradation, in the form of a whole number of symptoms (such as e.g. their playing truant from school, running away from the family home, early begun and frequently repeated sexual intercourse with varying partners, spending time in the environment of socially degraded young people, the abusing of intoxicating drink, and the like). The laying hold, at an early date, of such and such like symptoms of general demoralization, and a proper interference at the suitable time could, in all probability, have prevented the later appearance of the phenomenon of prostitution among those girls.
EN
The object of study was prohibited acts committed by children up to 13 years  old which caused a reaction of the justice system. The results of the research deny a common belief, also popularised by the mass media that the age of juveniles who committed serious crimes is rapidly falling down. In fact, in most cases we deal with petit crimes.
12
76%
EN
Disappointment in crime prevention based on the etiological approach led to a closer analysis of the circumstances of the offence, its physical conditions, and the resulting motivations of the offender. Whatever his inborn or socially acquired criminal predispositions, object and opportunity are necessary for an offence to take place. Advocates of the situational approach in criminology argue that a potential offender generally does not act on an impulse: instead, he more or less consciously analyses the situation and decides to commit the offence at a given time and place and against a given target. This is the basic assumption of situational crime prevention.             Situational crime prevention resolves itself into reduction or liquidation of the physical opportunity to commit an offence, and extension of the probability of apprehension of the offender. This can be done in three different ways.             First, the guard over the target can be extended or intensified, or the potential offender can be made to believe that, while dwelling in a given place, he is under incessant surveillance by the police or other competent persons, or by the inhabitants or users of a given object or area.             Second, the target can be made less open to crime: special circumstances make it less easily accessible (or completely inaccessible), and theft can no longer yield the expected profit to the offender. This procedure is called target hardening.             Third, various organizational steps can be taken that change the environment of crime: new ciercumstances arise and situation in which an offence might take place is changed.             The above three methods of situational crime prevention have different efficiency. Their actual efficiency depends on a variety of factors related to the methodology of the crime prevention program and to cultural conditions. As regards programs basied on increased surveillance, the most efficient are those which involve the local population who are allowed both passively to watch over their area of residence, and actively to participate in its protection.             What is considered a particulary effective method of situational crime prevention is target hardening where access to the target is made difficult through a variety of physical obstacles. Not as obvious is the efficiency of another target hardening measure where valuable objects are marked so as to make it difficult for the offender to gain by his theft and to increase the probability of his apprehension. Such measures, called operation identification, prove highly efficient in some countries but are next to ineffective in others. Thee ffects here depend largely on the efficiency of the police. Whith a low detection rate of thefts, the marking of objects cannot possibly yield the expected results.             It has been  found in studies of offenders’ processes of deciding that their decision to commit an offencis based on the factors that condition, first, the physical opportunity (access to the object) nad second, the offender’s safety. The idea of situational crime prevention has many followers who stress the relative easiness of the application of the suggested methods and their efficiency. The opponents argue that,while it many perhaps contribute to preventing definite offences at a definite time and place, situational crime prevention does not actually prevent crime. What it leads to is displacement of crime. The offence is committed anyway but perhaps in another time or place, by other means, or against another target. Despite all the reservations concerning displacement of crime, it msot be stated that situational crime prevention often proves effective; what is more, it requires neither prolonged programs nor entangled methods of manipulating society. Admittedly the offender is not reformed; yet a definite offence is not committed in a definite place, and the target remains safe. This makes situational prevention as important an element of crime prevention programs as the generally recognized social methods.
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 
EN
In the years 1957/1958 the Department of Criminology of the Polish Academy of Sciences carried out a research in prisons concerning 100 young-adult recidivists aged 17-20. Qualified for the research without any selection were prisoners of tłrat age, convicted by law courts at least twice after the completion of their 17th year of age (regardless of the kind of the offence committed), and serving their term in prison for at least the second time. Their residence in Warsaw or in the environs of Warsaw and their having at least one parent constituted additional criteria. No other information concerning these recidivists was available at the time they were qualified for the research and thus it was not known whether they committed any offences before the completion of their 17th year of age or whether they were tried by the courts at all.At the time of the research in prisons the average age of recidivists was about 20. 50 % of them were convicted twice after the completion of 17 years of age, 25 % were convicted three times and 23 % four times and more. A check in the Juvenile Court revealed. that 80 % of those recidivists underwent trials in Juvenile Courts for thefts as a rule before they completed 17 years of age. Moreover, 11 % of them repeatedly committed thefts as juveniles (under 17) for which they were not tried by the courts. At least 54 % out of 91 recidivists become delinquents under 13 years of age and only 12 % began cornmitting theft at the age of 15 and over. 44 % of recidivists stayed at correctional institutions (as a rule only at a time when they were 15-16 years old).Already during the investigation in prisons in the years 1957/1958, when the average age of recidivists was merely about 20, it was stated that 82 % of them were seriously demoralized. Their subsequent destinies were further investigated in the course of 6 years until the end of 1964. The average age of these 100 recidivists amounted recently to 26 years and six months. Below are presented data relating to their delinquency from the age of 17 to 25-28 years of age. That period comprises 8-11 years, on the average 10 years. 65 % stayed longer in prisons than on liberty, with 36 % staying in prison even longer than two thirds of that entire period. The average period of their staying on liberty between alternate arrests was up to 6 months for 48 % of recidivists, below a year for 80,5 %, and one year and a half and over for 5,4% only. On the average there are 8.3 proved offences for one recidivist (the number of offences for which they were convicted is actually much higher, as not all judicial records could have been examined; the register of the convicted persons does not contain competent information in this respect). Among 830 offences for which 100 recidivists were convicted the offences against property constituted 63 % (among them thefts – 83 %), offences against authonities 16 % (mostly against policemen), offences against the person 13 % and various other offences 8 %. 37 % of recidivists were convicted exclusively for offences against property, and with 27 % the convictions against property outnumbered those against authorities and against the person. 27 % were convicted for various offences with the preponderance of convictions for offences against authorities and against the person. 9 % of recidivists were convicted exclusively for offences against authorities and against the person.The most antisocial offenders, who as a rule since the completion of their 17th year stayed in prison longer than on liberty, for committing thefts for the most part, constitute 50 % among recidivists ąged 25-28. Only 13 % of recidivists can be considered resocialized. Since their last discharge from prison they have remained on liberty for at least 6 years. They work and lead a normal life, they do not abuse of alcohol often. Those 13 recidivists already in their youth displayed the lowest degree of demoralization, most of them were only twice convicted after the completion of 17 years of age and the average number of offences for which they were tried in courts was merely about 4.The inefficacy of imprisonment with regard to young-adult delinquents is dealt with in the final part of this work.During the period of about 10 years after the completion of 17 years of age, the recidivists were jointly sentenced to imprisonment in 466 cases. Imprisonment, not exceeding 6 months time, constituted 31 % of the total, below 1 year – 52 %, below one year and a half – 66 %, below 2 years – 73 % of the total.An analysis of the material shows that penalties inflicted on the now most antisocial recidivists do not differ from those inflicted on recidivists who have not committed any offences at all for the last six years.AIso there is no relationship whatever between the wight of penalty inflicted by the courts and the succession of convictions.The average penalty inflicted does not show any relationship to the rate of recidivism: as regards recidivists convicted three times only, the average penalty amounted to 16 months of prison, for six previous convictions to twelve months, for seven and more convictions - to 13 months of prison. The average penalty is then lower for the recurrent recidivists already convicted six and more times than for the offenders convicted only three times, despite the fact that the most antisocial recidivists, committing thefts for the most part, constitute 83 % of the offenders convicted six times and more.Moreover, the research has shown, that there is no significant relationship between the length of imprisonment and the length of the subsequent stay on liberty before a new arrest. Recidivists discharged after having served a six months term in prison were arrested again before the lapse of half a year in 44 % of cases; recidivists discharged after a term of three and more years, found thernselves in prison again before the lapse of half a year in 63 % of cases.Application of long-term imprisonment does not prevent further recidivism. It is necessary to apply special sanctions during the recidivists' minority and up to 21 years of age with the sole aim of their resocialisation.
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.
EN
The object of the paper is to show the trends of convictions for aggressive offences in Poland in the years 1972-1987 basing on court statistics, and to characterize this type of offences and their perpetrators. Moreover, basing on the findings of several Polish criminological studies, some of the factors have been indicated which may play an important part in the origin of aggressive offences. The main focus here is the problem of such offenders aggressiveness and their drinking habits, as the two factors are rather clearly connected with the discussed type of offences. Offences to be submitted to statistical analysis have been separated according to psychological and criminological criteria and not to the classification adopted in the Polish penal code. Thus only those offences from various chapters of the penal code have been taken into account where the facts of the given cases contained an explicit element of physical aggression against person or object, or of verbal aggression. Naturally, there is a great variety of acts which contain an element of aggression and are numbered among offences: they infringe different human values and interests from as vital as life and health to dignity, honour, or religious feelings. Also different is the seriousness of those acts (both misdemeanours and crimes being found among them), as well as the danger they create to the public weal, and the statutory penalties provided for them. Throughout the analysed period 1972–1987, the total number of convicted persons was relatively stable and amounted to the average of 150–160 thousand a year; it went down in 1977 and 1981–1984, only to increase again to the previous level in the years 1985–1987. Also the crime rate fluctuated similarly, amounting to 65–59 per 10,000, adult population, with the exception of 70.6 in 1972. In some years, the decrease of both the number of convictions and the crime rate can be explained with amnesty laws, while the increased number of convictions, in the years 1985–1987 resulted, among other things, from certain additional though temporary legal regulations introduced in that period (particularly from the Act  of 1985 on special criminal responsibility). In the period under analysis, the proportion of persons convicted for aggressive offences amounted to about 40 per cent of the total number of convictions. At the same time, starting from 1975, a certain slight downward trend in the proportion of such convictions can be found, to as low as 35-36 per cent in the years 1979–1980, followed by an increase to the previous level. A certain decrease in the extent of convictions for aggressive offences can be explained partly with demographic changes. In the period under analysis, despite the general increase of the population aged 17 and more (by 12.9 per cent),  the number of men aged 17–20 went down by about 35.5 per cent, and the same trend could be found in the case of men aged 21–24. It is a well-known fact that aggressive offences are committed mostly by young persons. Analysing the extent of aggressive offences from the point of view of the offenders’ sex and age, we find somewhat different trends in young adult as compared with adult men and women. Aggressive offences constitute about 60 per cent of all offences committed by young adult men, and 34–40 per cent of those of adult men. In the period under analysis, offences of this type committed by young adult men kept up the above level, fluctuations being greater in the case of adult men. In the structure of female crime, aggressive offences play a less significant role and constitute about 20 per cent in both age groups. There is also, as in the case of men, a distinct trend: stability of proportion of convictions of young adult women for such offences (about 20 per cent), and a distinct decrease in the case of adult women (from 23 to 12.6 per cent). Taking certain groups of offences as well as the separate acts into account, we find a considerable increase in the number of aggressive offences against property. It is determined mainly by the increase in the proportion of convictions for burglary and of particularly audacious larceny, and to a slight extent – for damage to property. Instead, proportions of convictions for robbery are rather stable. In the discussed period, robbery which contains an explicit element of aggression revealed no changes as regards the number of convictions: instead, upward trends could be found mainly in the case of burglary and of particularly audacious larceny where explicit aggressive traits can not always be found. Thus this finding corresponds but to some extent with the world trend. In the discussed period, a downward trend could be found as regards convictions for offences which involved physical and verbal aggression against person. Convictions for offences traditionally regarded as serious and dangerous for the public weal, such as murder or rape, remained at the same level, while those for bodily injury trended downwards. As has been mentioned above, the number of robberies, also included among serious offences, remained stable, the proportion of convictions for offences of this type arnong all convictions for aggressive acts being rathen low (murder, 0.5–07 per cent; rape, 2 per cent; robbery, 6.8 per cent). What should also be stressed is the decrease in convictions for participation in a brawl or battery, particularly in rural districts, and for assault on a public functionary or police officer, starting from 1978. Instead, convictions for physical or moral cruelty towards a family member maintain a rather high level with a slight upward trend. A regular increase it the number of convictions for that offence which dates from 1950s, is related to the trends in prosecuting and sentencing policy in family cases. The influence of the changes in criminal policy and legislation is also distinct in the case of convictions for violation of bodily inviolability, insult, and insult of a police officer which went down to begin with and then started increasing in numbers. The second part of the paper contains a discussion of the problem of conditions of aggressive crime. An attempt was made basing on the findings of criminological studies to answer the question whether most perpetrators of aggressive offences can be characterized as highly aggressive persons and excessive drinkers. The analysis concerned both the fact of repeated perpetration of aggressive offences, and the occurrence of aggressiveness as a permanent personality trait. As may be concluded from the studies of offences committed by different samples of young adults those in whose criminal career was at least one aggressive offence (c.g.) robbery, hooligan act, homicide) were more frequently than others convicted for aggressive offences. Thus the question should be answered whether most of the perpetrators of aggressive acts are characterized by distinct aggressiveness as a permanent personality trait. One can hardly suppose in this connection that a single aggressive offence might constitute a sufficient proof of the offendner’s aggressiveness. If, however one and the same person repeatedly commits aggressive offences, he might be an aggressive individual. A person has been defined as aggressive who reveals aggressive behaviour or a decidedly hostile attitude towards many persons in different situations. It has been found basing on psychological examination with the Buss- Durkee questionnaire and detailed data from interviews (which the authoress used to construct scales of aggressiveness), that most perpetrators of aggressive offences are characterized by a considerable aggressiveness as a relatively stable personality trait. Moreover, aggressiveness measured this way is a significantly less frequent characteristic of young adult offenders against property, and of non-delinquent youth. The above findings contribute but to some extent to the explanation of the nature of aggressive crime, as aggressiveness of offenders should be considered in connection with many other factors which exert a mutual influence on one another and jointly determine a criminal act in a given situation. In studies of various samples of aggressive offenders, their considerable excessive drinking was found. The issues under analysis included, among other things, the role of drinking in the origin of aggressive crime, alcohol’s direct as well as indirect influence on criminal behaviour taken into account. It was arqued that the offender’s intoxication plays a greater part in the origin of aggressive crime than of offences against property. Also the interdependence between aggressiveness and excessive drinking. As shown by the findings (among other things, of studies of young adult perpetrators or robbery and hooligan acts), excessive drinkers revealed intense aggressive behaviour significantly more often than those who did not drink excessively; moreover, such behaviour was found already at school which means that those persons were already aggressive as children, before they developed excessive drinking habits. Theorefore, their subsequent regular drinking could have been related to emotional instability with which also their aggressiveness was connected. They could have seeked relief of their emotional tension in excessive drinking. Also aggressive behaviour served to abreact that tension. To conclude, it should be stated that the perpetrators of aggressive acts, as opposed to those who commit mostly offences against property, are highly aggressive as a rule. Most of them also regularly drink excessively. Though they were not found to be significantly different in this respect from offenders on the whole, nevertheless alcohol no doubt plays an important part in most of their aggressive acts. In a given situation, their excessive drinking habits, intoxication at the moment of the act, or aggressiveness caused or intensified their already existing serious conflicts with the environment, influenced their distorted perception and interpretation of the reality, and facilitated an impulsive reaction to casual misunderstandings, and could therefore contribute to the emergence of aggressive acts qualified as offences.
EN
This work contains a statistical analysis of crime in Warsaw in 1992 based on the data on crime recorded by the Warsaw Police Headquarters. Changes in the dynamics, structure, and spatial distribution of crime in the years 1988 to 1992 are shown in accordance with the city’s basic administrative division into 17 districts.Territorial differentiation of crime in areas subordinated to the separate police stations (47) is shown in figures and maps of rates and changes in crime in 1992 as compared to 1991. Separated because of their specific nature are typical big city areas, neighborhoods of railway stations and the airport, as well as suburbs.             Changes in crime recorded in Warsaw in 1989‒1992 were relatively much greater than those found on the national scale. An exception here was the year 1990 when a similar growth in the proportion of recorded offences took place both in Warsaw and Poland – by 64% and 61% respectively as compared 1989. After a rapid growth of recorded crime staring in 1989, a downward trend began in 1991 at a pace that was higher in Warsaw than all over Poland.             In 1992, the crime rate (mean numbers of offences recorded yearly per  100 thousand of the population of a given area) in Warsaw was 2.3 times higher than the national average which was a drop as compared to 1990 and 1991 when the indices were 2.7 and 2.6 respectively.             Changes in the extent of crime in the separate districts of Warsaw in 1989‒1992 have been depicted by chain indices of dynamics. The values of those indices manifest considerable differences in the changes in crime between the separate districts, and occurrence of opposing trends in succeeding years. The districts that had the greatest growth in crime in 1990 (Mokotów, Ochota, Praga Południe, Żoliborz) showed the greatest drop next year (1991). A similar trend could be found in 1992 in the districts of Praga Północ and Śródmieście (an increase, relatively high as compared to the other districts, followed by the greatest decrease). These findings may evidence both “displacement” of real crime, and the impact of other factors related to the activities of the police and public prosecutor’s office (in the spheres of both crime prevention and control, and the methods of recording offences).             As shown by analysis of the rates and structure of crime in the separate disricts of Warsaw, the different areas of the city are much differentiated in this repect. In 1991 and 1992, differentiation of the rates crime was three times higher as compared to 1990.             The highest crime rates could be found in Śródmieście – 10265.1, and Praga Północ – 6145.5; this resulted, among other things, from concentration of economic life and a high mobility of the population in those districts which stay busy for twenty-four hours a day. The lowest mean crime rates were found in Mokotów (3664). The next stage of statistical analysis of crime recorded by the police in Warsaw consists in the presentation of the territorial differentiation of crime in the areas of operation of the separate police stations. Differentiation of the crime  rates was very high, ranging from 1,700 offences per 100 thousand of the population recorded at the 3rd station to 27,559 recorded at the 17th station (in Śródmieście district). At the  same time, as was the case with crime analysed by city districts, a reverse trend of the changes in rates and intensity of crime could be found. In some areas which, admittedly, had the relatively lowest crime rates in 1992, there was a relatively high growth in crime as compared to 1991. In Śródmieście  district, despite the drop in crime in 1992 as compared to 1991 (which was the highest at the 17th station ‒ by 31% and the lowest at the 26th station – by 8%) the crime rates per 100 thousand of the population proved among the highest. This may confirm the thesis as to “displacement” of crime. On the  other hand, it may also result from different relations between the extent of real crime and that of recorded offences. What speaks for these latter conclusions are the results of regression and correlation analysis which manifest a significant correlation between the rates of recorded crime in general and offences against property: thefts of private property and breaking and entering of private buildings where the “dark numer” is high. Therefore, the distribution of crime in Warsaw is determined by offences against property where evaluation of the numer of  undetected offences is particularly difficult. As follows from the police data, the clearance rate of crime in Warsaw was differentiated according to both type and site of the offence. The highest mean clearance rate was found in Ochota district (27.5%), and the lowest in Praga Północ (16.3%). The probability of successful detection was highest with respect to traffic offences (0.93) and lowest in cases of breaking and entering (0.05). Clearance rate was highly differentiated (57%) in the case of car burglaries. The relatively highest probability of detection was found in Wola district (0.16), the lowest ‒ in Żoliborz (0.033) and Śródmieście  (0.038). The probability of detection of offences against persons in Warsaw in 1992 was about 0.6 (e.g. 60%), and against property – several per cent. The differentiation of both the dynamics and structure of crime in the separate districts of Warsaw and in areas of the separate police stations within the districts again confirms the thesis as to existence of areas that are particularly threatened with crime – the crime-generating areas. On the other hand, this differentiation suggests a large and indefinite numer of unrevealed or unrecorded offences. The present analysis, part of a study on the state of safety in Warsaw  initiated by the Superintendent of Warsaw Police and the Major of Warsaw,  confirmed the need for improving the data gathering system, securing the continuity of data, and the use of computer data carriers.
first rewind previous Page / 2 next fast forward last
JavaScript is turned off in your web browser. Turn it on to take full advantage of this site, then refresh the page.