Organised Crime & Crime Prevention - what works? - Scandinavian ...

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NSfK´s 40. forskerseminar, Espoo, Finland 1998 Violent crime preventio Many people believe that aggression is a natural human instinct. What is more difficult for people to agree on is how aggression influences behaviour and why some of us are more aggressive than others. As of yet it is difficult to prove how large a part aggression plays in violent behaviour. However, we believe that aggression should be looked upon as a health problem rather than a criminal one. By accepting aggression as a contributing factor to violent behaviour and dealing with it as we deal with other health and medical problems we maybe able to assist people who have problems controlling their aggression. This we think is a better solution in the long run as young adults could seek help before they commit a criminal offence. For this to happen it is necessary to make treatment readily available to those who recognise that they need it. It is also important that those people who seek this kind of help need not be ashamed to do so, it has to be socially accepted. The connection between alcohol and violence seems to be quite strong and we suggest that people who have problems controlling their aggression be made aware of this. In such cases it may be beneficial for the subject to reduce their alcohol intake. Sexual crime prevention Sexual crime prevention we think has to start at an early age. In the icelandic rape victim report from 1995 there is an increase in reported rapes (compared to the years 1990-1994) where the offender is between 16-20 years old. We believe that changes should be made with regards to sexual education in Iceland. Sex education should not only focus on the physical act of reproduction (as seems to have been the case for many years) but also on the moral and psychological aspects of sex. This can be done by various methods, for example role playing. Teenagers could be given certain projects where they try to imagine themselves as victims or offenders of a sexual crime. These exercises might help to increase awareness in teenagers of how certain situations can lead to criminal acts taking place. Hopefully it will also deter them from committing similar acts themselves in future. Alcohol plays a part in sexual crime as most of the offenders and victims are under the influence of alcohol when the crime takes place. Therefore we recommend as before that people be made aware of this factor and that help be made readily available to those who think they need to control their drinking. We would also like to see some kind of help be made available to those who have committed sexual offences so that they may be less likely to commit another similar act. Crime prevention • child abuse Child abuse is arguably one of the most difficult crimes to prevent. It is very unlikely that a person who is thinking of abusing a child seeks help, as child molestation is a very taboo subject in almost every society. Our research leads us to believe that a more profitable area of study may be to inform and study potential victims of child abuse rather than potential offenders. As the victims of child abuse are sometimes very young, it is necessary to start working with them from a young age. It is probably not viable to work with children younger than two or three years of age. Most children in iceland start play-school around this age and this would more than likely be the best place to start the prevention programme. The idea is to encourage family role playing at the play-schools which is supervised by the play-school workers. What the children are supposed to learn is how they can connect and communicate with their family members. This idea stems from the fact that in iceland most parents work a full day and therefore are unable to spend a lot of time with their children. We think that it is very important that families 202
NSfK´s 40. forskerseminar, Espoo, Finland 1998 members feel comfortable with each other and can trust and tell each other things. This idea can not work if it is a one sided project. The other family members have to be aware of what the child is learning at play-school and they need encouragement from their family. In many cases we think it would be just as beneficial for the parents and other adults around the family to participate in this programme, it might teach everyone something about relationships and communication. Child abuse • sex education Sex education for young children is something we feel should be taught. We believe that most children over the age of six know vaguely what sex is and that it has some kind of forbidden element. What they do not know is what a normal or abnormal sexual relationship consists of. This should be explained to them in a way that they can understand. By explaining this we hope that if someone tries to violate the child the child has more of a chance of stopping it before anything happens as the adult is unable to gain their trust. The main point here is that the child has learnt that the adults behaviour is wrong and will tell someone about it, rather than keep the secret. We do feel as before that child abusers need professional help to change their behaviour, this kind of help should be readily available to them. Our prevention ideas focus more or less on children and teenagers who in most cases are still at school. Therefore it should be possible to try out some of them without too much trouble or cost. Hopefully these ideas will become reality sooner rather than later. References / sources Beirne, P. and Messerschmidt, J.: Criminology 2 nd edition. Harcourt Brace and Company, USA 1995 Blackburn, R.: The psychology of criminal conduct: Theory research and practice. John Wiley & Sons, Chichester 1993. Ministry of Justice: Icelandic Penal Code. Oddi, Reykjavík 1995. Kendall, P.C. and Hammen, C.: Abnormal Psychology. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston 1995. Voigt, L., Thornton, E., Barrile, L. and Seaman, J.M.: Criminology and Justice. McGraw Hill, New York 1994. 203
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