Communal Response to Criminal Behavior in the Kibbutz During Periods of Crisis

• NCJ Number: 154629
• Journal: Crime, Law and Social Change Volume: 22 Issue: 2 Dated: (1994/95) Pages: 149-161
• Author(s): E Shoham
• Date Published: 1995
• Length: 13 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: Netherlands
• Note: This article was part of a research project, "The Kibbutz at the Turn of the Century" by Yad Tabenkin Institute.

Annotation

This research examines whether the situation of crisis that has been developing in the majority of secular kibbutzim in Israel since the 1980's has influenced the attitudes of kibbutz members towards criminal behavior within the kibbutz.

Abstract

Previously, the kibbutzim were accustomed to dealing with any deviant behavior in their midst, with the exception of serious crime, by means of their own internal control institutions. The researchers' assumption was that there would be a greater tendency among members of kibbutzim in crisis, as compared to those in a situation of stability, to see criminal behavior as a disturbing, even threatening, social phenomenon, and to turn to outside agencies such as the police. To test this hypothesis, the researchers selected 230 kibbutz members from six well-established secular kibbutzim in the center of the country, which differ from each other regarding the levels of crisis as determined by specific economic and social criteria. Findings show that criminal behavior is more prevalent in the kibbutz than the members themselves believe. The more stable the kibbutz, the more the members continue to rely on their own conventional methods of dealing with criminal behavior; the more severe the crisis situation, the greater the tendency to pass the responsibility for the offender to outside agencies. 5 figures and 12 references