NCJ Number
127801
Editor(s)
K Sessar,
H Kerner
Date Published
1991
Length
192 pages
Annotation
Nine West German research reports encompass issues pertinent to offenders, crime victims, and public attitudes.
Abstract
One longitudinal study found that juveniles' perceptions of the certainty and severity of punishments had little impact on their deviant behaviors; and another study found support, though mixed, for conceptualizing deterrent factors as part of a person's belief system (attribution theory), organized according to external versus internal attribution of offenses. Another study examined the recidivism rates of a sample of inmates on various types of leave of absence from West German prisons, followed by a research report on the long-term psychological effects on victims of various types of sexual offenses. Another report summarizes the results of evaluative research on crime victim compensation schemes in Great Britain, Canada, and the United States. A study explored the relationship between fear of crime and indirect (vicarious) as well as direct victimization based on surveys in the United States and West Germany. An assessment of public attitudes regarding whether cases involving social conflicts require criminal law and punishment in addition to private conflict resolution and restitution found that the public favors restitution without criminal processing for minor offenses. Other reported research concerns the effects of the use of fines and the official crime rates of various age groups based on a new police system for recording multiple offending in West Germany. For individual studies, see NCJ 127802-10. Chapter tables and references.