Bankole Cole

British and Nigerian adolescents' lay theories of youth crime

Abstract This study examined cross-cultural differences in explanations for the causes of youth crime among British and Nigerian 12- and 14-year olds. Responses to open-ended questions were analysed using an attribution theory framework. British children tended to use personal explanations of youth crime (75%), in comparison, Nigerian children tended to use situational explanations of youth crime (61%). There was a wide variety of responses within these broad categories, the most frequently occurring verbatim responses for British 12-year olds were “for fun” (19.2%) and “because they are bored” (20.0%) for the British 14-year olds. For Nigerian 12-year olds the most frequently occurring verbatim responses were “no home training” (27.4%) and “they are poor” (17.0%) for the Nigerian 14-year olds. The results indicate that British children tend to blame the individual for youth crime whereas Nigerian children tend to blame other persons (mostly the family) and the environment (economic factors) The findings ...

Welfare state without dependency : the case of the UK Chinese people

The present study was based on data from 100 face-to-face interviews, supplemented by findings from 316 respondents in a national postal survey, and shows that UK Chinese respondents were family-orientated and self-reliant, having low expectations of public welfare. These features challenge the myth of welfare dependency of ethnic minorities. Also, compared with Chinese welfare practices based on strong moral values and duties towards other people, New Labour’s welfare culture lacks a solid social and ethical base for nurturing the concepts of duty and self-reliance.

Juvenile delinquency in Angola

More than three decades of war in Angola have created a generation of disaffected children, poorly educated and living in crime-infested urban neighbourhoods where violence appears to have become the norm. This article is based on a self-report study of 30 juvenile offenders housed at the Observation Centre in Luanda. The article examines the children’s views on what accounts for their delinquency. What emerges from their narratives is the central importance of the neighbourhoods in which they live. In these neighbourhoods, the children have developed delinquent relationships and encountered experiences of serious violence. Most of the children attributed their offending to the economic and social problems created by the war. The study agrees with Wessells and Monteiro’s (2006) position that, in order to address this problem, a proactive approach is required in Angola that supports youth, prevents violence and enables sustainable neighbourhood development.

Emerging issues of crime and criminal justice in sub-Saharan Africa

References to Africa often conjure up an image of ‘the strange and the monstrous – of what, even as it opens an appealing depth before us, is constantly eluding and escaping us’ (Mbembe, 2001: 1). The particulars of this image are taken to be corruption, violent conflicts, coup d’etats and underdevelopment. However, if we consider the scale of transformations in sub-Saharan Africa (hereafter Africa) – transformations occasioned by decades of complex political, economic and social processes of change – we see an image that is less malleable to stereotypical depictions. Changes in the last four decades are especially noteworthy, not least for the student of comparative criminology. The 1980s witnessed the adoption and implementation of structural adjustment programmes at the insistence of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, a key facet of which was a move away from centrally planned economies to the pursuit of neoliberal economic policies. Economic ‘liberalisation and the accompanying requirement

Black and Asian probationers: Implications of the Home Office study

This article presents the main findings of a survey of Black, Asian and mixed heritage men supervised by the probation service in 2001-2003. It discusses the long-standing concern that minority ethnic groups may be subject to discriminatory treatment in the criminal justice system, and examines the probation service’s response to this concern. In the presentation and discussion of the findings, comparisons are made where possible with predominantly white probation samples. These suggest that minority ethnic offenders in the sample had received the same community sentences as white offenders with higher levels of criminogenic need. The possible meanings of this finding are explored, along with the implications of respondents’ views of what constitutes helpful probation practice.

Race, crime and criminal justice in Britain

The racial composition of Britain has become significantly diversified in recent years, a trend that has accelerated since the expansion of the European Union (EU). The relaxation of border controls between the United Kingdom and new EU countries has led to an influx of other white ethnicities into the country, principally as migrant workers. In addition, deteriorating political situations in countries all around the world have led to further influxes of peoples into the country as refugees and asylum seekers. This chapter looks at the importance of ‘race’ in the discussion of crime and victimisation in Britain, focusing on the three countries that constitute Great Britain, namely Scotland, England and Wales. (Northern Ireland is not discussed in the chapter — it is a country outside Britain but within the United Kingdom.) The intention of the chapter is not to racialise crime and victimisation but to explore the role that ‘race’ has on offending and victimisation rates in Britain. The question is whether ‘race’ is the most important variable in white and non-white involvement in the criminal justice system in Britain or whether there are other competing or even more significant factors.

‘One for All and All for One’: Fostering Accountability in Community Policing

The accountability of the police is imperative if the use of their powers is to be seen as legitimate. This chapter will critically examine the concept of police accountability and its application to Community Policing in Europe. It will examine current police oversight systems in Europe in order to assess the extent to which the police are directly accountable to communities. Community policing is defined in this chapter as local policing arrangements whereby, at municipality, commune or neighbourhood level, the police work in partnership with civilian community representatives and other public agencies (such as social services, youth work, schools and businesses), in a shared responsibility to address crime prevention, public order, safety and security problems. The chapter advocates what is essentially a participatory governance and accountability approach where local Community Policing initiatives are managed by the representatives of the agencies constituting the Community Policing partnership. In this framework, the burden of the success or failure of Community Policing will be borne not only by the police alone but the communities also.