Tag Archives: criminology

Cool heads likely won’t prevail in a hotter, wetter world

Should climate change trigger the upsurge in heat and rainfall that scientists predict, people may face a threat just as perilous and volatile as extreme weather — each other.

Researchers from Princeton University and the University of California-Berkeley report in the journal Science that even slight spikes in temperature and precipitation have greatly increased the risk of personal violence and social upheaval throughout human history. Projected onto an Earth that is expected to warm by 2 degrees Celsius by 2050, the authors suggest that more human conflict is a likely outcome of climate change. (more…)

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Criminology and the Global Financial Crisis

The first overt indications of the impending global financial crisis manifested themselves in August 2007, when BNP Paribas announced it was severing ties with three hedge funds specializing in mortgage debt for American real estate properties. The crisis was exacerbated by the immediate freeze on credit by banks to their customers – and to each other. The crisis came to a head in 2008 when the United States government refused to rescue investment firm Lehman Brothers from financial collapse. Subsequent actions by the American government and by foreign governments, as well as actions taken by commercial enterprises world wide, have been focused on repairing the financial damage to sovereign economies and to individuals thrown out of work – and out of their homes.

It is not unreasonable that everyday individuals failed to comprehend the exotic and opaque financial instruments and transactions employed by companies like Enron and individuals like Bernie Madoff. Powerhouse accounting firm Arthur Andersen was also taken in by Enron, and paid for its error in judgment by being forced to close its doors after nearly a century of operation. Madoff utilized the services of investment firm JP Morgan Chase for years, nearly until the time of his arrest. (more…)

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How Child Molesters Justify Their Actions

Men who sexually abuse children generally blame external factors to explain their actions and diminish their guilt. “Every reason they give is a cognitive distortion,” says Sarah Paquette, a student who investigated the issue as part of her master’s thesis at the Université de Montréal School of Criminology.

To confirm the rationale often cited in the scientific literature Paquette interviewed more than twenty men convicted of sexually molesting children. Some of the men had been violent and others had not. The semi-structured interviews were conducted under the supervision of professors Franca Cortoni and Jean Proulx. (more…)

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