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This study utilizes an online survey to examine college students’ perceptions regarding juvenile sex offenders using a 3x3x2 factorial design (N = 603). Manipulations within the vignette include the offender’s age (14 vs 17 years old), offense type (oral sex, penetrative sex, or digital penetration), and level of coercion (no coercion, verbal coercion, or physical coercion). Several ANOVAs, ordinary least squares, and logistic binary regressions were predictive of perceived dangerousness, severity, willingness to recommend incarceration, and more. Participants perceived the offender and scenario more negatively when presented with a 17-year old, who used physical coercion to commit a penetrative sexual assault. This indicates that juveniles are viewed more negatively when the commission of the crime reflects those committed by adults.

Keywords: community member perceptions; factorial design, juvenile sex offenders; sex offender registry

In this paper the role of a sociologist/criminologist as a mitigation expert is briefly examined. The author of this paper has worked as a sociologist/ mitigation expert for almost 30 years in over 300 sentencing hearings/penalty phases most of which were capital murder but have also included manslaughter, habitual offenders, miller cases; and other cases of violent crimes where the sentence is plastic. The author suggests that when the factors are so numerous that the concepts of protective/risk factors be used to organize the data presented to the jury in the death /sentencing phase of the trail.

Keywords: mitigation, risk factors, protective factors, expert witness.

Today, young people the world over have continually demonstrated an insatiable quest to live a life that is way beyond their pay grade and even that of their parents or caregivers. A significant number of them are after living a life whose needs and desires can only be met by the adolescents or young adults’ engagement in illegal or criminal activities. It is with the understanding of the consequences that this can meet on not only the individual but the larger society that this study sets out to investigate the prevalence of financially motivated offending behaviour among senior secondary school students in southwestern Nigeria. This study employs the descriptive research design. The multistage sampling procedure was used to select a total of 180 teachers to serve as respondents. 64.3% of the respondents were male and the findings revealed that 81% of the respondents indicated that senior secondary school students engage in one form of financially motivated crime or another; 95.2% call for the need for intervention for students in order to stem criminality due to materialism and all of the respondents call for the need for prompt attention towards young ones’ attitude towards money before it becomes irreparable. The students were reported to engage in crimes such as obtaining by false pretence, cyber fraud, selling of drugs, stealing, money rituals, etc. It is therefore suggested that efforts should be geared toward investigative inquiry psychological measures that are capable of diagnosing young ones’ likelihood to engage in financially motivated crimes in order to aid timely intervention.

Keyword: Materialism, Crime, Offending Behaviour, Adolescents, Financially-Motivated.

A lack of empirical evidence lending to the development of best practices for VTC programs has stifled potential efficacy towards reducing recidivism rates amongst justice-involved veterans. The use of a qualitative, semi- tructured interview served to identify what programmatic factors of Veterans Treatment Courts (VTC) lend to the success of the participants in preventing recidivism. Conversely, the interview design further evaluated what factors might be perceived as preventing success in and through the program. The resulting findings led to the realization of several programmatic factors identified by participants as contributing to success in the VTC program, as well as those that were noted as likely being detrimental to success. Recommendations for the role of these factors in the court are addressed, and the methods of this study as a viable research design to be promulgated through further research to that same end are presented.

Keywords: Veterans Treatment Courts, perceptions, efficacy, best practices

It is commonly observed that most property thefts are done by mostly school dropouts and unemployed youths. Such crimes occur due to many reasons, primarily by the opportunity to steal due to the negligence of property owners, motivation for economic gains, or the increasing number of criminals. This paper analyses the causal relationship between school dropout, unemployment and crime in India using panel data at the state level for 2012 to 2022. Empirically, the effects of the unemployment rate and school enrolment rate on motor vehicle theft are estimated by the panel fixed effects and random effects methods. The panel estimates show that motor vehicle theft increases by 1.4 to 1.7 times and decreases by 2 to 11% respectively with an increase in the unemployment and school enrolment rates. The study reveals the dominance of the ‘opportunity effect’ over the ‘motivational effect’ on criminal behavior. The paper suggests that the correctional focus should shift from the ‘supply of offenders’ to the ‘supply of victims’.

Keywords: School dropout, unemployment, crime, property theft, panel fixed and random effects estimation

Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems are the backbone of critical infrastructures, including energy, water, transportation, and manufacturing. However, the increasing interconnectedness and reliance on SCADA systems have exposed them to cyber threats, ranging from unauthorized access to system manipulation and sabotage. This research delves into the laws, regulations, and policy frameworks designed to address these vulnerabilities and safeguard critical infrastructures. It explores the evolving landscape of SCADA security, highlighting the importance of comprehensive risk management strategies and proactive measures. This chapter aims to provide insights into the challenges faced by policymakers, industry stakeholders, and cybersecurity experts in ensuring the resilience of SCADA systems against emerging threats. The research discusses the need for collaboration between government agencies, private sector entities, and international partners to develop robust frameworks that promote information sharing, threat intelligence, and incident response capabilities. Through a multidisciplinary approach, this chapter underscores the urgency of adopting adaptive strategies to mitigate the evolving risks posed by cyber threats to critical infrastructures that rely on SCADA systems.
 

Keywords: Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA), Risk Management, Cybersecurity Framework, Threat Landscape, and Regulatory Compliance