Archiwum Kryminologii (Archives of Criminology)

7-14

Authors: Konrad Buczkowski, Beata Czarnecka-Dzialuk, Witold Klaus, Irena Rzeplińska, Monika Szulecka, Justyna Włodarczyk-Madejska, Paulina Wiktorska, Dagmara Woźniakowska-Fajst, Dobrochna Wójcik, Dominik Wzorek

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41-80

Authors: Krzysztof Krajewski

For many years, Polish penal policy has been considered to be very punitive. This is confirmed by the very high imprisonment rate which was observable even before World War Two. This raises the legitimate question of how to explain this consistent pattern. It is also appropriate to ask whether the reasons for this punitiveness can be found in punitive penal legislation, in the legal code, or in punitive sentencing practice, or at the level of the law in action. This article uses available statistical data to analyse selected trends in Polish penal policy, indicating that on many occasions attempts to diminish punitive sentencing outcomes through legislation produced absolutely opposite results. At the same time, there have been periods of real reduction in this punitiveness which occurred without any specific legislative changes made with such an intention. All of this suggests that the law on the books and the law in action may to a large extent be independent of each other.

153-203

Authors: Marcin Jurczyk

The subject of the text is the theoretical context of Robert Agnew’s General Strain Theory which explains youth crime in terms of social relationships, focussing on the individual’s negative relationships with others. Reference has been made to theories that inspired the development of Agnew’s theory, including Merton’s theory of anomie, Cohen’s theory of subculture formation, Cloward & Ohlin’s opportunity theory, and Messner & Rosenfeld’s institutional anomie theory. The article presents issues regarding the type of strain experienced by the individual in relation to other people, strategies for adapting to strain, the possibilities of predicting it, and the role of relative deprivation in the development of subjectively felt strain among adolescents who commit criminal acts. Further considerations were devoted to research published in Poland and abroad which uses Agnew’s theory to explain youth crime.

253-285

Authors: Jan Widacki, Anna Szuba-Boroń

Not only have the regulations in criminal law concerning the crime of rape changed over the years, but so has the evident process of the transformation of its cultural context. In the early decades of the 20th century, physical traces of violence – visible bodily harm experienced by the victim – was required as proof of rape. The 1970s brought an entirely different social image of the phenomenon, revealing that “date rape” constitutes the majority of all acts of rape. Cultural circumstances play a key role in the process of naming an act rape. Statistical data also allow for the claim that the shift in prosecuting cases of the crime of rape has neither resulted in an increase in the number of reported rapes nor in a decrease in the number of such unreported crimes.

335-363

Authors: Anna Dąbrowska, Justyna Kusztal, Małgorzata Turczyk

The article presents an innovative programme for the re-adaptation of inmates confined in correctional facilities which focusses on building and consolidating their bonds with their children. In Poland, contemporary social rehabilitation programmes are based on measures listed in the Polish Executive Penal Code of 1998 (Executive Penal Code, 1997, Art. 67 § 3). Apart from studying, working, cultural and educational activities, and therapeutic interventions, the Code also mentions contact with family members and relatives. These rehabilitation programmes include the right of convicts, under international and national law, to maintain contact with their families, while methodologically they are compliant with the most current cognitive-behavioural approach to therapy and corrective measures. They also draw on the multi-systemic approach, in a general sense. In the context of safeguarding children’s rights, contact between parents and children is the responsibility of the parents, but in the case of prisoners it is the responsibility of the correctional institution to ensure that prisoners can exercise their rights while serving a custodial sentence. The article takes advantage of the methodologies of document analysis and participant observation. It discusses the programme for the social re-adaptation of prisoners, which involves encouraging and consolidating relationships between parents and children while maintaining a focus on particular rehabilitation objectives, resocialisation methods, and outcome evaluation.

381-402

Authors: Emil W. Pływaczewski

The article presents Polish criminology and penal sciences during the first decade after World War II. Communist ideology had a significant impact on science, especially the social and legal sciences. Some representatives of criminal law, acting in accordance with the dominant ideology of the time, considered criminology to be a superfluous science. Based on materials sourced from the New Files Archive, previously unknown facts were revealed from the period of the ‘Sovietisation of the penal law science’, which started with the initiation of the activities of the Scientific and Consultation Committee at the Ministry of Justice. In the author’s opinion, despite the dogmatism and schematic thinking that was dominant in the approach to criminological problems, some Polish criminologists effectively defended themselves against the government’s negative approach towards criminology. As much as possible, they studied important criminological problems and conducted research in selected areas related to the criminal activity of both adults and minors. Thanks to this attitude, in the most difficult period for Polish criminology, a solid foundation was created both for the continuation of earlier research and for taking on new research challenges after October 1956, when the so-called renewal of political life started.

9-29

Authors: Edyta Drzazga

Green criminology, whilst functioning under the banner of critical criminology since its inception, has slowly begun to have more and more to do with traditional criminology. The subject of this article is the interrelations of this new perspective and traditional considerations on crime. Green criminology seems to have much to offer mainstream criminology, enriching it with ideas that have hitherto been unnoticed or overlooked. In turn, the achievements of traditional criminology provide useful solutions and concepts that can enable green criminology to develop.

65-123

Authors: Renata Szczepanik

The starting point for the content of this article is the assumption that penalty and imprisonment constitute an important element of a criminal career. Time in prison has been considered firstly to promote the development of a career, and secondly as a chance for the inmate to give up crime by taking conscious action. The aim of the article is to find answers to the following questions: How does recidivist imprisonment influence a criminal’s career at its various stages? What functions does imprisonment serve for beginner criminals and for those who are experienced inmates? The empirical material consisted of records of autobiographical narrative interviews. Additional data came from an analysis of documents and semi-structured interviews with inmates and personnel. The adoption of a perspective of cognition that goes beyond the biographies of individuals and enables the discovery of general formulas and mechanisms which shape the understanding of recidivists’ behaviour in prison conditions was possible thanks to Grounded Theory methodology.

261-295

Authors: Helmut Kury, Annette Kuhlmann, Jorge Quintas

One of the most discussed types of crime in Western countries is the use and sale of illegal drugs, especially hard drugs. The debate has become more heated over the few last years in the context of controversies over migration from the south to the north and an intensification of drug dealing. On the one hand, we find an increasing acceptance of soft drugs, while on the other hand, conservative groups argue for harsher punishment to reduce the problem. This chapter discusses the developments in the USA, Germany, and Portugal and raises doubts about the effectiveness of more and harsher punishment on crime prevention.

325-380

Authors: Jan Bazyli Klakla, Ewa Radomska, Katarzyna Struzińska, Michalina Szafrańska

The main purpose of this article is to present general trends in the spatial diversity of crime in Kraków in 2016–2017. These trends were reconstructed using crime mapping – an analysis of the spatial distribution of crime and hot spot analysis. The spatial analysis of crime was prepared both for crime in general and for selected categories of crime. The analysis includes the impact of the variable of time: the year, season, and time of day were categories used in the analysis.

439-463

Authors: Michał Leciak

The term ticket scalping has become commonly used to define the behaviour of a perpetrator who purchases tickets and resells them at a profit. Among lawyers in Poland there is no need for a discussion on the legitimacy and manner of the criminal response to the trade of tickets to sporting events. This issue is completely outside the sphere of interest of the legislature; the only form of reaction in such matters is laid out in the provisions of Art. 133 § 1–2 of the Code of Petty Offences. At the same time, there is an increasing number of national laws in which the problem of ticket trading is covered by specific criminal regulations Moreover, the need for close cooperation between law enforcement agencies at the national and international levels or other state entities (such as fiscal control authorities) and sports federations or organisers of sporting events is increasingly recognised. It should be noted that ticket scalping today is closely related to gambling in sport and corruption in sport, being an area of great interest to organised crime groups around the world.

497-536

Authors: Mateusz Rodak

The interwar period is sometimes described as the golden era of safe-breakers. This era is said to have begun at the beginning of the twentieth century, whereas the second half of the 1930s marks its end. The largest group of safe-breakers was comprised of criminals from Warsaw (over 200 people). This article attempts to analyse this environment with additional elements of prosopography. I would like to answer the question of who these safe-breakers of Warsaw during the interwar period were and to attempt to reconstruct the courses of their ‘careers’ alongside the question of motive. An especially interesting aspect is their social background. The article concludes with thoughts on the connections between the reality at that time and the current idea of an interwar safe-breaker.