Archiwum Kryminologii (Archives of Criminology)

Number XXVI, 2002

7-16
Refleksje na temat niektórych problemów współczesnej kryminologii

Authors: Anna Kossowska

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There seems to a pressing need for a discussion about contemporary criminology and the challenges confronting it in today’s world to be undertaken among the practitioners of this discipline. The article signposts some of the many topics around which this discussion should center. One might, for instance, ask whether the findings of studies carried out to date are still applicable in analysis of contemporary crime which has become different in kind and degree and occurs in an immensely more complicated social reality. Many authors have indicated concern about the standard and range of theoretical discussion in contemporary criminology. Questions are also being asked about the utility of the accomplishments of theoretical criminology for description of contemporary crime and its underlying causes in the societies of late modernity. A feature of contemporary societies is the ubiquity of threats from crime defined as both an objective fact and a subjective element ofthe social consciousness. It is not only that victimization by crime is becoming increasingly widespread (which is an objective fact); a crime-driven sense of menace and fear is also spreading. This is exerting a self-evident influence on the organization of private and communal life and the functioning of formal social control. The ubiquity of fears of crime helps to boost support among the public for the doctrine of law and order in its various forms. In societies afflicted by high crime rates there has been a spread of attitudes of frustration, hostility and anger towards criminality, offenders and so-called “liberal” policies on crime. Acceptance of an expansion of the extent of formal social control (meaning in effect tougher sentencing of criminals) is on the rise. Tendencies toward politicization of the menace of crime can be very clearly observed. The adoption of tougher policies on crimo is leading in many countries to an extraordinary growth of the prison population, but has done nothing to reduce crime or abate fears. Some people talk of a “crisis of penology”. Given this situation (politicization of the problem), it might be asked whether criminology is still a socially useful discipline. Another question (and source of concern) has to do with criminologists’ ability to analyze crime in circumstances of social change. Misgivings on this matter are aroused by a tendency to concentrate on description of contemporary crime (e.g. in countries in the process of transition) than on investigation of its causes. There are, therefore, grounds for wondering about the utility of traditional criminological theories and the possibilities of accounting, at the theoretical level, of the factors underlying contemporary changes in crime. At a time of manipulation of the public’s fears of crime can criminologists make any effective contribution to formulation of policies in this field? What should the research priorities in an age of so-called “new threats” from crime? Is tere still a place for investigation of the issue of norms and values (especially in the context of the differences’ between criminals and non-criminals)? How is the state of criminology affected by internationalization of crime, advances in communications and globalization? It seems obvious that it is time embark on research projects of a cross-cultural nature – but is cooperation between criminologists hailing from decidedly differing cultural backgrounds feasible? Lastly, does criminology’s accomplishments to date entitle us to draw conclusions about contemporary crime?

17-51
Przestępca zawodowy

Authors: Zbigniew Lasocik

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The article seeks to sum up all that has been said on the subject of professional criminality in the past half-century. It was never any part of the author’s aim to offer an analysis of contemporary professional crime. He viewed his task in much more modest terms. First of all he presents the origins of professional crime in a historical perspective and adduces the traditional definitions of the phenomenon dating to the first decade of the 20th century. Next he addresses the issue of empirical determination of the scale of professional crime and presents more recent approaches to description of this kind of criminality and attempts to define the concept of professional criminal. In an account with a primarily sociological focus the emphasis is on the origins of professional criminality seen as one of many mechanisms regulating the behavior of individuals. Historical sources indicate that professional criminality made its appearance during the late Middle Ages when feudal social structures were overtaken by a process of disintegration. The rise of this type of crime was made possibile by the materialization of conducive social and economic conditions such as changes in social structure and mass production. Professional crime is a product of modern societies, which employ money and produce surpluses of goods. In primitive societies there are not enough goods in the possession of the average citizen for the professional criminal to make a livelihood from larceny and for this occupation to be viable as one of the forms of organized social activity. Scholars did not discern this problem until the end of the 19th century. The first one to introduce the idea of the professional criminal to the language of criminology, law and sociology was F. Liszt. This was at a time when lawyers, anthropologists and sociologists were engaged in debates and arguments on the subject of repeated criminality and ways of tackling crime of this type. It was then that there came the first definition of professional criminality. There was agreement among many analysts of that period that the most important thing was to recognize that wrongdoers polish their expertise in the art of committing crime and make such activities a permanent source of income. Simultaneously, in the United States there came the beginnings of in-depth studies of social phenomena, including crime, pioneered by the Chicago School. One result of the new investigative approach was the first studies of professional crime, notably Edwin Sutherland’s well-known work The Professional Thief. The traditional definition of the concept of professional criminal derives precisely from this period, that is the first half of the 19th century. Though investigations in Europe and the United States followed a variety of directions the findings with regard to the principal characteristics of professional criminals were substantially similar. The basic characteristic was seen to be the fact that professional criminals earn their living from committing crimes, which means that the time normally devoted to employment is in their case devoted to planning and carrying out criminal activities. A second salient characteristic was possession of the requisite knowledge, skills and experience in the field of criminal activity. Another influence on this kind of career choice is a sense of identification with the criminal world and a hostile attitude to the representatives of law and order although the professional criminal also knows how to deal with them in a crisis situation (e.g. arest). Despite the existence of a host of writings on the subject of professional criminality and agreement among many authors about its principal characteristics, voices questioning the existence of such a category as the professional criminal continue to make themselves heard. The aforementioned works also includes ones whose authors attempted empirical verification of the existence of such a category of criminals and determination of the scale of professional criminality as a social phenomenon. Here investigation encountered obstacles as it was found that the more or less generally accepted definition of professional criminal did not easily lend itself to the process of operationalization. None the less, as a result of research conducted in various countries, in various periods and by diverse methods scholars have succeeded in establishing that professional criminality does exist and is a widespread phenomenon rather than the elite occupation that it might appear to be based on the proposed definitions. Students of the subject suggest that the number of persons meeting the definition (even in its simplest version) should be estimated in thousands rather than double digits. Professional criminality is from a legal point of view a phenomenon of no interest. The commission of a crime by a perpetrator who can be characterized as a professional criminal does not in most cases weigh for anything in determining the degree of criminal responsibility. However, professional crime is of interest as a social phenomenon, which explains why the literature on the subject is dominated by works with a typically sociological approach. Scholarly inquiry revolved around a number of problems which in terms of the intrinsic nature of the phenomenon discussed here are of the essence. Of these the most important are the relationship between professional criminals and their social environment and with the wider community, their attitude to law enforcement agencies, social status, rationalization of their behavior, and the machinery of recruitment to this group. Though the relations between the criminal and the “occupational” group take a diversity of forms, it is those of a normative character which are of overriding significance. It is thanks to the criminal group that he acquires professional criminal status and the group which lays down the system of rulet for the criminal’s social and professional conduct and which forms the natural infrastructure for criminal activity. On the other hand, every criminal is also a member of society to which he is connected by a multiplicity of ties. If he is to function in the community at all normally, even if it is only on the fringes of social life, he has somehow to rationalize his behavior which is, at bottom, directed against society. The most frequent way in which he does this is by questioning the honesty of all other participants in the social situation or by moral disparagement of his victim. There is no agreement among scholars on the question of nature of the professional criminal’s attitude to “normal” society. Some maintain that it is negative, others that it is positive. The former stress the fact that a negative attitude is a simple consequence of employing rationalization mechanisms which place the perpetrator of crimes in a conflict or at best hostility relationship with society. According to the opposite school of thought professional criminals try to maintain the best possible relations with society and are sympathetically disposed towards it since its success and well-being are for them a guarantee of rich pickings. However, there is a special relationship between professional criminals and the representatives of law enforcement. A natural consequence of their chosen career is that they are in a state of permanent conflict with the guardians of law and order. However, conflict does not necessarily mean enmity. Police officers regard the elite of the criminal world with a peculiar kind of respect, especially thieves who do not resort to violence. Though professional criminals treat police officers or prison guards as their adversaries they acknowledge their superiority at the moment of apprehension. They then go out of their way to gain an officer’s favor and will not shrink from attempting bribery and occasionally even passing on information. The normative character of the professional criminal’s relations with the criminal group means that the machinery of recruitment of new members becomes the crux of the matter. On this point, too, researchers’ opinions are divided. There are those who contend that the phenomenon of recruitment exists and that it is the crucial element in the creation of occupational identity and internalization of group norms. The critics of this view readily cite empirical data which indicate that criminals themselves deny the existence of a phenomenon of recruitment and its performance of any kind of regulatory function. The so-called traditional method of defining professional crime, given currency by European legal theorists and American sociologists in the first half of the 19th century, has come under criticism in recent decades. Researcher representing various theoretical schools have gathered empirical evidence that calls in question the existence of a category of professional criminals who make their living solely from crime, specialize in one kind of crime and are closely connected with the criminal world, the latter being their point of reference and source of norms and rules of conduct. The reality seems to be more complicated. Among criminals there are some who are beyond question professionals and specialists in some area of activity but have never belonged to any sort of criminal community. There are also felons who have strong links to criminal groups but engage in a diversity of criminal activity and do not aspire to any form of specialization. It is becoming increasingly frequent to treat the criminal community not as a reference group but as a natural infrastructure for criminal activity. A question that arises in this context concerns the connections between professional crime and organized crime which for years was treated by criminology as a separate and distinct phenomenon. In the crime patterns of recent decades there have also appeared other developments (car theft, cybercrime) with respect to which the traditional method of defining professional crime has proved useless. The questions raised and the doubts voiced have confronted criminology with the necessity of redefining professional criminality. However, if the phenomenon is viewed in a somewhat broader perspective it has to be noted that one of the most important challenges for contemporary criminology might prove to be reorientation of theoretical reflection on the subject of definition and classification of criminal behavior in general and by the same token reorientation of our way of thinking about construction of typology of crime.

53-100
Więźniowie młodociani poddani systemowi programowanego oddziaływania na podstawie badań psychologiczno-kryminologicznych

Authors: Aleksandra Szymanowska

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The article is devoted to presentation of a psychological/criminological investigation of 163 young offenders who in 2000 after serving at least 12 months of a custodial sentence were preparing for release from a penal institution. This study formed part of a wide-ranging survey carried out under a research project entitled “The Effectiveness of the Reformed Criminal Law”, financed by the Committee for Scientific Research. The convicted delinquents were young males with, compared to the totality of Polish youth, a very low level of education. Only 27% of the respondents had completed some form of post-elementary education and most of these had not progressed any further than basic vocational training. Also, a clear majority did not possess any acquired trade and prior to detention had never held a job. Barely 22.7% were in full-time employment. Very disturbing is the evidence provided by the survey of alcohol abuse by a majority of the respondents. They drank frequently, and in large quantities, not only beer, which is widely advertised, but also spirits. Low levels of education, lack of a trade and tendencies to alcohol abuse add up to a decidedly negative prognosis factor. At a time of high unemployment persons without an education or trade and exhibiting tendencies to alcohol abuse have virtually negligible prospects of social readjustment after release from a penal institution. Another equally negative factor is the fact that a substantial percentage of young offenders began their criminal careers already in childhood or early adolescence: only 24.6% had never previously been brought before a juvenile court charged with a punishable act and during the period of the survey were serving their first prison terms. The remainder either had prior convictions, had been prosecuted in a juvenile court for a punishable act or been tried on criminal charges both as minors and after their 17th birthday. A decided majority of the respondents (89.6%) were serving prison sentences for crimes against property, including 36.2% convicted of robbery with violence. One of the aims of the investigation was to establish the family backgrounds of the respondents, the current state of their relations with their parents and the chances of their families being a source of assistance and support after their release from prison. Compared with the parents of all children attending post-elementary education, the young offenders’ parents have much lower standards of education; another finding was that in the families of convicted delinquents there is a much higher incidence than in the families of youth in general of various pathological phenomena. It was found, for instance, that 79% of the respondents were raised in homes in which fathers, mothers or siblings were alkohol abusers (including 338% in which members of the immediate family were chronic alcoholics). In many families (63.8%) there was a history of violetce in various forms and a quite substantial proportion (45.3%) of the respondents had persons with criminal records in their immediate family. Between the parents of the respondents, probably as a result of alcohol abuse or financial difficulties caused by lack of permanent employment, there were frequent conflicts. Fathers were perceived by over half the respondents as persons taking very little or no interest in their welfare. Mothers, on the other hand, were thought by most of the respondents to have shown them love, accepted them fully, provided care and support and tried to shield them from all kinds of dangers. Despite this perception of mothers as affectionate and devoted the delinquents were far less inclined than law-abiding youth to trust them completely. Aside from progress at school, nothing was expected of the respondents by their parents and consequently the only things for which they were punished were bad grades, truancy and disobedience. Among the punishments most frequently imposed by parents were corporal punishment and detention. As in the case of punishments rewards were usually received by the respondents for good grades at school and assistance with household chores. The most frequent forms of rewards were money or presents. During their imprisonment almost all the respondents maintained frequent contacts with parents. Family members, especially mothers, visited them regularly and provided assistance in the form of care packages and money transfers. After release from prison comprehensive assistance was expected from fathers by 42.9% of the respondents and from mothers by 73%. Since attitudes to religion differentiate to a large extent people's attitudes and behavior the survey sought to establish the view taken of religion by the respondents. A decided majority of them were persons who described themselves as believers but non-practicing. There was also a significant percentage of non-believers (14.8%). By contrast the least numerous group comprised systematically practicing believers. All the convicted delinquents were, in accordance with the provisions of the penal administration code, serving their sentences in a system of individualized treatment. Prior to implementation of such programs, information is collected about the offender (from court and police files, interviews, observation, medical histories, psychological tests, etc.) and used by a psychologist or pedagogue to prepare a penitentiary diagnosis which explains the causes of the delinquent’s flouting of socio-moral and legal norms, describes his metod of social functioning and indicates the basic problems which may be future obstacles to social readjustment. To determine whether the subjects included any identifiable groups of persons with similar characteristics in terms of the causation of criminal behavior cluster analysis was used. Based on this analysis two distinct groups of delinquents were identified. The first comprised delinquents with strongly developed consumption needs, disposed to pleasure and avoidance of effort but also very susceptible to negative influences in their environment. The second group consisted of delinquents whose criminality was connected primarily with a dysfunctional family situation, alcohol abuse, and low mental capacity, especially with regard to planning and foreseeing the consequences of their actions. In the picture of the social functioning of the respondents obtained by the cluster analysis technique three distinct groups were identified. The first group, comprising about 40% of the subjects, consisted of delinquents good at establishing interpersonal contacts but with a scornful attitude to all moral and legal norms and no respect for any kind of authority. The second group was made up of delinquents of a submissive temperament, often functioning in a victim role, but who were also characterized as acceptance-seekers and quiet and conscientious students or employees. The third group consisted of delinquents betraying symptoms of emotional disturbance, displaying little self-awareness and incapable of critical assessment of their own behavior, inclined to manipulate other people and disposed to satisfaction of immediate needs. Rehabilitation treatment of convicted delinquents must take account of their basic problems. Cluster analysis of respondents with differing problems made it possible to identify two distinct groups of delinquents. The first consisted of individuals whose basic problems were, in the first place, lack of education and skills, an uncritical disposition, inability to control themselves in difficult situations and immature personalities. The second group was made up of delinquents whose chief problems were tendencies to alcohol abuse, susceptibility to negative influences, lack of aspirations and aims in life, and lack of family support. To determine how delinquents cope in difficult situations a study was conducted using the A-R Action Strategy test (developed by K. Ostrowska) and the Life Orientation Questionnaile (A. Antonovsky). The findings yielded by the A-R questionnaire indicate that in difficult situations, especially when prized values are threatened, a decided majority of the subjects emploi a strategy of resignation. A preference for this strategy was typical of delinquents disposed to avoidance of effort and situations requiring risk, courage and perseverance, and with a pessimistic view of the world. The second psychological test employed in the study was the Life Orientation Questionnaire which is used to identify the level of a person’s sense of coherence defined as the characteristic responsible for resistance to stress. Based on analysis of the study’s findings it can be said that the lower the respondents’ sense of coherence, the more frequently they were inclined to adopt a resignation strategy. There are, therefore, grounds for the hypothesis that employment of a resignation strategy, which could greatly impede the rehabilitation process, may derive from a low sense of coherence, that is, treatment of the stimuli flowing from the outside world as chaotic and incomprehensible, coupled to the absence of any sense of being capable of coping with tasks requiring commitment and effort. Based on the information about the convicted delinquents contained in the penitentiary diagnoses, the psychologists and pedagogues drew up, with the assistance of the subjects themselves individualized programs of treatment. The kinds of tasks most frequently specified in these programs called for the delinquents to maintain contacts with their families (94.5%), engage in cultural, educational and sports activities (91.4%), undertake work (76.1%) and study (63.8%), and develop desirable habits. Individualized programs ought to take account of, on the one hand, the characters of the delinquents themselves and their needs and problems and, on the other, the possibilities for implementing the recommended tasks in the conditions of a penal institution. Since at present, given the overcrowding of prisons, pedagogues are incapable of devoting too much time to each inmate and there is also a shortage among prison-service staff of the requisite number of therapists and trainers to conduct psycho-correctional activities and workshops in various interpersonal skills, some of the recommendations are of a general and formal character. Besides, not all of the recommendations laid down in the individual programs can be implemented by the inmates. This applies in particular to work-related recommendations since in a situation in which broad sections of Polish society are afflicted by unemployment the prison service is incapable of providing work opportunities for all inmates. The study also sought to determine delinquents’ attitudes to prison-service personnel and the way in which they function while serving their sentences as reflected in the punishments and rewards received. The inmates’ attitude to prison staff was described in most cases as positive, especially with respect to pedagogues, psychologists and therapists, less often with respect to warders. It was also found that a positive attitude to prison staff was decidedly more frequent among delinquents serving their first sentence than among ones with previous convictions. The most frequent transgression for which the subjects had been punished was infractions of prison rules and illegal contacts. The most frequent punishments were formal reprimands and temporary exclusion from participation in cultural, education and sports activities. As for rewards, these were conferred for performance of community service, diligence and orderliness, and exemplary job performance. The most frequent rewards were commendations and additional visits. Since, as mentioned earlier, all the respondents were preparing for release from prison the survey sought to establish iheir plans for the immediate future. A decided majority (82.8%) intended to seek employment as soon they were released; in some case the plans, included starting a family, further education, severance of ties with their previous criminal environment, etc. Sadly, no less than 17.2% of the subjects had no concrete plans. For each of the delinquents the psychologists examining them drew up a psychological/criminological prognosis. In drawing up this prognosis they factored in declarations by respondents of a wish to change their way of life, their degree of demoralization, self-improvement activities while in prison, previous convictions and contacts with the criminal justice system as minors, and what support they could expect from their familie. A decidedly favorable prognosis was made for only 9.2% of the subjects and a decidedly unfavorable one for 12.9%. Most frequently, the psychologists were unable to formulate a prognosis, realizing that the social readjustment of released prisoners depends on very many diverse factors. All of the respondents were released in 2000. When follow-up checks on reconviction were carried out two years later it was found that 23% of the subjects had committed violations of the law in the catamnesia period.

101-131
O efektywności prawa karnego, ciemnej liczbie, wiktymizacji i rozmiarach narkomanii

Authors: Leon Tyszkiewicz, Sebastian Kosmowski

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The article presents the results of survey research carried out in the Katowice and Chorzów regions (SE Poland). In early 2000 we obtained 414 questionnaires completed by under- and post-graduate students at the University of Silesia’s Law and Administration Department and students of local high schools. The investigation was victimology-oriented, the respondents being asked not only whether they had been victims of crime of various kinds but also whether the perpetrator had been punished. Our premise was that based on measures adopted by Polish criminal procedure the victim of a crime was entitled to know of the offender’s punishment, assuming that he had in fact been convicted. Within our sample the predominant group was young people, females marginally outnumbered males, almost all respondents reported average or above-average circumstances, and almost all were also urban–dwellers, the vast majority living in towns with populations of over 100,000. The first question that interested us was the effectiveness of the law, chich is most fully reflected in measurements of absolute effectiveness, that is, the percentage of crimes punished to the total number of crimes actually committed. This umounted to 3.33%. If we deduct the relatively large number of non-indictable offenses, i.e. not subject to prosecution by the state (e.g. libel and slander) the figure rises to 4.02%. In addition to the absolute effectiveness measure we also calculated a relative effectiveness index. It was the ratio of punished offenses to the total number of offenses reported to law-enforcement authorities by the respondents. In our survey the relative effectiveness index amounted overall to 20.0% and after the elimination of non-indictable offenses to 19.7%. To estimate effectiveness we deducted offenses committed in 1999 on the assumption that the majority of these were too recent for prosecution and conviction to have taken place. Obviously, a crucial influence on measurement of the effectiveness of the law is exerted by the number of offenses reported to law-enforcement authorities. Our questionnaire was designed to allow respondents to adduce the number of instances of victimization in the preceding year and in general without mentioning their location in time. Since the survey was carried out in earlv 2000 the preceding year was 1990. The level of notification of crimes for the whole period in question came in our survey to 15.3% of the total incidence of crime. For 1999 this ratio recorded a count of 13.1% in other words was fractionally lower. After deducting non-indictable offenses these indexes rise to 19.9% and 19.0 % respectively. The most frequently reported crimes were burglaries (58.7%). Next on the list came simple larceny (18.6%) and fraud (18.1%, 29.5% in 1999); no cases of bribery were reported. A relatively rarely reported crime was robbery with violence (12.2%, 13.7% in 1999). The so-called "dark figure" can be stated in a variety o ways. One is by an absolute number, either broader or narrower. This depends on inclusion in the dark figure of all offenses actually committed or only those which are not reported to the law-enforcement authorities or are subject to private prosecution. Another way of determining the dark figure is by an index- or ratio-based measure. Here, too, there are two possibilities. In the first the number of offenses actually committed per the number punished is calculated. The second estimates the number of offenses actually committed per the number reported. The findings of our survey were as follows. The dark figure for the total number of crimes actually committed and the whole of the period in question amounted in absolute terms to 1,492 and for unreported offenses to 1,263. For 1999 corresponding counts came to 562 and 488 respectively. In index-measured terms the number of offenses actually committed per the number reported amounted for the whole period in question to 6.5 and for 1999 to 7.6, in other words to fractionally more. The number of offenses actually committed per the number punished (after deducting offenses committed in 1999) since it is hardy likely that any of these would already have been punished in early 2000 amounted to 30. Considerable attention was given to determining the structure of offenses committed, reported and punished and to the structure of offenses committed to the injury of different categories of victims (men, women, high school students, undergraduates, doctoral students). Differences were found here. The most significant was that the most frequent victims of offenses against the person are males and persons in the younger age group; the same pattern holds for robberies with violence of which females are only exceptionally the victims (only three cases in the whole the of the material gathered by the survey). By contrast, females and persons in the older age group are the most frequent victims of simple larceny. An in-depth victimologicar analysis yielded the following findings. The coefficient of victimization, that is, the total number of offenses per member of the sample, amounted for the totality of our respondents over the whole period in question to 3.60, though it was much higher for the male and younger age group (5.5 for the former and 7.86 for the fourth-year high school students). In the females group as a whole the coefficient came to 2.40 and was highest in the doctoral students sub-group (3.27). The victimization index is the percentage of the number of crime victims in the whole of the sample. If we subtract the victimization index from 100 we will obtain a percentage measure of the number of persons who have not be victims either of any crime or of a crime of particular kind. For the whole of the sample and the whole of the period in question this index amounted to 76.1%, i.e. the number of non-victimized persons did not exceed 23.9%; for 1999 the counts were 47.1% and 52.9% respectively. The victimization index in the males group amounted to 85.1% for the whole period in question and to 57.8% for 1999; in the females group the analogous counts came to 70,4% and 40.3% respectively. Victimization intensity is a measure which is characterized by the number of criminal acts committed per victim. In our survey it amounted to 4.74 for the whole sample and the whole period covered by the survey and to 2.88 for 1999. The analogous scores for the males and females group came to 6.46 and 3.68 and for the females to 3.41 and 2.16. An important supplement to victimological investigation is determining an index of victimization variation. It completes the picture provided by victimization intensity. For obvious reasons this measure is calculated only for the whole sample or its subgroup. It illustrates how many kinds of offenses have been committed against the average victim. Victimization variation is calculated by dividing the sum of the number of individuals wronged by particular categories of offenses by the total number of victims among the persons included in the sample. There is a certain relationship between victimization intensity and variation. If intensity equals one, variation also equals one. Aside from this instance variation either equals intensity or is slightly lower. Variation can never exceed the number of the kinds of offenses specified in an investigation. Within these limits the closer the variation index is to the value of variation, the higher the variation of criminality given that intensity is relatively high. If inteisity approaches unity variation, despite the proportionately high level of the index, diminishes. In our survey intensity for the whole group and for the whole period in question amounted to 4.74 and for 1999 to 2.88. In other words, the average number of offenses per victim came overall to almost five, and in 1999 this average came to close on three.The variation measures attained a level of, respectively, 2.38 and 1.58 which means that, overall, victims were wronged on average by two kinds of offenses and in 1999 by between one and tow. The highest intensity occurred in the males subgroup of the high school students group (8.24) which also had the highest variation index (3.46). As for intensity second place was occupied by males in the doctoral students group (8.04), thougt its variation score/count was markedly lower than in the high school students group (2.80). Our survey also indicated the scale of drug abuse. The respondents were asked to state the number of contacts they had had with persons using drugs and with dealers or producers of drugs. Within the whole group studied contacts with consumers of drugs were reported by 49.0% of the respondents and contacts with drug dealers or producers by 25.1%. These contacts were much more frequent among the high school students (67.4% and 39.3% respectively) than among tne undergraduates and doctoral students (27.4% and 8.6%). The survey presented here covered a relatively small group of persons and one drawn from only a single region. Further investigations of this type are essential.

133-159
Kara ograniczenia wolności w świetle polityki kryminalnej w latach 1970-1998

Authors: Mirosława Melezini, Grażyna B. Szczygieł

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The subject of the article is an analysis of the non-custodial sentencje known in Poland as curtailment of liberty (and thus excluding fines) as an important instrument of penal policy in the 1970-1998, the main focus being on two strands or this policy–legislative policy and penal policy–to the exclusion of the latter’s administrative aspects. In the light of the guiding principles of the 1969 Criminal Code non-custodial sentences were intended to become an important penal policy measure for treatment of perpetrators of minor offenses and at the same time to provide a substitute for short terms of imprisonment, which had been found relatively ineffective as a means of achieving rehabilitation of convicted offenders. However, the normative extent of the code’s provision for non-custodial penalties proved to be relatively narrow. Within the range of alternatives to custodial punishment curtailment of liberty was an option available only under 17.5% of the defined offenses. Under Article 54 §1 sentencing to curtailment of liberty was admissible for 24% of all offenses and under Article 57 §1.3 for 27.9% of the total. The potential possibilities of non-custodial treatment of offenders were circumscribed by the provisions of Articles 54 §2, 52, 59 and 60. A significant influence on the frequency of sentencing to curtailment of liberty was the actual incidence of criminal acts punishable by alternative form of treatment. Based on an analysis of Ministry of Justice and judicial statistics it appears that such acts were not among the most frequently committed offenses, amounting to about 10% of all convictions. The systematic growth of the proportion of sentences to curtailment of liberty, from 6.2% in 1970 to l8% in 1980, should, therefore, be regarded as achievement of the maximum level of possible sentences of this kind. If we consider the share of curtailment of liberty in the structure of sentences for offenses punishable by alternative forms of treatment we will find that there was a judicial bias towards curtailment of liberty. The frequency of such treatment of offenders fluctuated between 32.83% and 56.54%, while the range for fines came to 21.26%‒5I,99 % and for imprisonment to 3,4%‒21.26%. It can, therefore, be said that in the first decade following the 1969 Criminal Code’s entry into force curtailment of liberty fulfilled the purpose envisaged by the lawmakers, that is as an alternative to short terms of imprisonment. Undoubtedly, a factor contributing to the increase in the proportion of non-custodial sentences in the structure of final and conclusive judgments was the jurisprudence of the Supreme Court, in particular its guidelines for the administration of justice and judicial practice issued on 30 May 1979 (VII KZP 31/1977) concerning sentencing policy with respect to offenses for which the prescribed punishment is, interchangeably, imprisonmet, curtailment of liberty or a fine. Imprisonment, these stated, should be a penalty imposed only in the last resort when non-custodial forms of treatment are deemed incapable of performing the function of protection of the legal order. If a salient characteristic of the 1970s was stability of legislative policy, which precluded the possibility of shaping penal policy by means of legislation, the 1980s, or more precisely the period from 12 December 1981 to 1989, saw the emergence of a tendency in the opposite direction. For it brought the adoption of numerous basic amendments in criminal legislation, the general thrust of which was towards severer difinition of criminal responsibility. This was reflected in a decrease in the proportion of non-custodial sentences in the structure of final and conclusive judgments (from 15.6% in 1981 to 8.2% in 1984) and a concurrent increase in the frequency with which courts sentenced offenders to imprisonment (from 25.3% in 1981 to 33.1% in 1984). During the years in which the rigorous provisions of the Special Criminal Responsibility Act were in force, that is in the period from 10 May 1985 to 30 June 1988, there was a systematic rise in the proportion of curtailment of liberty in the structure of sentences (from 10.1% in 1985 to 17.4% in 1987), which might have something to do with the introduction by the May legislation of provisions allowing for non-custodial treatment of offenders in summary proceedings. The 1988 amendments to the Criminal Code, aimed at relaxing definitions of criminal responsibility, included, albeit in only a limited degree, provisions relating to the applicability of curtailment of liberty. These changes reflected a desire to increase the significance of non-custodial treatment in penal policy. However, in judicial practice there ensued a decrease in sentencing to curtailment of liberty, from 10.5% in 1989 to 5.3% in 1990. The period of political, economic and social change in Poland which began in 1989 stimulated criminal law reform. The aim of numerous legislative change which followed was to reduce the punitive character of the Criminal Code. One reflection of this was greater provision for non-custodial treatment of offenders (introduced by the new Criminal Code enacted in 1995) through a broadening of the grounds for commuting sentences of imprisonment to curtailment of liberty or a fine under Article 54), reduction of the role of repeated criminality as an aggravating circumstance in punishment of offenders, and abolition of extended sentences for offenses classified as "hooligansm" or committed by repeat offenders. In 1991-1995 the share of curtailment of liberty in the structure of sentences held steady at a level of 3.5%‒3,9%, making it the lowest ever for the period in which the 1969 Criminal Code was in force. This was not a result of the greater repressiveness of the criminal justice system since we observed a drop in the frquency of sentences of imprisonment. The courts tended to favor the use of conditional suspension of custodial sentences (the share of which rose from 43.9% in 1989 to 55.1% in 1997) and fines (up from 4.9% in 1989 to 27.4% in 1997). The explanation should, rather, be sought in problems with execution of sentences to curtaiment of liberty, chief among them the job shrinkages caused by changes in the free-market economy. Analysis indicates that curtailment of liberty did not fulfill the expectations associated with this form of punishment. It did not become a significant instrument of penal policy nor did it contribute to reducing the scale of sentencing to terms of imprisonment. Even after a substantial widening of provision for punishment by curtailment of liberty its share of sentences ordered by the courts reached a level of only 5.2% (in 1977). The new Criminal Code has substantially expanded the possibilities of sentencing offenders to curtailment of liberty. This form of punishment is intended to be an important instrument of penal policy with respect to misdemeanors and minor offenses and to replace imprisonment and even fines if ordering the latter is thought to serve no purpose. At the same time the Criminal Code has introduced modifications in the legal shape of this punishment. By preserving, contrary to the intentions of the code’s original drafters, multivariate forms of punishment it gives curtailment of liberty some of the hallmarks of probation by introducing the possibility of imposing certain additional conditions and establishing supervision. The new elements in the design of curtailment of liberty have met with numerous criticisms of the doctrine (including by the authors of the article). How it will affect the functioning of the institution analyzed the immediate future will tell.

161-180
Kryminologiczne aspekty przestępczości granicznej

Authors: Katarzyna Laskowska

Abstract

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In this study the author indicates the main problems that appeared in Poland as a result of the opening of borders after the transition to a new economic and political system launched in 1989. The list is headed by offenses committed by foreign nationals, smuggling activities, illegal crossing of frontiers, and population movements, especially from very low-income countries. Border crime is defined here as both illegal border crossing, customs and currency offenses, forgery of documents and crime againts institutions. Border crime can be examined in a large numer of aspects as offenses which ere a threat to fundamental public policy interests. The crux of the matter lies in the motives and aims of the perpetrator. When we refer to border crime we have in mind the kind of offenses that are associated with cross-border movement of persons and objects involved in an illegal activity The commission of offenses falling into this category is not confined solely to border regions. The area of operations of criminals of this kind may be the whole of a country. Border crime is crime of a special kind. Its effects and in particular its further consequences are not always visible. Nor in all such cases is there an injured party, though it should be noted that serious harm may be suffered by people smuggled across borders and that injury is caused to victims of smuggling-related car theft. It is worth drawing attention to the etiology of this kind of crime. Among the internal influences contributing to its growth should be included the closure or collapse of workplaces, state farms and industrial enterprises, especially along Poland’s eastern border, and the consequent rise in unemployment. In recent years there has been a notable decline in the public’s standard of living, which has prompted some of them to seek alternative or additional sources of income.With increasing frequency people set their sights on swift multiplication of wealth and see in smuggling, for instance, a relatively simple and low-risk way of making money. It is worth noting a judicial tendency towards unduly lenient treatment of perperators of border crime and to hand down light sentences (most glaringly, for organizacion of illegal border crossing). Another development has been a steep rise in the incidence of pathological phenomena among officials, such as forgery or falsification of documents, bribery or entry into the structures of criminal groups. Much more dangerous are the external factors driving border crime, such as steadily worsening economic decline in parts o fthe Middle East, Asia and the former Soviet Union and rising unemployment and inflation in the countries concerned. Other causes are wars, national, ethnic and religious conflicts and the inadequacy of the technical protection of frontiers. Not without significance is the continuing demand in the East for cars of Western make and the possibility of legalizing their acquisition if they have been stolen. There has also been an intensification of corrupt practices among public officials with an influence on the state of national security and inviolability of frontiers (especially among the border guard forces in Belarus and Ukraine). Also conducive to the growth of crime is the further organization and specialization of criminal groups pursuing activities on both sides of the frontier. The author also offers a detailed picture of selected types of border crime. Her study centers on the legal and criminological aspects of the crime of illegal entry. She indicates the methods of committing this crime employed by its perpetrators at both border crossings and along smuggling routes. She depicts the mechanisms involved in the smuggling of persons with particular emphasis on the role played in such trafficking by organized criminal groups. Another criminal activity worth attention is smuggling, chiefly of liquor, cigarettes, cars, drugs, animals, guns, etc. This crime is a threat to the economic interests of the state which incurs significant losses of revenue in this respect. The author brings out the complex, underground modus operandi of the criminals involved and stresses the prominence in this illicit activity of organized criminal groups. The data illustrating border crime points to the continued persistence of threats from illegal immigration into Poland, including in many cases in organized forms, and its transformation from a transit to a destination country. Because of the unabating demand in the former Soviet republics for Western cars rhe organizers of smuggling rings will probably develop more sophisticated methods of falsifying the documents of cars (mostly luxury models) stolen in West-European countries. As at present there will be continued smuggling, both by individuals and in organized forms (of considerable value per consignment), of liquor into Poland and of cigarettes bound for Poland and Germany. Intensification of attempts to corrupt the personnel (including senior officers) of watchtowers and border crossings. The most important role in prevention and suppression of border crime is played by Border Guard personnel. More and more often they are equipped with modern equipment for X-raying baggage and carry out passport checks by means of readers connected to a computer database. Border Guard personel also engage in operations outside the border zone and conduct searches of dwellings and premises belonging to the organizers of illegal cross-border traffic. Not infrequently they face an increased element of risk. Criminals often possess firearms, gas and other dangerous implements. Hence the importance of specialist training, physical fitness, unarmed combat skills and the ability to handle weapons. An important erement in fighting border crime is cooperation with other public institutions. Preventive action and operational, surveillance and investigative measures aimed at improving the state of security and public order and detection and expulsion of foreign nationals who have entered Poland illegally are carried out in the border zone in collaboration with the police. Because of the nature or its responsibilities and the international connections of criminal groups the Border Guard maintains day-to-day liaison with its counterparts in other countries. Among the most important areas of cooperation between the border authorities of European Union members, Central and East European countries, the United States and Canada are interchange of information about tasks, structures, jurisdictions, powers and problems relating to cross-border traffic and border crime and interaction in operational and investigative activities. There is a particularly successful record of cooperarion with the German authorities (specifically the BGS). It is worth stressing that amendmends to the Border Guard Act adopted in 2001 provide for its equipment with additional powers for combating corruption, including operational oversight, „sting” operations, the offering or acceptance of bribes, and imposes on Border Guard personnel and employees the requirement to file declarations of assets. The powers in question could be a significant boost to the prevention and suppression of border crime.

181-212
Sekta religijna w świadomości młodzieży

Authors: Ewa M. Guzik-Makaruk

Abstract

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The past fifteen years or so have been a time of significant changes in Polish religious life. The most notable feature has been a growth in the significance of the native religion which for the overwhelming vast majority of Poles is Catholicism. According to official statistics members of the Catholic Church in Poland constitute 95% of the population, other Christian faiths account for just under 3% and adherents of other religions, sects, religious and pseudo-religious or world view-based movements, including atheism, for only about 2%. However, another phenomenon has been taking place in the shadow of the process of change: the appearance and spread of new religious and para-religious movements. In Poland these movements appeared at a somewhat later date than in the West where their first wave of popularity coincided with the rise of the youth counter-culture movement at the turn of the sixties and seventies. New religious movements began to appear in Poland in the seventies and eighties and have become a permanent feature of the religious landscape though, statistically, they are still a marginal phenomenon compared with Catholicism. The proliferation of sects or cults of every kind and description is one of the more remarkable and individual-threatening phenomena of the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries. Each year about 12,000 young Poles run away from home or disappear. Many of them discover “the sole truth” in one of the 300 new religious movements to be found in Poland. But that assertion does not justify drawing the erroneous conclusion that all these young people swell the ranks of religious sects though undoubtedly a certain, unknown, number of them end up in such organizations. The author has conducted a survey among students of primary and secondary schools, in the sity of Białystok and the law department of the local university. The aim of the investigation, carried out by the questionnaire method, was to elicit information about young people's awareness of the religious sects phenomenon and test the accuracy of the project’s theoretical hypotheses. The survey’s findings are presented in this publication separately for each age group of respondents: students of the eighth school grade of primary school and the last year of secondary school and uno undergraduates. Also included was a comparative analysis of the findings according to the age of the subjects, which was the basic variabre considered when preparing the report. The publication ends with a tabular section which serves the purpose of detailed presentation of the respondents’ answers to question regarding the sources of their knowledge of religious sects, the range of persons thought by the respondents to form the recruitment pool for converts to religious sects, and social distance. This section also contains the questionnaire used in the survey. The author undertook her research endeavor in the belief that beyond any doubt the population group most at risk from the activities of religious sects is youth. Thus there were good grounds for investigation or this social group in order to determine its level of awareness of religious sects and emotional attitude to them. As well as diagnosis of the phenomenon such an operation facilitates attempts to devise an information policy targeted young people. The investigation, which took the form of interviews, used a questionnaire designed for this purpose. The survey was carried out in the first quarter of 1999 among students of primary and secondary schools in Białystok and the law department of the local university. The sample analyzed in the study comprised 100 students of the eighth grade of primiry school, l00 high school seniors and 100 undergrauates. The breakdown in the eighth-graders subgroup was 48% female and 52% male. The respective proportions for the high school seniors were 30% and 70% and for the college students 45% and 55%. The 300-person youth sample so selected is a fair representation and allows for certain inferences to be made to the wider population. The respondents were informed of the subject and aim of the investigation, the method of completing the questionnaire and its anonymity. The empirical material gathered was characterized by a relatively small amount of incomplete data. Such instances were of a sporadic and random nature. The investigation aimed at testing basic hypotheses. Based on analysis of the literature and the findings of earlier empirical studies five specific working hypotheses were adopted: Young people’s basic source of information about religious sects is the mass media. Young people are not tolerant about admitting members of religious sects to their immediate social circle, while the degree of tolerance does not depend on age. Young people are aware that thy constitute the group most vulnerable to the activities of religious sects. Awareness of the dangers posed by sects increases with the age of the respondent. Awareness of the dangers posed by sects increases in step with advancement to the next step of the education ladder. The level of awareness of youth as regards the religious sects phenomenon and the dangers arising there from was strictly correlated with the age of the subjects and consequently also by their standard of education. The make-up of the different components of young people’s attitudes to sects varied according to the age bracket of the respondents. As regards familiarity with the religious sects phenomenon it was found to be universal and irrespective of whether the respondent was an eighth-grader, high school senior or college student. However, certain differences appeared in the kinds of sources from which the young derive their knowledge of sects. Analysis of the findings corroborated the hypothesis that youth is aware of the fact that it is the group most vulnerable to the activities of sects. Though none of the sample gave a full definition of sect it is satisfying to note that every one of the respondents identified correctly at least one of the basic characteristics, e.g. a distinctive ideology and practices, resort to subterfuge and lies in recruitment of new members, or the exceptional position of the guru. Interestingly, a decided majority in each of the groups surveyed perceived the negative phenomenon of sects. Generally speaking, college students as persons with ihe highest level of awareness of the dangers posed by sects assessed them unfavorably, though they were not as radical in their assessments as the eighth-graders or high school seniors. The most opposition in all the age groups studied was aroused by the idea of admitting a sect member into the family circle, the least by the possibility of having a sect adherent for a colleague. Analysis of replies to questions relating to social distance leads to the conclusion that the young people studied were not indifferent to the henomenon of religious sects. Sect members were not approved of in high public office. They were not well thought of in the role of schoolteachers or adoptive parents. Almost all of the college students and high school seniors in the survey expressed a belief that some religious sects were breeding grounds of crime. A decided majority of the eighth-graders and high school seniors thought that the functioning of sects ought to be prohibited by law. As regards the respondents’ views on the question of whether registration of religious sects should be made easier or harder there were also certain variations according to respondents’ age. Among the college students and high school seniors a decided majority were in favor of impeding registration of religious sects in Poland. By contrast, in the case of the primary school eighth graders such a belief was expressed by 49% while 43% had no opinion on the subject. This is perhaps to be explained by the fact that the latter do not posses the knowledge required to form an opinion on this matter.