Rola polityków i mediów w społecznym odbiorze przestępczości

Studia Prawnicze 2012, nr 2, s. 103-134.

Współautorstwo: Buczkowski, Konrad; Kossowska, Anna; Rzeplińska, Irena; Woźniakowska, Dagmara

One of the more important eff ects of the political transformation in Central and Eastern Europe is the emergence of the problem of criminality in the social awareness of the inhabitants of these countries. After a long period in which information on the risk of crime was controlled (unless it concerned crimes against the Socialist state) the societies of this part of Europe were deluged by information on criminal incidents and by opinions and discussions on the subject of criminality. Crime in itself became an article “sold” in the media and a political football. Fear of crime, which had scarcely existed prior to the transformation, appeared as a phenomenon in the social consciousness. Infl uencing the heightened fear of crime to a certain extent was a rise in criminality and a change in its nature, but more importantly a general state of uncertainty brought about by the deconstruction of life as it used to be and the established rules on which society functioned. Criminality and the related feeling of danger is already probably a permanent element in the public face of politicians mainly, but not exclusively, from populist parties. In light of the tough attitudes manifest in Polish society, supporting harsh punishment, it is unsurprising that politicians are quick to include punitive slogans in their election programs in hopes of boosting their opinion poll ratings. Their calls for the toughening up of criminal responsibility are founded on related public expectations. It is not a new phenomenon. It was also present in the communist years when the will of society, to which communist politicians referred to when justifying their increasingly absurd ideas about penal policy, was to a signifi cant degree a propaganda creation made by the media they themselves controlled. It is still the same today, the only thing that has changed is how the media is “controlled” or shall we say “infl uenced” by the politicians. While there are many diff erences between the countries that in the last twenty years experienced the transformation from communism to democracy, they are starting to be subject to the same rules as “mature” Western European democracies. The same processes can be seen in the behavior of politicians with regard to troubling social phenomena and similar reactions by the media to crime and the reported fall in the fear of crime.

Sprawozdanie z konferencji europejskiego towarzystwa kryminologicznego 4 –7 września 2013 r. Budapeszt (Węgry)

Biuletyn Polskiego Towarzystwa Kryminologicznego 2012/2013, nr 20, s. 93-99.

Współautorstwo: Buczkowski, Konrad; Ostaszewski, Paweł; Wiktorska, Paulina

Politicians, Media, and Society’s Perception of Crime

Współautorstwo: Buczkowski, Konrad; Kossowska, Anna; Rzeplińska, Irena; Woźniakowska, Dagmara

Crime and Transition in Central and Eastern Europe / Alenka Šelih, Aleš Završnik (red.) - Springer: New York, 2012, s. 37-63.

This chapter deals with three important issues for countries of Central and Eastern Europe, which are going through political transformation, associated with society’s perception of crime: fear of crime, politicization of crime, and the impact of the media on public perception of crime. The authors set out the main characteristics of these phenomena since 1989 in the countries of the region, with a view to performing a more detailed analysis of them in the context of Poland. Despite the numerous differences among the countries going through the transformation in the past 20 years, they are beginning to fall within the ambit of the same rules as the “mature” democracies of Western Europe. In evidence are the same processes associated with the behavior of politicians in relation to troubling social phenomena and their use of populism as a method of wielding power, similar media reactions to criminality, and the recorded drop in the fear of crime.

Detencja dzieci cudzoziemców

Współautorstwo: Kunicka, Agnieszka

Przestrzeganie praw cudzoziemców w Polsce / redakcja Paweł Dąbrowski, Maciej Duszczyk s. 53-61.

Związki między wiktymizacją oraz ubóstwem i wykluczeniem społecznym

Archiwum Kryminologii 2012, t. XXXIV, s. 43-89.

Współautorstwo: Woźniakowska, Dagmara

Since the emergence of criminology as a science, one of the main problems taken up by criminologists was the relations between poverty and crime. Initially, the studies aimed to work out actions to prevent crime and to protect the rest of the society from the marginalized, the excluded and the poor. It was pointed out that that the group called the underclass was marked by criminal deeds of its members, alcohol abuse, family disruption, single parenting, dependence on social security, and physical abuse in families. Only until later, with the development of victimology, the other side started to be observed – the description of the underclass is true as much in the case of perpetrators as it is in the case of victims. It has been proved that poverty and marginalization are related to a higher risk of becoming a victim of a crime. In case of poverty and social exclusion, one can speak of a cause-effect relationship but undoubtedly this can work in both directions – poverty usually adds to social exclusion while social exclusion (particularly more severe, like e.g. ostracism) can lead to poverty. Already at the time of emergence of victimology it was observed that victimization does not concern all members of a society to the same degree. Some social groups become crime victims more often than others. Certain categories of people were recognized as particularly vulnerable to wrongful deeds. In 1947 Hans von Hentig drafted up the first categorisation of persons who were at an increased risk of victimization. It included particular categories of people whose psychological, physical, and behavioural features predispose them to the role of a victim. The author listed larger social groups (eg. young people or women) but also such groups which are included in the context of social exclusion today. He claimed that, among others, mentally ill, retarded, substance dependant are particularly vulnerable to victimisation because their limited perception of situation makes them an easier target to theft, con or fraud. He listed immigrants who are in cultural conflict and rejected by the majority as „aliens”, the poor, and people with emotional problems as all these weaknesses could be easily used by criminals. Other minorities faced similar problems. Social inequality touches upon them in a greater degree and this increases the risk of victimisation. Today, we speak of victimisation of minorities also in the context of prejudice-motivated crimes and the elderly are one of the most vulnerable groups. Benjamin Mendelsohn accented not individual features of victims but their behaviour in certain situational context. According to the author, persons whose behaviour infringes principles of social co-existence and, as a consequence, who put themselves at risk of marginalization, are exactly those who can easily become victims. Living apart from the society and contrary to its rules after all influences the risk of victimization.